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

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 32: Day 2

Morning! Blimey, what a weekend. Cake baking and party prep on Saturday, then party Sunday, plus work squeezed in everywhere I could. I have a whopping one day of not being too hectic today, then working away for two days tomorrow and Wednesday, then aiming for website launch on Friday, then clients on the weekend. Can't see life calming down in any meaningful sort of way until next week when I will have a few days of just the usual level of crazy busy rather than full throttle over the top crazy busy.

My lists are short today/this week, because the items on them are enough of a challenge on top of all the work I have going on!

Am struggling to do much more with our budgets than just keep entering things into YNAB - no time to look at ways to make improvements or do anything impressive this month. Just continuing the quiet horror at the inching up credit card, but I will be able to invoice for some work after today, which will make a bit of a dent.

to do today
1. catch up on work that really should have been done last week.
2. make dal for dinner.
3. attempt to improve the general state of the house.

to do this week
1. keep spends to a minimum while away with work.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

Hiddenidenity

Have a lovely day x

Treadingonplaymobil

No time to add up categories, but pleased to see that this week's food shop came in at £49. I think we'll need to top up on fruit (DH never buys enough) but it will still go some way towards balancing out last week's £115 monstrosity.

earthgirl

Hi treading, hope all your work goes well and brings in some funds.
I have really enjoyed reading your diary (took me about a week!) I was in your position (without kids) about 12 years ago. I loved paying off the debt so much that I just carried on with the mortgage.

Just wanted to wish you luck, it's never easy and I think it's great that you are so reflective. In the end I realised that I love the challenge of having the same quality of life before I started paying off debt than after it. And I realised I could do it.

If I wanted a haircut? Went to a student night. Wanted a film subscription? Recorded the free films on tv. Wanted national trust? Made a map of all the free parks/museums/attractions/people to visit in a 60 mile radius and did that instead.just like you all did in summer with your things to do- great idea! Not saying you should do these things at all but I loved thinking of ways to get rid of the debt/mortgage.

I'm cheering you on from the sidelines and really enjoying reading.

HairyHandofDartmoor

You have a great philosophy on life earthgirl. I love doing free things too, nothing I love more than coming out of a shop empty handed .

You're doing well so far Treading, keep up the good work and those debts will start to come down. Good luck with the website launch.

Treadingonplaymobil

earthgirl wrote: »

Hi treading, hope all your work goes well and brings in some funds.
I have really enjoyed reading your diary (took me about a week!) I was in your position (without kids) about 12 years ago. I loved paying off the debt so much that I just carried on with the mortgage.

Just wanted to wish you luck, it's never easy and I think it's great that you are so reflective. In the end I realised that I love the challenge of having the same quality of life before I started paying off debt than after it. And I realised I could do it.

If I wanted a haircut? Went to a student night. Wanted a film subscription? Recorded the free films on tv. Wanted national trust? Made a map of all the free parks/museums/attractions/people to visit in a 60 mile radius and did that instead.just like you all did in summer with your things to do- great idea! Not saying you should do these things at all but I loved thinking of ways to get rid of the debt/mortgage.

I'm cheering you on from the sidelines and really enjoying reading.

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

You have a great philosophy on life earthgirl. I love doing free things too, nothing I love more than coming out of a shop empty handed .

You're doing well so far Treading, keep up the good work and those debts will start to come down. Good luck with the website launch.

That is a great philosophy, and I think I have subconsciously been trying to do similar. I'm trying to ditch the spends that actually didn't genuinely improve our lives, and find cleverer solutions for the ones that do. Our debt is too huge to consider being crazy crazy frugal (well, it is for me, I know others would) until it's paid off, as it would just be too long of having no life, but there's a middle road which I am trying (and sometimes succeeding, sometimes not quite managing) to walk.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 32: Day 3

Another flying visit! Just trying to get myself into gear to head off for a day's work today in a nearby city - should be a good couple of hundred quid profit after expenses (and should be paid this week), then staying with a friend before another day's work in London tomorrow, which should be another £200ish profit (although that one won't be paid until the end of the month). I've decided I'm going to prioritise making sure I have enough to cover my salary and expenses for next month rather than racing to pay off the CC and ending up in exactly the same position next month as this one - I'd like to be able to put the CC away at the end of this month and not get it out ever again, even if it means paying it off slightly more slowly, rather than paying off the full sum when I get paid and leaving my current account short again. I know that the temptation of having that available credit in my wallet will be too much if it's in there much longer, and it's easier to just Not Spend On It than to have it and Spend Sensibly (ha. Not possible). We'll still be able to take a big chunk off it with DH's back paid payrise (assuming it ever gets paid!) so it will be much reduced.

to do today
1. clear emails before heading out to work.
2. give DH a list of house cleaning things that need doing (he has two days off work to do childcare while I'm away). If I don't he will choose some random DIY job to do but not actually do the domestic stuff that needs keeping on top of.
3. send website link to friends to proof read.

to do this week
1. keep spends to a minimum while away with work.

to do this month
1. keep the total spend for the month below £3,500 (last month was miles better than the previous average £3,900, going to try to repeat the feat).
2. get my new website finished and launched (crosses fingers, toes and eyes).
3. just work as much as possible and make some money back to recover the enormous shortfall that faces us this month!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 32: Day 4

Made it through Mad Day 1 of work, just heading off for Mad Day 2. Have had a couple more enquiries for work next week, so will answer those on the train and fingers crossed one or more comes off. Beginning to feel a little less hopeless about getting back on track.

Kittychick

That's good news, it really helps if you are feeling positive x

JoJoC

Hope you get through day 2 unscathed! I'm hoping the enquiries come to something and that work picks up. It always makes life a little easier to know that there's income on the horizon.