Second time lucky... debt free diary.

charlies_tribe

Thank you both. DH woke as I got into bed so at least managed to get some sleep before he was snoring again.

Dryer has stopped mid dry today, DH banged it about and it's come back on, but definitely we need to save for a new one, Hoping it will last until I can put the washing out and then have a new one next autumn (hopefully!).

Shopping arrived this morning and all put away.
I've just gone through and swept accounts over to savings and checked all credit cards as i'm sure nothing will change tomorrow. Will post updated list in next post tonight as DH is off tomorrow so might not get on.

charlies_tribe

So the figures for month 9 and starting 2018 are...

Loan: - £0!
mbna1: - £0!
lloyds: - £6207
mbna2: - £7682
barclay: - £2962
tesco: - £7504
sofa: - £3575

Total - £27930

£5624/£33554 (16.7%) paid.

2018 Goal is to try and get into 2019 with 21000,i will have a few balance transfers and the fees to go with it, so..

2018 TARGET
0/6930

charlies_tribe

January targets

Debts 227/600
Groceries 103/600 (£16 on meds, £3 school dinners)
Fuel 84/100
Pets 89/100
School trips 107/107 (also need to start dd2 trip ready for feb)
Lose 1/4 lb (may have put it back on this week!)
Keep my posts updated.

2018 targets
Debt 0/6930
Lose 0/21 lb
Utilities under £1500 0/£1500

I'm going to try my best with the groceries but I really struggle to get it under £150 For the 7 of us. If I could get it to £100 a week, that could be a £2400 saving a year!

Cherryfudge

At a rough guesstimate, you've paid of a sixth of your debt? That's brilliant, well done.

Is 2018 going to be the year of the allotment, to help the grocery bills?

Happy new year.

charlies_tribe

It sounds like a large chunk when said like that. (I just checked and £5592 was a 6th, it actually sounds like I'm getting somewhere).
DH and DS2 would absolutely love an allotment. We looked last year but seemed to just run out of time. Think we would eat a lot more veg too.

Looked at my utilities and it's forecasting we will spend just over £1500 (£125 a month) this year, averaging £811 (£67 a month!) more than families of the same size a year. So that will be a mission this year, anything less will be a bonus. Will add it to targets tomorrow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!

Mumoffourkids

I have been reading and lurking on your thread and have decided to finally show myself lol.

I am a family of 7 as well although it is just me and six kids! I have a budget of £100 per week for food which includes, nappies, toiletries and cleaning stuff. I tend to buy meat when it is on yellow sticky and put in the freezer. I also do packed lunches for four of the kids. I went through a time where I didn't have much money so I got used to have a budget of £100 per week.

Although my gas and electric bills are about the same as yours and I have a smart meter. I think it's partly because everything in the house is electric and with six kids, unfortunately I have to use the tumble dryer! I don't really see how the energy costs for a family your size could be that much lower.

Keep going with your debt busting though as you have done so well so far!

charlies_tribe

Thank you for posting MOFK. I've lurked on your thread too, looking for ideas to reduce groceries. We also have £10 a week on beer and DH has beer each week but other than that we don't seem to spend on anything luxurious. I am definitely going to work on it though. It doesn't help with DH and 2 teenage Ds's, they can eat a mountain of food and still be hungry.

I know we use a lot of electric but I couldn't see how it was that much more (it's a graph on their website comparing my use to other 3 bed semis with the same amount of occupants). I spoke to the children yesterday about the bills and making sure they turn lights/chargers etc off. Also trying to get them to wear Pj's a second night if they aren't mucky. I think washing is a major use and the boiler needing replacing too. When we have showers, the boiler has to be on, it heats all the radiators too and it can't be turned off in between each person otherwise it doesn't come back on for hours. My tea consumption is a probably a huge factor too.

Well I've been on the scales for my start weight this morning and hoping my clothes will be more comfortable by the summer, I refuse to buy a bigger size!

Cherryfudge

This may be a silly suggestion, but if the kids had more pairs of pjs, would that work out as fewer part loads? As in, get a full load but they could still have fresh ones when wanted. Mind you, I think pjs will last more than 2 wears apart from very young children, but everyone is different. Teens are the worst for throwing things on the wash that have been worn for two minutes!

As for tea... do you make a pot? Would save reboiling the kettle.

Well done for being over a sixth repaid! That's quite a milestone. :T:T

WannabeFree

Happy new year

I can't really help on the budgets, I don't even think £150 is that high. Minus £10 for the beer, it's £20 a person a week for everything.

x

charlies_tribe

Thank you both for your posts.
Cherryfudge, they have loads of Pj's now, I think the problem is they prefer the onesie's so when they're changing them daily it's pretty much a load on their own every day. They've had dressing gowns and slippers for Christmas so if I can encourage them to wear normal Pj's at least I can get more in each load.

I don't have a pot, I drink tea and DH coffee and I drink a LOT of tea. I think it might be an idea, or a flask or one of the water things that just heats up the water as your using it (like a Tassimo thing but just for hot water).

Wannabe, my budget sounds so high when looking at yours, I have no idea how you manage it on so little budget, but broken down like that it probably isn't quiet so bad.

Banks checked and as I thought with it being a bank holiday nothing has changed. Pork in the oven for dinner. First load in washer and dryer. Not going anywhere so will be the first NSD of 2018.