Making The Changes and Sticking to it!

Stayathomemum36

Im still recovering from flu and have had a busy couple of days so Ive not been able to post and OH has been in charge around here - been interesting

In terms of the debt repaying - As part of the PAD challenge Ive managed to pay another £19.74 to my next account giving a current balance of £440.74 reduced from £475.74 at the start of the month.

General spending, our daughter needed some new dance tights and a wrap for her show so that was £16 out of my general spending budget and we needed diesel but thats budgeted for at £53.00 - we did go to sainsburys so I could collect the nectar points as we were in that area.

I got a £10 amazon voucher for doing surveys and Ive added this to my account. Ive got a claim in for the meeting I attended on Monday so that will be another £38 towards my debt repayment.

Getting back onto my meal plan after the flu and as the fridge / freezer look quite healthy I am going to delay my food shop for a few days. Other than that Im focusing on sorting the house out, using what we have in the house to amuse our daughter in the afternoons and hoping for a few NSDs.

Almost forgot that I remembered that we had YNAB from a few years ago, Im going to get that going again too

Now off to brush out a very mucky puppy, just as well it was a nice walk :rotfl:

redofromstart

Good luck with your journey, writing everything down really does help.

Stayathomemum36

Quick but late update from me...dusted off my YNAB 4 and got the budgets and accounts set up, hopefully I manage to stick at it, most of the help on the website is geared towards the new YNAB but i cant afford to buy it, there was a time I would've just bought it and not bothered. My late night is because I was determined to get it all set up lol

7 yr old son was sick at school today :eek: so we had a day at home and therefore a NSD - thats 3 this week so far. I also made another small payment to my next account of £2.50. Ive been using the CHIP app and have saved £35 in a month so I transferred £32 of this into my emergency fund which has taken it to the £400 mark - that was my goal this month so I'm delighted

Used up some fruit tonight that would've been binned. I made up a topping for plum steamed puddings, it can sit in the fridge until needed on Sunday. We had quick pizzas tonight using mini tortillas from the freezer and I decanted the left over pasta into a jar and thats in the fridge to be used up. Finally the bread maker is on with ingredients for a fruit loaf, all from the store cupboard.

Over £1000 paid to the debt this month, I know it cant be like this every month but its a start and we will keep chipping away at it. I also lost 1lb which is an added bonus!

PS - Can someone tell me how to link to my diary in my signature? When I try I get error messages :A

Drawingaline

There are a couple of Facebook groups I am in for YNAB, and plenty of people still use ynab4. If you need any help feel free to pm me and I can give you a link to the group's

Stayathomemum36

thanks drawingaline - its just the budget bit for pre ynab debt that got me stumped!

Stayathomemum36

I've spent some time today putting the figures into a snowball calculator and according to that we could be debt free by Feb 2021 - So 3 years time :A. Its taken us a long time to accumulate the debt so it would be amazing if we could have it all paid off by then. If we can get our £1000 emergency fund set up that would really help, just under half way to the target at the moment. Hoping to have it in place by April. That means a lot more frugal living and we have some big family birthdays coming up in March and April so its not going to be easy

Our daughter is 5 at the beginning of March and then theres mothers day and my sisters birthday. Im trying to work it all out in advance but worried about the impact of all these birthdays on our great start I have set up a standing order to a separate account to help towards birthdays and christmas but that will only help from next month. We are also saving for Eurodisney in December, the balance was paid using DH bonus but we have eurostar and passports to buy. I set up a standing order towards these expenses in December. ..I guess its all feeling a bit impossible today.

On a more positive note today I have cleaned up my phone by deleting contacts, photos and backed it all up. I also sorted out my inbox and the kids and I had a lovely walk with our dog and the Guide Dog pup. Also managed to pay a further £7.50 to my next account. I hope to have it paid by the end of March.

Stayathomemum36

Oh 4 NSD this week too

Drawingaline

Passports are so expensive, I have just got three for my boys, all children and with photos and check and send etc it was just shy of £200 :eek:

However they were posted on 7th Feb and all three were back yesterday the 16th, one renewal and two first ones, so super quick. Birth certificates came back today too.

Stayathomemum36

Not checked in for a while due to illness with the kids and myself but today is pay day and I have just paid off the remainder of my next account. Thats £636 since 1st January. Now to start on the CC!

Drawingaline

Brilliant, well done :T