Time to be a grown up!

ChasingtheWelshdream

Hi all,

So here we are. LBM has happened and it's time to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in.

A little bit about us. Me, DH, DS1, 2 & 3 - all primary age and all very much a handful.

After a turbulent couple of years, with escalating living cost in the South East, we upped sticks and moved to Wales for a new life - paying off the mortgage and working part-time. It's not quite the smallholding I'd always dreamed of, but it was a toss-up between larger house or land - we went for the house so we have space to avoid each other (albeit with a postage stamp for a garden!) It will suit very well for a few years until the kids grow up and fly the nest. At which point I have my eye on a little cottage by the sea! :rotfl:

The current house is however, very much a project and it is this, and the list of improvements we want to make that has brought about the LBM. In theory we should have enough money to do what we want. In reality we have 'wasted' the vast majority and now can't afford to do what we want and some (big to us) cc debts.

So, finances. Having worked our way through our savings renovating the house, and generally living whilst we found work, we now find ourselves with some debts. These are not huge but we've recently realised we have little to show for them. No nice holidays, cars or anything. They have been accrued purely from being wasteful and being ostrich-like.

We have always used cash-back CC for all spending, thinking we would stooze by keeping the cash in our account, earning the cashback and paying off in full. Which generally worked, except for when we would have a large spend and realise we couldn't pay it that month - cue balance transfer deal and the cycle started again.

The reality was, we really had no idea about budgeting, pretty much spending what we wanted, when we wanted, but on lots of little things that didn't really amount to anything - except a large bill to pay. Food shopping everyday because we fancied something different for lunch. Buying lunch out instead of planning and taking food. Constant takeaway coffees. Rarely denying kids activities - play centres etc. All totalling a several hundred each month.:eek: I reckon we could easily spend £150 just on food shopping in a week, and still say there's nothing to eat! I know, I know..... :o:o

But that is about to change. I have walls to knock down, carpets to buy and new front doors to choose. But, ONLY once we have saved for them. And that can only happen once we clear these pesky CCs.

In some ways, I am really looking forward to this challenge. Both DH and myself have had mini LBMs before, but unfortunately not at the same time, and not for long enough for us to do anything about it.:o

Now, we are determined to clear this debt, save up to do what want, and start being grown-up about our finances. And that means budgeting. Which means lots of conversations about when, where and how we intend to spend our money. Which is *honestly* not much fun. And hence why I am starting this diary to hold myself to account (whilst procrastinating!).

I have always been in charge of the technical side of finances (as DH always forgets his log-in details). Now DH wants to get involved, which is going to be interesting when we look at various DDs and standing orders together - some of which I suspect he has no idea about....

DH's current project is a mega spending spreadsheet. The thing is, although I am very used to Excel, I can't quite understand his logic on his worksheet - and he can't on mine. Somewhere we need to meet in the middle to create a system that not only works for us, but that we are both happy to keep on using.

My personal challenge, finances aside, is to start 'shopping from home'. Now, I have stuff - a lot of stuff - most of which 'might come in useful one day'. And which I stubbornly ignore when I fancy something new (particularly fabric and pretty house things). My first goal is to methodically go through each 'Pile of Doom' and either put something to use or get rid (hopefully sell). I reckon I could make our house look so much nicer, just by using what I already have (once I find it.....)

You may wonder what a Pile of Doom is? It's when a corner becomes a dumping ground, which then grows and grows until it becomes too overwhelming to tackle (in my case, particularly dry washing.....:eek: ) . We are lucky to live in a large house. There are many, many corners that turn into Piles of Doom. I have a whole room that is one massive Pile of Doom, simply because we don't use it for anything else. This is first on my list. If I can sort the room out, I can get it useable again and have a little bolt-hole for myself. :T

Well, that's it for now. If you are still reading - well done!:rotfl: DH is calling me as he wants me to log on to the banks so he can finish his mega spreadsheet. Then we can see exactly where we stand and I can update with some figures.

Night all!:)

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

crazy_cat_lady

Hello :hello:
I have subscribed to help cheer you on.
Good luck with all of it

shabbychic12

Good luck with your challenge. I'm the proud owner of a room of doom and a cupboard of doom my aim is to reduce both these and be able to find things in both as once items are relegated here they seem to disappear.

Splatfoot

Brilliant, I shall look forward to reading. Your situation regarding the South East and relocating to Wales sounds like my inner brain. This was our aim/goal 2 years ago but we just haven't got round to it. Our current house is not quite sale ready, we are in debt and on a DMP, but have around £300,000 equity. Selling would give us a fresh start. Good luck with your diary!

ChasingtheWelshdream

Splatfoot wrote: »

Brilliant, I shall look forward to reading. Your situation regarding the South East and relocating to Wales sounds like my inner brain. This was our aim/goal 2 years ago but we just haven't got round to it. Our current house is not quite sale ready, we are in debt and on a DMP, but have around £300,000 equity. Selling would give us a fresh start. Good luck with your diary!

We had toyed with the idea of relocating several times over the years and always chickened out. This time we just thought 'why not' and were here within 5 months of first thinking about it. It was scary, and some things have taken a while to get used to, but I wouldn't have it any other way now. Well, except maybe an M&S within an hours drive....:p

ChasingtheWelshdream

shabbychic12 wrote: »

Good luck with your challenge. I'm the proud owner of a room of doom and a cupboard of doom my aim is to reduce both these and be able to find things in both as once items are relegated here they seem to disappear.

A room of doom - I like that! I ventured into said room last night, and very quickly retreated. One of the reasons it is not used is there is the heating is broken in there and it is freezing! I must chase up the plumber for a quote to fix it. In fact, I might give him a call today.

I've 'discovered' a little nook in there that I can use for a home office area, so I am going to look at that. It's basically some cupboards/shelves built into an alcove that are gathering dust. I'm thinking I can remove the cupboard doors to make a desk and set up the computer in there without spending anything. So that's my next mini project.

shabbychic12

Think lve decided the way to tackle the room of doom is to keep the door closed lol. No seriously l need to get a grip on both my clutter and spending and l have joined the shopping challenge, save £12k and a few more to hopefully spur me on this year. I'm aiming for £200 shopping in Jan for 2 plus the dog. Having a full freezer will help l hope.

ChasingtheWelshdream

Morning folks. :j

So we are nearly finished the mega money spreadsheet, and things are not too bad. Well, not as bad as we had feared.

It looks like, if we really pushed, we could be debt-free by May. But, one of the CCs is 0% for 2 years, so we need to decide if we want to clear that early, or use the 0% period to build up some savings.

DH is self-employed as on top of his day job. This means on our tax credits renewal he submits estimated figures until his accounts have finalised and HMRC 'hold back' some money until these figures are confirmed. This is now done and it looks like there may be some money due to us from 2017/2018. I'm waiting for the confirmation in the post, but looking online, it seems there is a one-off payment due. If so, this could clear our smallest but most expensive CC. :beer:

Looking through the expenses is a real eye-opener, and has thrown up a couple of big bills coming up earlier than we thought. The car MOT is a month earlier, so we need to budget for potential work I think.

We are still working out a plan of action, and swerve between 'spend no money ever' to 'we have to live a little'. I think we'll end up somewhere in between. I've decided we should have some 'pocket money' each month, so spend as we decide without having to account. For say, a coffee out, without feeling guilty. This month I allocated £30, and bought myself a nice new diary, pen and address book. It means I can't buy anything else for the rest of the month, but I didn't feel guilty about my shiny stationery. (Yes, I am old fashioned).

Another thing all this has brought into focus is how little we actually take care of ourselves and I've decided that if we are going to make cut-backs, then I should have more 'me-time' without feeling guilty.

I work part-time, and my days off are spent doing housework and DIY, between school runs. Never do I think I should go for a walk/swim as I feel guilty about not doing the house. This needs to stop. I have a gym membership through work which I only need to use twice a week to 'pay' for itself, so I am going to make swimming a priority on my days off, and build it into my routine. My moods have been pretty rough recently, so a little self-help is needed.

I am also lucky enough to have a dedicated Craft Room, which unfortunately is also a Room of Doom and I haven't done any crafting for months. I literally can't see the desk/floor/storage as EVERYTHING just gets dumped in there. I love sewing but again, never make time for it as I feel guilty 'wasting' time. I am going to venture in there, little by little, and see if I can at least get it useable. Then, just spend a little bit of time each week doing 'something'.

First thing, if I can find it, is to make a lampshade for our bedroom. We have had a naked light bulb since moving in 2 years ago and I know I have a lampshade kit in there somewhere.

Right, that's it today.

A fair few little things to do, and then to take the kids out. We have really cut down our spending with them this holiday and they seem to have taken it in their stride. We've still taken them for days out, but have made sure we take enough food to avoid eating out, and making the most of free things. Chasing waves at Aberystwyth, running around Powis Castle (National Trust membership, cost £10 a month, but we use it so much throughout the year we would have to be starving to give it up). This afternoon we'll head off to Elan Valley for a run in the park and a bike ride. Well, the kids can bike ride. I'll be hugging my flask of tea!:rotfl:

ChasingtheWelshdream

shabbychic12 wrote: »

Think lve decided the way to tackle the room of doom is to keep the door closed lol. No seriously l need to get a grip on both my clutter and spending and l have joined the shopping challenge, save £12k and a few more to hopefully spur me on this year. I'm aiming for £200 shopping in Jan for 2 plus the dog. Having a full freezer will help l hope.

This door is very firmly closed with a blanket stuffed in the bottom to keep the draught at bay!

Ooh, the shopping challenge sounds interesting. £12k! Wow! Good luck!!:cool:

Aaleigha

I hope you can Lear that credit card what a wonderful start to the new year
I am forced to clear the room of doom the understaits place of doom and a woke room full of doom
Done one room all sent to various new homes charity friend etc nothing to landfill

That room now looks worse as its full of packing boxes

We are soon to join you in Wales