Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

AdventureWanted

Gosh it’s been a while since I last had a chance to post on here. DC3 has been poorly the last few days which has put most plans on hold. On the plus side I had to cancel a day out yesterday as DC3 was ill, so I paid the £20 I would have spent to CC1.

Today DC3 has developed a hacking cough, which is actually a bit of a relief, as before today she was just not eating much and being sick every now and then. Hopefully the cough means the cold is working it’s way out of her system.

The DD for CC3 has come out today and I’ve also managed to pay £50 to CC1.

Debt roundup at 21/12/17
CC1 - £885.00
CC2 - £6,999.00
CC3 - £10,820.00
CC4 - £12,740.00

Total debt at 21/12/17 - £31,444.00
Debt at 30/11/17 - £32,130.00 (£686 paid this month)

Tomorrow I have a large Tesco order being delivered. Hoping that I won’t have to go to the shops again this month. Think I’m going to have to have another look at my order tonight, as I know I have over indulged in some things (mainly chocolates) and it seems a bit silly really to spend so much and go over the top for one day. Also I’ll only regret scoffing so many chocolates afterwards. Would love to have some money left over in my grocery and fuel budget this month so I can pay a bit more off the debts, but looking at it at the moment it doesn’t look overly likely.

jwil

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year! xx

AdventureWanted

jwil wrote: »

Hope you all have a lovely Christmas and New Year! xx

Thank you. Hope you & your family have a fantastic Christmas & new year too.

AdventureWanted

Had a lovely day yesterday visiting my sister, niece & nephew. My kids absolutely adore their cousins, so was a really good day. DC3 is still poorly Luckily it only seems to be a cold, sore throat and hacking cough and not a sickness bug which is what I though she had originally. Still pretty horrible seeing her poorly, especially as she can’t tell me how she’s feeling (other than crying).

Got paid for some additional work yesterday, which has meant that I could pay £510 off CC1. Balance is now £375, which should be paid by Jan.

Debts at 23/12/17
CC1 - £375
CC2 - £6,999
CC3 - £10,820
CC4 - £12,740
Total debt - £30,934

Ooh just realised I’m in the next bracket. Hello £30! :wave: Hopefully I will be able to scrape in to the £29s at the end of Jan/beginning of Feb.

To anyone reading this, I wish you a very merry Christmas and happy, healthy & prosperous 2018. :xmastree::xmassmile:xmastree:

AdventureWanted

Just had a quick look on what’s the cost website. Have managed to reduce my DFD since starting this diary by 9 months to March 2021. Still a long way to go, but is definitely an improvement.

I have got goals in place for next year, which will be challenging, but I’m ready to bring the DFD down even further.

AdventureWanted

What a busy few days it’s been. Christmas Day was a big success - the kids loved their presents and we had a lovely day playing with the DCs new toys, as well as eating loads of yummy food. In hindsight I think I could have scaled back on presents for DC1 & DC2. I added up yesterday how much I had spent for Christmas this year and it’s such a lot of money. I had the money saved, but as I started buying bits in October I’d kind of forgotten what i had already spent. It’s crazy how little you get for your money nowadays. The DC changed their minds quite late on about what they wanted from Father Christmas, so although I had finished shopping I went out and got them the new gift they were desperate for. Next year I definitely need to keep a better list of what I have already bought, choose a budget for each DC and stick to it, and buy stocking fillers when they are cheaper. I think the stockings ended up being very expensive, when they really didn’t need to be.

For the last 2 days we have been at family gatherings, which has been pretty exhausting. It’s lovely seeing my family and the kids love seeing their cousins, but I’m starting to crave normal food (we’ve had a buffet lunch both days) at normal times (we’ve pretty much grazed all day!!), I’m also looking forward to staying at home all day. Tomorrow is our final family gathering, although DH doesn’t want to go and to be honest I’d happily give it a miss if it wasn’t for the fact that my mum would be really disappointed (this time it’s her brother’s family coming).

Spending wise it’s been fairly good this week. Had to buy my brothers Christmas present today, get some fuel and will have to buy a birthday present tomorrow, (all budgeted for) but other than that haven’t had to buy anything. I’ve also managed to resist the sales! I am currently counting down the days until Friday, when I get paid. I am looking forward to sorting out the ynab balances, transferring money to debt and doing an end of year round up. I should have a bit of money spare in a couple of categories which I can use to either pay off a CC or to the EF.

Next year I am determined to pay off a large chunk of the debt. I think since my LBM I have been quite good with budgeting, so I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can get with debt reduction when I’m disciplined throughout the year. I’ve joined a couple of challenges which will hopefully keep me on the straight and narrow and help me achieve my goal of paying £12,500 off our debt total.

AdventureWanted

Yesterday I reviewed ynab and managed to pay £24 off CC2. Is nice to pay something off this card. Not overly sure what we are doing today, so if I don’t spend anything else I might be able to pay a little something extra before the end of the year.

We went to a few shops yesterday and I’m quite pleased that I managed to avoid spending any money - I didn’t even buy a coffee!! Had a lovely afternoon at my parents with my uncle, aunt and cousin. I haven’t seen them in 3 years, which is crazy as they don’t even live that far from us. Really must try harder to arrange family get togethers.

AdventureWanted

I’ve been paid today, so I’ve paid £325 to CC1. I only have £50 left to pay on this, which will be paid on 2nd Jan when the DD comes out :j. I would love to pay the balance today to clear it before the end of the year, but the DD won’t cancel in time

Debts at 29/12/17
CC1 - £50.00
CC2 - £6,975.00
CC3 - £10,820.00
CC4 - £12,740.00

Total debt at 29/12/17 - £30,585.00.

In January I will be able to start paying extra off CC2. It will be a challenge to see how low I can get the figure before the 0% period ends in July. If I can get the balance below £3.5K I will be very happy. I need to start decluttering the house and garage in the new year, so hopefully that will bring in a bit of extra money, as well as making the house look better.

AdventureWanted

Have made my final pad of 2017 today. Only a small £3.40 payment to CC2.

2017 debt roundup

CC1 - £50.00
CC2 - £6,971.60
CC3 - £10,820.00
CC4 - £12,740.00

Total debt - £30,581.60

Overall since starting my journey in August the amount of debt I have now has increased slightly, due to needing to borrow money for DHs tax payments. However I’m pleased with the direction things are going. I’ve really taken to budgeting in the last few months and thinking more about purchases. I’m hoping that 2018 will see me hit my debt payment goal of £12,500 (would be brilliant if I could top this, but not sure if it’s possible!). Would also be fantastic if DH would have his LBM and be more sensible with his monthly spending money. Going to try hard to declutter our house and hopefully make a bit of money in the process.

Now off to catch up on other diaries. Wishing you all a happy new year!

AdventureWanted

Have made a pad of £6.60 to CC2 today. It’s nice to make the first payment of 2018 and get the 2018 debt busting under way.

Have spent today sorting through the children’s toys in the living room. We have a large ikea style unit with boxes, which we had previously put similar toys in the same box (eg box full of jigsaws), however those boxes very rarely got played with. I have spent ages putting an assortment of toys in each box, so most boxes have a toy for DC1, toy for DC2, a game and a couple of jigsaws in. I’ve left a box out this afternoon and it’s a hit so far.

During the sort out I’ve managed to get rid of a travel guess who game which had bits missing, as well as a bag full of broken and rubbish toys. (Luckily the kids didn’t spot me removing toys!!)

I’m going to try really hard to declutter this year, so will make a note of what I have got rid of.

1. Travel guess who (bin)
2. Bag full of kids toys (bin)

It’s a small start with decluttering, but at least I’ve started. Now to try and keep up the momentum throughout the year.