Little By Little...

BabyStepper

So sorry to hear about OH's job, and then so glad to read it seems to be mostly sorted. You must be knackered emotionally trying to deal with it all, it's so hard. Don't forget you have made huge progress in paying things off and budgeting. Just keep going. I predict 2019 is going to be great for us all, 'little by little' is definitely the way.

Lydia42

Hi
Great news after all the stuff that's been hanging over your head. Hopefully you can relax a little over Christmas now before you start your new job. Hope you have a good break.

redmel1621

Thanks everyone.

It has been so stressful and I'm exhausted with it.

Things have worked out so far, so I do need to stop stressing so much and trust that it will all be fine in the end.

As it happens DH managed to get a little bit of work inbetween Christmas and New Year too, so that will be a few extra pennies coming our way. I get paid tomorrow and it looks as though my back pay from being underpaid (on the wrong pay scale) is going in too. It isn't loads, but it all helps.

I want to make sure my January bills are fully funded and February bills are as much funded as they can be. That will give us a bit of breathing space in case DH doesn't get back into work early in January.

In other news, I did my final day at work today - it feels very odd. I now have a lovely 2wks off until I start my new job and as much as I want to plan and be ready for the new place, I am very limited in what I can do, until I actually get in there. I am not really clear how it all works, as it seems quite different from my recent place.

I have completely finished Christmas wrapping and only now have Christmas food to sort. I'll be glad when it's all over lol. Every year I claim I am going away the following Christmas as it is so stressful; I've never actually managed it and probably never will.

Here's to a nice relaxing festive season.

ImpulseSpender

Enjoy your two weeks off between jobs! Hope you have a lovely Christmas!

redmel1621

Hi,

I've be MIA for Christmas. I decided to take a few days off to just enjoy Christmas with the family and not think about debts or work.

I managed a few bits from my plan:

Plan for the rest of Dec.
* Finalise Christmas shopping/wrapping/food - Completed
* Buy new clothes for new job - I bought a new top, but then decided to avoid the mayhem as it was stressing me out, so I will go once the shops start to settle down a bit :cool:
* Order a washing machine - Completed and I was able to do this from the emergency fund :beer:
* Pay off that £78.88extra from debts
* Keep up with YNAB and request an extension so I can get dh set up and get him used to using it too - Half completed. I have got an extension to my trial , but I haven't yet set dh with it... I'm still undecided whether to :o

I haven't paid the £78.88 to bring the debts down to a round number, as I think the £200 V12 debt may be due to be paid in full in January, before going to monthly (high interest) payments. So I have put £100 aside for that instead... I haven't counted it as paid though, until it is actually paid.

I have a few additional financial commitments for 2019 that I won't include in the debts list, as they aren't debts as such. New pup, Holiday, Son's School Trip - Theoretically we can afford it all.... But it will slow down paying off the debts... To that end I am definitely going to get back into Matched Betting. I also need to speak to my friend's husband about getting my son into work with him, as soon as he can (either Easter/summer), as that will give him an income to help pay off his school trip.

Looking at YNAB I have almost funded all the bills for January. Now this sounds great, but dh is now out of work, so we have no more money coming in until the end of January - my wage - which will not cover February bills. We desperately need him in work. For everything to run smoothly and for all the extra commitments to be covered, he needs to be working. I am trying not to stress, but it isn't easy. He is convinced he will have work again as soon as we get into 2019, so fingers crossed.

Anyway, I think that's enough ramblin' from me :rotfl:

redmel1621

First post of the New Year - 2019

I'm just popping in to update the lists as a few payments have gone out today and a few more are due out tomorrow. I'm holding off overpaying until dh is back in work, as although all our bills are covered for January, we need to be careful. He did get a text yesterday saying that he should be getting a call for work soon... so that is promising. Nothing in life is guaranteed though

I've managed some decluttering of the car port. The old washing machine, 3 old bikes and 2 old rusty scooters have gone to the scrap man I've also cleared all the cardboard from Christmas, so that should be taken today by the bin men, and finally I managed to get my brother bike (that we borrowed) back down to my mum's house, which is where we borrowed it from.

All the Christmas decorations are back up in the attic, so the house feels a bit bare now and definitely needs decorating!

I'm excited about all my plans for 2019 and seeing how far I get with them all.

DD265

Sounds good, fingers crossed your DH gets work soon!

kindofagilr

Sounds like everything is going well hun xx

redmel1621

Haven't posted for a while, as I simply have nothing to say.

The new job is exhausting. I'm not sure I am going to like it there, but will have to stick it out for now. Fingers crossed something else come my way.

Dh is still out of work.

I'm only getting about 4hrs sleep a night, as I keep waking up with so much spinning through my mind. I am tired and stressed.

We are just paying minimum payment on debts currently, but small mercy's that we are not falling behind on anything at the minute.

I have really found my feet with YNAB, but since starting work, I have not been updating it as I should. Doesn't help that it is mainly dh that is spending, so I don't really know what is being spent and I don't have the time or energy to do it each evening.

We'll keep on plodding along for now.

BabyStepper

I don't think we'll be making any overpayments this month either. Still, only spending what you have and meeting all minimum payments counts as a win to me. Hope your OH finds some work soon and you get some rest. If anyone knows of cheap sleeping tablets, I can't find any for less than a fiver.