Working Hard Debt Diary - Here goes

redkelly

Just checking in your still going great....I am pleased the holiday spend was not as bad as you thought that must ease the mind a bit.
Ditch the window cleaner they only use dirty water and I am sure they make them worse than when they started...lol

WorkingHardDFW

Thanks for all comments.

I know that I should get rid of the window cleaner and the milk man.

I'm quite old fashioned and I like the fact that we get a pint delivered every morning (and I know the price is very high). I bulk buy and freeze my milk from Mr T but we've had a pint every morning for years. Can't change that

Ref the windown cleaners. Again I agree with the comments ref dirty water etc but they do a really good cheap job (£7.50 once per month) including the conservatory. We could do all the downstairs but our house is on a slope and the front upstairs windows would be impossible to do.

I know I'm just making excuses..............

lucielle

It would be £90 per year saved. Agree with the milkman always handy to know you have a pint waiting for you. Hope the debt busting is going strong.
L

hypno06

I ditched my milkman and my window cleaner last year - felt awful doing so, but my need for the extra money was just as great as theirs so I had to do it.

I was never in when they called for payment, so instead of £x per month, I would find myself faced with a big bill for 3 months or so which was then difficult to pay!!!

WorkingHardDFW

Thanks for the comments.

Debt busting is still going strong.

Budget has been revised to accommodate an under budgeted/over spending household/activities account. It still means we're knocking £1167 pm off the debt in real terms which is fantastic - slower than the last few months but that was exceptional. It means we should be sub £30K by the end of the year with a bit more effort :rolleyes:

I've done two mystery shops this week and I've one tomorrow. One of them was to open a bank account and this will be used to put my Christmas fund into. I'm very concious that our Christmas fund is much smaller than last year and even with free money its going to be tight therefore having the money in a seperate account means that its easier for me to manage. I can't believe I'm talking about Christmas and its still summer (well almost).

Nothing listed on ebay yet this week but a bit pile of stuff is accumlating in the dinning room. I need to have a clear out of the childrens rooms to sort some bits out. DD and eldest DS are away at my in-laws next week (no childcare costs ) so that I feel is a good opportunity to get in there and have a clear out. I'm sure I've still got loads of stuff lying around I jsut need to get it listed.

Worked an extra day this week so that more cash next month plus I worked some extra hours in another role a few months ago and I've never claimed it (MSE head was clearly unplugged) therefore I need to get that in asap.

Organised a big day out for the kids next week courtesy of my Tesco vouchers. So only the cost of the petrol to allow for and the now traditional packed lunch!

Need to get my DD's phone and remaining new school uniform sorted plus go through my eldest DS's stuff to see what he has outgrown. Unfortunately I know already that he needs school shoes and trainers . My youngest is already sorted for Jan when he starts.

WorkingHardDFW

I've just been catching up on all the correspondence which has come in this week and have noticed that my water bill has gone down :j by a massive £5 per month which nearly pays for the window cleaner! I thought this must have been because of our investment in a water butt (sad to get excitied about such a thing) but then I realised they've not read the meter which is inside. So I'm not sure why its reduced but is has and thats FAB:T

Bring it on.........!!

WorkingHardDFW

Finally got around to sorting out my DD's mobile phone for her birthday. I didn't realise I'd become such a ditherer (spelling?) but its taken me ages for sort it out mainly because I didn't want to committ to the extra cost.

Finally gone for a low priced handset on 02 which give 300 texts when you top up with £10 of credit. Given that I don't put very on my own phone I don't want to be committing lots to hers!

OH finally went to the Optition today and was told that he no longer needs glasses or contacts !!! Mind you the bill for the check up was £40. I need to go for my eye checked but mine is included in the price of my contacts.

Not a very cheap day today so far but at least all the spending is from money we've got rather than on credit:cool:

amyandjon

Hello this diary is amazing ive only recntly joined and im starting with the same amount of debt maybe more eeek.... im just on my way outto buy a money account book im a geek like that... i started my own diary too we had our lbm 2- 3 months a go when we put a hold on the wedding it was a weight off our shoulders weve worked really hard at it..... i managed to get to page 9 and i couldnt resist posting any longer lol.... wellll done !!! god when you are df you will feel like a millionaire geeesh :P i cant wait i think im a few years off due to the amount we can only afford to pay on debt but im keeping positive te he look forward to reading up about you, im subscribing to your thread woo hoo x

hypno06

Good news on the re-alignment of the budgets. It will help avoid nasty shocks in due course.

Good news too on the reduced water bill - don't worry about the fact that they have not read the meter, just embrace (and save) the £5 a month!

WorkingHardDFW

Thanks Hypno the £5 saving is completely and fully embraced and brings our SOA into £3 surplus!!!

Thanks for your comments amyandjon. I've found other peoples stories on here so helpful and to be honest its great motivation for me to be posting up each step and hiccup along the way. I do think I am slightly addicted to the forums now........it doesn't cost anything though :rotfl:.

I daren't even think about when we are DF. It seems such a way off (I know its only just over a year which is not long at all) but its the size of the debt and the fact that so much could still go wrong.

We've learnt such a huge amount along the way about managing our finances, our expectations, being savvy shoppers, adjusting to our circumstances, plus teaching our children to be more savvy (they don't know how bad our situation was/is just that we are trying to avoid spending pennies) and knowing that what we are spending is what we've earned. It sounds like we've got it sussed but we haven't by any means - we overspent big time on holiday:o

Good luck on your journey to being DF:T