Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

AdventureWanted

The dd for CC2 has come out today taking the balance to £5,280.

I was reading a comment someone had made on TOPM's diary about the fall out from brexit and it really has made me think that I should get a very good emergency fund as soon as possible. Brexit is one of those things that I realised was happening, but hadn't really thought about the potential implications to food, fuel prices, etc. I must admit I am quite ignorant to a lot of it and have no idea when the price increases are likely to happen??

Today has been a pretty good day. Firstly I managed to get the DC to their tennis camp by 9 this morning!! I know to most people this isn't much, but it's pretty miraculous that we managed to get ready for a day out and leave the house before 8.15. Usually most groups we go to involve leaving the house at 10, so we have a more leisurely time getting ready.
I had a nice wander around the local park with DC3 whilst DC1&2 were playing tennis. The camp is on again tomorrow so fingers crossed it will be sunny again tomorrow (although absolutely bitter out) and I can go for a slightly longer walk.

Hopefully this week I can have a trip to the library and they can give me some suggestions for chapter books for reluctant readers. DC1 can read pretty well, but doesn't enjoy it. School unfortunately gave him very negative associations of reading during reception (he was 4) and I've had a HUGE struggle ever since to get him to practice. It's such a shame as I love reading and so does DH. DC1 does love being read to just not doing it himself.

AdventureWanted

Have received a refund from DC3s cancelled swimming lesson last week, so have paid that money to CC2. Also sent £2.67 to the emergency fund.

Going to the library today and then for a nice walk at the woods with the DC, my mum and her dogs. At the moment the sun is shining, so fingers crossed it stays bright.

savingholmes

I think the emergency fund is a good idea. Think of it as stoozing and try to get a decent interest rate for it - win:win. My Dad pays his mortgage interest each month with interest on capital he's saved.... It's just another way of doing it... He moves it between accounts if need be to get "reward" payments too.

AdventureWanted

savingholmes wrote: »

I think the emergency fund is a good idea. Think of it as stoozing and try to get a decent interest rate for it - win:win. My Dad pays his mortgage interest each month with interest on capital he's saved.... It's just another way of doing it... He moves it between accounts if need be to get "reward" payments too.

Wow that's really good paying mortgage interest with interest received. I'm not sure how great my interest rates are on my barclays savings accounts. At the moment I've got lots of little pots for various savings, but the emergency fund has the most in it. Will try and have a look today to see if there is a better savings account. Think I may need to set myself a goal for savings as otherwise I tend to lack focus and motivation.

AdventureWanted

Feeling a bit fed up with money today. Well sort of... DH bought himself a new coat yesterday (which he definitely didn't need!) and has transferred money from his car savings to pay for it. He's also put extra fuel in his car than usual which has meant I've had to readjust my whole budget. I told him it had messed the budget up and he couldn't care less. It's just so frustrating when I'm trying so hard to pay off the debt and using my own pocket money for our takeaway so it doesn't mess the budgets up and he does whatever he likes.

I think I may have to have another look at the budget next month. I give myself £45 a month pocket money, but to be completely honest it usually gets spent on treats for the kids or coffee shop trips! Possibly I should reduce my debt repayments down a fraction and increase our days out fund so that I can save any pocket money I don't spend on myself for a day I do want to splurge. That way I hopefully won't be so envious of DH buying what he likes when he likes.

In money news I've had an extra £250 in my account (repaid from business account) for a few days. I've been mulling over what to do with the money - whether to pay it all off debt or put in EF or a mix of the two. Anyway today I have paid £35 to CC2 and put £100 in to the EF. The extra money I'll most probably pay small amounts to both accounts over the next couple of weeks. This slow process will also give me a bit of a buffer in our current account.

Debt at 14/2/18
CC1 - £0
CC2 - £5,230
CC3 - £10,700
CC4 - £12,480

Total - £28,410

Emergency fund is currently at £618.89.

This month I've still got £120 dd to come off CC3 and on pay day I transfer £325 to CC2, so I should get into the £27k bracket at the end of the month.

enthusiasticsaver

A regular savings account would pay the highest interest. Most you can access although some restrict it so you would need to check that. I sympathise with you re your DHs attitude. It is sadly all too common and some don't see an issue with debt until they are made redundant or get ill or retire. The main way to sell it to debt deniers is to say surely the monthly repayments are better in your pocket than your lenders?

It is generally accepted that Brexit will make prices go up due to exchange rates but how long that goes on for is anyone's guess. It is all a total mess but it makes me angry that this was so unnecessary so I won't say any more as I am sure that people who voted for it think it is for the best.

AdventureWanted

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

A regular savings account would pay the highest interest. Most you can access although some restrict it so you would need to check that. I sympathise with you re your DHs attitude. It is sadly all too common and some don't see an issue with debt until they are made redundant or get ill or retire. The main way to sell it to debt deniers is to say surely the monthly repayments are better in your pocket than your lenders?

It is generally accepted that Brexit will make prices go up due to exchange rates but how long that goes on for is anyone's guess. It is all a total mess but it makes me angry that this was so unnecessary so I won't say any more as I am sure that people who voted for it think it is for the best.

Thanks enthusiastic saver. I'll have a look at these tonight.

AdventureWanted

So today has been NSD number 5. Half way through the month, so need to try a bit harder to achieve the 15 NSDs I want.

In other MSE news I phoned sky today and managed to get a good deal, so will save just over £50 a month from 17 March. Also swapping broadband/phone as my contract has ended which as long as it goes through ok will save £10 per month.

The new keys i had to buy for my gas and electric meter box arrived today, so tomorrow I plan on doing meter readings and hopefully I will receive an updated bill at the end of the month. The money saving energy email keeps telling me I'll save money to swap, but last time I checked it worked out the same as I have a cancellation fee with the energy company I am with. They have reduced my dd this month by £7, so hopefully the bill will be about right.

My goal for 2018 is to pay £12,500 towards the debt (currently at £2,270.60). I have been thinking about shorter term goals and would really like to have saved £2k in my emergency fund by June. Fingers crossed no emergencies crop up between now and June.

Treadingonplaymobil

Sounds like you are going great guns at the moment - easy wins like the Sky deal will really help.

My DH took a while to get on board with the whole debt-paying-off thing, but what eventually got through to him (I think) was seeing our minimum repayments reduce and seeing how much more money we would have every month if we actually cleared the debts and had no repayments to make. It also took us about six months to really nail down our budget, so I wasn't topping up family spends from my kitty, or robbing peter to pay paul in some other way. Don't be afraid to adjust categories as needed to make your budget work for you.

AdventureWanted

I think I need to be a bit more generous in certain budget categories to stop using my pocket money. In ynab each month I transfer any unused money from each category and pay that off the debt, but maybe I should leave the money until the end of the following month as a buffer just in case we do more the next month. For instance we didn't do many days out in Jan as everyone was poor after Christmas, but so far this month we seem to have already spent the same as we did for the whole of Jan. We're still in budget for days out, but we don't have much left.

I've rounded down the bank account today sending £4 to CC2 and 67p to EF.

Have had a nice day today. Weather was glorious which definitely helps - car said it was 9 degrees! So positively warm!! Watched DC1&2 at their swimming lessons and they did brilliantly. Best they've swam in ages, so had a very proud Mum moment. Bought some bits we needed for DC3s bedroom and some towel rails for the bathrooms (which will hopefully stop the kids chucking the towel on the floor after they've washed their hands!). Money has come from our home maintenance pot, so need to keep adding to this next month ready for decking being purchased in a few months.

I've spent a good hour today on Pinterest searching for plants for our garden which provide good height and fence coverage to block out a neighbours house. They had a tree taken down recently and although our garden is lighter, we now have a lovely view of someone else's house!