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

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 47: Day 5

Wow, almost at the end of Week 47. Only four and a bit weeks to go until I've been at this MSE lark for an entire year! In some ways it's flown, in others it's crawled.

I was so wiped out yesterday, I think all the Christmas prep, travelling, eating and drinking finally caught up with me. I achieved practically nothing. Went to bed at 8pm (and was disturbed 900 times or so by various of my DC, but glossing over that) and am feeling far more human today, although I did snooze my alarm for AN HOUR this morning :eek: . Need to crack on and get some work and cooking done today.

The mortgage broker chased the mortgage and apparently we can expect to hear in the next day or two when completion might be - fingers crossed it's soon! Can't believe how ridiculously long this has dragged on for.

Right, off to get started on my day. Feeling much more energetic! :j :j :j

to do today
1. Update debt total in signature
2. Do some more house tidying.
3. Make flapjacks for DC snacks.
4. Pop into town to pick up thank you cards so the DC can do theirs, and a birthday card for DH, and an extra little present for him from my mum.
5. Pack orders for smaller business.
6. Raise prices for smaller business - my supplier has put up their prices, and my profit was fairly pathetic even before that! Time to bite the bullet.

To do this week
1. Get the house into order.
2. Do some batch cooking.
3. Wrap DH's birthday presents.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec).

warby68

Just a thought, do you need purchased thank you cards?

Your children are crafty - can't they do their own from existing supplies?

I know its a lifestyle preference thing but an easy small saving is possible too.

Also will you need stamps? I'm all in favour of old-fashioned thank yous through the post but stamps are costly so I'd flex for personal email or other electronic messages on cost grounds these days if things are tight or even a personal phone call. When mine were younger people were absolutely delighted with a child on the phone and the chance to have a little chat with a loved one.

Treadingonplaymobil

Handmade thank you cards is a fab idea, but not for this year - one to add to the planning list for next year! Time has completely got away from us, and they'll never get sent if I wait for us to have time to make them.

Two bits of good news today - the first is that our remortgage is set to complete on the 8th, so hopefully will be in place and we'll be able to pay off the Tesco loan before next month's direct debits go through.

Second is that DH and I have redone our SOA to reflect our new costs - I'll post it shortly - and although the saving for the extension is going to be scarcely enough and we might have to postpone until next summer rather than starting in January, I've been able to reduce my earning aims for 2018, which has allowed me to reduce my planned working hours too, so the year is looking a lot less frenetic. I have managed to reduce my evenings working to a maximum of one per week (and none in some weeks) and weekend working to exactly half of the weekends this year, which is a reduction on last year, although still more than ideal. This has improved my mindset immeasurably, as I was looking at the year with a bit of a sense of dread!

Treadingonplaymobil

It's SOA time!

DH and I sat down together and put together a new SOA. It places a lower earning pressure on me, which will make life massively less stressful this year.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 3062.27 This is DH, obviously.
Partners monthly income after tax....... 200 And this is me. :rotfl:
Benefits................................ 192.4
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 3454.67

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 702
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 141 No doubt this will go up in April.
Electricity............................. 49.84 Vastly reduced for coming 12 months thanks to enormous credit.
Gas..................................... 0 Included above.
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 95 :eek: Metered.
Telephone (land line)................... 18.99 Includes internet.
Mobile phones............................ 102 Two contracts. One largely offset as a work cost.
TV Licence.............................. 12.12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 400
Clothing................................ 0 Children's clothing in a separate category below, DH's included in his kitty, mine budgeted as a work expense before my salary is paid.
Petrol/diesel........................... 225
Road tax................................ 16.62
Car Insurance........................... 32.74
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 42
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 50 DH catches the train once a week.
Childcare/nursery....................... 20 This will stop in July.
Other child related expenses............ 0
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 5
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 31.84
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 16.26
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 Separate categories below.
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 150
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 50
netflix................................. 5.99
icloud.................................. 6.99
DH kitty................................ 40 Includes his clothing.
My kitty................................ 25
Children's clothes...................... 60
House bits.............................. 15 Random stuff like tins of paint, light pulls, shower curtains. There's always something.
Pocket money............................ 5
Cubs & Beavers.......................... 30
Piano lessons........................... 35
Swimming lessons........................ 48 This will be slightly less as one DC is doing a cheaper club rather than intensive lessons now, but not sure on price.
Christmas............................... 100
Birthdays............................... 60
National Trust.......................... 9.6
YNAB.................................... 3
Extension fund.......................... 300
Pipsticks............................... 15 This is a sticker subscription that we got the DC as a gift, will go on for six months.
Total monthly expenses.................. 3038.99


Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 225000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 500
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 225500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 193000...(702)......2.19 This is higher as the Tesco loan is paid off.
Total secured & HP debts...... 193000....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Partnership card...............2837.81...72........18
Barclaycard....................12572.4...295.......0
Parental loan..................20000.....0.........0
Total unsecured debts..........35410.21..367.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 3,454.67
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 3,038.99
Available for debt repayments........... 415.68
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 367
Amount left after debt repayments....... 48.68

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 225,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -193,000
Total Unsecured debt.................... -35,410.21
Net Assets.............................. -2,910.21

Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.

My earning aim at the end of 2018 was £350 per month, and I initially had it set to £400 per month for this year, but this new SOA has enabled me to reduce it dramatically without compromising too much, apart from saving less for the extension than initially hoped. If I earn extra (which I hope I will, but am not pressuring myself at all), I will initially save for future months, then any extra will be split between debt overpayment and extensions savings.

The expectation is that we will have around £1,800 extra cash when we get the remortgage money through to pay off the Tesco loan, because of the extra payments that have been made on the loan and mortgage since the initial application was made. This will be split between paying a chunk off the Partnership (high interest rate!) and giving all the monthly savings pots an initial boost to avoid the robbing Peter to pay Paul situation (they are all empty after paying for Christmas, as the Christmas savings pot didn't have enough in it).

joeyjimbles

Oh well done on all that organisation, including paying your NI bill which is a reminder to me to go and do mine in a minute - must first find password which is in the folder that is in the box that was taken out of the moved filing cabinet which is still not back in the office...you get the picture.

Another note on vouchers - Morrisons currently do 25 M&M points per £ spent on a voucher so a £20 voucher would give you 500 points = £1. Not a lot but something.

And if you do the odd survey, Qmee etc and get paid in Amazon vouchers you can just print them out and put them in a card. There's always something to buy on Amazon - and these days they have really good deals on make-up, perfume and even clothing.

Anyway, Happy New Year.

Chrystal

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

Handmade thank you cards is a fab idea, but not for this year - one to add to the planning list for next year! Time has completely got away from us, and they'll never get sent if I wait for us to have time to make them.

Two bits of good news today - the first is that our remortgage is set to complete on the 8th, so hopefully will be in place and we'll be able to pay off the Tesco loan before next month's direct debits go through.

Second is that DH and I have redone our SOA to reflect our new costs - I'll post it shortly - and although the saving for the extension is going to be scarcely enough and we might have to postpone until next summer rather than starting in January, I've been able to reduce my earning aims for 2018, which has allowed me to reduce my planned working hours too, so the year is looking a lot less frenetic. I have managed to reduce my evenings working to a maximum of one per week (and none in some weeks) and weekend working to exactly half of the weekends this year, which is a reduction on last year, although still more than ideal. This has improved my mindset immeasurably, as I was looking at the year with a bit of a sense of dread!

Hurrah for the good news! :T :j:j So very pleased for you.

Knowing that you can cut down your working time will make a huge difference to your mindset and hopefully let you enjoy being innovative with debt busting while still enjoying life.

I think when you look back on the year you'll realise what a long way you've actually come, not just with paying the debt down, but also coming to terms with the fact that you can't be Superwoman ALL the time and that you deserve some time for yourself.

I really admire your determination (and stamina!:)) :A X

Treadingonplaymobil

Chrystal wrote: »

Hurrah for the good news! :T :j:j So very pleased for you.

Knowing that you can cut down your working time will make a huge difference to your mindset and hopefully let you enjoy being innovative with debt busting while still enjoying life.

I think when you look back on the year you'll realise what a long way you've actually come, not just with paying the debt down, but also coming to terms with the fact that you can't be Superwoman ALL the time and that you deserve some time for yourself.

I really admire your determination (and stamina!:)) :A X

You're completely right - I have been in semi-denial about what I am physically able to do (in terms of working time/earning potential/continuing to handmake everything and cook from scratch daily) for years, and it's only been during this process of facing up to the reality of our finances that I've really come to terms with my limits. Facing the music on the debt front has actually forced us to confront our priorities as a couple and a family, for the better I think.

armchairexpert

You're singing my song, as always! I am determined to try and make this work-life balance thing work better for me, and it's just not easy at all, is it?

Love the inter-family Secret Santa idea. My kids always buy for each of us, and this year wanted to buy for one another too, and it's sweet and I want to encourage them giving and not just receiving but it definitely adds up. And we get some v odd things: Little Girl is into ornaments and knicknacks, so we get things like ceramic parrots and garden gnomes. Maybe I'll steal this idea!

Treadingonplaymobil

Yesterday's lists, before starting today....

to do today (yesterday)
1. Update debt total in signature. Done.
2. Do some more house tidying. Done.
3. Make flapjacks for DC snacks. Done.
4. Pop into town to pick up thank you cards so the DC can do theirs, and a birthday card for DH, and an extra little present for him from my mum. Done, although DH came too so need to go again today for his card/present from my mum.
5. Pack orders for smaller business. Done.
6. Raise prices for smaller business - my supplier has put up their prices, and my profit was fairly pathetic even before that! Time to bite the bullet. Not done.

To do this week
1. Get the house into order. DH made a really good start on this yesterday.
2. Do some batch cooking.
3. Wrap DH's birthday presents.

To do in January
1. Review 2017 spending and try to improve 2018 plans by being more prepared - plan big spends like holidays and Christmas now and be realistic about the cost. Done with DH before doing SOA.
2. Redo SOA once the remortgage is through. Done.
3. Make a 2018 business plan that is less frenetic than originally (I think I had too high expectations of myself, leading to much stress in Nov/Dec). Made a good start on this.

Eager_Elephant

TOPM - I notice your water bill is huge. Either you are in a high cost area like South West or you have a leak.....

Have you checked to see if there are any tariffs suitable for you. In my area (East Anglia) our water company do a tariff for people with 3 or more children which caps their water at a set figure which is generally about half of what it would be if they were on standard tariff.