AimeeMum's Debt-free challenge

aimeemum

Having trouble sleeping tonight - don't really know why, but I think it's because it's the first time in weeks I've had any large amount of chocolate and it's made me all itchy and twitchy. Very strange and worrying as I've never had this kind of a reaction before. I'm going to be most upset if I can no longer eat chocolate

Spoke to hubby about next month's budget....it's going to be a tight month but he's on board. I gave him £10 extra this week but then that's it - we're back on the wagon - it's funny to refer to it as the wagon but that's how it feels.

I think I've found our summer holiday destination - £213 for 6 nights in Dorset. Unfortunately we can't do any more nights due to where the holidays finish and days off....but to be fair, we did 6 nights a couple of years ago and we enjoyed it. https://nordenfarm.com/ It's £25 deposit so I'm tempted to just say eff it and book it - it'll act as the biggest carrot in the world to be able to afford that holiday!! I'm not excited...not at all!

Anyway, I'd best go and try to get some sleep otherwise I'll be useless to everyone tomorrow. Hate it when I can't sleep....it's a sign there's something not right somewhere and I now have to figure out what it is!

aimeemum

Good news - I slept last night! I think the night before was a one off (or at least I'm hoping it was!) so I'm up now and had a good night's sleep. Hubby off to work after a lovely weekend off, kids still have the best part of a week until they go back to school too.....happy me!

On the agenda today - catch up on a few household jobs, let the boys spend some time on the PS3 and Wii as they've not had much time over the weekend, and generally have a chilled out and hopefully a no-spend day too.

Fish fingers for the boys, chilli jackets for us for tea.

We haven't booked the holiday yet - I need to call the site to check our tent isn't too big (it's massive and some sites the electric pitches aren't big enough to take it). I think it will be ok but best to make sure. As soon as we've got that sorted I will book it. So very excited.

Checked my Morrisons More account yesterday too and i'm 48 points off another £5 voucher. That's £15 since February! I would love to get up to £50 by 1st December as the money can then go towards the Christmas food shop.

aimeemum

Week 16 and I have paid something off this week!!:j:j

I have (as a start for this week) paid £87 this week which is a big improvement on last week and the most I have paid for a while. I may (once I have my UC payment in tomorrow) pay an extra £22 - extra £7 to CCJ and over-payment £20 to Water - which would put me at a very healthy £109 for this week. It depends on how much I spend on Saturday on school stuff for the kids.

New totals are therefore:

Including Vanquis:
£2,048/£4,782 - 43% paid --- £2,734 remaining

Not Including Vanquis:
£1,845/£3,830 - 48% paid

---

£1,984 remaining!

So this week we have
- Paid over £2k towards debts in 4 months!
- Gone sub-£2k left on the debts left not-including the Vanquis.

By my calculations as well, this week's £5 payment to Vanquis takes my total remaining to £750, which is my credit limit, which means I'm not longer over-limit!! :T:T

I've really needed this boost - it's felt like an age trying to get to that £2k mark. Now my next target....I think I want to get my CCJ paid off next as that's the only 'bad' debt I will have left. I know it wont drop off for ages (Jan 2022) but at least it will be 'settled' on my file. Current balance is £352 (£345 if I pay that extra £7 on Saturday) so I would like this gone by the end of June. Thinking that I will skim and scrimp like I've never skimmed and scrimped before!! :rotfl:

In other news - Tesco delivery coming today. Came in £11 under budget but I already know I forgot 1 thing so I will pick that up on Saturday as I'm going to ASDA for school stuff.

Got the reply back from the camp site and we will fit :j so I'm going to book that today. Hubby got a £60 bonus through work incentive scheme and he's said that I can use half of that to pay the deposit (he's earmarked the rest for cider :rotfl:) so I will keep an eye on that extra £25 and that may be my first lot of money to the CCJ

aimeemum

We're booked in! I don't think it's possible to be any more excited than I am presently!

:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

aimeemum

Just purchased a pair of PE shoes and a pair of school shoes for the kids on ebay - I had a right old time finding a good shoe measuring guide online! Both pairs cost £15 together - just hope they get here quickly especially the PE shoes. All 3 boys needs new plimsolls too...must remember them as sports day is only 3 weeks away for my younger 2!

Also got 2 DS (old style) games on ebay for £5.27 for DS2s birthday as he and his little brother keep arguing over the GBA games and eldest wont share his DS games he does have.....got him Monsters vs Aliens and a Need for Speed (rated 3+) game. Hubby and I have come up with a plan to get them all a handheld console for Christmas....brand new if we can. a 2DS XL for eldest as he has looked after his 2DS so well, and a 2DS (standard non-folding one) each for the younger two. At the moment they have an ancient GBA and an almost as ancient old-style DS (the original small ones) that are both hand-me-downs from eldest and were both second hand when we got them! Time for an update....but that's a cool £300 without accessories!:eek:

aimeemum

Update for a sunny Friday:

- £5.07 cashback on bills account added to EF and to my 2019 total in my signature.
- £5 Morrisons voucher accumulated (again added to my 2019 total)

Hubby filled the car up last night and was given a voucher for More 10,000 points on a £100 shop. I need to stock up with stuff to take camping (need easy meals, cereal selection packs, a new bottle of washing up liquid, that kind of thing) so I may just go for it next week and spend the £100 to get £10 back

I've started my Emergency fund account - I've added £6 to it today so it's now up to £12+. I know that's not a lot but it's only been open since Monday!

Plan for today:
- Washing and Ironing
-Sort recycling ready to put out in the morning
- S+S bathrooms

It's sunny at the moment but it's supposed to rain later so I don't think we'll be going far. I need to get out in the garden on Sunday/Monday as the grass has grown about a foot in the last 2 days!!

aimeemum

All jobs done except the ironing - for some reason this is the one job I struggle to find motivation for but it needs doing as hubby has no work shirts left in the wardrobe.

Spent a bit of time this afternoon writing out the birthday, Christmas and other shopping lists so I can make a start and keep an eye out for bargains.

Youngest has requested a new bike for his birthday and eldest needs a new one as while we bought him one last year, he's grown massively! Will probably look at getting that at the beginning of the summer and keep an eye on deals at halfords and smyths. He needs a 24" one which is more or less adult size!!

Christmas list is estimated to cost £975!! I know it wont cost this much as I always bargain hunt, use vouchers etc, but I like to start with an overall figure. It's also not finalised yet. This includes the Dec 1st box, Christmas food and treats, gifts for family, friends and the kids plus the extra like crackers and wrapping paper! My challenge now is to see how much I can save!

aimeemum

Lovely day but quite high-spend as I needed so much for the kids. It was one of those moments where everything was right in front of my so I just said 'sod it' and got it all. Not bad prices really so I can't complain.

2 Pairs of Plimsolls - £6
2 pairs of school trousers - £9
T-shirt - £2.50
Trackies - £6
4 x pairs of shorts - £14
2 x PJs - £9
1 x PJs - £6
Slippers - £5
Shorts - £5
Total - £62.50
With the shoes I bought earlier in the week (£23)
TOTAL = £85.50

Still need shoes for youngest and eldest but they didn't have anything in ASDA that would have worked for either of them so I think we may go out shopping in the next couple of weeks for them.

aimeemum

What a lovely Easter holidays we've had. Today is the last day (Teacher Training day) so we've packing PE kits, making sure homework is all done, laying out uniforms and polishing shoes this morning, then we may head across to FL this afternoon if the weather holds - that's not looking likely so maybe a movie afternoon with some baking before hand.

Yesterday was lovely - I haven't been feeling great for the last couple of days. Really drab feeling, lacking energy and enthusiasm. Yesterday afternoon I decided we all needed some fresh air so we went up the park for a run-around. There was a show on at the adjacent village hall (fishkeeping...I wish I'd known, we'd have gone!) that was just packing up as we got to the park. A man came out and asked if I was local and I said yes, and he handed me an envelope. Apparently a man had won tickets to a local NT house in the raffle but becuase he wasn't local had said to give them to someone who lived closer. No-one at the show wanted them, so he gave them to us! These tickets are worth about £40!!!! I was over-come, I nearly cried!! There are some kind people in the world. I will have to pay it forward somehow, but I said a massive thankyou and we will have a free day out later in the year!

In other news, 4 weeks today we got away! Just been online to check out the costs of the activities and they're all very good value...£2 each for softplay for u10s (eldest is 9 so yay!), £1 each to swim, £1 each for crazy golf! I need £31 to be able to do all that plus give the kids £5 each spends! Challenge Accepted!

Other money stuff, bills should all be coming out over the next few days. Painful part of the month but at least then it's done and gone. Expecting to get my paper bills through for a lot of things this week as most of them are Q'ly and it's an expensive Qtr this time.

Anyway, have a good week everyone. I'm off to make a start on my list of jobs and to attempt to enjoy the rest of the day. :money:

aimeemum

First day back at school and the sun is shining

Today I have:
- cleaned all the bathrooms
- stripped and re-made the bed
- Vacuumed and tidied the living room
- cleaned and tidied the kitchen (and re-arranged the worktops)
- cut the grass
- Made 18 buns and 8 cheese scones (2 may already have been eaten!)

I'm now thinking I need to do some work but I'm having a massive crisis of confidence. I genuinely don't think I can 'be' a writer. I try to do it, and just can't get it onto paper because I worry it's just not good enough. I know I need to 'write for me' but ultimately that would be a waste of time as if I'm not being productive, what's the point?!