A Ditherer's Diary (again)

Four_Seasons

Well done, you are doing so well you should be very proud of yourself!

Naomim

GeorgianaCavendish said:

Brilliant progress Naomi! You are an inspiration with the Monzo pots, I aspire to that level of organisation. 
Do you use the savings goals on the pots, and if so, do you have a mix of long and short term goals on the pots? I've set different goals on the monthly ; quarterly and annual pots (e.g. groceries is per month; haircuts per quarter; insurance per year) roughly based on how frequently I think I'll be spending from the pots. I get demotivated if I have too many high targets, I have to feel like I'm winning somewhere  

I don't have any goals set on the pots.  I did set a goal on the Christmas one but then when I bought some bits early, I had to unlock it and if I remember rightly, I had to withdraw the lot and re-set the pot up 🤔 To be honest I probably don't utilise it as much as I should. I don't do any round ups either as I think I could get carried away and at the moment every penny counts!

FootyFanDan said:

Wow, that is amazing progress you have made 😀, the fact you have learned how to better budget is what will help u keep up and not keep falling back into the debt trap. Super impressed by the monzo pots too. Keep up the fab work

Thank you, monzo was a revelation to me and I would never have heard of it if it wasn't for this site.  I love it and am a complete cheerleader!  I think if I just saw it as a lump sum in my savings account it would have been well and truly dipped into. Knowing the pots are there for very specific reasons is firmly keeping me on track. 

Four_Seasons said:

Well done, you are doing so well you should be very proud of yourself!

Thank you 😃
I've had many a flickering LBM over the past few years but something this time has just well and truly stuck and I've been pleased with how it's gone.  I still have a very long way to go £28,500 on the credit cards so will be August 2025 according to the snowball calculator, but if I can continue to get 0% deals once these have finished, then hopefully I'll be able to shave some time off of that. Alongside the small overpayments too.  Already Looking forward to Feb & Mar next year when I can use the council tax money to overpay on a card. 😁

Naomim

Aspiration

Naomim said:

I have managed to finally update my bank account spreadsheet. It doesn't make for too pretty reading 😕    

This month marks a year since I really had my LBM / financial epiphany.  When I think back to this time last year, I was refused credit when I wanted to buy the kids bikes for Christmas so had to put it on a credit card, I was constantly worrying if I could withdraw any cash out of the bank account and receiving texts from the bank telling me I'd gone over the overdraft and to put money in the account. The only money I had was what I had put by for Christmas so that was constantly dipped into. The worry stopped me sleeping properly.   This year I have paid off £4.6k on the credit cards and got them all onto 0% and £2.7k on the overdraft.  Just over £7k. It might not be as much as some and as fast as others but I have also managed to budget. My Monzo account currently has a balance of £2794 which is set aside in for future purchases - Christmas, car repairs, insurances etc. Obviously the Christmas pot will empty as I purchase things, but nothing this year will be bought on credit.

I've even managed to get the children to save up towards the game consoles they want for Christmas!  Go me!

I checked my Quidco and Topcashback accounts.  I have £90 in TCB and £32 in Quidco so I'll probably cash them out at the end of the year and put as an overpayment to one of the cards.

Everything is jogging along nicely, I just need to remember to enjoy the scenery along the way 😊

Naomim

Amazing progress and It sounds like you’ve got a great momentum moving in to 20/21.

Scloud

Congratulations on your first year! It sounds like you have made really firm foundations that mean your debt free wannabe journey will be successful! 

Really enjoy this Christmas shopping knowing how well you are doing!

Naomim

I've had such a lazy day today. I was meant to help 11yo do her room but just couldn't get motivated. I must do it tomorrow as she wants to go through her boxes and see if she has bits to sell to help fund her savings for the gaming PC.

I've done a bit of Christmas shopping online,  drank copious amounts of tea & coffee and am now watching Easter Parade on tv.  I love a musical.  

I managed to get a Christmas delivery slot for the 21st December.  I'm happy with that as then if anything is missing I have time to get out and get them.

Hope you're all having as good a weekend as possible,  it's pouring with rain here 🙁.

Naomim 

Naomim

Today I managed to get a few books and DVD's listed on FB Marketplace. Lots of interest in one set of books. I've asked the person interested to make payment by paypal but not heard back from them yet 😕 at least I know there is plenty of interest if they don't cough up.  It's only £5 but as a whole set of 7 books would make a lovely Christmas present for a child.

I've also messaged my friends husband regarding getting my car serviced and MOT'd. He's a mechanic with the paramedic service and had a terrible year with work being so busy and family this year. His elderly father is in hospital with COPD and Covid, his MiL died unexpectedly in August.  I'm hoping he can recommend someone to do my car. Unfortunately my car is 11 years old and needs a new cambelt. I've saved £850 but he thinks I will need more than this to get that replaced and the service/MOT done 😢

I've had a bill from the vets for £1063.00 for my dogs visit last week.  I thought they were going to put in a direct claim with my insurer so need to find out whether they do it or I have to.  Otherwise I have no choice but to put it on a credit card and when the claim is paid, pay it back.  I may need to see if I can apply for a 0%  purchases card. I will check the affordability checker on here.

MrM is the treasurer for a non-league football club. He's asked me to get their banking onto spreadsheets. I've charged the club £40 to do this which is going into my pot to get 11yo's bedroom sorted.  I've also had quite a few Prolific surveys this week so waiting for them to start paying through.

The membership fee for my professional course is due also, but good news is it's half of what I was expecting and saving for. I don't want to set up a DD but there is only the option to pay by cheque otherwise, so I need to dig around the junk drawers in the kitchen as I'm sure there's a cheque book lolling about in there.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Naomim

Naomim

Morning,

A quick update. After the mammoth clear out of 11yo's bedroom a couple of things have sold and I've made the princely sum of £6 so far!  The money has gone in the 11yo's bedroom refurb pot.  I think I have created a bit of a money monster here.  Whilst I have taught her and shown with my actions that you need to save for something you want, she now wants money for everything!

Thinking about the vets bill. first I need to check if the vets are going to put through a direct claim with the insurers, in which case I just need to wait.  Otherwise I was thinking of applying for a 0% purchases card but I have checked with my current providers and none are offering that deal to me at the moment. I went on the MSE credit card eligibility and only one came up with 90% chance but it's with Virgin Money and I already have a card with them so not sure I could apply for another 🤔  I pay over the minimums on all my cards so should be a good bet except for my loan utilisation which is fairly high - although reducing. I may need to post this question on the credit card board.

I'm also going to have a bit of a rant about the DFW board. I usually love it and often read other people's questions. Many of us are in the same boat, got in a pickle for whatever reason and looking for ways to sort it out. But recently, I've noticed there seems to be a minority of very judgemental and rude people replying on there.  Yes some people have made some very questionable choices which has led them to debt but they have come to the boards for help, not judgement. I even noticed on one a few weeks back one of the board guides told the OP to just google the answer.  They may not have known really what they were searching for or the right questions to ask and came to DFW for more help.  I'm just very disappointed with it at the moment.

In other non financial news. 15yo has been sent home from school to self isolate as he has been in close contact with another pupil in his school bubble who has tested positive. He's missing 3 mock exams so another phone call needed to find out what he does about learning for this period. I assume something is online but it's not been made clear at all.

Hope you are all keeping safe and well.

Naomim

Naomim

Evening all,

My friends husband has done my car. He's replaced my cambelt,  serviced & MOT'd it. Cost £600 but would have been so much more with a garage.  I had the money saved and this leaves me £188 in the car maintenance pot. MrM's car is due in Jan I think so another £160 will be added to the pot by then. 

Have joined a group on FB called DIY on a budget. OMG getting so many ideas for the house!   I know I need to get 11yo's bedroom sorted first so may need to curb my looking on it. 🤣  keeping my eyes open on FB & ebay for a trundle bed for her room so once lockdown is over and fingers crossed things return to normal,  she can have sleepovers again. 

Yesterday I met my friend for a socially distanced dog walk. I drove over as my dog has arthritis and heart problems so cant walk far. Got halfway to her house before I realised I'd forgotten the dog! 😳🤣

Today we got the Christmas decs out and the tree up. The lights are on but nothing else yet. 

Hope you are all keeping safe & well.

Naomim 

FootyFanDan

The fact you have had the work done on car and still got money left over has to be considered a huge win right! haha. This is the one aspect of my budget I have been worried about as although I do have some saved I am worried that its going to take a chunk of my wage this month - I have split it so MOT will be beginning of month (so covered by Nov wage) Service due at end of year from Dec wage. Although the car has been pretty well looked after and serviced every year except this year due to the restrictions (normally done June). 

A dog walk without the dog now that's a new one 🤣 

Naomim

FootyFanDan said:

The fact you have had the work done on car and still got money left over has to be considered a huge win right! haha. This is the one aspect of my budget I have been worried about as although I do have some saved I am worried that its going to take a chunk of my wage this month - I have split it so MOT will be beginning of month (so covered by Nov wage) Service due at end of year from Dec wage. Although the car has been pretty well looked after and serviced every year except this year due to the restrictions (normally done June). 

A dog walk without the dog now that's a new one 🤣 

When I was working out my budget after the LBM hit last year, car maintenance was such an important one as it caused part of my LBM. This time last year my car needed so much work doing and I had to borrow the money from the bank of Mum & Dad. (still paying it back).  I knew then the cambelt needed doing but just couldn't afford to do it.  I wish I could afford a newer car but for now I have to look after what I have.  Once the debts are gone then I can think about replacing, unless it dies in the meantime 😕

I felt so daft, forgetting to take the dog on a walk!  At least it gave me family a laugh 😂

Naomim