Back to try again.. 7 July 2018 at 9:20PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Debt Free Diaries 643 replies 44.5K views

DMP_Tiger

Hey Robin, savings may be a lot lower but you haven't used the Credit Card :j

You are bound to go through low days when you are a DMP, especially when expensive things crop up that we used to just put on the credit card and forget about....

Hope the car's ok though, cars are a MAJOR worry!!

Robin09

Good afternoon DMP_Tiger,

Yes, I'm just having a stroppy day. I am grateful we have the money saved for school uniform etc.

I have never had a credit card, the only debt to my name when we started our DMP was the Next account that had a balance of just over £200. I have always and always will try and save before we buy, even if it means I go without. I knew of some of our original debt. Buying a car after an accident etc but I had budgeted it in to be able to afford it. When it got unmanageable was when I found out DH had maxed out credit cards gambling. So we literally have zero to show for a massive chunk of our debt. Just feel so fed up about it all some days.

But, I know I will feel alright about it all again soon. Today we are just staying at home, DD is happy enough to play in the garden and has had her craft stuff out. DS has gone out for a while again so gave him the last of my change just so he can get an extra snack or drink if needed. So I have £15 left in my purse. I have decided to not take out my weekly money and just make this last. The £20 has instead been put into the savings

DMP_Tiger

Ah sorry didn't realize the cause of your debts. Yes it is disheartening sometimes but we wouldn't be human if we didn't get upset about our debts every now and again. But quite often after a sleep we feel better the next day

You're doing really well with your money - having £20 to save in the summer hols is fantastic! You should be very pleased with yourself, maybe buy a bottle of wine as a treat and save the rest

It's got hot again today, not as hot as before but I want an ice-cream!

Enjoy the rest of your day

Robin09

You are totally right! No matter the cause of debt, I am sure everyone has days where they are just fed up about it all. I do not drink very often but I managed to have a nice long bath without my shadow (DD) hovering about, has it really only been a week since she broke up?! :rotfl: I already feel better after my day of sulking

Looking forward to going out tomorrow. Think I've had to much time at home today to dwell on things. Going to an event at the library so will be free, not using the car until DH looks at it but its a nice walk there and back

Robin09

A lovely day today and in a better mood

We spent the day at the park and library. A author came in to read his new book and did story time. DD is a real bookworm so loved every minute of it. She really enjoyed the story so I purchased her the book for £5.99 and he signed it for her, she was very happy.

Also took out £100, what I have budgeted for school holidays activities. Find having cash makes it so much easier for me to keep track of.

Tonight I am going to have a proper price up of school uniform, just to make sure I have enough in the pot, which is at £210 at the moment. From next month I am going to start to save a bit each month so we do not have to save such a large sum next year.

Robin09

Spent the whole morning sorting the garden out with DD. Has been neglected more than I thought these last few weeks. Took us hours to sort out but we have a basket of fruit and veg picked. Looks much better out there.

Did our online shop for tomorrow. I have decided to put the budget up to £80 in the school holidays, just to buy some extra treats for picnics etc. Order actually came to £91 because I ordered DS his school stationery as it was on offer so have took that from the school pot. I really do need to concentrate on getting this down though.

Also spent £18 on DD school cardigans with logo on, can only order them online. Everything else we will go to the shops and get as prefer to see the sizes and DS uniform comes from a specialised shop. But have added it up and we just have enough to cover it all :j

pidge04

Just caught up with your diary. I am super impressed with your organisation and weekly budgeting.
Sorry for your down days. Sounds like you have been doing some lovely things for free in the holiday. What kind of things do you pack for a picnic for a day out? Hope the rest of the holiday continues in this way for you and your family!

Robin09

Hi Pidge04,

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words

We do have a lot of lovely places around here to spend the day for free, we are very lucky. My parents buy me a yearly parking pass every year for my birthday, so do not even have to worry about parking fees. The DC have a big age gap but a shared love of the outdoors, so it's something they enjoy doing together.

I try to mix up the picnics. We have wraps, cold pasta dishes, quiche, rolls, pizza wraps, panini's, cheese crackers etc. Always a selection of fruit and yoghurt as that is their favourite snacks. Most likely a cake of some sort in there too. Always a coffee for me in my travel cup and big bottles of drinks.
It can depend on how far away we are. If we are quite close to home, I don't tend to take as much as we can come home for food. If we are travelling further away I will take more, to save running out and needing to use the cafes etc.

X

Robin09

A lovely day spent out today.

My brother rang to say he was travelling over with his family for the day. Was really a nice surprise as haven't seen them in a couple of months. We went to the local picnic site/stream and they bought a BBQ and all the food and treated us all to a lovely lunch such a relaxing day, sat in the shade and splashing around in the stream. I did use up the last of my weekly money on ice creams. They are £2.20 each at this particular site so we don't get them every time we go, but still low spends for a great day out a bit of company really can make such a difference some days.

DH figured out the problem with the car. He is very knowledgeable with cars and can fix it himself. I won't pretend to know what he was talking about, but the bits he has ordered came to just under £70. Not great but not too bad either. So will hopefully be able to use the car again this week.

Robin09

A no spend day today, a lot easier when I don't have any left

Spent the morning putting our tent up in the garden to check over, as DS wants to have friends over to have a camp out. DD wants to do it to, so no doubt I will be sleeping in there some point this week. DS had dentist check in the afternoon, all done for 6 months and his teeth are in great condition

We then spent the evening at my sisters. She is moving on the weekend so won't be able to just walk around to see her anymore, she isn't going far but not possible to walk to.

Cooled down in the evening so we all went for a lovely walk around the lake