Extracting head from sand and facing the truth

redmel1621

Lydia42 wrote: »

Think we are all set for school now. Managed to get cheap school shoes for both my son and daughter last week. Usually go for Clarkes but just can't afford it this time around - £100 for two pairs of shoes is just too much with our budget at the moment. My son's PE top arrived today - compulsory school logo design so couldn't cut corners with that one. On another good news point, my son still fits his trousers from last term so i haven't had to buy those, and my daughter is fine with the stuff she had as she isn't changing schools. So.......(breathes a sigh of relief), i think that's it. Unless my son needs footie boots or astro turf shoes. School hand book says they do, but friends with older kids at the school say to hold off in case they aren't playing footie this term, and he may grow out of shoes before he even wears them.

Chin up on the debt free journey. Its a long haul, but things will start looking up soon. We increased our debt shuffling everything to 0%, and with the recent emergency repairs etc. But i'm hoping that over the next month or so we can control spending enough to start seeing some sort of change in all that. I've just updated our debt spreadsheet and am waiting for our bank statement over next day or so to see how much our charges will be this month, as our overdraft is the only thing not on 0%. That's the next one to target for us once the Barclaycard is dealt with as the deal runs out in two more months :eek:

Have you managed to tally everything up now? Have you found out all the interest rates?

I knocked Clarks on the head many years ago. I never found they lasted any longer and the 'fitting' left a lot ot be desired. Having worked at Clarks for a brief 6mth period, I saw first hand how untrained the staff were for 'fitting' the kids shoes. A mother knows her own kids feet and can see what fits and what doesn't better.

I haven't actually bought PE kit yet, although both the younger two have had new trainers this summer, but I'm thinking they can squeeze into last years t-shirts for a few weeks lol. I just haven't got the spare money right now.
Not many of our debts have interest being charged on them. They are pretty much all frozen accounts or overpayments, but I have found out final figures for all the overpayments etc. I suppose it is a start, just knowing what needs to be done.

You seem to be getting a good grip of things :beer:

Lydia42

redmel1621 just getting all the info together itself is a fab start. It's so daunting and scary. At least now you can see where you are with things and devise a plan.
Glad i'm not the only one who thinks Clarkes were not as well trained as everyone thinks. Used to make me cross as well that they tried to flog their shoes with toys inside as they cost more and know the kids would nag as they would want toys!!! Who needs toys in their shoes??? A marketing genius that's who!!

BabyStepper

Just checking in to see how things are going with you Lydia. I had a small panic when I read about your boiler breaking down, so glad it didn't cost the earth to fix it! What a relief. Keep going. It may not feel like it, but things are getting better.

Lydia42

BabyStepper wrote: »

Just checking in to see how things are going with you Lydia. I had a small panic when I read about your boiler breaking down, so glad it didn't cost the earth to fix it! What a relief. Keep going. It may not feel like it, but things are getting better.

Hi BabyStepper. I'm doing OK. Yeah, i was so relieved the boiler didn't cost the usual £300 odd, and we managed to keep the bathroom repairs to a minimum. Would have been great not to have them at all, but hey ho - can't change that.
I'm actually feeling pretty motivated today. I posted about a week ago asking for peoples opinions of YNAB, and have read so many people recommending it i took up the free trial offer and have spent yesterday and today checking out training videos and the free guides they have. Only the basic stuff for now, but i have managed to do a budget for the month. It's a work in progress as i've only just started it, and know we aren't in a great position, but if i can spend September getting it accurate and learning the ropes i am really looking forward to it helping me finally get to grips with our money. It looks fab from first impressions, and i have managed to set it up to track all four of our credit cards too. Everything finally in one place, and big red numbers to show i don't have the funds to buy everything i want!!!
I'll post back on here how i get on with it.

How are things with you??

Lydia42

Argh. Seem to have gone completely off plan with lots of school clubs, and other unexpected things. Struggling to find level ground to start budget. Bank account never seems to show true figure and always has stuff clearing or card payments going through. Could do with no spending at all for a week or so so that we know what is in the bank is true. Trying desperately not to go over overdraft limit this month.

Brookside88

I've just signed up for a free trial of you need a budget, you should try it. I usually look at my available balance rather than my actual balance on my banking app

natsplatnat

Lydia42 wrote: »

Could do with no spending at all for a week or so so that we know what is in the bank is true. Trying desperately not to go over overdraft limit this month.

Maybe not this month, but could you look at withdrawing a figure in cash to cover your expected spends for a week so that you leave the account alone and give it time to show a 'true' balance?
Once you have this true figure, you can use YNAB (or in my case my trusty spreadsheet) to track upcoming DD's and expenditure. Loads of 'little' card payments cause troubles as they all take varying days to appear on your account.
You could run a spending diary on the money you withdraw to show what unexpected expenditure you have in that week to help you build a better budget in YNAB!

redmel1621

Lydia42 wrote: »

Argh. Seem to have gone completely off plan with lots of school clubs, and other unexpected things. Struggling to find level ground to start budget. Bank account never seems to show true figure and always has stuff clearing or card payments going through. Could do with no spending at all for a week or so so that we know what is in the bank is true. Trying desperately not to go over overdraft limit this month.

I know how you feel!
You will get back on track, I'm sure of it.

I haven't really got to grips with YNAB and tbh for £83 a year, I'm not sure I will purchase it. I thought you could pay monthly, so was going to try a few months as £6.99 isn't too bad, but the only take the full year payment at a time.

Lydia42

redmel1621 i signed up for the free trial and really like the look of it, but having started half way through the month i've totally confused myself. I think as someone above has mentioned, i need to withdraw cash and not touch our main account for a bit so that all the random card payments clear and i know where i stand.

Brookside88

redmel1621 wrote: »

I know how you feel!
You will get back on track, I'm sure of it.

I haven't really got to grips with YNAB and tbh for £83 a year, I'm not sure I will purchase it. I thought you could pay monthly, so was going to try a few months as £6.99 isn't too bad, but the only take the full year payment at a time.

I was unsure too but I think I'll take the plunge. The price is in dollars so it's closer to 60 quid in GBP. I use a spreadsheet at the moment but it's on my work laptop so I lose track a bit over the weekend which is why I like the idea of the ynab app