Time to make a start

butterfly234

So I am a long time lurker and have finally decided to start a diary so I have some accountability rather than just thinking I'm doing my best day to day. We currently have about 11000 on ccs (all 0%) and owe family 9500. So really need to get this sorted. Will post more a bit later but wanted to force myself to commit to a diary!!

So here's to day 1 :j

in_need_of_direction

Well done for taking that first step. Stick with it

butterfly234

Ok so I guess how did we get here... and ultimately because we were foolish and spent spent spent when we shouldn't have!


We are very fortunate to both have well paid jobs and if it wasn't for the debt I could be a sahp. This would be the dream. So it's time to work as hard as I can clearing debt and getting savings so I can be with the kids before they get too old!!

Wii post a SOA later, looking forward to some advice on where and how we can cut back

butterfly234

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

Well done for taking that first step. Stick with it

Thanks, inod, my first visitor! :j

Think the support of fellow forumites is the most important thing in the diaries so am looking forward to getting to know you all:o

Huskyrunner

Posting on here you have taken one of the first steps

good luck with your journey

[Deleted User]

Well done on taking the first step!!

Good luck with it; remember that however long it takes you can make a difference with every spending decision you make;)

butterfly234

Thanks so much for all the support already.

Been a spendy day, have no food in currently so did a large food shop online around £150 and then as we are exhausted from up all night with poorly small ones we have had a take out.

I think food is probably our big downfall, I try to meal plan but find it hard to stick to and as we both work long full time hours it is too easy to take the lazy option. Not sure how to move forward with this. Particularly as I'm coeliac and vegetarian so my options are limited whereas all my boys eat meat and wheat so we have different meals... need to have a think about this

timetobefrugal

Hi butterfly! I'm a newbie too, just wanted to say hello and wish you luck!

I'm terrible with food too, although I stick to a budget and make a meal plan I don't end up making half the meals on there

butterfly234

I haven't included food, petrol, presents etc. But am currently putting £1000 a month aside. So these are coming to about £750 a month. Pertrol is max £100 so food is astronomical :eek:

Debt wise we have


Cc1 £7753.43
Cc2 £3261.37
Family £9500.00
Total £20514.80 :eek:

And mortgage £291000 :eek::eek::eek:



I know life insurance is high, but we both have underlying health issues and don't think I want to compromise on cover here currently. If I put aside £1000 a month then hopefully can have all unsecured debts cleared by March 2018 (I started a few months ago and have currently saved £7000 but want to keep at least 4K for my emergency fund).

If I can cut the food bill, I could feasibly up the amount to £1500 a month which would be amazing, but we really struggle here :embarasse

butterfly234

timetobefrugal wrote: »

Hi butterfly! I'm a newbie too, just wanted to say hello and wish you luck!

I'm terrible with food too, although I stick to a budget and make a meal plan I don't end up making half the meals on there

Hello, thanks for stopping by. Do you have a diary? Will have a look.

I know that's exactly my problem, the intentions are good but actually finding the time and sticking to it is another thing. I ready Tilly's thread on Mfw board (all of it, took a while though) and I truly wish I could menu plan like that

EssexHebridean

Hi Butterfly - welcome to diaryland! :hello:

You mentioned cooking separate meals for the rest of the family to yourself - but that doesn't have to be the case every night, does it? What I;m thinking is for example, a veggie-heavy pasta sauce to which you can add fried off mince, or chopped up bacon, to everyone elses after you have taken yours out, yours comes with wheat free pasta, theirs with normal? Simply serving up a wheat & meat free meal once or even twice a week, so that everyone can eat the same thing? How about a chilli - using Quorn or similar in place of meat? Not only would it save you time but I suspect it would also save you money, too.

For meal planning, why not sit down with the family and come up with a list of meals that various people like, and then encourage them to think of ways that those meals can be made suitable for everyone? Regardless of that side of it though, once you have your list, you have a starting point. An easy way of working for a lot of people is to designate each night of the week a theme - so for example, "With rice", Pasta night, Veggie night, Soup...from your categories you can ring the changes - so while one week "with rice" might be butternut squash & pea risotto,, the next it might be chilli, and the one after, curry.

As a start, why not try to do a week where you spend as little as possible. Go through your fridge, freezer, and cupboards and write down anything in there that either needs using up because it;s nearing its date, or just that's been hanging about longer than you want. Anything that needs using fast, stick an asterisk against so you know and don't forget about it. Then write your meal plan for the week, and that in turn gives you your shopping list. Now The shopping list is god. Think of it like Fight Club - with the shopping list, the first rule is that you buy ONLY what is on the shopping list.:D Remember to factor in lunches, and snacks too.

Another thing - if you're cooking a bolognese, for example, cook double. Freeze half, and then days like today, when you're shattered, you can just yank that out of the freezer, cook some pasta, and that's dinner. Learn to box clever and it all gets a lot simpler!

Good luck!