Time to get serious about sorting my debt

System

Hayles70 welcome to Debt Free world. I agree about Ontrees and the bank disclaimer that's why I didn't use it , though it looked great.

Hayles70

Recently, I've been thinking about why my debt is so much. For the amount of debt I have, you would think that I have a house full of lavish things, a nice car and plenty of holidays. The reality is we have an 11 year old car, (I've never had a new car or a car on finance) we haven't been on holiday abroad since 2014 and since then we've only been to Filey for 5 days with Sun Holidays. I have the essentials in my house, the most expensive purchase was our fridge freezer which was about £250.

I think my problem is that, I don't save for things, I want things instantly. Past holidays (I'm talking 4 holidays abroad in 10years) have gone on a credit card but I have never actively paid them off.
Then a huge chunk has come from reducing to part time hours after maternity combined with paying for my rental house as well as our home. I had to pay for petrol on my CC because I was living outside my means. Heart won over head.

Also for the last 6/7 years we've been at that age where everyone was getting married. I think we had 7 Weddings in a year at one point, so I think that also totted up the figures, because it's the hen do, an outfit for the wedding, the gift, drinks and the taxi home. Thankfully that appears to have slowed down now. We don't have any to attend this year.

The stupid thing is that up until I had my daughter in 2015, i had two jobs. A full time salaried job Mon-fri and a part-time weekend job in a pub. I often worked 7 days a week yet I still didn't pay off debt! Faceplant!

The positives

I have made some good financial decisions.

My husband and I got married 3years ago. It was a big, expensive wedding and we saved for it :j I realise paying for an expensive wedding isn't a good financial decision as such but we didn't get in anymore debt to pay it off!

I bought a house on my own when I was young and have been renting it out. The boiler had to be replaced a few years ago and I actually paid for it using the wedding fund rather than debt!
Up until last night, I'd never even considered paying extra on my mortgage but now I've looked into it, I'm definitely going to aim to make overpayments when I've reduced some of my unsecured debt.

I want my daughter to learn about managing money from a young age. I have set her up a bank account and all her birthday/Christmas money goes in there as well as a monthly direct debit of £10 from the child benefit.
I have set up the child benefit to go into a separate account and I use it to buy her clothes and anything she needs. I'm determined that her life won't be funded with debt.

Interesting....:o

My goals:

Become debt free
Save a deposit for our family house
Make monthly overpayments on my rental property mortgage
Save up for our first family holiday abroad



Sorry to have rambled on.

Hayles70

Evening,

It's been a few days since i last posted. I have been busy job searching. Which I've decided I hate! Feel like I'm getting nowhere and my laptop has died so I'm having to use my iPad which is proving difficult. I ended up paying £17.99 for a yearly subscription the other night just so I could complete a PDF application. I now know that there were other ways to do it that don't cost anything but I was panicking because the application had to be in first thing the following morning.

I watched a programme yesterday that mentioned mortgages and It prompted me to login to my account and check for a better deal. Glad I did, I have now switched to a two year fixed rate deal saving £35 a month! Yay!

I drove for the first time today and spent money.... real money though, no credit card in sight. I just bought a few bits from Wilkos and bought my favourite food from Holland and Barrett, I'm completely addicted to the stuff...Pip and Nut Honey Cinnamon Cashew nut butter! Amazing but a tad expensive :eek:
I spent £25.

It's not too bad, a total spend of £48 in 3 weeks.

Hayles70

Morning,

I haven't actually left the house since Wednesday! Mainly because I don't dare! I'm still not allowed to push the pushchair and my daughter is at that age where she thinks it's hilarious to run off so that we chase her, so we've stayed in. We have been playing in the garden, we did potato printing yesterday and we've watched far too much Peppa b*****d Pig!

Yesterday, I logged onto my credit card accounts and changed all the monthly payments to a set amount that was about £5 more than the minimum payment. I can't afford more than the minimum at the moment but thought that setting the amount means that I'm at least paying something off.

Today we are venturing out to Debenhams. Our toaster and kettle have about had it. I did buy them over 10 years ago so I'm quite impressed that they've made it this long. Debenhams have a sale on and we have some vouchers to use. I have the Natwest rewards bank account, It costs £3 a month but I get cash back on all my utility bills and some purchases. I always earn a minimum of £7 per month. I let it build up and then exchange for a gift voucher. Earlier this year, I exchanged £90 for a £100 Debenhams voucher, I've only spent about £25 of it. I've already built up another £60. I'm just going to use these vouchers for my clothes and cosmetics.

I am also going to look for a shirt/top to go with my suit as I have two job interviews coming up in the next couple of weeks. :T

Tomorrow, my parents are coming over as my dads going to take our old mattress to the tip. Did I mention that we have a new mattress?!:rotfl: As a thank you, we are cooking them Sunday lunch. We already have all the ingredients in.

Hayles70

It's Monday! 3 weeks post-op and the recovery is going well.:j

I've just remembered this morning that I need to start my grocery spending diary today and general spending.

We did go to Debenhams on Saturday but didn't get the kettle or toaster because It was a rubbish selection in store compared to the online sale, so we are going to order online instead. I did however get my face cleanser etc in the sale. £24 instead of £64 and paid using my voucher. I also bought a few bits from Mothercare for DD. I spent £22 on socks, pants (nearly time for potty training!) and pyjamas. This has come out of the child benefit account.

Today's to do list

-I have a child free day today so I'm going to do some sorting of toys, spare room and paperwork.

-Make another batch of soup. (I've found a delicious recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash soup)

- Make a meal plan for this week. I shouldn't need to buy much as we had a Tesco delivery last week.

-Go to Aldi - I need baby wipes, veg, bread and mince. I will make a list when I've done the meal plan.

I am going to cook tea all week. This is a big thing for me, my husband has done nearly all the cooking for the last two years as I haven't been able to stand up long enough before the pain kicked in so now that I'm almost pain free I'm treating him to tea being ready when he gets home.

I only need to complete one more survey on Opinion Outpost and then I can exchange for a £10 voucher.:j

Best crack on...:)

Hayles70

What started off as being an average day turned into a much needed lovely day. I drove into town and parked in a 2hour free on road parking, met my OH for lunch, he went back to work and I had a wander around the little boutique shops (we live near a beautiful historic city) I spent a grand total of £1.50.
I'd forgotten how much I love doing this, probably because I usually have a pushchair to navigate.
I then did a shop at Aldi. I spent £32.75. I needed more than I thought. I always seem to forget things when I order online shopping.:cool:
This should keep us going until next week now apart from bread and milk.

Hayles70

I want to shake myself! I'm out of control.:(

I went to my physio appt this morning and then went to Tesco to get a new fitted sheet as ours don't fit the new mattress.
The sheet was £9....I managed to spend £45! And I paid for it with my CC! There was no need for this as we are eating out all weekend. We won't waste anything but the cupboards are full.

Supermarkets are my downfall but I also think I'm acting a bit irrational at the minute. I've had a job since I was 15 and the thought that I might be unemployed in a couple of weeks is freaking me out but I'm clearly not acting like someone who might be unemployed soon! Im eating far too much too. I need my routine back.

On the positive, the physio has said that I can start swimming again. I bought a deal on Groupon a couple of months ago which is 10 swim passes for £10 at the local leisure centre so I will be activating that next week. I can't wait to shift the pounds, I've put on a stone and gone up a dress size in the last year due to being inactive and completely indulging in treats! Im not overweight but I'm on the verge and I feel really uncomfortable in my own skin and its cost me money having to buy bigger clothes.

Next week's plan.

- Go swimming at least twice on my own and once or maybe twice with my LG.
- Go for a walk everyday.
- Sort out the spare room/my dressing room
- Sort out my LG's toys
- Sell some bits on eBay
- Order a new toaster and kettle from Debenhams using vouchers. If there's enough left, a new iron or microwave too, both need replacing, will also look at my Tesco points for these.

I need to start being more proactive and stop sticking my head in the sand.

Hayles70

Well, Its been a week since I last posted and I haven't achieved any of the items on my to do list! :mad: I did take my LG swimming yesterday but had to drive to the leisure centre that was furthest away due to an event that has taken over the one closest to us for the week, so I used more petrol and couldn't use my Groupon deal.:(

I have now got a date for my redundancy/end of employment and I feel so much better for it. I've been feeling a bit in limbo really and now I feel like I can move on.

It was my birthday last weekend and my oh treated me to a family day out, a Lush gift set and far too many meals out but it was much needed! Although I had to buy a towel from M&S that cost £9.50 as my LG ran through those fountains that spurt out the ground and got drenched!

On Monday, I went to Home-bargains and spent £12.42. It's just recently opened and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Not overly enthused but it was cheap. I managed to get my LG a puzzle for her birthday in September (I've been buying little bits when I've seen them on offer) and a Finding Dory rucksack for when she starts nursery, it was a bargain at £1.99! The rest was toiletries, milk, bread and sweetener.

Tuesday - At the last minute I bought some mince and bread. I had arranged to go to my friends house and provide tea for her and her dh and was planning to pick something like a pizza up on the way but decided to save some money by making my famous meatballs. I already had the rest of the ingredients and it made enough to feed 4 adults and my lg. I've been keeping all the grocery receipts to add up on the 23rd. I'm weirdly excited to see how much we actually spend!

Wednesday- Picked up DH from work and did big shop at Morrisons and had tea in the cafe paid for by DH. Also included clothes for my LG -two pairs of leggings. A hooded zip up jumper and a tshirt for £11.50. All we're on my list for things needed for her.

Thursday- Swimming

Today - Bought my LG a new pair of shoes from Clarks. This came out of the child benefit account. I'm very good with clothes for her, I tend to buy supermarket and sales items and I certainly don't go mad. I was very controlled today and didn't go in any other shops (usually the M&S Food hall next door is my downfall). Progress!!:rotfl:

This wknd my OH is away for the weekend playing golf. Me and my LG are going to a family celebration tomorrow and hopefully to the seaside on Sunday or swimming locally depending on how my back is feeling.

Next week's to-do list

-EBay some books and clothes
-Sort out mine and LG's wardrobes
- declutter spare room
- bake cheese scones and cheese tart (only need to buy cheese as OH accidentally used it for tea!)
-bake biscuits too
- File away paperwork
- Purchase magnetic meal planner off eBay

I'm pretty sure some of this will roll over to the following week as everything takes a lot longer with a toddler in tow!

Dorastar

Just read through your diary, well done for starting the debt free journey. I have been ill (not my back) and am also due to be redundant at end of August so I know exactly how you feel, so hugs. Keep up as many no spend days as you can, I know it's hard, and keep posting on here. Loads of people on here have been there and worn the t-shirt, you got this!

Hayles70

Thanks Dorastar. My mindset has definitely changed. Im sorry that you're going through the same situation, I'm trying to turn it into a positive as I truly believe everything happens for a reason but sometimes I can't help but dwell in a little self pity!

I had a bit of a light bulb moment yesterday when I updated my signature totals. I think that watching the grand total go down is going to be my motivation!