From debt to freedom...

crazy_cat_lady

Hope the rain held off for you HSL...
It is a pain about the house isn't it? So sorry that you have so much worrying you - it's no comfort now but it will come good in the end.
I have to say, I'm dreading the day dd is old enough to drive. I need to be a billionaire by then!

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you CCL. The rain did hold off but I completely blew it on Sunday afternoon. I had to get DD to the birthday party but we already have a Sunday morning commitment, so the timing was quite tight, so tight that we had to go straight there without having time to stop for lunch. 3 hungry children in the car miles from home meant that I ended up getting them lunch at McD0nalds while the DD was at the party. I was cross with myself that I hadn't been more organised.:(

One positive MSE thing I've done is to change phone & broadband provider. We don't use the landline that often, only to call family, which might be 2 calls a week, which are evening calls. I ended up with a £300+ phone bill :eek: which I thought was ridiculous especially when I looked at MSE's broadband page and realised that I could get broadband and landline for half the price than I'm currently paying. So we switch next week

Honeysucklelou2

A very busy day at work with a late meeting. I got home about an hour and a half later than usual. The plus side was a NSD because I was too tied up at work and then too tired to do anything other than go straight home!!
NSD 3rd in November.

Honeysucklelou2

Glad to have got to the end of the week, it's been crazily busy this week and next week looks to be the same as well. I've had to ask DD2 to help me with the logistics, due to the busyness at work, so have spent an extra few pounds giving her petrol money. If she's making these extra journeys for me, it's only right. She'll be helping me again in the coming week, so will give her the same amount again. Thank goodness she can drive...not sure how I would have managed this week's meetings without her, as twice the meetings over ran the nursery closing time.

I have menu planned and got round Mr T's with 3 children, but stuck to the list:T. It is interesting how the children pick up on things. Usually DD3 will plan with me, but yesterday DD4 sat down and said "Right, what do we need from Mr T's?" followed by "Hang on let's write a list of dinners first". I was pleased she had remembered and could see the link between menu plan and shopping list.

Next week is not only busy, but am also doing an extra day, so really need to get on top of housework and cake tins today to allow for as smooth a week as possible next week. Hopefully I will get an extra day off the following week to make up for the extra work day next week.

The next financial hurdle emerged this week...DS1 is old enough to start driving in Feb. He has been looking around for a vehicle and saw one this week. It's for sale locally and he has been to see it with the ex. The ex has told him that he will contribute £500 which is equal to what he spent at auction for DD2's vehicle. The problem is that I would need to find the rest which is just under another £500. The only way I can do that is to empty my emergency fund, which has already taken a couple of hits this year, so only has about £200 in it. The rest would have to come from my next salary payment at the end of the month, which would put a huge squeeze on my budget Although I didn't contribute to DD2's vehicle ( didn't know about it until it appeared), I have paid for the provisional license, tests, driving lessons and am now struggling to pay monthly insurance costs. I am worried about ending up having to pay 2 lots of insurance. I did chat to them last week about giving them £50 each a month to pay towards insurance with the expectation that they work to fund the remainder but in the last week DD2's shifts have gone down, to the point that she may well have to look for another job, that isn't in walking distance, like the one she has now.

On a different note, if 2 of my children are driving , it does mean I could downsize to a 7 seater myself:D.

Spendless

Oh, awkward one! Is the car DS1 saw a very good buy, bearing in mind he can't start driving until Feb anyway and then it's going to take time to pass his test? Who is going to fund his driving lessons?

What's DD2 plans for next year when she'll finish college? Will she then be looking for f-time work? If she is can she then start paying all her car costs herself and DS1 start driving lessons etc at that point?

You're not going to be able to fund all of them, however much you'd like to.

Honeysucklelou2

You are right Spendless, no matter how much I'd like to, I simply can't afford to pay for it all. I went to see the car yesterday ( Sat) and it seemed a good buy. The man who was selling it had just got back from a test drive with someone else and said he'd had about 6 others ring up, so it did feel like we had to make a decision today. The ex knows the seller so I believe him about the others. At the last discussion, it looks like I might be able to contribute 25% and then DS will use some of his money from his grandfather to fund the rest.

DD4 wanted to make a carrot cake, so she had a go doing it on her own, although I was pottering around in the kitchen at the same time. While the oven was on, I made a batch of chocolate brownies. Unbelievably both were gone by evening. The teenage boys in particular, need snacks hiding to stop them eating all of it! Will have to bake more for the tins today (Sun).

The weather was glorious so I got a load of washing dried on the line:J and DD3 helped me by ironing some of the items :T. I don't often get any help with housework tasks so her help was much appreciated!

A NSD on Sat, bringing November's total to 4. I'm hoping for another NSD on Sunday too.

The toddler and I are battling the beginnings of a cough:(. It might have to be a quieter day for us today.

Spendless

Well that sounds like a plan if DS1 can contribute some money from savings.

Hope you're not all starting with the cough I've got. I can't shift mine, it started on Halloween.

Honeysucklelou2

At least this way I can contribute without it completely breaking me financially.

I've felt horribly grotty all day, so we've had a quiet day. No diesel has been used and nothing spent so NSD 5 for me.

Spendless

The predicament re the cars and associated costs reminds me of a dilemma that another sometimes poster with 8 kids (Kim) made a while back. Her issue was the cost of all 8 learning to swim at the same time. Several of us chipped in with ideas but the suggestion that stood out to me the most was for her to let 2 at a time learn and once passed the next 2 did and so on.

Obviously your issue is dearer and more on-going than being able to swim, but I wonder if going forward you could say to them 'I can fund x for so much until x starts working then I can fund y for so much until this point and then I will be funding Z for so much until Z is doing ......' Rather than it being as they each hit 17 driving and having a car being what they do next, that the next one hitting that birthday has to wait until a next sibling up gets to their 'goal' where they take over car/driving costs. Part of that would need to be they have savings for the costs just in case they suddenly lose their job or have hours cut etc.

Just a suggestion, might be a rubbish one. :rotfl: I don't know how child 4 to 8 are spaced out, so it might be years before it becomes a huge issue anyway, other than I know child 8 is a toddler and by the time he is learning to drive hopefully you'll own a multi million pound industry/have married a billionaire/won thousands on the lottery and it not be an issue.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless, much to think about. In hindsight, I think the best plan would have been to make DD2's car" the children's car" as a shared resource. Unfortunately communication or lack of it, between the ex and I meant he presented it to her at the time without me knowing until the day.

The ex is now having second thoughts about this vehicle we saw on Saturday...

Having a very busy week, didn't get home until 8.30 last night, so am feeling more and more tired. Meetings all day today and training tomorrow, so a very odd week.