Dan's desperate dash towards solvency

lincs1205

Hi Dan, found you just wanted to say hi and well done for how far you've come. Good luck and I'll keep popping in.

MrsPorridge

Hi Dan, hope it's still going well and that you are enjoying some time off work.

motivated

Hi Dan I too hope all is going well and you are plodding along nicely.
M

worriedDan

Hi Everyone,

We are back from our short Easter break. We had a really great time. Lots of relaxing, playing on the beach and eating and drinking! We went with some of my family and it was really good to catch up and let the kids play together.

In terms of money... we definitely under budgeted for the break. We budgeted £200 for a 4 night break. We stayed in a caravan so totally self catering. We didn't do anything particularly extravagant, however we actually spent just over £300. I am not beating myself up over it as we have still made the debt payments. We get paid next week and there will be a bit of money left so nothing to really worry about, however it has taught me that I need to either budget realistically or not have another break/holiday.

My debit card was also blocked whilst we were away due to a problem with my online banking! This meant that I had to use my credit card, however I have already paid off what I spent so I essentially used it as a debit card. In previous years I would have used the card without any real plan to repay it.
It did feel strange using a credit card. This shows just how much my habits have changed over the last 2 months.

We have got a busy few days coming up with some family celebration. Nothing that will cost us any money thankfully! I am back to work on Monday. I never mind going back to work. I like having time off but I am a creature of habit and I do like my normal routine!

I hope that you all had a lovely Easter weekend!

Mofette

Still cheerleading from over here for you Dan!

I'm trying to eat stuff from the cupboards enough that we can push the food shop back a day a week, meaning one week we won't need to spend our weekly budget on food at all!

I can't believe all the changes you have made and embraced, it's amazing.

Suffolk_lass

Mofette wrote: »

I'm trying to eat stuff from the cupboards enough that we can push the food shop back a day a week, meaning one week we won't need to spend our weekly budget on food at all!

Ooh! I like that idea! At the moment I resort to a freezer week about one in 8-12 where we only buy milk and berry fruit and otherwise use up everything we have in (I always overbuy veg)

worriedDan

Hello Everyone,

Not been on here for several days. Things are ticking along nicely. We both get paid this week so the next round of debt payments are about to be made!

We are looking forward to the long weekend and will probably have a National Trust day out somewhere with a picnic, weather permitting! It's been close to 3 months now since I first started posting on here. Things are so much better for me now. The debt is of course still there but I have managed to get myself head into a much better place. I actually have days now when I don't really think/worry about it at all! I am also super busy at work which helps as my mind is focused on other things other than money and debts.

I am continuing to take my medication for the time being. Don't feel ready to risk going backwards just yet, although I do want to stop taking it when I break for school holidays in the summer.

Hope everyone is doing ok

worriedDan

Lovely day out yesterday visiting a National Trust house. We took a picnic and picked up fish and chips on the way home. Grand total for day out = £10. very pleased with this. In previous years we would have spent anything up to £100 on a day out.

I am budgeting £50 this month for garden stuff. I want to get the garden really nice in time for summer. As we are not having a Summer holiday, we will be spending more time in the garden so I figure that £50 is worth investing!

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like the budgeting and debt repayment plan you made is working Dan.

worriedDan

Morning everyone,

Things are moving along quite nicely. It's now been more than 3 months since this journey started for me. I have calmed down since the early days when I was stressing our 24/7 and making myself ill. I am still totally determined and sticking to the plan, but it doesn't drag me down in the way that it did.

We have made such major changes to our spending habits. I shudder when I think of our old spending habits. For the first time we are actually planning ahead, for example, we really want some new garden furniture- nothing fancy or expensive. Normally I would have just ordered it from a catalogue or put it on our credit cards. Instead we have been discussing it for weeks and mulling over the cheapest option! We still haven't bought any!

This month we will pay off £1800 as opposed to the 2K target. This is due to having to pay a speeding fine and also an issue with my phone bill where 2 months were taken from my bank! We are ok with this though and we accept that there will be months where we might not quite make the 2K. There should also be other months where we can pay slightly more than 2K so it should all balance out.

I hope that everyone is doing ok. I am going to make more of an effort to update my diary more regularly.