£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

GeorgianaCavendish

You've been so productive, that's brilliant! And what a great feeling to know that you can deal with an unexpected expense (like the increased nursery fees) by tweaking the budget, and not needing to borrow a bit more

Treadingonplaymobil

JoJoC wrote: »

Wow! Have you any top up shops to do? How fab would it be to have £50 left over to put towards debt/ a treat/ savings. Well done Mr TOP!

Sounds like a productive day, and you're right, an hour's work is better than no work.

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

You've been so productive, that's brilliant! And what a great feeling to know that you can deal with an unexpected expense (like the increased nursery fees) by tweaking the budget, and not needing to borrow a bit more

£25 of it is already accounted for, as it's going towards the preschool fees miscalculation, but even if we only end up with a tiny bit leftover I'll be really pleased, as it will mean we can end the month richer than we started it even without me having a surprise extra bit of income (the bit of debt we paid off before Christmas was largely due to me getting a couple of unexpected enormous bits of work in). It would be the first time we've stuck to our budget in, oooh, perhaps a decade. That's slightly embarrassing.

JoJoC

It may be embarrassing, but we're all in that situation! You're not alone! I can't remember when I last had a handle on my finances, and I sometimes wonder how we're not in a worse situation to be honest.

It's great to look at yourself from the outside and be glad that you've made the step.

armchairexpert

Just popping in to say that "lightly horrified" is an exquisite turn of phrase and I shall be stealing it at all possible opportunities.

Treadingonplaymobil

armchairexpert wrote: »

Just popping in to say that "lightly horrified" is an exquisite turn of phrase and I shall be stealing it at all possible opportunities.

:rotfl: Always pleased to be of assistance!

Treadingonplaymobil

Yesterday's list, before I move on with today's....

To do (yesterday):
1. Ice biscuits for my client. Done!
2. Update YNAB and move some of remaining food budget to next month's budget (will leave a little in case of a top up shop). Done! Ended up mainly being used to cover unexpectedly higher preschool fees, but never mind.
2. Social media while working. Done!
3. Turn around the last minute work I got yesterday - only an hour or so's work, so only about £20 in if, but better than a slap in the face with a wet kipper . Done, and it was more like 2 hours work, so will be a little more money.
4. Tidy the bombsite that used to be my dining room . Erm. Not done. The shame.
5. Return the online order that's been loitering for over a week. OMG still not done. I swear I have a blind spot about this parcel. MUST do today.

To do this week:
1. Sit down as a family (we have a weekly family meeting on a Monday, this seems a good time) and come up with ways to reduce water usage. Done!
2. Look for paper/online copy of washing machine manual to see which cycle uses least water/energy, as part of an ongoing mission to reduce costs of both.
3. Log into ee - our last two bills have been c.£91, which is even more ridiculous than the £85 contract fee, so we’re clearly overspending somewhere. Done, and lightly horrified to see that our bills are actually £89.75, not £85. That's a crapload of money on mobile phones.
4. Find out how much preschool bill is for this month and pay it - they seem terrible at giving out invoices and I don’t want to inadvertently get into arrears! Done! Annoyingly higher than expected, but not horribly so.
5. Ask at school whether there is dressing up for world book day.Done, and nobody seems to know! Will have to tap all my inventive skills if there is a last minute demand for costumes.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 2: Day 4

Money and work have been slowly trickling in (to my business account, so not available for debt overpayment yet) and I think that with the work I've done and will do before the end of this month, I will have my bare minimum 'salary' (business account withdrawal) made for March and April before March even begins. Rather than madly overpaying debt, I have decidedly I would absolutely love to be a month ahead with my self employed income, to give me a bit of a buffer for future quiet months. Once that's done I have a lovely complicated formula for splitting any additional income between overpaying debt, creating a slightly larger buffer and adding to our budget so we have a little bit of reward for me doing extra work. Hopefully I'll earn enough to make us of having sat down and worked all of that out!

All of the above feels very boring as I desperately want to throw everything at the debt, but I have recognised that an enormous part of the problem was caused by pure poor management of my business account, and I think it's better to have had a month of playing it overly safe, as long as we're meeting our minimum debt repayments, then worry about overpaying debts once that's done.

I'm going away with work tomorrow afternoon for 48 hours, so I need to plan everything out so no one has any need to spend money while I'm away. Also need to work out what I can take with me to cover snacks and lunches out of what we have in the house - evening meals and breakfasts will be covered, but I will be out all day on Friday and am aiming to carry everything I need with me to avoid spending anything at all.

To do today:
1. Avoid the temptation to spend ANY money when I go into town with my friend today (just for a wander and a catch up). Might just not take my wallet so I can't be tempted.
2. Batch cook tomato soup for when I'm away at the end of this week as DH might not have time to once he's home from work, and I do.
4. Batch cook chilli for the same reason.
5. Social media while working
6. Try again to tidy the bomb site that used to be my dining room
7. Try again to return the online order that's been loitering for over a week.

Since I've already managed everything on my to do list for the week, I've added a couple of extras...

To do this week:
1. Sit down as a family (we have a weekly family meeting on a Monday, this seems a good time) and come up with ways to reduce water usage. Done!
2. Look for paper/online copy of washing machine manual to see which cycle uses least water/energy, as part of an ongoing mission to reduce costs of both.
3. Log into ee - our last two bills have been c.£91, which is even more ridiculous than the £85 contract fee, so we’re clearly overspending somewhere. Done, and lightly horrified to see that our bills are actually £89.75, not £85. That's a crapload of money on mobile phones.
4. Find out how much preschool bill is for this month and pay it - they seem terrible at giving out invoices and I don’t want to inadvertently get into arrears! Done! Annoyingly higher than expected, but not horribly so.
5. Ask at school whether there is dressing up for world book day.Done, and nobody seems to know! Will have to tap all my inventive skills if there is a last minute demand for costumes.[/QUOTE]
6. Put all insurance renewal dates into calendar in advance so I have time to search for better deals.
7. Put a date in the calendar to reassess gas and electricity usage/DD.

ada-or-ardor

What is it about online oders?? It may make you feel better to know that I often have returns parcels sitting on the warzone that is my dining table for weeks!!!! I annoy the hell out of myself sometimes, I do wonder how DP puts up with me ;-)

Just to say a) I think you are doing absolutely, positively, without a doubt the right thing by building a buffer for your business. Your debt will take time to pay off, a month or two of minimum payments won't make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. And b) a huge well done to you for having identified it as a potential cause for your debt! What a change from your LBM to now - you are a money manager if ever I've seen one. And you're right to then give yourself a little treat for all your hard work, supporting your family and taking care of the little one.

And amazing work on almost having March and April's 'salary' already. Keep it up, you really are doing fabulously!!

Ada

brizzledfw

You're doing brilliantly..keep it up and enjoy the time away (even if you are working!

Treadingonplaymobil

brizzledfw wrote: »

You're doing brilliantly..keep it up and enjoy the time away (even if you are working!

I will! It will be great fun, and I get three whole train journeys completely in peace to read or knit. Bliss.

ada-or-ardor wrote: »

What is it about online oders?? It may make you feel better to know that I often have returns parcels sitting on the warzone that is my dining table for weeks!!!! I annoy the hell out of myself sometimes, I do wonder how DP puts up with me ;-)

Just to say a) I think you are doing absolutely, positively, without a doubt the right thing by building a buffer for your business. Your debt will take time to pay off, a month or two of minimum payments won't make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. And b) a huge well done to you for having identified it as a potential cause for your debt! What a change from your LBM to now - you are a money manager if ever I've seen one. And you're right to then give yourself a little treat for all your hard work, supporting your family and taking care of the little one.

And amazing work on almost having March and April's 'salary' already. Keep it up, you really are doing fabulously!!

Ada

Thank you! It's nice to have some reassurance. it just feels so mad that I have £500 in my business account right now, and I haven't spent it all :eek:

Right, now I'm off to deal with that return. Shudder.