Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

AdventureWanted

Morning :wave:,

I'm planning on having a quiet day today. Yesterday we went to the sea life centre. Was a very cheap day out, as I'd exchanged Tesco clubcard vouchers for 4 tickets (didn't have to pay for dc3) . We made sure we'd brought a packed lunch for us all, so only got a drink and small snack. I felt rubbish on the way home yesterday pm (luckily DH was driving). Think a lack of drink, poor sleep for a couple of days and my contact lenses led to the start of a migraine. Went to bed early last night (I went straight after the DC!!). So pleased I did though, as I slept for a solid 7.5 hours . Can't even remember the last time I had that much sleep. Still feel a bit headachey today, so will be staying in today.

DH has been sorting the garden the last week on and off getting ready to finish the decking. We've got loads of timber to get rid of and we had originally planned on getting a skip, but it'd cost around £130. The local tip charge £3 per 60litre bag of timber, so we had planned on doing this, but a friend is having a bonfire party and want all the extra timber they can get, so we can get rid of it all for free and help a friend .

I've paid £25 to cc3 today, which has taken the total balance of CC3 & CC4 below £18k! Now at £17,990. Love getting into the next bracket .

AdventureWanted

I've paid £10 to CC3 today. I'm currently at the stage of the month where I'm finding all of this debt paying and monitoring very tedious! It definitely seems to be a monthly feeling I get! Cannot wait to be debt free, but it feels like such a distant dream at the moment. Oh well I guess I should concentrate on my small goals. Hopefully will get debt into the £15ks by the end of the year and then next year should see the end of CC3. Will be brilliant to only have one credit card.

Need to get back in to the swing of doing surveys. I've been incredibly slack recently and haven't been checking them at all. Any additional money could be thrown at the debt.

DH has booked a short break away for us all, which was a lovely surprise (although it is using some of the extra pay I was hoping to use to pay debts, but family time away will be definitely worth it!). It's only a couple of weeks until we go, so I'm starting to plan our meals already! It's a self catering place, so we'll take home cooked meals with us for each night, so should save some money. Would be brilliant to be more organised this time.. Last time we went away I was still doing last minute packing the morning we left :eek:!

jwil

You are doing really well. I hate it when payday seems like a long way away to make a dent in the debts.

That's a lovely surprise of the short break, hope you have a lovely time!

AdventureWanted

Thanks Jwil .

Have had a lovely day today with my parents. Went for a long walk with my dad, the DC and the dogs at the woods. The DC thought it was brilliant that my dad was able to come with us. My poor dad hasn't got used to being made redundant and being forced to retire. I'm hoping that once my mum is better and can start leaving the house that they'll enjoy it more. My mum is a bit better, but the doctors said it could be a few weeks before she feels 100%. She isn't used to being cooped up at home and is so frustrated at having to rest! I'm just so relieved that things have turned out this way and not so much worse.

Whilst at my parents DC2 told my mum how uncomfortable and cold her bed is! (First I've heard about it!!). She said that it's not as warm or comfy as my bed and that she gets cold in the night. The mattress on her bed is a fairly cheapish non spring mattress, so I'm wondering whether I should buy a better/thicker mattress. The downside is that they are sooo expensive, but it should last a while. Might try a mattress topper and buy a winter duvet to see how that works first. I have no idea when it comes to mattresses whether the increased price does typically mean better quality.

AdventureWanted

Yesterday I bought DC2 a thicker duvet from Dunelm. Whilst there I bought a new oilcloth tablecloth for £10. It's rubbish! It's already been torn on the corner of the table after being on for a few hours! I'm hoping they'll take it back, as the quality is shocking! Think I'll have to buy it from my usual place, which will cost around £25, but it's lasted ages. In fact the material is still in great condition, but it's stained with colouring pens and spaghetti bolognaise sauce!

I've paid £20 to CC3 today and have requested £9.84 from Quidco. Hopefully that'll land in my account next week and I can send that over to the cc. Going to have a look at a 2nd hand tricycle for DC3s birthday this weekend. If we end up getting it I'm going to have a look at what we've got and keep some back for Christmas. She's only turning 2 so still doesn't really understand birthdays or Christmas.

I'm trying to think of a few crafty type activities I can take with us on holiday. I was contemplating buying some decoupage paper and paper mache animals, but not sure if I need another ornament. Although that being said, the DC do enjoy doing it. Maybe I should just stick to colouring and playdough, but would be quite nice to do a family activity which doesn't cost loads. If anyone has any suggestions that'd be great .

jwil

Could you make Christmas decorations or something like that?

AdventureWanted

jwil wrote: »

Could you make Christmas decorations or something like that?

I love making Christmas decorations, but DH is a major Christmas Scrooge!! Well he dislikes any mention of Christmas prior to December 1st. I on the other hand have been gathering bits for a couple of months and absolutely love Christmas. I could try and make a pine cone wreath whilst away, as we should have access to lots of pine cones. I bought some paper mache decoupage animals today for a few quid each and will search through my craft bits for paper to use. I already have pva glue, so hoping I can get the paper cheap if I need some. The lady in hobbycraft was really helpful telling me to use tissue paper rather than buy the fancy decoupage paper. I was horrified at the cost of the paper - £3.80 per pack of the same colour/patterned paper!

AdventureWanted

Today has been depressingly expensive. My poor EF has taken such an unbelievably huge hit . My car has been in the garage this afternoon having front and rear brake disks and pads replaced, as well as a tyre repaired (I ran over a nail yesterday and got a puncture ). Not only that, but DH has arranged to have the window tint on our car replaced, which is costing £270 :eek:. The brakes and tyre repair definitely needed doing, but the window tint didn't, but there's not much I can do as he's already paid the deposit and booked it. It's all set me back around £960 in total :mad:. It's brilliant that I have an EF to use, but it's so sad having to reduce the amount in that account!! It's going to be a long slog building it back up. On the plus side I hopefully shouldn't have to do much to the car for a while!

jwil

How frustrating about the car, especially the window tint!

AdventureWanted

Payday today, so I've sent £335 across to CC3. This should be my final debt payment for October, so I'll do my month round up below.

Total debt at 30/10/18
CC1 - £0
CC2 - £0
CC3- £6,180
CC4 - £11,440

Total debt - £17,620.
(Total debt at 30/9/18 - £18,791.).

So that's £1,171 paid this month. Pleased with the debt payments, but not overly happy that the budgets seem to have gone over in the last week! Really need to try harder, especially on the food front. DH and I have been terrible with snacking over the last couple of weeks, especially buying chocolate, which definitely hasn't helped the budget or our waistlines.

The EF currently stands at £2,234, so it's dropped £966 this month :eek: :mad:.

Next month I will start the slow slog to rebuilding the EF. It's going to take a good few months to replenish, especially with Christmas just around the corner. On the plus side I have bought all of DC3s birthday presents (just need cards) and have the ingredients to make a birthday cake. We are away for part of next week, which I'm really looking forward to. Hopefully the torrential rain we've had today will have gone by then. Need to keep my focus with money saving and debt busting, as I've been a bit slack posting the last couple of weeks, which has coincided with budget slips. So overall it's ok, but I could do better!!