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

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 2: Day 6

Morning! Feeling ready for my next epic train journey today; fingers crossed it's a bit easier than yesterday's.

Today is going to be a money saving challenge - I am out from 7:30am until about 6pm, can only take what I can carry with me, and am aiming to spend no money. Let's see how that goes...

To do today:
1. NSD (I will give myself a virtual gold star and bottle of champagne if I achieve this, but I'm aiming high!).
2. Pack snacks and water for train journeys.
3. Finish knitting the hat I have been working on since Christmas.
4. Start knitting a pair of socks (I have set a No More Yarn rule until I have used up or sold or donated ALL my yarn :eek: )
5. A couple of social media posts for work throughout the day.

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. Done!
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.
6. Put all insurance renewal dates into calendar in advance so I have time to search for better deals. Done!
7. Put a date in the calendar to reassess gas and electricity usage/DD. Done!

Treadingonplaymobil

Feeling very smug as thanks to complimentary lunch, cans of Coke and sweets at my meeting (which they positively encouraged me to take for the journey), I am on my third train journey (fourth one tomorrow) without spending one single thing. If today ends up as a NSD I will be really really proud of myself as it will really show that I can cut some of the unnecessary spending for the foreseeable.

On the train this morning I also had fun playing around with the snowball calculator and worked out that if we could overpay every month by as much as we did this month (over £300, so a significant overpayment on our minimum payments of £631) then we could clear our entire debt FORTY MONTHS EARLIER. That's nearly 3.5 years early. I don't for a minute think we will have £300 spare every month, but even a tenner extra a month knocked a couple of months of the DFD, it turned out. I need to do more playing around with smaller numbers (what difference an extra £100 here and there, or an extra £30 a month or whatever, will make) as then I might be able to challenge myself with some targets like knocking a fiver off the food shop each week, even in less good months, and improve our DFD prospects.

Bobarella

It is truly amazing what adds up quickly. You might like to check out the PAD thread which is very motivating for finding small daily amounts to roll at the debt.

JoJoC

What about achievement. Well done! I'm sure after today's success, it'll spur you on for tomorrow's train trip home. Really hope you manage it!

You really are motivating me to make wiser choices so thanks for that!

It's amazing what a difference overpaying can make, too. Even just a small amount.

dottydebts

I've really enjoyed reading your diary through today - given me lots of ideas to play with! I'm subscribing and look forward to reading more about your journey

motivated

TOPM you are doing amazingly well :T
It's amazing just how organisation makes a huge difference doesn't it. I have found this recently and only wish I got the hang of it years ago. My mum always said I was a slow starter :rotfl:
Keep going
M

Treadingonplaymobil

Thank you so much for the kind words everyone, you are all lovely. I'm aware that all these little victories are tiny things, but they all represent little mind shifts that will (hopefully) get me to where I need to go.

To do today:
1. NSD (I will give myself a virtual gold star and bottle of champagne if I achieve this, but I'm aiming high!). Done! :beer: :j :T
2. Pack snacks and water for train journeys. Done!
3. Finish knitting the hat I have been working on since Christmas. Not done - trains were too busy for comfortable knitting so I let myself off and read my kindle.
4. Start knitting a pair of socks (I have set a No More Yarn rule until I have used up or sold or donated ALL my yarn :eek: ) . Also not done, for the same reasons.
5. A couple of social media posts for work throughout the day. Annoyingly, not done. Was just too busy while I was working, and too knackered on the train to bother. Must try harder tomorrow.

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. Done!
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. UPDATE: there is dressing up, so will need to tackle this when I get home tomorrow.
6. Put all insurance renewal dates into calendar in advance so I have time to search for better deals. Done!
7. Put a date in the calendar to reassess gas and electricity usage/DD. Done!

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 2: Day 7

Morning! Last train journey today, then home. Really looking forward to getting back, it's been a busy couple of days. No spending from DH or me though, which I'm v pleased with.

To do today:
1. It won't be a NSD, but will limit spending to buying a birthday present for the kids party one of my children is attending tomorrow
2. Pack snacks and water for train journey.
3. Work on the hat I have been knitting since Christmas.
4. Start next week's menu plan
5. Spend two hours on house tidying
6. Make pasties for packed lunch tomorrow (National Trust house visit)

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. Done!
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. UPDATE: there is dressing up, so will need to tackle this when I get home tomorrow.
6. Put all insurance renewal dates into calendar in advance so I have time to search for better deals. Done!
7. Put a date in the calendar to reassess gas and electricity usage/DD. Done!

angelpye

Doing so well TOPM! I find the more organised I am with my budget the more conscious I am about what I am spending and the more I seem to zone in on freebies etc.

40wks would be awesome eh? That calculator is great for motivation and seeing what could be done if you really go for it! Like you said, mini challenges on tight months and just knowing every time you allocate extra it really does bring you forward will all add up! :T

brizzledfw

You're doing briliantly.

I echo the idea about a Payment a Day (PADs)..(or a Tilly Tidy) - where you round down the current account and then move the pennies or a limited number of pounds to savings (or in my and your case, any debt).

Its great, you hardly notice it and it feels like you're doing something every day which leads you towards getting closer to being DF. Sometimes I send over 2p..other times its £9.99. If I have a NSD, I don't have anything to round down, so nothing goes. Everyone's 'rules' for this are different, but I never round down more than to the next ten pound mark.

Have a great weekend and glad your subsequent train journeys were better than Thursday's!!

Brizzle