Second time lucky... debt free diary.

charlies_tribe

Thank you HI.
DH went to the shop while I took the girls swimming. I knew it would be a mistake. A DVD and milk turned into about £30 of stuff, including more beer, chocolate and ready meals for when we got back as he didn't feel like cooking.
Signed up for prolific about 2 weeks ago and had nothing until today, there's been loads available but needed access to laptop and kids had taken theirs with them (ours is broke, we just use 1 of theres) did get £2.90 though.

charlies_tribe

Good evening.
Went to the r@nge this morning for some art bits for DS, £14. DD2 art picture £5. I did really well this morning and resisted the hot tub they had! We've been talking about having one for a few years but walked away.
Only had DD2 swimming today as DD3 lesson was cancelled. She's got 1 lesson left with them but asked if she can carry on for a while as she's on 42% after only being in that stage 4 weeks, she would like to pass it. Will speak to Dh to see if we can carry them on for another 6 weeks along with club lessons.
Need to do a top up shop tomorrow and sort my return to work on Friday. Need to get some change as just had a message to say they are having a non uniform or football kit day on Friday.
Right, better go tell some kids off, they don't want to go to bed, they've not long come in from the garden.

charlies_tribe

Good morning. Not much to update. Spent £3.15 yesterday on bread and multi bag of crisps (Snacks to keep kiddies quiet while I'm working and DH sleeping). Today should be a NSD as at work later.
Absolutely dreaded going back to work yesterday, sat and cried before I went, almost in tears in my back to work meeting but it actually wasn't too bad. On short shifts for a week and then it's back to full time hours for the first time since I first went off in Feb!

Been going through the accounts and going to start a new budget for next month. Our SOA is currently (there may be bits missing, I've just gone through our account for last few months) All rounded up to next £....
Bills...
Mortgage £581
Council tax £150
Car tax £20
Water £59
TV licence £13
Scott wid £8 (life ins)
Scott wid £6 (life ins)
House ins £24
BT £45 (Should be £35,forgot we don't have inclusive calls now and need to use mobiles for calls, DH mobile included in this)
Gas and elec £114
Tesco mobile £7 (DD1 phone)
Vodafone £34 (my phone, in contract until feb)

Other monthly...
HP ink £8 (with DS being home ed this has been a lifesaver but think we can drop it down a level)
Netflix £9 (used every day on multiple TV's)
Lottery £18 (Dh wont let me cancel this, his numbers might come up!)
Park hamper £55 (vouchers for Christmas, don't think i'm going to use them next year as still using them now as nowhere kiddies wanted them for at Christmas)
Swimming £60
School dinner £40

Debts (this months min payments)...
Lloyds CC £100
Tesco CC £102
MBNA CC £25
Sofa £90
Barclay CC £255

Savings acc each month...
Car acc £200 (£400 in here for insurance, repairs etc)
Occasions £150 (£300 in here for Christmas, birthdays etc)
Holiday £200 (£400 for a holiday next year, days out)

Monthly food acc...
Fuel £100 (going to take this out next month and see how much we actually use)
Pets £100 (Same as above, never realised how much they cost until now)
Food £600 (£150 a week, thinking about taking it out each week instead of having deliveries so I can see where it's going)

Total £3173

Incoming £3642 (last months wages, will vary greatly but as I was on sick, shouldn't be too much worse)

Also came out this month
Amazon prime £80 (yearly)
Xbox £40 (yearly) (forgot about this, card had expired so didn't think they would be able to take payment, must get it cheaper next year).

charlies_tribe

If ive remembered everything, it should leave £450/500 per month. Debt payments will hopefully be topped up to £750 each month. Leaving the rest for clothing, hair cuts and topping up the house/emergency fund.

Was looking at school uniforms yesterday, Just for the little 2 it was almost £100 and DS1 needs new uniform, logo'd blazer and logo'd pe kit, I dread to think what his will cost. DD1 has asked for some nice clothes for college in September and will also need bus fares and dinner money for her as well. Told her she needs to look for a part time job.

charlies_tribe

Good morning. Just a quick post, as I logged in I remembered my delivery is due any time and i'm still in my pj's looking like ive been dragged through a hedge! Cup of tea first though.
Wasn't a NSD yesterday, £1.80 bus fare to work as DH was still asleep. Grabbed a few bits when I finished for DH as he hadn't had any tea and only had 20 mins between picking me up and going to work himself. So some pasties and a bar of chocolate.
Shopping should be about £60 and i'm going to take the rest of the weeks money out so i'm not just using the card all over and eating into next weeks money.

Checked my updated credit report today and its so good to see it changing! It wasn't bad anyway but was a full 999 today and 93% chance of getting the best cards. Affordability is still low but I thinks it's because I have only used our wages, not child benefit/tax credits In the calculations. DH has gone from 888 to 916 and 20% to 40% over the last 3 months so a big improvement on his too. Never looked at the available credit before, DH has a whopping £45k of credit available to him! Scary thought of how much more we could have spent.

Right better go get dressed and tidy up before the shopping arrives (if I didn't work there and know the delivery people I probably would have stayed in my pj's lol).

Hiddenidenity

Have a lovely day x

charlies_tribe

Thank you Hidden.
Finally got dressed, 2 loads of washing on the line, washing from Friday fetched in... oops! Shopping came to £59.98.
DD1 has taken the others, except DD2, for a walk to feed the ducks with a couple of slices of bread that had about had it.
I should get some cleaning done but DD2 has come to lay on my knee, think she stayed home as she would get me all to herself.

Just wondering how much others budget for clothes shopping? It's rare we buy anything unless really needed/going out, but just realised due to his growth spurt, DS1 has 1 pair of Jeans 1 pair of joggers, 2 t-shirts and a pair of pj's. He's just Bern handing me stuff that didn't fit and I never realised how low his clothes were.

Chandelier.

I usually set aside money into a separate account and when it's needed the money is available there. I don't have a set amount each month just for clothing. I have one big pot. I understand everyone is different.

I try to keep spends to a minimum each time we buy something new. I usually get him everything for under £50 through browsing around for best offers and looking at what is usually needed.

Hope this helps.

charlies_tribe

Thank you Chandelier. That's what I've always done with the children's account, it pays for anything child related and then I top it back up at the end of the month. I had seen so many with a clothes budget I just wondered if i needed to separate it. I might try to keep a diary of what is actually spent where to get a rough idea of yearly costs. I always worry when we do a big clothes shop that I'm spending too much, but it's probably only done once a year.

I think I'll take him to get a few bits and hope they will do, we bought him new school trousers in May and they are 2 inches up his legs already so don't want to buy loads but what he has got won't be enough for summer. He's 14 and needs a men's medium or 32 inch waist, children's clothes just aren't big enough any more. Not like DD at 16 can still fit in some age 11 and they just need replacing as she's had them so long. I only have new for holidays or special occasions and DH still wears t-shirts he brought with him when we moved in almost 17 years ago (I have bought him new but apparently they are more comfortable).

Chandelier.

I know some people do set aside separate pots for each thing but I tend to lump everything into one big pot. I know what I have each month and save a good amount each month too. Everyone's different.

I rarely buy new clothes for myself as I'm in uniform half the time so I have a smallish wardrobe and find things that work for all seasons lol