Getting it together...one £ at a time!

Homegrown0

I'm getting there Tea - just trying to do the essentials then I'll probably slope off home early. It's been one of those days, though. Full of irritating requests and people who are making more work for me!

On the plus side, i'm not that hungry so have just been snacking on fruit so far and am no where near ready for lunch.

Paying that money into the CC gave me a new excuse to hound my husband for the details of the new CC (since we balance transfered). I need them to set up a new payee and he's been delaying mainly because he doesn't know how to do it.

I talked him through it by text today and I'm now the proud owner of the details. The new payee has been set up so it'll be super simple to make overpayments from now on. The £20 has been sent to that CC now! It's so close to being under £4k.

Can't remember if I mentioned, but I put £4 into the sealed pot in total yesterday. I've got a few £s left in my purse as change from this morning's train ticket so if they make it to the end of the day then they'll go in too.

My brain is foggy so i don't have much more to say - off to make a lemon tea to see if that makes any difference.

Homegrown0

Financial review
I spent some time yesterday reworking our long-term budgets and linking up elements of my spreadsheet to make it easier to manage. I realise that the longer-term projections will be subject to change because there's so many variables but I want something i can work towards.

Based on my workings, this is what the dates look like for getting rid of each element of debt:

Loan: Jan 2020 (10 months)
CC1: Mar 2020 (12 months)
CC2: Jul 2020 (16 months)

This is all based on what I think i should be able to afford per month to throw at debt, while still putting savings aside. This doesn't include any overtime/ extra work, bonuses or pay rises - all of which are likely over the coming year. If we're lucky enough to receive any of the above then that can only bring the DFD closer.

Our balance (before this month's payments, since they're not all out yet) is approx £14,200 so we're looking at approx £900p/m to clear it off in that time. If we can do it quicker while still cracking on with living our life, then we absolutely will.

The hilarious thing is, we'll be debt free by July then we will be taking on debt to finance our home improvements (in a controlled, planned and affordable manner, of course) so we'll likely only be debt free for a month or so (if we're lucky) haha.

However, we'll be in a massively better position going into that having got rid of the credit cards.

Lucifa73

That all looks great. Its nice to see the dates set out like that - I find it very motivating. I will be reworking mine once I know what the change in job means in terms of increased salary (at the moment I am working on a prudent estimate) and the fall out in cost terms (it is a WAY more formal office than where I currently slouch about in jeans and t-shirts... it is more Armani than Primani :eek:)

And controlled, planned and affordable borrowing is a million light years better than CC debt, especially as you will be going in eyes wide open. Good luck with it all!

teafor2

Those dates are looking good HG, especially if there's a real chance of paying more and shaving a few weeks or months off them. :T Are we due your percentage workouts anytime soon? I really like it when you post them up

And controlled, planned and affordable borrowing is a million light years better than CC debt, especially as you will be going in eyes wide open. Good luck with it all!

Totally agree with what Lucifa has said. It's very hard to get through life without taking on loans and therefore debt, but as long as you're managing it and you have a plan that's the main thing. xx

Homegrown0

Thanks Lucifa - it's nice to hear that you're going to see an increase in salary in the near future! Even with some work clothes as an upfront cost, hopefully it'll mean a positive impact on the finances.

You're right about the impending debt being a million times better than the reckless credit card spending of the past. The plan is to take out a loan and pay it off over 5 years which is way better than the alternative (freeing up equity in our mortgage and paying it over 25 years). I'm thinking of the interest savings!

Tea - yes, i'll be back to the percentages in my end-of-month round up I should be able to tackle that next week once the bulk of the main payments are out. I like doing them too - they're really motivating.

Homegrown0

Does anyone want a complete laugh?

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday and todat reworking my budgets as I mentioned and part of that reworking was to account for my husband being paid on a Thursday these days instead of Tuesday.

You'll recall he's actually being paid 2 days late every week so to save my irritation every week o amended it on my spreadsheet.

I checked my bank account this morning...

And...

You've guessed it...

HE WAS PAID YESTERDAY!

ON TUESDAY!!

ON TIME!!

I despair... just going to ignore it for now.

teafor2

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: no words really needed xx

Homegrown0

I know Tea, it's unbelievable really and is so typical of his boss. All over the place and no clue what's going on!

I'm not changing the spreadsheet back. I'd rather it was in the spreadsheet and make Thursday the standard then if he's paid on a Tuesday, it's just a bit early.

It's very disconcerting looking at the bank account and seeing significantly less in it because he's being paid late. I'd much rather the other way round.

Catching up on Brexit status this morning and just want to hang my head. What a shambles!

teafor2

Morning HG Think you're definitely right with the wage. It must be so frustrating it going in late most weeks, best to bank on it being in there on Thursday.

Brexit is a complete shambles and it's basically been two years of pratting around trying to keep everybody happy, which never works. Personally, it's not about in or out for me anymore, it feels like they've stuck 2 fingers up at democracy which is supposed to be at the heart of how our country is run

Anyway, moving on from that, hope you have a great day. xx

kindofagilr

Brexit is a massive shambles, our country is such an embarrassment right now