Crunchy's Final Debt Free Diary!

crunch_time

Oh btw - the total of husbands credit card also includes the £775 of holiday debt on there - he hasn’t blown another £2000 since the summer although it does feel like it!

crunch_time

Evening all

Can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before but I’m starting to take steps to become more eco friendly in our house. I went through a phase of this several years ago. I tried out lots of different things and have kept to those that worked. Anyway, I’ve discovered the ethical superstore and have bought some new eco balls. Mine are old now and I have replaced the pellets a few times but I have up using them when my children were small as they didn’t seem to get out all the grease in the stains. Since then I’ve mainly used ecover products but telnet are expensive - £12 a month it seems for the amount of waging we get through. The new one I’ve bought was £20 ish and had loads of refills that came with them. I’m going to use some for my old ones so I always have one drying.

I’m also going to buy myself some reusable make up remover pads for my stocking as well as some soap bars from lush for conditioner and shampoo - another expense as I buy those not tested on animals and that don’t have parabens or sls etc etc which tend to be more expensive I’m also considering using coconut oil as a body moisturiser. I’ve moisturised most of my body since I was a teenager and it’s in good condition for nearly 40! But it costs a lot of money and I get through a bottle a month on average.

I may venture into reusable ‘lady’ products in time. There are quite a lot on the market at the moment.

I’ve also bought some bamboo toothbrushes for the children for Christmas.

Every little bit helps!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Morning all

Husband is taking child 1 to a birthday party today. Child 2 is not invited but we are going to pay for her to get in and have lunch etc - soft play venue.

Husband was reluctant to pay for this out of his own allocated monthly £100 so we have decided to have £100 for child and family stuff a month.

We both wondered if this was why we end up using credit cards as we are not accounting for those extras. We shall see.

I’m starting to feel my power coming back!

Crunch x

enthusiasticsaver

crunch_time wrote: »

Husband was reluctant to pay for this out of his own allocated monthly £100 so we have decided to have £100 for child and family stuff a month.

We both wondered if this was why we end up using credit cards as we are not accounting for those extras. We shall see.

I’m starting to feel my power coming back!

Crunch x

Do you not have an entertainment budget? That is where we take soft play and eating out costs when we take our grandchildren out.

Glad you feeling on top of things.

crunch_time

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Do you not have an entertainment budget? That is where we take soft play and eating out costs when we take our grandchildren out.

Glad you feeling on top of things.

Husband and I have £100 spending money a month for us. This extra £100!is for when things for the kids come up - parties, play dates etc.

crunch_time

Just checking in to say that I have paid the minimum payment off the husbands Virgin card this evening - its now down to £7400.

I have a job interview on Friday for a full-time position - excited but nervous but also scared about potentially working full time - Im feeling very tired at the moment - 6 working days to go until the Christmas break.

Husband and I have also started the Christmas shopping! Determined to stick to our £500 budget and only getting books for ourselves this year.

In 2 weeks time I get paid again and can swipe some more money off the husbands credit card!!

Crunch xx

Willowtree222

Enjoy your weekend.

It's a nice feeling paying off the credit card, even if it is a little bit at the time.x

Honeysucklelou2

Was thinking of you yesterday. How did the interview go? What does an interview comprise of these days? Last one I did was a 20 minute lesson observation, a levelling writing exercise, interview by governors, then an interview by the school council!

crunch_time

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Was thinking of you yesterday. How did the interview go? What does an interview comprise of these days? Last one I did was a 20 minute lesson observation, a leveling writing exercise, interview by governors, then an interview by the school council!

I didn't make it to the interview. I got ready and was in my car driving there but I hadn't seen the school beforehand and realised then that it was actually too far away for me to commute to so I turned around (after I rang them to cancel of course).

crunch_time

Morning all

Currently off sick with low iron related to my thyroid issue and just pushing myself too far with work. I nearly fainted at school yesterday in front of my class and literally couldn't think straight to teach so I am no good there at all - I'm not safe to be in front of children. I feel sick and have bouts of dizziness and tiredness and need to keep sitting down.

I'm feeling very down about my working situation. Teaching just takes everything out of me and leaves no room for anything else I want to do. Try hard as I might I just get into survival mode on my days at school and then find it hard to pick up with life on my days off. feeling like this has led to these health issues as I find it hard to consistently look after myself - cook properly, switch off, research, find any sort of balance.

I've decided to leave teaching after this contract finishes in February and do something else. Of course I have done the figures...

I earn currently £21k a year before tax for three days a week. Monthly this is £1400 ish. I don't pay any childcare at the moment but if i did right now that would be £300 a month. Husband's monthly money covers all of our bills, food, min debt payments and spending money, including saving £400 a month as well but no room for extra debt repayments or holidays. So we could afford to live off him for a bit but I don't want to at all.

I've updated my CV and am considering going back to HR which is what I started doing when I left uni many moons ago. An HR entry level job would be around £21k or below full time. Childcare over a school year would be about £500 a month worse case scenario without any help from relatives. If I got a job paying this amount I would still have £900 to 'play' with. And I could leave my work at work and focus on home life when I get home. If I stayed in teaching I would get stuck at £21k for the rest of my career as I dont want full time and I don't want management. In a another career there is always scope to grow and develop and for more payrises. I can also finally properly set up my side hustle and do the other things that I want to in life.

I think I would be good at HR as I enjoyed it beforehand I left and went into marketing as I thought that would be more creative but it wasn't.

Long term I see myself as a coach or going into research anyway. I love the idea of teaching but it just drains me in a way that is detrimental to my wellbeing. Its time to say goodbye but I feel very sad about it.

I'm going to spend £45 speaking to a life coach to help me get in the right mind frame to go for something new and feel good about my choice. I have learned lots of really good skills in teaching and it has done wonders to my confidence too. I want to capitalise on it.

Anyway, back to money. Husband and I are doing well with Monzo this month so far. All budgets are being stuck to despite it being Christmas time!

I have also managed to sell 4 items on ebay and made £20 ish!! I just can't remember the passwords for paypal to access it so I am going to tackle that from my restful armchair today - in between naps!!

Husband will get a bonus this year for Christmas. Last year it was enough to buy a new dishwasher with some leftover. I'm hoping he wil feel good about it going towards the credit card this year - and pay off that new vacuum cleaner! Ha ha!

Anyway, enough from me already - must get on with the day.

Have a great Wednesday!!

Crunch xx