Getting it together...one £ at a time! 25 June 2018 at 10:34AM edited 25 June 2018 at 2:21PM in Debt free diaries 974 replies 62.6K views

Homegrown0

Quite a few of you will have likely read my old diary but after a moment or two of paranoia at the level of detail I was sharing and how easily identifiable I'd be if anyone who knows me stumbled across my diary, I'm going back to the beginning to try to keep my journey safe.

I've been on here battling with my debt since January 2017 and I'm coming up to a bit of a transitional period where some things will be changing financially so i'll start below with my end of June roundup to set the scene and talk about plans from September onwards.

June round-up
Balances and paid amounts
Loan: £10,001.79 / £15,792.30 (£5,790.51 paid off - 37% paid)
CC1: £3,257 / £3,807 (£600 paid off - 16% paid)
CC2: £4,421.14 / £5,031.14 (£660 paid off - 13% paid)

Total: £17,679.93 / £24,630.44 (£7,050.51 paid off, 29% paid)

Milestones reached in June

• Dropped into the £17k bracket
• Paid over £7k off debt

Changes coming up
Youngest child will start to get some funded hours in nursery from September onwards so we will save £104p/m by averaging out the funded and non funded months and paying the same monthly sum into our childcare account.

When our eldest went to school at the end of last year, we decided this year would be holiday filled since it's the first we've been able to afford it since we had the kids. We are going away again soon with family and once we're back, the disposable income that's going towards holiday related things (like spending money and paying flights and accomm) will be free to go towards overpaying debt and towards a much needed replacement car for my husband.

I'll come back with a post for planning ahead fur July as well as exploring an overpayment plan for September onwards...

Homegrown0

I thought i'd put in a concerted effort to map out our spends for July because I seem to start off well and end up forgetting things that sets our budget back.

Costly events

• Youngest son's birthday - He doesn't really need anything so I'm a bit stumped as to what to get him. But I have a budget and I won't break it.
• Wedding - we are getting a lift to the wedding and back so we just need to take cash for drinks. I may be cheeky and take something with me in a bag to offset the hideous hotel costs a bit. Also, we are splitting the cost of the gift with BIL so budget for that is £35.

Good things for July

• Because our eldest is off school for the summer, we've cracked it for July ans need minimal childcare. We just have two holiday club days to pay for which will be £56 instead of our usual monthly bill of around £140. We have funds leftover in the childcare account that we have built up so i'll just cancel the SO for July and transfer the whole £140 into savings instead this month.
• We are on holiday for a week this month and spending money has been saved separately so we will save a week's worth of fuel on two cars and a week's worth of grocery shopping. I will just see what our spending account is left with at the end of the month and see if a saving has been made.

Days until pay day: 3
Days until holiday: 11
Payments until nursery funding kicks in: 2

Savings
Christmas savings: £400 / £600
Credit union savings: £400
Emergency fund: £200... :eek:

redofromstart

Happy new diary Homegrown, cheering you on as usual.

Homegrown0

I just want to get some September-onwards plans laid out on here to keep my brain on the straight and narrow. They might alter as time goes on and things fchange, but I'd like to use this post as a starting point.

September onwards
State of affairs should be - ££8,948.97 (loan) / £3,157 (CC1) / £4,301.14 / Total: £16,407.11
Normal payments per month: £636.41

There should be around £600p/m additional funds available to split between overpayments, building up some savings and creating a more permanent solution for husband's car.

The car is 15 years old and has lasted 2 years for the £500 that we paid for it. But we have had to throw quite a few hundred pounds at it over the last 6 months and it's rattling again...we're pretty sure it's on a downward and costly slope to the scrap yard!

£600 split

• £150p/m max - Car payment
• £100 - overpayment to CC1 (£150p/m total)
• £100 to CC2 (£160p/m total)
• £250 - general savings

If I can follow the above for the remaining 4 months of the year (September - December), the debt total should be £13,061.47 instead of £13,861.47, which is what it will be if I continue with current payments - an £800 overpayment. We'll also have £1,000 in additional savings.

I think this is a good split and will allow us to assess any additional income that comes in, such as husband's overtime, to decide where it should go - savings/ debt etc.

Homegrown0

I had word today that from next month I have been awarded a pay rise - 6% which is fantastic I was planning to ask for one at my next appraisal in January but my boss has awarded me one now

Doing my rough workings and including an increase in pension contributions, I should be looking at between £170 and £180 per month extra in my pay packet!

I'm of course pleased about the extra money and i'll spend some time over the next couple of weeks figuring out where best it should be applied in our budget - I'd imagine a split between debt repayments, some extra into savings and a little extra in the spends kitty. However, I'm feeling good that all the work that i've put in over the last few months (and the related stress) has been noticed. It feels nice (and rare) to feel appreciated.

monz

Found your new diary xx

Homegrown0

monz wrote: »

Found your new diary xx

Hooray! :T It feels very strange feeling like a newbie again...

Enjoy reading my new lot of drivel!

redofromstart

6%, that is brilliant :j:j:j

Homegrown0

Thanks redo! I'm delighted

Homegrown0

Pay day came a day early again this month. Maybe it would make sense that I just expect my wages a day earlier than the company say, but I don't want to get caught out so i'll just continue planning for the scheduled date.

However, as happens semi-regularly, husband didn't get paid yesterday so it's a waiting game for that, hopefully it'll turn up today.

I'll spend some time this afternoon sorting out payments and transfers including:
- £300 to spending account (the rest will come later in the month)
- £450 to holiday spends
- £300 to holiday spends (from husband's wages when they finally turn up)
- £135 to general savings (money that we're saving from childcare in July).

Days until pay day: 33
Days until holiday: 9
Days until son's birthday: 3

Homegrown0

Sitting out in our back garden to work for a while - 30 degrees today! Wow. It's beautiful, even if i can't see my screen properly...

Got two loads of washing hanging out - one is almost dry and the other isn't too far behind it.

Got son's birthday sorted - main present is arriving tonight (prime trial) and the rest i picked up this morning . Got him a card and a banner for the wall too. Overall, i think i spent about £60 on him which i'm happy with. The only thing left to get is his cake and some nibbles for guests. I was going to do a buffet but not sure that i'll bother. I'll speak to my husband tonight.

Also picked up a little something for my son's teacher - £4 + £1.50 for a card. Pleased with that!

Just got £23.61 paid into my account for some outstanding expenses...got another £70ish worth to claim but will get that next month now. The £23.61 went straight into the holiday fund which is standing at £556.64 with £300 more to be paid in when husband gets paid. That will cover spends for the week + paying the rest of the car hire. Getting there...