A Ditherer's Diary (again)

jokono

Hey Naomi, how's life? 🤗

Naomim

Well, it's been a while hasn't it?!

I was just doing the ever ongoing money shuffle of the credit cards and it made me think of here.

Financially, here's the current situation:

Credit cards are now at £15,947.04 so still coming down steadily but also still on the scenic route. All my cards bar one in MrM's name (that went under the radar) are interest free and due to expire. Current cards were offering balance transfers for only 12months @ 5% fee so  I just applied and was approved for a new HSBC balance transfer card with a £14k limit  and 0% interest for 33 months. I have transferred £11,700 to this and will set the DD at £360 a month to clear it within the 0% time frame.  The remaing £4.6k I will transfer to an existing card and overpay as much as possible. 

We do have approx £6k in savings which is our emergency fund and I do not want to use it on the credit cards. As good as I have been at not spending on them, I know my character and am worried once they are cleared I could build it up again.

We are also now completely out of our overdraft and not using it. After a couple of small payrises each, we are now able to split the balance left each month between savings and a credit card overpayment. I am also still tilly tidying almost every night. Sometimes I forget. But usually manage around £25-£35 a month including round-ups on purchases.

MrM's car died, we managed to buy a 20year old 2nd hand one for £3k without using any credit or borrowing. Unfortunately we are in the ULEZ zone so 2nd hand cars are very pricey here!

We have also just spent a lovely week in Wales with dd, the in-laws and our doggo. Again all paid for with no credit. We didn't spend much there, only ate out a handful of times and just enjoyed the glorious beaches and each others company.  Sadly my Aunt passed away last November. She almost made it to 97! She left my brother and I £2,000 each. I have booked 5 days in Sorrento, Italy for MrM & I.  I've always wanted to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum. I didn't want to "waste" her money on bills and this way, I get to do something I will enjoy and have good memories. My cousin said my Aunt would thoroughly approve. 

I have taken to using the Snoop app on my phone - just the free version but I am now completely on top of all bills coming out. I swapped food shopping from Tesco to Aldi which has saved a small fortune. I usually do one shop a month in Tesco for bits I can't get in Aldi.

So - personal life - son is now 20 🤯 He's working full time cheffing at a local Lavender Farm that has a lovely cafe. It's quite stressful for him, but he's also really loving it. He bought himself an e-bike to get to and from work and is quite happy at the moment.  DD is now 15 and about to go into her last year of secondary school. She is loving her football and been playing for a team again for the last year. She's generally a happy soul so not much to report on her thankfully.

MrM and I are in a good place at the moment. Today is his birthday and our 24th wedding anniversary. Life is good at the moment.

If anyone reads this, I hope you are all doing well too.

Naomim

Cherryfudge

Happy anniversary! It sounds as though you've made some good progress, and Italy will be wonderful.

Naomim

Just did some sums whilst looking at my money shuffle spreadsheet.

From Nov 2019 to now we have cleared £17k from credit cards and £5k overdraft. £22k. Roughly £300 a month. Imagine if I could have been overpaying my mortgage and building up savings... 

KajiKita

Naomim said:

Just did some sums whilst looking at my money shuffle spreadsheet.

From Nov 2019 to now we have cleared £17k from credit cards and £5k overdraft. £22k. Roughly £300 a month. Imagine if I could have been overpaying my mortgage and building up savings... 

It's lovely to see you posting again  

Hindsight is a harsh judge! The main thing is that you caught it when you did and you won't let it happen again
Actually, when I read your first post I was impressed that you now have a £6K EF - I don't think you had that the last time you posted here, plus buying car and living etc. 

I'm so glad you are able to use your inheritance for something so lovely (on my bucket list too ) and that you and Mr M are in a good place together - the latter again not where you were when posting before.

I think if you read back a bit of where you started your journey here you would realise how far you've come.

KK

Naomim

Thank you!! 

We've been lucky with both getting small bonuses and pay rises. One of the reasons we were in debt was overseas holidays every year. We were living a life we just couldn't afford. Much as I like a summer holiday, I'm not going to bankrupt ourselves for it.  Our week in Wales came to about £1,400 including food and petrol. 

I've also become a bit of a hermit and spend more time at home. Sundays I take dd to football games so no coffees out with my friends on a Sunday anymore.

It's funny that not even posting here, I've kept up what I've learned. Keeping on top of dd's, tilly tidying and of course still using my Monzo pots. I really do think they helped so much in actually budgeting properly. If I had to post an SOA now, I think I'd be quite pleased with the accuracy. It's also lovely knowing Christmas isn't a surprise 😂 that I can afford to get my hair cut or the car serviced without worrying, credit or "borrowing" from family. 

My darkest hour was not being able to withdraw £30 from the cash machine even though we had a huge overdraft and worrying how I was going to feed the family. I never want to go back there. 

Plan is to get the credit cards gone now as quickly as possible then attack the mortgage. I'm 52 this year so if I could retire at 60 or at least go part time, that would be the dream! 

Naomim

Forgot to add. Re: MrM.   Menopause is a b**ch. I know I haven't been easy to live with and not all of our issues have been related to the Menopause. But life isn't like the soaps and we are a team, even if we lose sight of it sometimes. We're not perfect, he's a tw*t but he's my tw*t. 😂

dawnybabes

Lovely to hear from you.  Most of us don’t into debt overnight and go the scenic route so paying it back that way is apt ! 

Naomim

dawnybabes said:

Lovely to hear from you.  Most of us don’t into debt overnight and go the scenic route so paying it back that way is apt ! 

Thank you. I know there are some hard-core people who think you must clear it all as quickly as possible, not have that coffee or take away. But that's no life (for me). I'm lucky my debts are all on 0% interest and the scenic route is prettier 😂

jokono

Lovely to hear from you, Naomi! I'm happy things are going well ❤️