Time to get a grip and pay off the debt! -

Katzen

That dinner does sound like it's sent from the gods. Marfona make amazing roasties, imagine they a pretty good for chips too. Great news on the eBay sales, like you say, if kids have money they aren't spending yours. Plus it helps them learn a bit of money sense so hopefully they do t follow you down the debt path

Choccygirl123

The children are fab with money and perhaps I should pay more attention to them! Another thing sold on ebay for delivery so will spend this cash on food. I've withdrawn the cash into my account and will nip to the bank in the morning to take it out. We're pretty low on a lot of bits and no fruit or nibbles in the house. Will pop to lidl tomorrow to stock up and see what we need. It's things for lunches like cold meat, yogurts and bits. Looking at the next couple of days we've got a couple more things that have bids on totalling £45 at the minute. I'm hoping for a last minute bidding frenzy.

On the local selling sites I've got £15 to come tomorrow and £10 on Thursday, so the plan is to use that cash for fuel as only 1/4 of a tank left. Fingers crossed we can make it to Monday without touching the bank accounts (apart from postage again)

Choccygirl123

Well a few days not posting and we've had a bumpy road. I've been using the freezer and store cupboard contents but we've had some unexpected expense so had to use a debit card. Whilst i'm in my overdraft i've put the spending on there as pay £1 a day to the halifax for the privilege.

Big expense Car need fuel (£60) and we need ink for printer £40 (so could print out daughter's homework) I've had to odds and ends of food and the two large items i've sold on ebay and Facebook still haven't been collected.

need to sit down tonight and work out the damage.....i'm gutted. Two steps forward and a giant leap back. The only positive is that it's pay day tomorrow! Looks like next months budget will have to be tightened as I need to clear overdraft in full and credit card.

Choccygirl123

So the damage in the overdrafts was £89.46 in our joint (BUT still have cheques for £155 outstanding) and mine £223.35!

Good news is that both mine and hubbies wages have hit the accounts so they're officially paid off. This month I'm also trying to clear £546.33 on my santander credit card before it starts incurring interest!

I've set the budget and it does look quite healthy even with squirrelling some money away for xmas presses. I've been to iceland today and filled freezer up with joints in trays (perfect for family week day meal) 4 for £10, frozen veg, fish fingers, pies and couple of nibbley bits.

The no food out mission continues and we're having sausages, mash and beans before taking the children out trick or treating. We'd normally have a bag of chips on the way home, but not tonight! I'm feeling really positive and need to spend a couple of hours looking at my spreadsheet. I want this budget to work and think it will! :beer:

Katzen

Not horrendous on the overdrafts then CG, keeping fingers crossed that this month stays on track and you can finally be OD free. Have you looked into switching accounts to one that has a 'free' OD facility? I'm pretty sure first direct offers at least £100 free so that those occasional little slip ups don't end up costing you money. Plus they pay you to switch so winner-winner!

Choccygirl123

Thanks for the reply Katzen, our joint account is with Fdirect, but my own is Halifax. A whopping £1 a day, which drives me mad.

We've cleared them both and my Santander card and now scrimping like mad to keep away from them this month. We binned our 123 account with them a while ago, but i kept the card and it's now costing me monthly. After buying the house and applying for a settee my credit rating dipped massively, so i'm stuck with what i've got at the minute. I'm trying to use the cash back on the card to go towards the monthly cost of it....and it'll help with budgeting. I transferred our food budget and fuel so the account is in credit. I've made a note page on my phone to keep track and make sure not overspending.

Hubby and I were both off work yesterday so nipped to town to start looking at xmas presses for the kids. We spent £76 and have done really well on the buy 2 get 1 free deals and the entertainer's buy one and get one for 1p. All put on the credit card, but have transferred the £76 from joint account into credit card account to cover it. I'm made a list of the over bits we'll buy, but it's all cheaper on amazon.

I think we're doing ok, but thereus not a lot left in the joint account now. I'm hoping we can muddled through without touching it for a week. We're meeting our friends for a long over due catch up in two weeks, so expecting that'll be £80 - it's such a lot of money but have budgeted it and it's a rare treat. We only see them every 6months, so am looking forward to it. Apart from that it's freezer and store cupboard meal planning and as many NSD as we can!

Choccygirl123

Feeling a little bah humbug blue today! Not posted for a while and had some horrendous bills come in unexpected...grrrr to car repairs and pothole repairs! These were of course completely unbudgeted for and unplanned. Had to put on my credit cards, no choice.

Debt has jumped up, but going to wait until 1st Jan to update the figure. Jan is going to be a very no spend month and we'll be maximising the food stocks in freezer and cupboard.

Currently just into our free overdraft by around -75, but know there's a small petrol fill up still to be added to that. Over the next couple of days I'm going to set up my 2017 spending excel sheet, cutback where we can and plot every penny.

It's not the end of the world, but i do feel like it's a huge step back. Hubby looking at it in a positive way though and said at least it's made us more determined to build up some savings for such disasters in the future.

Hope you're all doing well in the land of moneysaving and wish you all the best for 2017.

Choccygirl123

That's us into March and not really made any progress on the outstanding debt if I'm honest. We've had some huge unexpected bills and no rainy day money. This month is going to be a self-induced skint one, as both choccykids have school trips that need paying for, music lessons and scout camps. I've sat and updated my excel worksheet again and am hoping this is me being organised finally. I do feel like i've been there and got the tshirt at the minute. Ho-hum, life goes on but I need to get the spending under control and start repaying the credit cards.

We've had to move money around from an expiring 0% card to another, took a zopa loan to cover hug scar repair bill and pay off other card and feel like we've robbed peter to pay paul!


Hubby Barclaycard £2486.50
Mine 0% Halifax £1215.78
Zopa Loan £5942.37
Overdrafts £ NIL at last!
TOTAL DEBT - £9644.65 OUCH!

As you can see it's crept up again, but after all the bills we've had I'm just relieved it's still under 10k. My plan next month is to start tackling the Halifax in my name as that one finishes it's 0% deal first. I know people will say don't have savings, but I've started a small Christmas / rainy day savings pot. It currently has £100 for Xmas 17 and £172 for rainy days.

Money_Rollercoaster

Hey, these things are sent to try us, eh? I know the loan isn't ideal, but you're on top of the OD and really eating into those other debts, so it isn't all bad, eh? You'll be pleased that you have put something away come Christmas-time ... my financial planning for last Christmas was non-existent and I really suffered in January when the CC balance revealed itself in all its glory.


Anyway, just wanted to drop by and say keep on keeping on. You are winning!

Choccygirl123

Blimey.....fast forward 8months and I'm dragging my bum back to moneysaving again.

Quite a lot has changed since March, lost my job and now working a lot less hours and earning less money, but my stress levels are zero and I'm happy feel back to my old self again. The work life balance has really improved our home life and I've no regrets. The drop in salary has been hard, hence why i'm back again.

Positive news - We've paid off the outstanding credit cards

Negative news - We have taken another zopa loan to replace hubby's car. Not ideal, but decided it was a better option than leasing. Due to his commute we needed something sturdy and realible and zopa was cheapest way to fund it.

We've been keeping ourselves afloat, but we've not been able to overpay the loans. Have now developed new spreadsheet and feel like finally in control of our finances.

O/S Debts
Zopa 1 - £5205.85
Zopa 2 - £11661.23

TOTAL £16867.08 :mad:

My plan is to keep away from the credit cards and overdraft at Xmas and try and make it to the new year without incurring any more debt. I feel better for posting and will be popping back regularly to keep myself motivated!:A