Its time to sort out this mess!

mick1234_2

Yes, I have thanks, Barclaycard also gives you it for free which is handy.

CoffeeCakeYarn wrote: »

Thanks again, appreciated. Just out of interest have you joined the MSE credit club? It's a big help to see where you are with credit scores and stuff....

mick1234_2

So this week has been a great test for me, I had a budget of £70 for fuel and food, the only thing I have spent is 90p which was lying around my car I spent it on free coffee from Waitrose! you need to spend min 30p in order to get a free coffe.


At the weekend I will have another £70 and I still have a little fuel left, I will adjust this as I go so I am not struggling but this is the first week in my life ( I am 40 ! ) that I have had a budget and stuck to it!! This will probably be the hardest month aswell due to Christmas and the long wait until payday.

EssexHebridean

Ahh Mick well done - that was brilliant then - what a flying start!

How's it going now?

mick1234_2

A struggle this month it was all going to plan and the electricity bill got taken from my account £140 ( no funds ) and I went over this has been sent back and I have been charged for the none payment from the bank, I will contact the company and pay them on payday, it was going well until this happened, I had my weekly budget and I have stuck to it in terms of shopping and fuel but this has knocked me back a bit, things have come up which I did not account for 2 kids partys presents and sometimes using more fuel than I thought, and January is always a long month more planning is needed!

Kittychick

I'm sure this is just a temporary hiccup, you are doing really well, if you hadn't put the meal planning etc in place you would have been hit much harder now. Keep going
:T

EssexHebridean

Budgeting is a learning curve - it's pretty rare for you to get it spot on right, first time. Learn from the issues you've had this month so far and they won't come up and bite you again.

Just a thought though - why are you saying January is a long month? It's 31 days, same as March, May, July.....you get where I'm coming from? This is the great thing about budgeting and getting a firm hold on your finances - that "long month" thing is no longer something to be feared - you'll be right there taking charge of it.

mick1234_2

a long month as in it seems ages since I was last paid, Christmas I probably spent a little more than I should of as I didn't have the right budget in place, but like you say it is a learning curve I have defiantly made leaps and bounds with shopping and fuel, its annoying as now I can see that my car costs me a lot in terms of fuel ! Nearly £200 a month.

EssexHebridean

OK - make yourself a stern mental note for next year. If your usual paydate is - for example - the 31st of the month, but in December you get paid 10 days early "because of Christmas" that money needs to become INVISIBLE to you until the usual date, whether this is by shifting it into a savings account so it's out of view, or just leaving it where it lands and ignoring it, doesn't matter - but the key thing is that until your normal paydate that money does not exist. that avoids the "long month" struggle in January, and it's a key part of budgeting properly. Make sense?

mick1234_2

yes it does, I need to be a lot more organised which I am getting better at, today I came in early to work to update my budget sheet. I have changed the amount for food and fuel just slightly as it was becoming a struggle, everything is paid so far with a larger payment off my credit card and I still have money left which is the goal at the minute, every month I go over get charged and its a circle so I am trying just to have some money left so I can start a bit of an emergency fund. Rome wasn't built in a day!

mick1234_2

so things are going ok, this month even though I had to pay a large unexpected bill I have managed to sell things on ebay and make some ok money which has so far kept me from using my cards.

I am over paying on my top card which is the highest interest the monthly payments are £167 - and I am paying £250 shall I just carry on or should I focus on the lower cards improve my rating and get another card ? it feels like a real up hill sturggle you pay some off and it just sits at the same, I am getting a lot better with budget etc and in may I will have an additional £400 a month to add to the payments.

Below are the current Balances and Available credit on the cards( I know its bad )
£8,400.00 Balance £8,192.00 Available Credit £208.00 Percentage Used 97%

£3,200.00 Balance £3,104.00 Available Credit £96.00 Percentage Used 97%

£3,600.00 Balance £3,552.00 Available Credit £48.00 Percentage Used 98%

£1,450.00 Balance £1,383.00 Available Credit £67.00 Percentage Used 95%

£1,400.00 Balance £1,322.00 Available Credit £78.00 Percentage Used 94%

AccountTotalCredit Limit £18,050.00 Balance £17,553.00 Available Credit £497.00 Percentage Used 97%