No More!

erniethecat

Well done for getting through the year! Sometimes we take one step back to go two forwards, and it sounds like you're in a forward gear now. I 'm looking forward to watching you.

hamiltoes

Thank you for dropping by Ernie, last year was definitely a year of sorting and while there was a few steps back it should enable me to hopefully make some great steps forward :-)

Starting the year as I mean to go on with a NSD! Well not much choice really as the shops are shut. But no online shopping etc and this is my 3rd in a row. Won't make one tomorrow as back to work so need to get some milk for there as well as home.

Budget resets on Wednesday. Giving myself £80 p/w for the three of us as petrol has reduced. This is for food, petrol, discretionary spends and I'm hoping I can come in under each week and put some aside for the girls clothes etc. I've not spent any money on clothes in about 6 months, there's a few things I could do with but nothing is an urgent need.

I'm happy to say I've had 3 business orders already this morning! About £30 worth which is fab. I've just sat and went through the figures for Dec and I did £1807 which is fantastic and three times the previous month which was when I started!! I was (and still am) really worried that it was a pre Christmas fluke but it's not a gift related product (more of a hobby thing) so I am really hoping to continue my good fortune into January. This is all very new territory for me and I know I'll make mistakes along the way so I am really using this as a learning experience and if I can recoup the money I've put in I'll be delighted, anything over and above that will be a massive bonus on top!

Todays plans quick sort of the house, off to my mums for a new years dinner and then home to sort orders for the past few days. I think there are around 20 so I'll have my work cut out.

hamiltoes

Sorted the house to some degree, had a lovely dinner and up to date with all orders.

Currently in bed with a cuppa and I'm going to set some 2018 goals. I hate the last night of holidays before work because I am a natural night owl and find it so hard to get to sleep, but I'm up at 5.30 which will be a shock to the system so really must try!

My goal for 2018 is to pay as much as possible to the one CC I have left. It's a long 0% (3yrs) with a balance of £8200. In order to pay off the balance within 36m I need to throw at least £230pm at it but I am aiming for sooner. This is the remainder of the Tesco CC which I'd got down to about £4k at the end of last year + a couple of stock orders for the business.

Other than that I now just have the two loans in my name, one of which I class as a mortgage because it funded my house purchase and the other a business loan I used to set it all up. They are both just included in my monthly expenditure and when the CC is paid the priority will shift to mortgage loan as that has higher interest rate and monthly payment.

The car I am not really seeing as a debt, just a monthly cost of motoring in the same way food is a monthly cost of living. Due to the fact they lose value so quickly I can't ever imagine a time where I'm not either paying off a car or saving to buy a new one, so I'm not all that concerned about overpaying this at all.

So 2018 Goals:
1. Get CC to 4k which will put me on track for a 2y pay off
2. List and shift stock!! I have lots of stock that don't even have images and aren't listed on the website. I have been so busy replenishing whats selling well and keeping on top of it that I've had no time for anything else. A realistic goal is to photograph and list one new product a week (which includes anything between 5 and 50 variations in colour)
3. Decide by march if this job is really right for me and if not start searching for a new one
4. Look after myself more. I have cut a lot of the things that made me feel really good about myself in 2017 like new clothes, nails done, expensive hairdressing appointments and eyelashes etc. I need to invest in myself and my appearance more without spending a lot of money. A lot of this can be done cheaply if I can find the time to do it myself and organise the things I already have. I feel like 2017 I was in a bit of a rut, I need to change this.

I think that's enough goals to get me started and my plan is to review these at the end of each month :-)

hamiltoes

Back to work blues central here this morning.

I have absolutely nothing to do and nobody to talk to. It's really starting to get me down now. Although this move was the best thing salary and family wise I'm just not sure I made the right decision. Seeing it out until March will be an achievement at this rate and I do think I'm going to start applying for things if they are close by and in my line of work. We'll see.

On a positive since I've had nothing to do I shuffled some figures around and made a £200 overpayment to my loan to make me feel better :-) I know I said I was going to concentrate on the CC but with it being such a long 0% I don't know if that's sensible right now? The loan is 11.8% so the £200 payment shaved a month of my term and saved £219 in interest. I'm thinking it's a bit of a no brainier to overpay on this just now, at least for the foreseeable.

So balance after yesterday's monthly payment was £23,385 and today sitting at £23,185 although I think interest still needs to be added this month. But at least it's 3 steps forward 1 step back :-)

I think the plan will be to overpay loan with my own personal money and overpay CC with any business money, which makes sense as a good bulk of the CC was to buy stock in the first place.

Spends today £4.20 in tesco on work milk, a sandwich (£1.80 so cheaper than canteen but must prep lunch at home from now on) and toiletries. Need house milk on way home as yesterday ended up being a NSD. Budget has reset so £75 left til next wed, shouldn't need petrol this week and minimal food shopping as freezer is mid-ful. Back to doing nothing at work!

Mumoffourkids

Just read your diary Hamiltoes after you commented on mine. It took me a few days as kids back to school and me back to work seemed to take up most of my time.

You do seem to think through all of your decisions carefully and even though your debt has increased, it was done because it made sense for you.

I think as long as you keep in mind frugal ways but still try to live a little, that will see you pay off your debt.

And well done you for starting your own business, hopefully you will be able to use the income from that to pay off your debts but don't forget to budget for tax on your self employed income!