A Ditherer's Diary (again)

Naomim

Hello,

I've been a busy little bee. Yesterday I managed to pop to Homebase,  bought a strawberry plant as 10yo will live on strawberries, and got some stocks for the two planters in the front of the house. I got wood filler and also tried to re hang my coat hooks but that didn't work 😕  I also stopped in the petrol station next door to Homebase and bought myself a costa coffee from the machine. Mine heart doth sing.  ☕🤭

Today I have cut the grass in the front garden, attended a socially distanced street party in my cul de sac, walked the dog and prepared my pots for planting. I'm now sitting in the garden with a cup of tea before starting on more housework. 

I hope you all have a lovely bank holiday. 

Naomim 

moving_forward

Ooh sounds like the gardening bug is starting to bite a little!

Naomim

moving_forward said:

Ooh sounds like the gardening bug is starting to bite a little!

Just a little 🎍  I planted the stocks in the two large planters outside and a couple left over in a smaller pot on the front doorstep, I also put the strawberry plant in a big pot out the front (it's sunnier longer there) and planted a pot of sweetpeas but they are on my kitchen windowsill at the moment.  10yo has also planted her sunflowers so we shall see what happens. 🤞   You are right, start small.  If I can get any of these to survive or grow, I'll be happy.  I think my next door neighbour was pleased I'm making an effort.  She is 80 and has the most lovely front and back gardens. Our front is generally unloved and not cared for and just a sight.  Having said that, there is a broken wardrobe on the front grass at the moment as with the 14yo I FINALLY got round  to build the Swedish shop unit and taking his old wardrobe out. The chest of drawers had collapsed on it's own accord a couple of weeks prior.  I'm hoping the dump will re-open soon so we can get rid of it.

We were also very lucky to have been gifted a second-hand large 4 burner & side hob gas barbecue.  It's lovely so I've promptly ordered a cover to keep it safe from the elements as we have no shed and our garage is in a block round the corner so no easy access for large items.  We had a bbq on Saturday which I think the kids enjoyed.

I am struggling to get either of them doing any homework.  10yo is doing minimum and 14 is just not coping.  He has this morning had a look at a maths revision book that has 10 minutes tests.  He certainly needs bitesize chunks.  I don't have the time to dedicate to make sure they are doing stuff.  Although I'm working from home, I'm working and expected to get my usual 8 hours in.  I can't keep stopping and trying to read, understand then explain something to them.

This month marks 6 months since I had my LBM and started budgeting and not spending on my credit cards. This is my progress so far:

Credit Cards - 
Nov 19 £33,220.42
May 20 £31,129.11
6.29% reduction

Overdraft
Nov 19 £4581.92
May 20 £2083.47
54.52% reduction

I have £500 in my emergency fund and a further £1,500 saved for future budgets, ie car repairs & insurances, presents, house insurances, vet bills  etc so when they are due for payment I should be able to meet them and pay in full without needing to resort to credit.

I still have a very long way to go but I'm hoping to get this cleared within the next 4 to 5 years instead of the 7 my snowball is currently telling me.  

Everything is heading in the right direction 👍

Naomim

moving_forward

You are doing well.  You can't do it all and as long as you do what you can don't feel bad.
Good job on the ikea unit x

Naomim

Today I have been provisionally accepted for a new 0% balance transfer card with a £7000 limit.  I currently have £5474 on Barclaycard charging 21.04% interest and £4494 on MBNA which is about to start charging 20.93% interest.  MBNA are always offering me balance transfers, so I was thinking of moving the MBNA amount to the new card and part of the Barclaycard balance then transfer the balance of the Barclaycard to my MBNA.  

As I have DD's set up for overpayments, I have logged on and changed them to minimum payments for now so I can move the cash I normally pay to where it's needed most once I've done the transfers. I couldn't do the balance transfer online as I don't have the physical MBNA card and the online form was asking for the card expiry date 🙄. I've had to order a replacement card (which will be put straight away with the others).  It will be good to free up some interest charging accounts, re-do my snowball and see how that has affected my debt free date.

Naomim

Aspiration

Looking at your progress you should be really proud!! 

Great you’ve got a 0% card to reduce the amount of interest you’re paying, based on the progress you know you won’t spend additional on it. 

Continuing to follow and cheer you on! 

Naomim

Thanks @Aspiration I think of all the time I've been on and off these boards this is the first time I've made any significant dent in the debt plus managed to budget successfully. This was my true LBM. 

Naomim

I received a persistent debt letter from MBNA today 😒 I wouldn't mind but this is a card I have been overpaying slightly every month.  It's only about £8-£10 overpayments. It's the card that is about to start charging interest on part of the balance and is going to be transferred to the Halifax 0% interest as soon as my replacement arrives.

Grocery shopping is doing very poorly. There's £66 in my groceries pot left for two more shops. This is not really achievable and was already upped it this month.  I'm going to have to raid my petrol pot which currently has a healthy surplus. Also need to do an inventory of the cupboards and freezer.  I have meal planned for this week so will need to think about next weeks meals. It's trying to find stuff we all like, that's cheap and easy to  make without being too repetitive.  

Overall my budget is looking healthy. Our home insurance is due in June, I know there's not enough in my savings pot to pay in full - currently £125 in there and last years premium was about £230  but I think I can make the balance up from the bank account and then what I would be paying as a monthly payment can snowball onto the credit cards.  That would be an extra £25 a month over-payment.   

It's all rolling together, just wished it was happening faster but I know it took years for the debt to build up in the first place and I'm not pushing us so every penny is going at it.   I have a few bits for sale on FB Marketplace & the Nextdoor app. I've sold a pair of 10yo's shoes she never wore for £10 but no biters on anything else 😕 hopefully they'll shift. I might try and get them ebay.

Off to do some lunches.

Stay frugal

Naomim

Mumoffourkids

I’m struggling with my food budget for this month as well. I have £170 left and it’s only just gone halfway of the month. I have a click and collect slot for this Sunday and next Sunday to come out of that total as well as top up shops of bread and milk as we go through roughly a loaf of bread a day and nearly 4 pints of milk a day. I’m think I might have to start baking sweet treats to save on the food bill.

Naomim

Mumoffourkids said:

I’m struggling with my food budget for this month as well. I have £170 left and it’s only just gone halfway of the month. I have a click and collect slot for this Sunday and next Sunday to come out of that total as well as top up shops of bread and milk as we go through roughly a loaf of bread a day and nearly 4 pints of milk a day. I’m think I might have to start baking sweet treats to save on the food bill.

@Mumoffourkids It's mad isn't it!  I didn't realise how much we all eat "out of the house" MrM & I used to have breakfast at the in-laws or once we were at work, 10yo had breakfast and dinner at the Grandparents 4 days a week.  I always meal planned for the evenings but now we and the kids are home all day everyday, the fridge has become a bit of a free for all.  Especially with the teen who has turned mainly nocturnal and is like a little night hamster stuffing food.  I think I need to cut back on the treats too. I try and hide stuff to make it last longer, but they're all finding my hiding places. 😂

Naomim