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

Treadingonplaymobil

mfmaybe wrote: »

Hi TreadingonPlaymobil (is it less painful than Lego )

You're doing really well so far. Just thought I'd add a few things/ideas:

Yes - keep posting on here, every day if you can. Doesn't matter if it's "NSD. Bank looks fine". This forum is like your conscience on your shoulder. I really notice a difference when I'm not posting.

Your clothes - you said you needed a certain standard. So does that mean you have a nice wardrobe of expensive clothes? If so, either you don't need any more for now or, if it's important they are "current", get flogging the old stuff! FB and Fleabay aren't just for kids clothes.

And on that subject - you can buy second hand stuff for your kids too you know . My DS is only 18 months so it's a bit different, but I bought his wellies, rainsuits, shoes etc off fleabay. I just took him to get measured then ordered online. I realise it's not so easy as they get older, but things like wellies could be easily done.

What I would do in your overall position is start, asap, to save that £150 your parents asked you to. Firstly, it's not fair to lie to them, in all honesty. But more than that, the discipline will be good for you. Unless you can overpay the Tesco loan without penalty, you may as well stooze as much as you can each month into savings. Then when that first 0% card runs out, you could use that lump sum you've saved up and put it against the debt at that point. Hopefully you'd get another 0% then but, financially speaking, there is no benefit to overpaying on a 0% as opposed to saving it elsewhere. This does need discipline though, you'd have to know that you wouldn't spend it on something else, and if that's an issue, just target £150 overpayments instead. At least that way you are improving your position by that £150 every month.

Good luck with the journey, I will subscribe and cheer you on :j

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Wardrobe is fairly minimalist so although some bits are expensive, I wear them until they are worn out, so not much scope for selling on afterwards (and to be honest a lot of it isn't expensive, just paired with nice things to make it look better!). I have been much more sensible about clothes shopping for about 18 months now, as it was a definite noticeable debt-causer (on top of all the other debt-causers!) at one stage.

I am definitely aiming to repay that £150 - I have been able to add it to debt repayments 10 months out of the last 12 and am intending to add some part of it (maybe £50?) as a permanent part of our budget once we stop paying childcare and extra council tax in April. I need to see how all the numbers look at that stage but I think I should be able to add some of it in.

Treadingonplaymobil

Grr, and on it goes! DH has claimed a whopping £7 less on his expenses than he had marked in YNAB (he thinks he lost a receipt. After the ear bashing I gave him I don't think it will happen again!), so there is another little shortfall that need to juggle (check me out, juggling shortfalls rather than just accepting them and spending as before!). Luckily I had £15 in my wallet, taken out last month and not yet spent (mainly because I had forgotten it was there, rather than any great frugal skills), so I nipped into town and paid it into the bank this morning. Double win in that (a) I feel all frugal and virtuous and won't be tempted to spend the £15 on stupid things and (b) I now have £8 extra in the budget once the £7 to fill the expenses shortfall is accounted for.

Between the £8 cash and £13.20 cheque I have a whole extra £21.20 in the budget. #winningatfrugality :rotfl:

themarsbargirl

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

You're right! Well spotted.

woo hoo! Hopefully that will mean things are slightly less tight! still, better to cover something more than once than forget to include it

Good luck!

Doodles152

Well done on setting your budget and looking to make changes.


Ive subscribed to follow your journey

mfmaybe

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

I am definitely aiming to repay that £150 - I have been able to add it to debt repayments 10 months out of the last 12 and am intending to add some part of it (maybe £50?) as a permanent part of our budget once we stop paying childcare and extra council tax in April. I need to see how all the numbers look at that stage but I think I should be able to add some of it in.

But you don't have a minimum payment for this loan in your budget. So even though your parents haven't asked for it back yet, I would say your budget still has a shortfall of £150/month (£50/month will be a start). That's great that you managed to include it most months, but I'd say your SOA is incomplete until you have this included at the full £150. You're doing brilliantly and your attitude seems very positive, which is going to be so important. But I think you need to consider this as just another debt, and treat the repayments/savings as such.

Treadingonplaymobil

mfmaybe wrote: »

But you don't have a minimum payment for this loan in your budget. So even though your parents haven't asked for it back yet, I would say your budget still has a shortfall of £150/month (£50/month will be a start). That's great that you managed to include it most months, but I'd say your SOA is incomplete until you have this included at the full £150. You're doing brilliantly and your attitude seems very positive, which is going to be so important. But I think you need to consider this as just another debt, and treat the repayments/savings as such.

No, not yet - but it will take top priority once our outgoings have reduced in April. I did consider losing another £150 off the budget and starting budgeting for it now, but I think it would actually be the proverbial straw and I would lose interest in the whole enterprise. I am getting there, I promise! Maybe I'll feel up to starting it in March rather than April if February goes well, but at the minute it would be too much too soon.

Bobarella

Hi TOPM

Just a quick pop in to say I agree, you are so well organised, and I think if you can remember your reasons for wanting rid of the debt then you can really do this.

Bob

Shadow14uk

Wanted to stop by and say hello! Admire your organisation and positivity

angelpye

Hey, I think as long as you have it in mind with a definite start date then thats ok for now. I might be inclined to up it a bit though to take into account any amount owing from not including it for now so it balances to the £150 as promised. You are doing really well and once this is included you will have a complete plan! And absolutely no worry that if the money is requested it isn't there

Well done for dealing with the unexpected spends...I guess you being away and being the one who has sorted the budget means OH has slipped a little but we all have a little slip I think once in a while. The main thing is you didn't go 'oh well, may as well...' which shows the progress you are making mentally to get this dealt with once and for all.

mfmaybe

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

No, not yet - but it will take top priority once our outgoings have reduced in April. I did consider losing another £150 off the budget and starting budgeting for it now, but I think it would actually be the proverbial straw and I would lose interest in the whole enterprise. I am getting there, I promise! Maybe I'll feel up to starting it in March rather than April if February goes well, but at the minute it would be too much too soon.

I think that's fair enough. Longevity and motivation are very important. As long as you recognise it as a fixed payment, not just a "I'll do it if I can" payment, you will be fine. And once you do start including it in the budget, you will soon not notice it. :T

By the way I meant to say, I admire the fact that you aren't going down the DMP route, and also your view on your house being big enough. Getting out of debt now will open up opportunities in the future if needed, but if you never need to move, think how much disposable income you will have

Oh sorry, one other thought. You mentioned you didn't think you could do a second job and that's fair enough given your circumstances. But, could a zero hours contract work for you? I'm not sure what the opportunities around you are, but if you don't have any SE work lined up, you could do a shift at whatever job you had (supermarket/bar/insert job here). Just an idea but perhaps not workable as I don't know how much advance notice you get of your SE work.