Crunchy's Final Debt Free Diary!

crunch_time

Nicnak wrote: »

You've cleared a phenomenal amount of money so far already this year. Look at all the positives you have achieved.

Glad you feel like a weight has been lifted. You are making massive amounts of progress. x

Thank you! This sort of comment keep me going. xxx

crunch_time

Afternoon all

Half term going well so far! Yesterday the children played beautifully with each other for 3 hours! I couldn't believe it! I didn't have to get involved in arguments and managed to have a clear out of the study.

We have just got back from the library where I had to pay our fines of £17 to unlock our accounts. I am now determined to have a library fine free year. Wish me luck haha!!

Husband gets paid on Friday and we have £350 earmarked for the holiday fund bringing it to £1200. We should be saving £750 a month but are behind due to tax issues and the dentist being more expensive than we thought. I really want to get on track though and we don't pay council tax this month so I'm planning to chuck another £150 at it bringing it to £1350 and then use husbands allocated savings to get to £1450. Our 11 year old car is due its MOT in a couple of weeks which will cost £80 (budgeted for) but we haven't budgeted for any work. So I may have to rob this for any spends but this is also what the emergency fund is for so we shall see what it needs and go from there. I may not pay the £50 towards the overdraft next month just to allow for some wiggle room if need be for any work.

Right, off to do an audit of the cupboards and do an online food shop.

Have a good day!

Crunch xx

Homegrown0

Wow - are the kids ok? No arguments? That's the dream! Well done them

Sounds like you have a plan in place for the holiday and some pots to borrow from if required so no panics there. Do you have to clear the balance soon?

Willowtree222

Another thing you are doing is auditing the food cupboards. I take guesses walking round the supermarket and it is always wrong!

There is a clear plan in place so you are tackling it head on. x

crunch_time

Homegrown0 wrote: »

Wow - are the kids ok? No arguments? That's the dream! Well done them

Sounds like you have a plan in place for the holiday and some pots to borrow from if required so no panics there. Do you have to clear the balance soon?

It didn’t go as well yesterday!! I spoke too soon.

It has to be cleared by middle of May so will have to put a few grand on credit card and then we will clear that by the time we actually go with this £750 a month.

crunch_time

Nicnak wrote: »

Another thing you are doing is auditing the food cupboards. I take guesses walking round the supermarket and it is always wrong!

There is a clear plan in place so you are tackling it head on. x

Me too. I spent £85 of a £100 budget which is a great start.

I also dig out my eco balls and discovered the website ethical superstore. Going to look at ways we can reduce our plastic consumption. First thing I’m going to try is changing my feminine care products to natracare. I have enough products for this month but am going to look at doing an order for the beginning of April to stock up on some cleaning stuff too.

Crunch x

Willowtree222

Yes, what do you do with the excess £15. Do you leave it or pay something off straight away?

x

crunch_time

Nicnak wrote: »

Yes, what do you do with the excess £15. Do you leave it or pay something off straight away?

x

I’ve got to buy some eggs and oats from the shop but the idea is that the remainder goes to overpaying the food overspends on the credit cards. I will overpay £10 tomorrow when husband gets paid.

I do think I’m trying to do too much at once and perhaps I should just try and cut focus on one thing at a time. The good thing about groceries is that I have put the budget at £500 a month but aiming for £100 a week so if we stick to it that will be £100 in April extra towards the debt. March is a five week month for us.

The thing about me is I sit down and start thinking and planning something and then the children (especially dd) start kicking off about something and it sometimes takes weeks or months to go back to what system or idea I was trying to implement.

We are having a morning of learning to play by ourselves and about boundaries and then we are going swimming this afternoon. . They HAVE to learn to rely on themselves for entertainment if they are going to strong independent adults. And I need the peace and quiet to get on with stuff that is for the good of the family ultimately.

Phew - good to get that off my chest!

Xx

Willowtree222

That's good that you are putting it off something.

If you think you are trying to do too much, maybe try the one thing like you suggest?. You can only try and see how it goes.

I am trying to teach little one to be independent on her own. That isn't always successful either! I don't know what to do with her this afternoon. We are normally morning out people!

Homegrown0

crunch_time wrote: »

We are having a morning of learning to play by ourselves and about boundaries and then we are going swimming this afternoon. . They HAVE to learn to rely on themselves for entertainment if they are going to strong independent adults. And I need the peace and quiet to get on with stuff that is for the good of the family ultimately.

Any advice on that front? With my two, it's a hit or a miss whether they're happy to play themselves. In the school holidays, i often have my eldest (6) at home with me while i work and while i try to carve out time during the day to do something with him and always stop for lunch with him, he generally hangs about whingeing about not knowing what to do and just wants to default to TV/ tablet.

How are you going about it?