Reducing Debt - being accountable and taking responsibility

BabyStepper

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

:beer:
_party_
:dance:

If anyone from MSE just so happens to stumble upon this post, PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE create a champagne celebration emoji in time for the 29th March

:money:

I'll second that request!

DrSpendLittle

In the office and having a coffee break. Time for a MSE catch up!

The weekend was, magically, a no spend weekend. DF and I had done a small food shop on Friday and we had enough meat in the freezer to cover our food needs. We did have a very quiet weekend, so perhaps that explains it!

I've had about £80 of expenses refunded so far this month, which have gone into savings. Surprised but delighted with how quickly they've come through

Today I have bought lunch as I was disorganised last night and DF had eaten all the cheese so no sandwich filler. Also put £20 fuel in my commuting car.

I still need to buy conditioner . I will go to B&M this evening after work and get the supplies I previously mentioned I need. Think it includes shampoo and toothpaste. Will try to avoid the dreaded browse and "oh that's a good deal, I could use that...."

Really liking the lighter mornings. It's half term so I am able to go into work a little later than usual (roads aren't as busy and car parks aren't as full) and its delightful to be driving in early morning sunshine.

Spends this week are likely to be just an Oc4do shop. I'll probably do that tonight after consulting with DF. I can't think of anytime else that needs my hard earned ££s. We've friends visiting this weekend so I need to save my pennies for that.

I do need to book my car in for its annual service but I've been hesitant because it needs some maintenance work - loose trim, new wiper blades - and I think my suspension is feeling a bit bouncy, so I'm scared about the cost of it all I will get it booked in either this week or next week. I've £160 in my car maintenance fund but I may need to dip into savings to cover any outstanding amount. I suspect I will.

Busy day so back at it.

DrSpendLittle

You will be pleased to know that I finally managed to buy some conditioner / shampoo / toothpaste / shower gel! Hurrah. Spent around £13 in B&M but that's me now stocked up for a good couple of months.

DF and I then went out for a drink after work. His treat We went home via Tesc0s to grab some pizza for dinner. I bought those. Only about £6. We both felt guilty this morning for eating crap food and making bad food choices

Ocad0 shop arriving tonight. Need to be mindful of food spends. We've run out of quite a few store cupboard essentials this month so the costs are stacking up. Should be okay.

Bought lunch again today I must be more organised! I should be in a position to take lunch into the office tomorrow.

Just another manic day at work, so I'd better get back to it.

Will catch up on diaries later.

DrSpendLittle

Long time no see. Lets just say that was a manic weekend! Only went £14 over budget so I'm fairly pleased.

Its payday week! Eeeek! Super excited.

But super busy at work too so hopefully I will get a chance later to post an update and plans for March. And, catch up on diaries too.

DSL

wishingthemortgaheaway

32 days to go!!!!!!

DrSpendLittle

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

32 days to go!!!!!!

Eeeeek! :j

Only 2 sleeps until I can pay £1,000 and be in the £900's

:T

enthusiasticsaver

Almost there. Just think almost £1000 spare each month from April. Will be like getting a massive pay rise.

DrSpendLittle

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Almost there. Just think almost £1000 spare each month from April. Will be like getting a massive pay rise.

So exciting.

The next mini goal, from April - July, is to save £4 for house move fees and expenses. I reckon I can do that! :dance:

enthusiasticsaver

Yep that should be easy as you have been used to doing without that money. At least having that £4000 will be spent on things you need now rather than the stuff you bought ages ago. Hopefully you will find the right house soon (but not too soon so you have a chance to save that £4k).

DrSpendLittle

A successful NSD yesterday.

Lots of thoughts preoccupying my mind at the minute about moving and monthly mortgage payments and what we can afford and whether to push ourselves and costs of furniture, carpets, flooring etc etc. It's amazing how much emotional energy goes into thinking through all this for each property that might be 'the one'.

Basically, we've found a perfect new build in the perfect location. But, its at the top of our price range If we went for it, we'd do a 5 year fix with a LTV of 73% but the monthly mortgage payment is going to be around 35% of our net take home pay. We'd have a 4 month fully funded emergency fund. If we took our current lifestyle with us, we'd have about £700 surplus each month to save. If we were super frugal, I think we could push that to at least £1000 surplus each month, if not more. We don't yet have kids so the start up costs of that would be something we'd need to factor in over the next few years. We'd also have nursery fees but I'd hope we could each push to WFH 1 day a week and 'accommodate the lost time' without it affecting our jobs Family could also help 1 day per week.

The alternative is to spend less ££s on a second hand property (we haven't seen any new builds in that price bracket sadly) but potentially having to replace boilers / kitchens / bathrooms / carpets etc. Though, we'd be paying less stamp duty and have more in savings. Plus council tax would be cheaper.

Ugh, decisions, decisions!! If we sold our house for asking price and the builder paid stamp duty, I'd be all over this new build. We'd have much more ££s in the bank to pay for furniture, curtains, carpets etc. But, if we sold for £10K under the asking price and the builder didn't offer any inducements, it would be tight. We'd be having to cashflow new furniture and I suspect we wouldn't be saving much in the first year.

We'd probably need a new car at some point in the next 2-3 years. We could PX the current one into a deal and hopefully by that time have some ££s saved.

The finances just feel tight.... What do you think? Or am I catastrophising and do those figures look reasonable? As a couple, things are super comfortable for us right now. We've got quite a bit in the bank (DF family money that will be used for deposit and stamp duty when moving) and a mortgage payment that is only 10% of our take home pay. We don't yet have kids so we are used to indulging ourselves with our disposal income. We know that would need to change with a bigger mortgage and kids, so we're not deluded. I just worry that a mortgage payment of 35% of net take home pay would be dangerous.

On a more positive note, I'm glad we'll be going into this process with no debt

Payday in T - 2 :j