Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

brizzlegirl

Have a good week XS. You’re doing great..really...it’s inevitable you feel a little flat after all the energy you put into getting here. It’s definitely the right thing to do, that signature looks fab :j

XSpender

£1.58 TT to the Hitachi settlement pot. Moved the surplus from mortgage and DH bonus to Christmas and EF. Signature updated.

DH has sold 2 of the tickets I bought in error. We offered them at half the face value to someone we have both known for years who doesn't have a lot. She is over the moon as they have never been to this show and I am happy to have recovered some of the money and pleased they have gone to someone who will appreciate them.

DH is sticking to his diet plan and I have been eating much better, lots of F&V but eating meals mainly from the freezer. I have noticed that I have been eating a lot less meat lately. On holiday I ate 90% veggie as most of the meat dishes contained gluten and haven't eaten much since we got back. This week I haven't had any at all. Before I was coeliac I had been veggie for most of my life and can see me becoming more plant based going forward.

DH still hasn't cleared his card. He cant find the card and they wont accept such a big payment over the phone but wont give him his card number (they gave me mine) so he can pay on line.

After feeling a bit down about it on Monday I am feeling more positive. I can't believe how much more headspace I have in a couple of days. I am not stressing over spreadsheets for hours trying to work out how to squeeze a fiver out of a quid to pay it off quicker.

XSpender

Our focus now that most of the debt has been consolidated on to the mortgage is to save an emergency fund to cover the mortgage payments if something happens to either of our jobs. We can survive on one salary if the mortgage is covered.

All the debt is on 0% and I am not pushing to pay extra off this year except to clear the carpet finance. I need £480.21 to do this in December. I will then look to save to clear the furniture finance earlier. I am starting with the small debts as this will motivate me more and the 2 small loans have the same monthly commitment as the large CC. The CCs will be BT late summer and split across 2 cards.

This year we need to learn to live within our means, we've done it before, we can do it again.

Goals

1) Save £1000 to cover minor emergencies, repairs, replacements

3) Save 3 mortgage payments/£5200 in a big emergency fund (the aim is to increase this to 6 payments/£10,500 over time)

4) Save to pay for our summer holiday and spending money

5) Save £2500 to sort out the garden and build decking

6) Clear the carpets credit by the end of the year by saving up TTs, cashback, dividends and bits and bobs


We still don't know exactly what DH monthly salary will be as his bonuses will change now he is not on a guaranteed sum. Any bonuses he receives above the minimum monthly income expected will be split 4 ways:

1. Big emergency fund (40%)
2. Other savings goals - holiday, garden (25%)
3. Debt (25%)
4. Spending - family fun, clothes, house stuff, utility room makeover (10%)

Suffolk_lass

Well done. You have your plan and as you know from work, you will need to track those milestones and delivery activities to achieve it. I just love Tilly Tidying. It has been the single thing that has contributed to our debt clearance snowball - the more we pay off, the greater the amount of unallocated money we have each month. I have finally cleared the last unsecured debt we have this month - so just the mortgage left to clear. It has taken a while and if I can do it, you can too.

I think the other thing you need to track is what your mortgage interest is. Not yet - but as you work through 2019 towards the EF and the clearance of those last cards. I have just got mine down to close to the £2 a day I had reached before the mortgage interest rates went up in August by 0.25 following the BoEBR increase, that directly impacts my tracker mortgage.

A bit further on in my journey, I now hate paying interest (or fees, or OD charges) and I am much more diligent about clearing all down. For you, you must not forget those debts you consolidated into your mortgage. Where you ended with an unsustainable cashflow when your DH lost his job, you have a little more security. But you also have that longer term servicing of what were short-term debts that were unsecured and are now against your home.My advice is to track them and then start overpaying that mortgage so that you bring it back and get to your FIRE (financial independence, retire earlier)

DD265

TTs sound intriguing... how do these work if you're budgeting every penny? Do you just pick which category (e.g. the supermarket budget) to take the pennies from?

Suffolk_lass

DD265 wrote: »

TTs sound intriguing... how do these work if you're budgeting every penny? Do you just pick which category (e.g. the supermarket budget) to take the pennies from?

I do mine from our online bank accounts. Each day I tidy the account down to a round figure and put the TT in an instant saver. At the end of the month I decide what to do with it. I started by putting half towards debt and half to build our emergency fund. When my money increased a bit, I started rounding to the next ten pounds, because the money to service debts fell. And so on. Now it's just the mortgage left. It is the single measure that continues to incentivise me to get to financial liberation. I highly recommend it. Especially if you are one who likes it all tidy and neat!

apple_muncher

Those are great goals. And I like the way you will spit the bonuses. Go for it!

XSpender

DD265 wrote: »

TTs sound intriguing... how do these work if you're budgeting every penny? Do you just pick which category (e.g. the supermarket budget) to take the pennies from?

Because I use YNAB all the money in my accounts is allocated all the time so when I spend out of any of the categories I tidy up the pot to the nearest £1 and transfer it to a virtual pot in which I am saving up to clear my carpet finance early.

I also allocate the odd pounds and pence of any income coming in to the pot and the whole of any cashback, account interest and dividends etc.

XSpender

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Well done. You have your plan and as you know from work, you will need to track those milestones and delivery activities to achieve it. I just love Tilly Tidying. It has been the single thing that has contributed to our debt clearance snowball - the more we pay off, the greater the amount of unallocated money we have each month. I have finally cleared the last unsecured debt we have this month - so just the mortgage left to clear. It has taken a while and if I can do it, you can too.

I think the other thing you need to track is what your mortgage interest is. Not yet - but as you work through 2019 towards the EF and the clearance of those last cards. I have just got mine down to close to the £2 a day I had reached before the mortgage interest rates went up in August by 0.25 following the BoEBR increase, that directly impacts my tracker mortgage.

A bit further on in my journey, I now hate paying interest (or fees, or OD charges) and I am much more diligent about clearing all down. For you, you must not forget those debts you consolidated into your mortgage. Where you ended with an unsustainable cashflow when your DH lost his job, you have a little more security. But you also have that longer term servicing of what were short-term debts that were unsecured and are now against your home.My advice is to track them and then start overpaying that mortgage so that you bring it back and get to your FIRE (financial independence, retire earlier)

Congratulations on clearing the last of your unsecured debts

Our mortgage is fixed for the next 2 years so I have 2 years to clear the debt, save the big emergency fund in full and do some of the work on the exterior of the house that is impacting the value. I will then hopefully be able to get a much better rate as the LTV will be reduced. I intend to keep the payment the same to shorten the term/overpay. I will then be splitting the money I paid to savings and debt between mortgage OPs and retirement savings.

JingsMyBucket

XSpender wrote: »

DH still hasn't cleared his card. He cant find the card and they wont accept such a big payment over the phone but wont give him his card number (they gave me mine) so he can pay on line.

About the card, if your DH really cannot find it, I would have him declare it to the CC company that it's lost so they will then reissue a new card to him. After he receives it, you can then make the payment and get it off your plate once and for all.

Overall, great job @XSpender! :T You've been doing so well and reading your diary has been inspiring me to finally start addressing my financial quagmires once again later this month.