Learning to budget to make future adventures happen

crunch_time

Morning diary,

I made my decision on the school run this morning - I am going to use the ISA money to go towards the loan. Just £300 of it. £50 can be the first lot of money in my new savings pot. So that brings the loan down to £11,000.

I have just tried to get in control of my banking and feel very cross that YNAB doesn't match up to my spreadsheet and our bank accounts so I have decided to scrap it once and for all as its just stressing me out.

I have counted up how much we need in our accounts till husband gets paid which left £200 so that has gone over to the loan as well bringing it down to £10,800!!!

Dave Ramsey says to get angry with your debt problem so that is what I am doing. The strategy is multiples of £100 to the loan and multiples of £10 to the credit card. Mini goals will help us stay focussed too.

Gunning for under £10k by the beginning of December!

Right, lots of cleaning and tidying and washing and cooking to do. Must get on.

Have a lovely day.
Crunch x

doingitanyway

I was drawn to your diary by your great title. I also like your username.
I got stressed out by YNAB too although other people who swear by it.
You have done amazing to reduce your debts and getting under £10,000 on the loan will be a huge achievement. Well done. Keep going.

MistyMountainTop

Moving the money from your ISA sounds like a good idea.

I'm still plodding on with YNAB but have not been able to get the budget to reconcile with my bank account. It's frustrating because I can't see why or what I'm doing wrong. I'm hoping I'll figure it out soon, as it seems like such a good tool to use in planning for the future...

crunch_time

doingitanyway wrote: »

I was drawn to your diary by your great title. I also like your username.
I got stressed out by YNAB too although other people who swear by it.
You have done amazing to reduce your debts and getting under £10,000 on the loan will be a huge achievement. Well done. Keep going.

Thank you it doesn't seem like it though. I feel guilty everyday for having debt and no savings but two children. I'm so very determined to do it for them and our future together.

£10k is such a big amount of debt but a year go it was £20k and 3 years ago it was nearly £30k so I guess we are doing very well. I don't want any debt anymore. When we get to £9k we will have paid off my old car that we no longer own and haven't for nearly a year now. That's a debt hangover. Between £9k - £5k is debt from when I was at uni for a year in 2009 - 2010 so I finished 6 years ago!! That's a bigger debt hangover. And the last £5k is for husbands car that he still owns but will need replacing in about a years time. At least its for actual things rather than just over spending.

We could let the loan run but it wouldn't finish until April 2020 and that is too long for a debt hangover to last in my opinion when we could just throw everything at it now and get it over and done with in a year.

I feel like I walk around with the debt figure over my head and I cant wait to be free!!

crunch_time

MistyMountainTop wrote: »

I'm still plodding on with YNAB but have not been able to get the budget to reconcile with my bank account. It's frustrating because I can't see why or what I'm doing wrong. I'm hoping I'll figure it out soon, as it seems like such a good tool to use in planning for the future...

I think I am going to use the principals like every penny is given a job and having a 'things I have forgotten to budget for' amount but concentrate on a budget that doesn't have credit cards and paying for stuff with cash. That will be the key for us.

crunch_time

Morning diary

I have lost the plot with regards to how many NSDs I have had but I have noticed a change in my money behaviour. My work boots have broken and need replacing, DD needs a new winter coat and we have been invited to a carberet in London for a Christmas party. I have decided to make do with the shoes I have for another 2 weeks when husband gets paid and then use the clothes budget to but new ones, pay for a new coat for DD out of our decorating money and do that next month instead and not go to the caberet as I would rather get rid of debt.

I'm about to make some soup for lunch and carry on with my cleaning but not until I have checked with HR that I am definitely getting paid next Friday!! I am visualising another £700 to come off the loan maybe even £800!! and then a little bit off the credit card.

I'm finding visualising and baby steps are working for me. I can visualise the steps I need to achieve in order to do this and have little mantras too....

- I keep saying to myself 'my money goes on childcare and debt and nothing else.'
- we will only pay for swimming as a family together this weekend - no other spending.
- no top up shops this week then we will stay in budget. (I have approx. £70 left for next Thursdays shop which will take us to the following week when husband gets paid and the cycle starts again. I haven't managed this for a long time!!!!!!
- saying to myself 'everything I need is within me now.'

Happy Friday everyone! My Friday night plans consist of herbal tea and 'the walking dead' these days. Anyone the same?

Crunchyxx

crunch_time

Quick update before I forget!

Just checked with HR and I will get paid next Friday but I have been emergency taxed so will receive £150 less than I thought. So it will be £700 off the loan then - not too much of a difference and I can make up the difference in December when I get it back.

Focus, focus, focus...

crunch_time

Morning diary

Unexpected day off today. DD has a temperature and nursery wont take her. I was stressed earlier as its only week 3 of my new job and I didn't know the whole protocol for calling in sick. I know it cant be helped and she needs her mummy more than they need me but I cant help the whole 'guilty working mummy feeling.'

I wont get paid of course so that's £100 roughly lost but hey ho that is life!!

She is napping (but coughing loads) at the moment so my mind is racing over what I can get done today with this unexpected time I have been blessed with.

First things first is a money update. I have checked our accounts and all is good. I am definitely going to pay off my credit card when I get paid on Friday. I wont be able to close it down yet but at least as there will be a small amount of interest to pay on next months statement but at least it will be at £0 never to go back!

After childcare bills are allocated I should have about £180 left. I am going to put it in my childcare savings pot until 2nd December when I know for sure what my nursery childcare bill will be. Hopefully I have calculated it right and I can put £100 towards the loan and £80 towards the husbands credit card.

Talking of the husbands credit card it looks like the amount is much higher than I originally anticipated - like double. Eek!

Husband has to have a credit card for work expenses which in the past he hasn't been very timely at claiming for. He has a new job now and has just been given a company credit card so this one of his is currently being 'phased out' if you like. He will have to put his fuel on it and claim mileage but this will be way much better than what we have been used to. Our plan is to chip away at it and then get rid of it and then apply for a reward or cash back one for him with a low limit.

I'm very proud of myself for not going out and buying new boots this week or even planning to do so when I get paid on Friday. 'Everything I need is within me now' and I can buy them when husband gets paid in 10 days time. That is a note to myself more than anything. Normally I would have ordered them on my credit card and paid them off then but lost track of what I owed and when.

Braving myself for updating my signature with husbands new amount. As usual one step forward and 2 steps back. That is why these credit cards have got to go once and for all!!

Crunch xx

crunch_time

Weird day at work yesterday. Nothing was said as such but I gather from conversations with people that taking a day off because your child is ill is frowned upon. I signed a form to say I was happy for my pay to be deducted and I am but the whole thing made me feel uncomfortable. It may have been because I didn't follow the exact protocol but my line manager hadn't given me the number to call. Very strange. I'm very used to a family friendly place. We shall see how it goes. I'm going to make notes to keep in case it happens again just with regards to how I was treated and what was said. The Important thing is I remained professional and I actually don't care as I did my best. I used to really worry about what people think but not anymore!!

Pay day tomorrow! Can't wait to pay off the credit card once and for all!

I might have to pause on the debt payoff for a few months while I save up for a new mattress. Ours is well overdue - 9.5 years old. I will go and try some out and hopefully get one in the January sales. Budget of £700-£900 after an initial search online.

Crunch

crunch_time

And its paid off!!!

Signature updated. Very pleased but will be more pleased when it is closed down.

Right, swiftly onto the next thing.

Food shopping today and will spend some time later thinking about Decembers budget.

The theme will probably be 'getting through without getting into anymore debt.' The minimum payment for the loan will come out on the 2nd December meaning that will be down to £10,500 which is great!

I really must keep my Christmas spending under control this year and that will help massively.

Lots of plans to make!

Happy Friday everyone
Crunch