On a Mission

TheMoonandBack

I know what you mean about Emergency Funds, I will do anything rather than use my EF but £300 is a lot to find in one go.
The way I look at it is if you have to spend it, and without an EF you would use a credit card then use the EF.
With cars, if you aren’t budgeting specifically for maintenance and repairs then I would use the EF. £50 a month for 6 months will top it back up again.
You can get money off car parts using voucher codes off here. Most weekends GSF Car Parts do about 50% off with free home delivery. Would your garage fit parts supplied by you and you just pay their labour ? Might a save a little bit.

Mummy_bear

TheMoonandBack wrote: »

I know what you mean about Emergency Funds, I will do anything rather than use my EF but £300 is a lot to find in one go.
The way I look at it is if you have to spend it, and without an EF you would use a credit card then use the EF.
With cars, if you aren’t budgeting specifically for maintenance and repairs then I would use the EF. £50 a month for 6 months will top it back up again.
You can get money off car parts using voucher codes off here. Most weekends GSF Car Parts do about 50% off with free home delivery. Would your garage fit parts supplied by you and you just pay their labour ? Might a save a little bit.

We're fortunate enough to have a family friend who is a mechanic. So we get everything really cheap anyway. We'll see what the costs come out as and hope that it won't eat too much into the EF. 6 months ago this would definitely have been a CC expense so we can be grateful for our LBMs at least

MB

Mummy_bear

October goals

1) To pay a total of £1000 off debt
£582.28/£1000

2) To get £700 in the EF
£690/£700

3) To list 10 items on Ebay
10/10 :T

Stuck another item on Ebay last night. So I've hit this target. Hope to get more on next weekend


4) To earn £40 from surveys - only payable to count
£37.85/£40

I was 31p off my £25 cashout target for PA. Instead of waiting I decided to cashout. This should hit my accounts tomorrow and go straight into my annual bills account. 3rd month in a row that I've contributed my half to that account via PA alone.



Totals as of 16th October

Lloyds CC £1293
MBNA CC £4035
Barclaycard CC £2206.71
Tesco Loan £9586.8 £213.04 paid off
Santander Loan £6217.95 £155.45 paid off
TV -DH purchase £569
M&S Loan £7755.52
Bicycle finance £75



Total debt as of 29th September - £32322.28
Total debt as of 8th October - £32284.78
Total Debt as of 13th October - £32113.65
Total Debt as of 15th October - £32107.49
Total Debt as of 16th October - £31739 (nice round figure:o)


Total cleared since 1st October - £582.28


Emergency Fund total - £690/£1000


Two of the loan payments came out today.

Had news on DH car. Total cost likely to be £220. We have the money for that without needing to touch the EF. Just means less debt over payment. Not sure we'll achieve the £1000 target now. But we'll see. At least we're not adding to the debt which is the main thing.

MB

IWILLgetthere

Mummy_bear wrote: »

Hi there IWILLgetthere

I'm not sure if I know enough about DMP or doing one alone. But I have read a few diaries on here where others have done exactly has you've done and been successful. I wish I remembered which diaries they were.

I know you're scared but you're also brave. In fact I'd go as far as to say embrace that fear because actually it means you've had a true LBM. You're now on the path to becoming debt free. No more head in the sand moments. This journey is scary for all of us. I guess another overwhelming emotion on get is embarrassment. I want rid of those feelings.

I'm guessing by now you've posted the letters. Well done.

I will most definitely follow your progress x

Hi Mummy Bear
Well since sending you this post I have heard back from 3 of my 6 creditors accepting my payment offers :j I cannot tell you how much calmer I am feeling knowing that I don't have to find the very high minimum payments- I will actually be able to pay everything for the first time in years!!
Still love reading your diary - you are a real inspiration and I look forward to my daily read and little slice of hope:T:T Thank you xx

Mummy_bear

IWILLgetthere wrote: »

Hi Mummy Bear
Well since sending you this post I have heard back from 3 of my 6 creditors accepting my payment offers :j I cannot tell you how much calmer I am feeling knowing that I don't have to find the very high minimum payments- I will actually be able to pay everything for the first time in years!!
Still love reading your diary - you are a real inspiration and I look forward to my daily read and little slice of hope:T:T Thank you xx

Oh I LOVE this update. Just brilliant. Can only imagine the weight lifted x:j

Mummy_bear

October goals

1) To pay a total of £1000 off debt
£709.09/£1000

2) To get £700 in the EF
700/£700:T

3) To list 10 items on Ebay
10/10 :T

sold 7 of the items listed. After postage and fees I made £8.96 profit...promptly put towards the BC


4) To earn £40 from surveys - only payable to count
£39.6/£40

So very close. Should imagine Qmee will get me to my target



Totals as of 20th October

Lloyds CC £1293
MBNA CC £3935 £100 paid off
Barclaycard CC £2179.9 £26.81 paid off
Tesco Loan £9586.8
Santander Loan £6217.95
TV -DH purchase £569
M&S Loan £7755.52
Bicycle finance £75



Total debt as of 29th September - £32322.28
Total debt as of 8th October - £32284.78
Total Debt as of 13th October - £32113.65
Total Debt as of 15th October - £32107.49
Total Debt as of 16th October - £31739 (nice round figure:o)
Total debt as of 20th October - £31612.19


Total cleared since 1st October - £709.09


Emergency Fund total - £700/£1000


So had a bit of luck with parking this week and a little profit made from eBay therefore I was able to make a nice PAD to BC.

Will probably try and get a few more buts on Ebay this weekend.

My clearscore went up by about 30 points. I know the score is not necessarily that important but psychologically it's a boost. It's showing that things are moving in the right direction.

MB

Mummy_bear

Good Morning,

Well Storm Brian made for a terrible sleep last night *zzzz*

Have quite a bit to squeeze in today.

DH finally managed to get a tip run in yesterday and get rid of a number of large items. This paves the way to finally get some decorating done. DS is at his Aunties following a sleepover. DH and DD will be going out for the day so that leaves me to gut DS bedroom and start the decorating process. I managed to do a little last night and got 2 big bags of old, broken toys removed (DS will still notice.:cool:) Have another bag for donation which I will try and do today.

Decided I need to et back into reading. I have hundreds of books. About a year ago I did a clear out and donated all the books I'd read and didn't want to ever read again. Still left a huge amount. Once upon a time I had an addiction. To buying books - as did DH. We literally thought nothing of going out and spending £100 in Waterstones at least once maybe twice a month. Children put a stop to that, and the reading! What with working long hours, coming home, rushing about getting homework done and sorting everything for the next day I can just about manage getting into bed and vegging out watching Netflix, which required little thought.

BUT. I miss reading so much. And in order to assist in the declutter process I really could do with reading the books I have and then donating them. I have a kindle now and so all other new book purchases have been digital (often get the free or dirt cheap ones).

I'm therefore going to document my reading challenge on here. Putting things in here has kinda spurred me on financially speaking so I'm hoping for the same effect with my reading.

I'll be taking it slow though, so 1book a month. I'll start properly on November the 1st with a new book. For now I will finish one that I started, possibly last year :eek:, "Behind Closed Doors" by B A PARIS. I'm about 58% through and so I hope be able to finish it in the rest of October.



MB

Mummy_bear

Morning,

Extremely early start. Combo of kids getting me up for one thing or another (they're still sleeping may I add) and just struggling to get back to sleep.

I took the opportunity to read instead.

Embarrassingly I've discovered that the book I wanted to continue reading from yesterday is already completed. I mean I'd already finished it some time ago but forgot! ! I'd clearly started from an old bookmark. I was reading it thinking it's all very familiar. I then got flashbacks of how the book ends, so I skipped to the end, and yep I've already read the book :rotfl: what a plonker!

So, now I will pick the next book to finish off. As I've got another one that I started in August on my kindle - THE SHOCK OF THE FALL by Nathan Filer. Only 14% through this one. 9 days to finish it. 8.4% a day to read.

aim for 10% a day to ensure it's done

Yesterday was productive. Wallpapered DSs bedroom. Looks great, he loves it. Didn't manage to get anything on Ebay this weekend though. Will see how much I can get on this week.

MB

wishingthemortgaheaway

Oooh loved 'the shock of the fall' when I read it a few years ago.

I need to get back into reading more too.

AdventureWanted

Hi, I need to get back into reading more too, but it’s not always that easy to find the time. I set myself a goal of reading 30 books this year, but I’m only up to 17 so far. Have you used the goodreads app? It’s a really handy way to keep a track of what books you’ve read or want to read and it gives recommendations for similar books you might like.