Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

AdventureWanted

Thanks for the advice. It's always good to get a second opinion. Think I will cancel the renewal. Still do feel a bit guilty, but need to think about our own finances first.  It seems weird to think that at some point we'll be able to go out for days out again. Today it's been 5 weeks since the government made the announcement about pregnant women needing to be shielded, so it's been 5 weeks since I've left the house 😱. Luckily we have a nice garden to go in to and the kids have plenty to keep them occupied, but it seems a lifetime ago that we were part of the outside world!

Today I have been fairly lazy. Had lots of plans, but other than doing some more washing I haven't really achieved much. I did manage a 2 mile walk on the treadmill after dinner, which I really enjoyed. DH bathed all the kids and started reading stories whilst I got to have a walk and watch glee on Netflix! I'm quite enjoying DH being home and helping out lots. It'll be strange when he goes back to work, although I'm still hoping that will happen soonish. If I think about it too much it becomes stressful wondering when his work will start up again. I just have to hope & pray that things will get back to normal in the next couple of months. 

Had our final tesco delivery of the month today. I've meal planned for this week and next, and should have enough milk to last until our first delivery in May.  This month we've managed to spend just under £285 on food (including pull ups). Don't think this an overly accurate picture though, as last months food bill was horrendous and I think we had a delivery on one of the last days of the month.  Have been trying really hard to keep the costs down and only buying what we need. I'm hoping May will be even better, as I seem to have got a bit better at meal planning and budgeting. 

Hope everyone has had a good day.

jwil

All sounding really organised, well done!

AdventureWanted

Hi,

We're still here plodding along at home. Have tidied the garden up some more and DH is currently doing some more diy indoors.  Money wise everything has left our account and we are now waiting for
May!  We should find out next Monday how much money we will have coming in.  I know part of the money we will receive, but not all of it. I must admit I am pretty anxious about it all. Tried to speak to DH about it, but he just gets annoyed with me for getting stressed! 

Went to my midwife appointment today and you were right @Jwil it was all very clean and safe.  Seemed really strange to leave the house after 5 weeks at home! Think the midwife changed her gloves 3 times during my appointment, so is nice to see they are being extra cautious.  DC3 has her immunisations tomorrow, which DH wants to take her to. Feels funny not taking her, as it's always me taking them, but can understand why he wants me staying at home. Think DC3 will find it a bit scary the nurse wearing a mask, but hopefully will be ok. 

Have been sorting through YNAB and have cancelled some more subscriptions that the DC have. They will be disappointed as they enjoy them and they are educational, but for the time being it makes sense to reduce costs and then restart when things hopefully return to normal.  In May I have decided to pay only the minimum credit card payments and not my usual amounts. This should save me about £90. I'm planning on putting this money in the EF and then once work starts again (which I am hoping and praying will be in the near future) I can then pay this money straight off the CCs (if I haven't had to use it). I've resigned myself to the fact that we will have to balance transfer the CC which has its 0% ending this October. I had high hopes to pay it off in time, but under the circumstances I just don't think it'll be possible even if work starts again very soon.  The first job once work does restart will be to build the EF back up. No idea how much we will have left (if any) at the end of this, but am really relieved that we have some money saved.  The EF currently stands at £1,570.   

Hope everyone is getting on ok.

jwil

I'm glad all went well today 

You've got a good plan for your finances in these uncertain times!

AdventureWanted

April debt roundup.

Joint debt at 30/04/20
CC1 - £0.00
CC2 - £0.00
CC3- £0.00
CC4 - £6,825.00

Total debt - £6,825.00.
(Total debt at 31/3/20 - £7,475.00).

DH Course CCs
CC1 - £0.00
CC2 - £0.00
CC3 - £0.00
DH Car - £10,035.00

Total debt - £10,035.00
(Total at 31/3/20 - £10,140.00)

Combined debt now sits at £16,860.00 (31/3/20 - £17,615.00).

Positives for April:
* CC4 is now in the £6Ks.
* Combined debt has dropped into the next thousand bracket (hello £16Ks!).
* I managed to reach my exercise goal of walking 25 miles in April.

jwil

That is an amazing result well done!

AdventureWanted

Thanks Jwil 😊.

It's been a strange few weeks for me recently. My mood has certainly taken a bit of a dip and I have been worrying lots more about the future.  Writing out the April totals and what had been achieved did help to put things in to perspective a bit, but I still find it all so unknown, which I hate. I like knowing what is happening, budgeting and having realistic plans, but at the moment it's just not possible.  

Our income for April was £1,500 less than usual. I am forever grateful that we have been able to furlough some wages and get universal credit, which along with having little to no fuel spends, swimming lesson expenses and cutting our budget has meant we have only needed to use about £400 from the EF to balance the budget. We switched our energy supplier at the end of April and this month due to the final bill from the previous company and first bill from the new company our gas & electricity expenses are £80 more than usual. Again I am thankful that we are able to adjust the budget to accommodate this without having to pinch money from savings, but it's always a worry at the moment thinking where the money will be coming from next and budgeting for the unexpected. 

We still have no word about when DH is likely to start work again 😱.  It is really lovely having him at home, but I am finding the uncertainty really hard. DH works in a sector which has been hit really really hard by all this and we have no idea when things will improve.  DH is hugely optimistic that everything will be ok and things will definitely resume in June, but there are no guarantees so his optimism isn't helping me, if anything it feels like he's burying his head in the sand.  If work doesn't restart for months, then my parents have said they have savings available to help us get through, which is a relief, but the thought of having to borrow extra money doesn't make me feel great.  I know if the worst happens and we have to borrow the money then it will be ok in the end, but the thought of having to extend our DFD by potentially another year is really depressing.  I know everyone is finding times stressful for different reasons and I really should try to practice gratitude more on a daily basis. I guess I'm finding it hard to see how this is all going to end (which I know everyone is feeling!). 

Anyway enough of my doom and gloom / whinging.  Hopefully I haven't annoyed any of you too much with my ramblings. I think I'm just one highly emotional, stressed pregnant lady! 

In sort of money related news I have been researching using cloth nappies with this baby rather than disposables. We've used the bambino mio potty training pants with DC3 which I liked, so it's given me the confidence to try it. It will be more expensive in the short term buying the nappies, but once bought I shouldn't need to buy any more. Hoping it will save money in the long run, as well as helping the planet.  If anyone has any experience of cloth nappies and recommendations I'd love to hear about it. 

Hope everyone is safe and well. 

jwil

I used cloth with both of mine, it's fab.  I'd recommend looking to see if you've got a local nappy library that you can borrow a kit from first as you can then see which ones suit your baby.  As with disposables, not all types suit all babies.  You wouldn't want to spend a lot and find they don't work.

Also have a look at cloth nappy pages on Facebook if you are on there.  You can buy second hand and save a lot.  You can also sell them on after and get some of your money back!

AdventureWanted

Hi everyone,

Hope you're all ok. It's been a while since I've been on here. Am slowly starting to catch up with the diaries I subscribe to, but it's a slow process, as I've missed so much. Life for us is pretty much the same as it was a few months back.  Money is still tight and although the debts are reducing, it's a VERY slow process.   DH is at work today for the second day running. It's only a couple of days work he has got, but it's the first work that has come up since the end of March.  Think he's very relieved to get out of the house for a bit! Boredom had set in for him and as he'd been so productive doing the long list of DIY jobs I gave him he didn't have as much to do.  I'm still finding the whole Covid situation stressful, not only still trying to shield, but the lack of work and uncertainty that comes with it.  I'm trying really hard to let it wash over me a bit more though, as it's just over 2 weeks until my due date so really don't need the extra pressure/stress.   My parents have loaned us some money, which we have had to use about half of it so far and they have said they are willing to loan more if required. It has taken the immediate burden off of us, but obviously will need to be paid back once life returns to normal (well, a new normal!).  Luckily the loan is interest free and they do not require the money back immediately, but once work starts back up we will start repaying it asap or at least paying interest at the same rate as they'd get if the money was in a savings account. I don't want them to be out of pocket due to their generosity. 

I'll tot up the debt figures for May and June in a minute and post them, so I can see the progress made.  This month I will hit £5k repaid to debt this year, which whilst I was initially disappointed that I am further behind my debt repayment goal for the year and that repayments are now ridiculously slow I have to be pretty pleased that it is £5k that I no longer owe.    

Hopefully I will manage to catch up on all the diaries before this baby makes an arrival, but who knows!!

AdventureWanted

May debt roundup.

Joint debt at 31/05/20
CC1 - £0.00
CC2 - £0.00
CC3- £0.00
CC4 - £6,745.00

Total debt - £6,745.00.
(Total debt at 30/4/20 - £6,825.00).

DH Course CCs
CC1 - £0.00
CC2 - £0.00
CC3 - £0.00
DH Car - £9,930.00

Total debt - £9,930.00
(Total at 30/4/20 - £10,035.00)

Combined debt now sits at £16,675.00 (30/4/20 - £16,860.00).