Trying to do everything all at once!

LiveLifeFull

Morning everyone,


Nothing much to report. I ordered the MuscleFood meat order, which has actually saved us some money in the food shopping fund. Hopefully we have a little bit left over before pay day, and it can go towards a debt over payment.


Just trying to make it through to payday without spending anything on the cards this month. Its my OH birthday on Thursday, so we will be going to Harry Potter world. He should get some money off his parents, which is good, as we are so skint this month due to drunken recklessness. :mad:


But, onwards and upwards. We haven't added to our debt this month, so that's always a win. Need to get my productive head back on, and focus again.


TO DO LIST
- Go food shopping for fruit and veg
- Tidy living room/bathroom/kitchen
- Swipe Kitchen/Bathroom
- Put away clean, dry clothes
- Two loads of washing
- Do 30 mins of exercise
- Read some of a book
- Get the suitcases down and start preparing for holiday at the end of the month.
- HEALTHY dinner from stores
- Prepare HEALTHY lunch for tomorrow from stores
- Get on top of workload at job
- Have a nice long bath (share water with OH) and cleanse, tone, moisturise. Hair to dry naturally.
- De-cobweb the whole of the house
- Hoover living room & kitchen
- Turn off all plug switches that are not in use
- Throw out flowers from easter
- Get something out of the freezer for tomorrow dinner
- Contact family member about why our freezer is over freezing

LiveLifeFull

Had some time off over the last two weeks. Me and OH have spent abit, but nowhere near what I thought we would. So, its payday for me tomorrow, and we go to Bali at the end of this week! So I've done our budget for the next month, and I am DETERMINED that we stick to it.


As we our on holiday for two weeks, most of our expenses for May will come out of our spending money, like food etc. I am so excited to go, and we have saved up for every penny of this holiday. Not one ounce of it was put on the CC.


MAYS BUDGET:
Income:
£1472.52 (This might be £10 more because of the new tax year but I'm not counting it)


Outgoings:
Car Finance: £128.80
Car Insurance: £41.14
Phone: £57.36 - So expensive I know, but I'm tied in until Jan 19 - then will go sim only
Windows: £175.00 - Desperately needed this - finance finishes Jun 19
Cineworld: £17.95 - Pretty much our only source of entertainment
Glasses Finance: £31.67 - I hadn't got new glasses for 10 YEARS. They shouted at me :rotfl:
Petrol: £30.00 - Lower because we are away for two weeks
Food: £50.00 - Lower because we are away for two weeks
Savings for Bali holiday: £492.00 - As of next payday, this will be going towards debt repayments
Debt Repayments: £140.00
Birthday: £20.00 - Try to get lower
Birthday: £20.00 - Try to get lower
Birthday: £20.00 - Try to get lower
Savings for October Hen party: £50.00 - I'm a bridesmaid
Holiday bits and bobs: £95.00
Dentist: £30.00
MOT/Service: £21.00 - Saving monthly
Stamp Duty: £13.88 - We are looking to buy our second home in 2022, so I'm slowly saving now.
Bullet Journal: £10.00
Bank Charges/Fees: £28.69


My OH will be paying all household bills this month.


Lets see if they all come out the accounts smoothly at the end of the month, and we can get through May unscathed!!


Happy Monday!

LiveLifeFull

I'm getting annoyed at myself because I keep falling off the wagon.


I feel like we have been scrimping and not splurging on anything extravagant but because of certain circumstances we've still had to pay out quite a bit of money, hence why the debt total hasn't gone down by much!


Since I've last updated this diary, me and the boyfriend have been to Bali for two weeks, which was AMAZING but cost us a fortune, as we had a bit of an issue where OH was approached some women at night time asking for *ahem* and when he said no, they attacked him. He is absolutely fine and wasn't hurt at all, he just had to push them off, but we didn't feel safe in the area so we had to pay for another hotel for pretty much most of the holiday.


THEN, when we got back, my OHs car completely broke. He works in the community and absolutely needs his car, so we had to get that fixed asap.


So all in all, not much has been paid off debt. I've completely paid off my CC which I've had for years so that was the best feeling ever. I've cancelled it now. And then this month, I paid £500.00 to completely pay off the OHs overdraft. So now we are just down to my OD and my OH CC.


Because of the setbacks, my debt free date is now been pushed back to December 2018. Its only two months but its annoying. Its just motivated me even more now.


So, this months plan of action:


- STICK TO THE BUDGET
- DO NOT BUY ANY LUNCHES AT WORK
- MEAL PLAN AND COOK ALL MEALS AT HOME *NO TAKEAWAYS*
- NO IMPROMPTU NIGHTS OUT


If I can do this, I will be SO happy. Just need. to. stay. motivated.

LiveLifeFull

Mine and the BFs future plans have now changed! It will benefit us in the long run (we think) and takes the pressure off us now.


Our original plan was to pay off debt by December 2018, save up and get married in 2021 whilst also savings for another house deposit to move out in 2022. We were then going to rent our current house out, and use that as one of our 'future pensions'.


However, after months and months of really thinking about this, we have decided that we want to become financially independent as soon as possible, and retire as early as we can so we can go travelling around the world. We do feel that after reading Mr Money Moustacchhee, the best way to do this is to NOT get another £200k mortgage that we will be paying until we are 60, but instead, over pay our £80k mortgage now, and put the rest into savings and our work pensions.


Meanwhile, we also still want to have a baby at some point in the future, and the house is literally falling apart, so we want to save £20k - £40k for house renovations as we DONT want to put it on the mortgage if we don't have to.


Doing all the calculations, we were worried that it might have been cheaper to just buy another house, but even if we did, we wouldn't get another house with an £80k mortgage, not even a £100k mortgage that's good enough, and paying for a £200k mortgage, whilst we could afford it, would leave us with no disposable income. So I feel that we have made the right choice.


We are a little bit naïve about investments/bonds etc, so it will take some time to figure that out and make sure we are doing it all properly with the best forecasted outcome.


Future timeline:
2018 - Become debt free
2019 - Save for wedding/house renovations
2020 - Save for wedding/house renovations
2021 - Save for wedding/house renovations
2022 - Save for House Renovations
2023 - Save for Maternity Leave
2024 onwards - Save for retirement/overpay mortgage/savings for baby


I think (hope) this is a better plan than renting out a house and becoming a landlord. I think its more hassle than its worth, especially as this house is old- it would need ALOT of maintenance.


On the debt front - we are doing okay! We had a hiccup at the end of July, so we are skint this month now. We are going away for a week at the end of August to see my family in Kent, which we have money put aside for and I also get paid while we are there so that's okay.


Just need to keep staying focused, looking towards the future and planning a better life for us both!!

LiveLifeFull

Everything is ticking along nicely this month so far now. We have no plans until the 24th August which is payday for me, so I'm super happy. I have £590.00 to pay off debt in the bank, which I'm keeping until the night before I get paid, just in case anything happens.


I've also just started my own weight loss journey on SW. I was 13 stone 4 on Sunday, and I've been 100% perfect on plan since, and I am now 12.12 and 3/4. I'm actually amazed. I've done SW loads of times before and never seen a result like that but I just know I want it more this time. Before, my reason for losing weight was that I "just wanted to look good in clothes" but my reason has changed. I now want to do it because I want to be healthy. I want to live a long and happy life and its really focused me. I haven't had any pop/caffeine since Sunday and I know its only 5 days but I honestly haven't even been bothered at all! I also know that I can have them both on SW but the caffeine makes me a bit anxious so I've eliminated it from my life! I'm even happier now after only losing such a little amount so I'm really determined to keep going.


TO DO LIST:
- Tidy living room/kitchen/bathroom
- x2 loads of washing
- Gym
- Put the clean dry washing away
- Make a SW dinner - I'm thinking a chicken curry with lots of veggies
- Shower + let hair dry naturally
- Use up some cosmetics - paint nails, exfoliate, cleanse, tone, moisturise
- Pluck my eyebrows
- Only hoover places that need it
- Find info on mortgage to set up online account
- Find info on pension to set up online account


Happy Friday :j

LiveLifeFull

I'm feeling really positive today. We have £590.00 in our accounts waiting to be paid on to the debt at the end of this month and if we actually manage around £500.00 I will be so happy.


I'm curious about savings accounts though. I've been trying to research the best savings accounts that are out there, but there's SO much information, it all gets a bit confusing. I've heard Santander and RBS are good ones?


Diet and gym is still going well - going well as in I haven't quit or messed up yet! :j


No spending to report - we are skint this month so cant spend anything really So just waiting for 24th August for when payday arrives, and I can play around again.


Hope everyone is having a good Monday!

LiveLifeFull

Only 8 days until payday! I'm really counting down this month. We have been super super furgal for the remainder of this month as we completely f***** up at the beginning by going out and drinking after a christening and spending way more than we wanted. So it just goes to show, you can actually survive on less than you think! We still have £590.00 in the savings account to be paid off the debt at the end of the month, so we just have to get through the next eight days. We have a freezer full of meat still, we just need to top up on fruit and veg. We also have £13.00 on a M&S voucher that we were given to by SSE for changing to a gas and electric smart reader, so we won't be spending much more than that!


We are going away to Kent next Friday for 4 days, so it will be a nice little break away. We are staying with family, so it will be minimal food costs. I need to buy a dress while Im there which I've budget £30.00 for, and I also need an umbrella, which Ill get in pr!mark. But this is all in our budget this month. Really happy that we are back on track and still aim to be debt free by December!


The biggest change I've noticed this month is that because im doing SW, I'm not buying any food when Im at work. It has saved me SO much money and I've lost 7 pounds this month so far!! Saving £££ and losing lbs. :j


I went to a spinning class last night so its my rest night tonight, so I want to get lots of things done at home:


TO DO LIST:
- Tidy living room
- Tidy kitchen
- Tidy bathroom
- x2 loads of washing
- Put all dry washing away
- Quick tidy of upstairs
- Find mortgage information so I can set us up online
- Find pension details so I can set myself up online
- Go over the budget with OH for next month
- Make SW dinner
- Go M&S and pick up some fruit and veg
- Cleanse, tone, moisturise (going through stores before I buy anything new)
- Paint nails + pluck eyebrows
- Make sure all switches not in use are off
- Take all shoes/coats/bags that are in the downstairs cupboard Upstairs


Think that will be enough!


Happy Thursday - its almost Friday

SavingAFuture

Have just read your diary and subscribed
I can totally relate to your desire to "live life now" - this is where a lot of my debt has come from too.
I'm always thinking you never know what could happen tomorrow so you have to live for today, but I had my LightBulbMoment just over 12 months ago when I got engaged. I realized I would never have the wedding, home, family life I dreamed of if I carried on juggling debt.
I am still paying off a trip to NYC from June 2017... and will be for about another 10 months. But slowly, slowly it's going down and the wedding saving pot is going up and things are getting better.

Stick with it! One thing I've just recently done is set up a Monzo account which I am already loving because you can transfer your spending money into it weekly or monthly and any transactions you make show up immediately (not three days later) so no nasty surprises! Maybe something that might help you?

Best of luck,
SaF x

LiveLifeFull

Thanks for your reply SavingAFuture! A wedding is exactly why I want to be debt free too! My OH has said he wont even propose until we are out of debt! But its a good incentive haha! I want to have a wedding, a baby, go on lots of holidays and potentially retire early so we can travel the world in a little campervan, but we can't do that if we are constantly spending our wages paying back debt! So frustrating, but I feel like we can do this! I don't think our debt is THAT high, and as we are quite young, we are catching it early! :j


Thanks for the Monzo tip! I will take a look, it sounds perfect for me actually!


Nothing to report today.. went food shopping last night, and spent a little bit of the £590.00, only around £30.00 worth, and that should last us now until payday on the 24th. I said before, that if we make it through the month with £500.00 still left over to throw at debt, I would be happy, and it looks like its going to happen


TO DO LIST:
- Catch up on work stuff
- x2 loads of washing
- Put all dry washing away
- Quick tidy of upstairs
- Find mortgage information so I can set us up online
- Find pension details so I can set myself up online
- Go over the budget with OH for next month
- Make SW dinner
- Cleanse, tone, moisturise (going through stores before I buy anything new)
- Paint nails + pluck eyebrows
- Make sure all switches not in use are off
- Take all shoes/coats/bags that are in the downstairs cupboard Upstairs




HAPPY FRIDAY PEOPLE! :j

redofromstart

ooh nice work on the 7lbs off.