A cup of tea & a budget please...

enthusiasticsaver

I would not overpay the DFS sofa but put the spare money towards that Virgin CC1 which is charging 19.17%. That will also make the balance transfer fee lower. The sofa will be paid off in 6 months anyway so you can up the payment then.

I would up the Virgin CC payment to £200 a month out of your surplus which is £70 from your daughter and £130 from you. I would also up your emergency savings to £100 a month until the fund stands at £1000. You have enough surplus to do that and that will give you the discipline to clear the debt and save rather than fritter that surplus. You need to put aside more than £15 per month in car maintenance for a car and van too. I think your holiday, entertainment, gift budgets are also a little low but if you are convinced you can live with that then that is fine. I would pay half of any surplus to debt each month and save the other half towards property renovations etc.

SeasideGirl

SG58 & Jwil - I like to do that with my moneymanager programme - it's a good way of seeing the impact of spending

EnthusasticSaver - it's a bit of a psychological thing paying off the sofa early though, one less debt on the list. The VirginCard interest rate change kicks in from 5th Oct (it's on 0% currently) so I need to look as I usually have 0% offers on other cards (I don't spend on them anymore, they are purely used to BT). Agree with the emergency fund, I'll feel happier the faster I can build it up again. Car/van maintenance are low at the moment having both just had work/MOTs/services but I'm planning on upping it in about 4-6 months' time. Other budgets are low but I don't really go on holiday (other than the plan to use the van more), and I am not a massive spender on 'me' during the month. I'll see how they go and can tweak if needed later on down the line.

SeasideGirl

Well, those few days flew past.. Busy week, first teaching session done, and a thumping headache for the last 2. However, that has resulted in some NSD's Popped into town this morning for a quick wander (in at 10, out by 10.30) and it's free parking. Also got my monthly season ticket for work at the station - I have a card that gets me 15% discount but means I can't use a machine. Taken out my monthly grocery cash & spending money so will pop them into separate purses a bit later. But no other money actually spent. Freezer is pretty full, might just need to top up veg/salad this week, but doing my meal planning for the week today as well.

£52 into my account from my sister for a spa day voucher we bought in early August (off Wowcher) and we'll be having that day in November as an early birthday treat for me
I also realised I'll be claiming some expenses back from work that will probably get paid late October (need to find out from someone how long they take to process), should be around £80, so once I know the figure and have it in the bank it can be paid onto the Virgin cc.

Going to have a rummage about today, I have loads of notebooks/stationery so am going to bundle some up to sell. Starting to line up other things that I can ebay too!

jwil

All sounds good!