No More!

hamiltoes

Thanks for your support Bob

hamiltoes

Have been religiously checking my bank all weeked as D1s dad should have transferred £50 on Friday and D2s dad should have transferred £200. Need this to put my £50 into my Xmas/ Bday fund and £200 for the final credit card payment. I know it will be paid one way or another but the not knowing when is really frustrating me :mad:

Started re-reading Kondo last night. I started off when I was part time and did all my clothes but never finished the book. Full time working is really making me so lazy with housework and most days I feel like I barely keep on top of it. I know this excuse goes against what she says in the book.

My house is very "tidy" for the sake of appearances but I have a large walk in cupboard in every room, two in the hall, and they are crammed full to the extent that things fall out when you open them!

I did go around and do an extensive clear out of the real junk over the last number of months, one a month since summer say, but its at the stage where the one I did in summer is now back to it's overflowing state!

I think I must be a bit of a hoarder really and need to learn to let go. Also notice a huge issue is the amount of rubbish (and non rubbish) that comes into my house! I have a huge family who are always giving me bits and bobs and buying things, especially for the girls. Although lovely, it gets hard because I feel like if I bought all their own clothes I'd have a set number of basic items that could be mixed and matched for hassle free washings and organising. But the reality is I end up with a drawer overflowing with clothes and not a single wearable outfit because I've totally lost track of what goes with what.

Prime example my gran recently got my youngest a raincoat, she has one already and also her sisters old one for spare.. both navy which go with the bulk of her wardrobe. Gran got her a character one that I will really stuggle to match with anything she has already so it's sat in my nicely ordered cupboard with no real home until I find something she can wear with it.

This goes for shoes too, their shoe drawer is overflowing with pairs that will only go with one outfit or are just too impractical for every day wear.

I probably sound so ungrateful, I really don't mean too and I do realise I'm very lucky to have such a kind family. I just wish they'd listen when I tell them I really don't need anymore STUFF as I am trying hard to reduce all the stuff I have right now!

Update on pile of STUFF in the hall- BF has still not gone to the skip. If it sits there any longer I may just have to put it back in the cupboard and give up entirely :rotfl:

hamiltoes

Whilst procrastinating when I should be doing housework I decided to go through a months expenses pre-LBM so I could get an idea where I spent money.

I randomly chose August and now I feel slightly sick at the amount of money I used to quite literally just waste!!

This month was slightly different in that I received double wages at my current work as I just missed the previous months payday and I also had money due to me from my previous work for holidays and expenses. I had a grand total of £5360 into my account that month, you'd think I would have put it to good use??

Here are the good things I did.

Paid all normal bills.
Paid £900 for our hol, BF gave me back half in cash which was spends.
Paid £1025 off debt (whilst simultaneously running up more I may add!)
Paid £268 to DIY decorate girls room

Bad things I did.

£396 on clothes
£142 on groceries as well as £52 in mcds £45 in k*c £47 on posh coffee £60 on eating out and a whopping £120 on 7 different takeaways!! :mad:
£78 random Amazon
£258 smoking :eek:
£180 cash withdrawls some nights out
£150 make up!!
£19 random itunes purchases
£16 random toys

This was all before getting normal bills down so I was paying daft prices like £12 overdraft fees, £106 tv packages and £80 phone.

So the sickening total that month was £5488!!!:eek:

Oh to have that time again I would do it so differently. I have went from that to £100 a week for all food, petrol, everything!! As i've said before this will likely be unsustainable and need reviewing, a pair of good shoes for DDs alone is about £35 and £40 petrol 2/3 weeks is just a necessary evil but a huge chunk of the £100. I will try to stick with it as long as I can as it has worked massively well this month- I have paid off around £1300 from debt which is around half my total income!

Lightbulb is buzzing now with motivation, it feels good to write this down knowing I can look back on this if I ever feel like going off the rails.

Drawingaline

You are doing well, look forward!

My loan also sends a letter everytime I overpay so I do it as one s/o a month.

hamiltoes

Up to my limits on spends and that was with a NSD today. Had £1 saved for milk but DD1 decided she'd had enough of wobbling a tooth and asked her friend to punch it out..:rotfl: "You did what???"

So my £1 for milk is now tucked under her pillow. DD2 who is 2 is still on powdered stuff, (it actually works out cheaper!) so I'll be stingy in my tea and coffee and we should make it until Wednesday. Egg on toast for my tea tomorrow :A

I was a bit naughty this week though I must say and did treat us to some fried chicken on Friday night as well as some munchies while I was in getting screen wash. I sometimes feel I use more screen wash than petrol, not sure if its a north thing (I'm very north) but the stuff they cake on the roads is like porridge oats and every time a car passes I have to scoosh aplenty or it smears cementy stuff all over the screen.

On the petrol front I filled up last night and my dial is just over half a tank, not sure how that happened it seems loads for only a days commute! Don't think it helps I drive an automatic I think they are less economical. Fill up again on Wednesday lunchtime (hopefully!!)

Spends this week:
WED25
Food £20

THU26
Hair dye, lashes, toiletries £13.30

FRI27
Electric £10
Sweets for brothers £2.20
Munchies, girls snacks, screen wash £11
KFC £14

SAT28
NSD

SUN29
Petrol £28.42

MON30
NSD

& Tuesday better be a NSD it's really not an option because I don't have the money :rotfl:

Bobarella

Hamiltoes the lengths kids will go to for the tooth fairy to visit

hamiltoes

STATUS 1ST FEBRUARY 2017

TSB: £270
SAVINGS: £200
RBS: £100
ISA: £500
BONDS: £100
HOUSE: £9375
TSBL: -£3620
CAR: -£1300
CC: -£5700
VERY: -£350

TOTAL NET WORTH -£425

SAVED FROM JAN: £1855

DEBT: £10970

4 MONTH LBM
=£4395 ADDED TO NET WORTH!!


Goals for 1st of March, Finally get to a positive net worth! Aim to completely clear vary.

Bobarella

Wow look at that total!!! You are doing great!

hamiltoes

Thank you!!

So £39.25 into the car yesterday and my week of driving has drawn to a close :j:j I genuinely do hate driving, its a horrible hours bendy drive through county roads and over mountains so the less I have to do the better! I do notice a difference in how drained I feel the week I'm driving. I am up at 5.30, ready and getting girls up and dressed at 6- which is a struggle in itself as my 2 year old is wild and my 6 year old is a grump.

6.30 we leave and I drive over to my mums who kindly has them before school and nursery. Then I do a pick up on the way to the meeting point and arrive at work by 8am (if I'm lucky!). 9hrs of stress and rushing around mad and then it's time to do the whole routine again! Home before 7pm is a result as long as we don't need milk or petrol.

So tonight I have packed the girls off to their dads and found myself in bed with a kebab by 8pm. Whoooops. Its been a hard week and I fancied a treat, will just have to be good the rest of the week. Next week looking much the same, under lots of pressure just now. Have booked the first week in April off so I'm just looking forward to that right now.

DD1 has been ice skating today for an ad-hawk birthday party, £15 for pressie but I forgot my mum was due me £17 from before Christmas so she got it. Now that we're square I won't take this from the weekly budget.

Went onto Very and ended up adding loads to my basket. I was always buying clothes for us three and have literally went cold turkey! I was close to breaking but luckily I didn't cave in. "Nothing looks as good as not being in debt feels".

I've been thinking recently how amazing it would be to have a windfall and get rid of the lot but actually I'm not so sure now. The fact I got so close tonight has made me question wether I really am "cured". Lets face it, its so hard clearing debt the slow way but every time before now I've gone for a quick fix (i.e. Consolidation), its never actually worked and I've ended up even worse off! I think I really need to learn the hard and slow way this time so that I have the time to build up good spending habits for when I am debt free. I need to focus on living within my means and waiting for the things I want.

Bobarella

Hamiltoes You must be so tired doing all that every day. It can't be fun having to get the kids up so early. You are amazing keeping it all going! Really hope your early night helps, and huge well done for resisting the Very temptation.