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Say No to Credit Cards Diary

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Comments

  • Hi WISHINGTHEMORTGAHEAWAY

    Thanks for dropping by. As they say parents and kids! It is just one of those things and to be honest he is getting around great now. The problem was when he was not very mobile, it was awful and took up every minute of my time. But it is what it is and I just think if I cannot make it easy for him who can. We have had a good laugh over the last few weeks and I think he has enjoyed having me around.

    I find it strange the family not noticing the amount of money that I am not spending any more. However, when I think about it some of the ways I am saving money they would not notice any way. For example re gifting when a birthday present is needed. That has saved me so much money over the last three months. Both my son and daughter are going to the gym a lot at the moment and have asked me not to buy junk as in biscuits, sweets and cakes which is such a gift at the moment.

    My list of goals for August are:

    1. Stay within the £60 budget for petrol
    2. Stay within my £240 budget for food. I have been and taken this out of the bank this morning as I do like having it in a kitty in the kitchen.
    3. Keep up with the annual bills tins
    4. Do two car boot sales
    5. Make extra income of £300 for the month from boot sales and ebay.
    6. I have three birthdays in September, so I am going to try and regift presents again for these as it will save me £60 / £70.
    7. Start to organise the dreaded Christmas gifts, I know I am really sorry but I want to be organised this year and not over spend or use a credit card.
    8. DO NOT USE A CREDIT CARD. Since I started this diary I have not used a credit card once which is amazing.

    Right I am going to go and do some jobs that I need to do so take care everybody.
    Extra Income May £290.92 June £498.00 July £145.61 Aug 2018 £142.68
    Pay off CC3 Sept/Oct 2018 £2112.04 Balance £1712.89
    April 2018 £39,942 Aug 18 £36721.65 PAID £3220.35:j:j:j
  • Gemsy81
    Gemsy81 Posts: 182 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary
    Great to see you back SNTCC :) sorry to hear about your dad, but it sounds like he is on the mend.
  • You are doing a fantastic job! Glad to hear your Dad is on the mend.
  • Great to have you back, SNTCC! Hope your dad's recovery goes quickly and smoothly now! How lovely of you to help your dad out like that!
  • Kitten868
    Kitten868 Posts: 1,785 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts
    Poor you and your poor dad. It's awful when something like that happens. Truly happy for you both that he's mobile again and that he enjoyed your company. You're brilliant looking after him like that. As for that weeks food kitty are you using it for over payments or a buffer?

    When the stuff goes it's so liberating and means you can enjoy the stuff you do have so much more. I'm trying to work out what works for our new house and it's such trial and error. And I'm sure you're going straight over the £1000 threshold. I'm thinking may be the £1200 threshold. Keep up the great work xxx
    Loan 1 £5200/£8000
    Loan 2 £300/£5800
    Total £5500/£13800
  • jwil
    jwil Posts: 22,438 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Sorry to hear about your Dad, all sounds successful otherwise!
    "Good financial planning is about not spending money on things that add no value to your life in order to have more money for the things that do". Eoin McGee
  • Good morning everybody,

    I had a really busy day yesterday. I cleaned my house from top to bottom to get it back to normal from not being around for a couple of weeks. So today I am going to catch up on the washing and ironing and food shopping.

    So meal plan for the week all done and shopping list is all sorted. I just love being organised now, as I never was.

    So I am feeling a little back to normal now. Don't get me wrong my dad is still taking a lot of my time helping him out but that is not a problem, it will come right soon.

    I did not manage to get all the stuff together for a car boot sale this morning, but hopefully I night get to do one in a week or two when I have a little more time. I had my first ebay sale for August yesterday, so a profit of £6.42, let hope it is the first of many.

    I went through my 4 credit card accounts this morning and calculated my new balance.

    Credit Cards - At their highest the balances on all the cards was £39942 in April 2018.

    At the end of July the balances was £367216.45, it really is going in the right direct. I would love this time next month to hit the £35,000.

    Gemsy81 - Thank you for dropping by. My dad is on the mend now, and he is starting to do more himself. However, he still does need a lot of help which I really do not mind. It is just hard on my time but we will manage.

    GlendaSugar - Thank you for dropping in on me. Your comments are really appreciated and it is so nice that people on this forum are concerned about each other. Thank you so much.

    Moguline - Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to post such a lovely comment. I hope you are ok and life in your house is all good.

    Kitten868 - Thank you for dropping in on me. I have decided to keep the money left over from last months food kitty as a little buffer this month. The only reason I am doing this is because I have been cooking extra meals and running them around to my dads as he still cannot stand for long to cook. So I will be using more food this month so it is nice to have the buffer. I don't mind as on Friday I went over to my dads and we went out for dinner just the two of us, it was really nice and it was his treat as well.

    I would love to get over the £1200 marker this month, it would be great. I would love to take a week off work and just sort out the whole house in one go. Dump all the junk in the garage and then just chip a way at ebay and car boot sales.

    jwil - Thank you so much for dropping in on me. Everything is going in the right direction and despite the lack of time in the past few weeks I really have not fell off the wagon as they say. I have stayed within all my budgets and have not used a credit card. The only budget that I may need to look at this month is my fuel one. The only reason I say this is I am going to my dad may twice a day at the moment so will be using a lot more petrol than normal. If I was not pushed for time I wold walk but I really do not have the time at the moment.

    Right I am off to tackle the mountain of washing and ironing. In between I am going to try and catch up on all your diaries that I have not looked at for weeks.

    Take care everybody and have a great day.
    Extra Income May £290.92 June £498.00 July £145.61 Aug 2018 £142.68
    Pay off CC3 Sept/Oct 2018 £2112.04 Balance £1712.89
    April 2018 £39,942 Aug 18 £36721.65 PAID £3220.35:j:j:j
  • lindez
    lindez Posts: 643 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts
    Hi Say No to Credit Cards great to see you back.
    So sorry to hear about your dad and its great that he is recovering well.
    You are doing brilliantly with you *bay sales so far this year lets hope you get over the 1200 mark for August.
    I am still chipping away at PAD challenge and its addictive in a good way lol.
    Keep going I am willing you along xx
    MFWB#2
    MFTT5 #28
    Save 12k 2020 #111
  • Gemsy81
    Gemsy81 Posts: 182 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary
    SNTCC, what a great dent in those debts you are making! Well done you :)
  • Good Afternoon Folks,

    I have got a well earned day off work today, which is great. So this morning I have done a quick tidy around the house so it looks like somebody lives in it. This afternoon is going to be catching up on the washing and ironing. I know living the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    So kind of getting a little back to normal now with the routine of my house and my dad. He has come on so much and is doing so much more himself now which is amazing. So I feel it is time now for me to start back on my debt free journey.

    Yesterday I sold a few things on ebay and made a profit of £30.96 after fees and postage so a total of £38.38 extra income this month. I am hoping the weather is going to be nice on Sunday as I plan on doing a car boot sale, so hopefully that total will go up again.

    Food budget going great and meal plan for this week all sorted.

    I have paid all the payment for the four C/C for this month and have started making extra payments each day of various amounts. I really would love to get down to £35,000 for the end of this year.

    Also once again I still have not used my credit cards which is great.

    Has anybody sold stuff on facebook as an alternative to ebay? I have never done it and was just wondering if it was any good.

    lindez - Thank you so much for dropping by. I think doing the PAD thing keeps you so focused as you are revisiting the debt each day but in a positive way as you can see it reducing. Keep going, I have been making a payment a day but have just not had time to post on the thread. Hopefully now I will have a little bit ore time. Take care

    Gemsy81 - Thank you so much for stopping by. I am made up with the amount it has come down up to now. I am hoping as I am going to start having a little more time I can start it hit it hard again. I am going to go and catch up on your diary now, hope everything is going well with you.

    Take care everybody and have a great day.
    Extra Income May £290.92 June £498.00 July £145.61 Aug 2018 £142.68
    Pay off CC3 Sept/Oct 2018 £2112.04 Balance £1712.89
    April 2018 £39,942 Aug 18 £36721.65 PAID £3220.35:j:j:j
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