Dan's desperate dash towards solvency

worriedDan

motivated wrote: »

Hi Dan

Usually at this time of year I would too buy chocolate eggs etc for colleagues. This year I will be buying a big gateaux from Iceland and dig out some serviettes.

At break time it will be first come first served.:eek: there will be a stampede :rotfl:
M

Great idea!

worriedDan

This week I am trying to have at least 3 NSD's. I almost achieved this yesterday but we ran out of milk and I can't survive without a cup of tea!

I was meant to be doing some extra work this week which would have netted me £30 but that has fallen through today. This has made me think about my SOA more carefully. I think I need to put together a worst case scenario budget that I can revert to if my additional income ever dries up. It would basically mean £250-£300 less coming in so we should be able to absorb it by cutting back elsewhere.

Each month we have some essential spends such as food, after school clubs, diesel for cars etc. This comes in at around £500 per month. I would like to get to a point where we are a month ahead with these expenses which basically means I need to save up an additional £500. I seem to be developing an aversion for living month to month, despite having done it all my adult life. In fact I have lived at least 12 months ahead of myself based on my current debt level!!!

I allowed myself some time to look at my debt payments earlier and where I will be in so many months etc. I have been doing this less due to the stress it was causing but today it was quite productive. I realised that in 7 weeks time, there will have been 2 more paydays, taking my total pay off to £6700 by May 28th. I feel really good about this and it won't be long before I hit the magic 10K! Admittedly I will still owe close to 50K, but it will certainly show that this really is achievable. I should have paid off 10K by July 28th. Close to another 10K should be cleared by Christmas ( although I need to mention that a bit later on....). I really need to enter 2018 20k lighter!

On the topic of Christmas, we have been thinking - do we save now, or do we simply not overpay to such a degree in November? We are currently paying around £800 above minimums. Should be overpay £400 and pay for Christmas with the remaining money? One thing for sure is that this will be a totally credit free Christmas.

KxMx

Personally I'd start saving for Christmas now.

In addition, gifts can be bought anytime when there is a sale deal or Grabbit, and put away in a cupboard.

moneyfacts

I would leave Christmas for now and get a bit of a boost with the repayments as you have described. I think you would feel much better about it. It also ingrains your new spending lifestyle for a few months.

In essence keeping it simple for now

Honeysucklelou2

I put £40 a month into a separate savings account so that at Christmas time it's there to use. Spreads the cost more across the year.

Have been reading your diary since you started it...well done on the progress so far.

worriedDan

The Easter holidays have arrived! 2 weeks off work! We are so ready for the break.

This is going to be a real test for us as it's the first time that we have been off work for an extended period whilst on a budget! I have just been through the numbers and we are fine. We have £870 of 'spare' cash to last until the 26th of April. We have budgeted £200 for our weekend break next week, £100 for food for the rest of the month ( freezer already has quite a bit in it) and £100 for fuel, so in theory we have £470 'unallocated' money. This will go towards debts at the end of the month. I would also like to take my wife out for a meal - nothing fancy, just a pub meal and a couple of drinks. I want to try and do that every month as I think its important. I have signed up to the Harvester app and there are quite a few special offers so perhaps we can go there.

We also need to buy a few easter eggs for the kids in our family. We have decided that this year we will only but the £1 eggs.

I hope that you are all enjoying the great weather today. I might sneak in a couple of beers in the garden later ( Aldi own brandd )

motivated

worriedDan wrote: »

The Easter holidays have arrived! 2 weeks off work! We are so ready for the break.

I hope that you are all enjoying the great weather today. I might sneak in a couple of beers in the garden later ( Aldi own brandd )

Enjoy Dan you deserve it.
Make the most of the weather. Glad you are still so positive
M

Drawingaline

Have a good two weeks Dan. We are away on a totally budgeted weekend atm. Knowing exactly what I can spend means I am not fretting about it at all.

With regards to Xmas. i had been saving £50 a month but I cashed everything in two weeks ago to pay off our big loan. (long story about why I decided this was the right option) so am trying to build that reserve back up again. Go with what feels right for you. Would the possibility of not making the 10k by the end of July because you were setting aside a bit each month upset you, or having to wait to the end of January for the 20k because you halved debt repayment in November be more annoying? Only you know the answer to that. However I will say that by building the saving i to your budget now the habit will be already formed for Xmas 2018.

worriedDan

Had a really nice couple of days in the garden - bit chillier today but still managed to get out and do a bit of garden tidying. Today has also be a NSD for me, which is great. Today is the first day of my Easter holidays ( 2 weeks off work!) and this can be a really spendy time for us.

I am going out with my dad tomorrow on one of those gift experience days. It was a gift so it hasn't cost me anything! We are taking sandwiches which we will eat en route. We did say that we might allow ourselves a coffee from the cafe!!

We managed to get the Easter eggs for our young relatives for 99p each. Really pleased about this. In previous years we have spent loads on eggs and easter gifts.

My balance transfer is now fully processed. I am really pleased about this was the 27.9% card that was worrying me. I will save masses of interest compared to what it would have cost me.

We had our first bbq of the year yesterday ( all from aldi) so we are now eating leftovers for the next couple of days!

Hope all is going well for you guys.

Mnd

Dan, if you have a hungry horse pub local, then try that for your meal out, brilliant value