Unsinkable

[Deleted User]

Thanks xx She's one of those people that insults you to your face but you know she's joking by the glint in her eye, she is a lovely person and one I will definitely miss when the time comes xx

Moving on to things MSE wise, a few surveys have been done although PA seems to be slowing down a bit, probably due to coming to the end of term.

I'm working on my LTW but I've also restarted my £10pw allowance again, I spent 30p yesterday, so that leaves me with £9.70 to last until Friday.

I dyed my hair on Sunday, it looks much better now, need it cutting though next.

We ventured in to Reading on Sunday to get the kids camp bits, so they're all sorted. DS had a kit inspection at Cadets last night and all was ok.

I got some reduced diced beef yesterday lunch, so this has been dumped in the freezer, it will get used once (if) the weather cools down.

Sold DD's old bike on Ebay over the weekend, didn't quite get what we wanted for it but it has gone to a good home and to a little boy that is going to use it, so that I'm happy about, told DH that the £50 I will pay into the bank on Saturday and pay off the Cap One card.

With that payment, plus the £80 at the end of the month the Cap One card will be at £175 roughly, DH should get a bonus at the end of August which will wipe it out totally and then I can reassess where we are with the finances and plough everything on to the BC.

I need to do a meal plan for the next few weeks, so I think I will need to see what we have in the freezer, I just want to buy what we need and nothing more than that.

[Deleted User]

Just putting the thought out there.

I have never had a credit card, that I have used, I had one with Cap One about 14 years ago but never used it.

I'm thinking now that I am using a huge amount of diesel to get to work, about applying for one so that I can only use it for fuel and pay it off at the end of the month, so effectively treating it as a bill to be paid....is that a good idea or should I stick with paying for fuel as and when I need it?

debtaghh

Hi purple,

Is it a credit card that you would earn points or something like that?

[Deleted User]

debtaghh wrote: »

Hi purple,

Is it a credit card that you would earn points or something like that?

I probably would if I had a Sainsbugs or Tesco one, but then again, I could use that for the shopping as well.

My concern is that it wouldn't get paid off each month and then we'd have more debt.

debtaghh

That was my worry to be honest . I think it's best to pay as you do now and not put it on the credit card.

hugglemonster

Yep I'd agree, I know that I can't manage my credit card so best off not having one at all, I know some people are really self controlled but not me!!

[Deleted User]

debtaghh wrote: »

That was my worry to be honest . I think it's best to pay as you do now and not put it on the credit card.

hugglemonster wrote: »

Yep I'd agree, I know that I can't manage my credit card so best off not having one at all, I know some people are really self controlled but not me!!

May be I am best waiting until we've halved the debt we have at the moment AND waiting and seeing where I end up job wise next year.

jwil

I'd get one if you could claim expenses back, but not for day to day fuel use unless it was a rewards one and you were definitely disciplined to pay off in full. I'm sure I wouldn't be!

[Deleted User]

I thought I'd write an update as I have been a bit sporadic of late.

The debt is as follows:

MBNA: £6100
Cap One: £308 (after recent interest added)
Barclay Card - Varies
Overdraft: £2700

Okay, so debt wise the Capital One card is going the right way and will be paid off in roughly two months, this will then be used by DH solely for his expenses and paid off in full every month.

The MBNA is still on 0% until Sept 2019, I'm wondering if it is worth trying to negotiate a new rate once the 0% is up or moving it to the BC?

The BC is up and down at the moment due to a lot of things but is roughly £7K...I know!!

The plan of attack is still that once the Cap One card is gone, then all effort will be on reducing the BC again. If you've read my previous diaries, you'll know that the only reason why the Cap One card was high was because of my idiot teenager.

School is out for the summer now, both kids finished at lunchtime :j

Both kids have new phones and new data allowances, both well within budget so that's a good thing. My phone was on it's way out, so new phone for me and I've saved £5 pm on my last tariff doing so. DH was in need of an upgrade but didn't want to change his phone, so he's now on a 12mth plan for £15pm, so he's saved £31pm. So between us we've saved what both of the kids tariffs cost

I should add that there was no upfront cost for either phones

DD goes to Guide camp on Thursday morning and comes back on Sunday and DS goes to Cadet camp on Sunday morning and comes back the following Friday, so things are a little hectic home wise trying to get things organised.

Payday on Friday :j

I have my August goals sorted and I will post that separately as this post is already too long.

[Deleted User]

My August Goals are as follows:

Drive economically - I drive 100 miles per day, need to see just how far I can stretch the diesel.
Lunches to Work - I have set myself a target and apart from 1 day when I am holiday, I'm aiming to get on top of it.
Groceries - Goes back to the meal planning, need to work on it.
Alcohol - We are taking steps to reduce this, the pub although nice is expensive, we worked out that we are probably spending £200 - £300pm in there, for what? To sit there and stare at our phones? Complete waste of time and money, so we've improved and use our 'home pub garden'
Exercise - I have started to train for my 10K for next year but the weather is really making it difficult to run in the evenings and I don't have time to run in the mornings, unless it's at the weekend.
Surveys and Competitions - Surveys have slowed but that's to be expected and I've not done any competitions this week, so need to get on that next month.
DD's Birthday - Is towards the end of the month but needs factoring in.