AimeeMum's Debt-free challenge

aimeemum

Aqua CC - Paid off!
Lowell Cash Plus - Paid off

£110 to pay off £200 of debt!! All gone!

aimeemum

Just been through and updated my bills for next month (the statements all come out around the 26th-27th) and done my budget. My snowball now has £2000.53 left to go. I'm going to go and send £1 to something....probably my CCJ.....to get myself to below £2k.:j:j EDIT: Ended up sending £5 over to my CCJ as that makes it a round number lol.

It's official that hubby no longer has any debt in his name :T:T:T:T and we only have £1,315 left to pay by the end of September. I think that's a bit far-fetched but I'm hoping to have the CCJ gone and the elec down below £500 (which is £800 altogether ...so much more doable.) - obviously I would like to have it all gone but got to be realistic.

The heat has well and truly broken and the heavens have opened. Good job today is chores day and then the boys are getting the scalextric out this afternoon....that should keep them busy. Have a good weekend all!

aimeemum

This week is going soooooooooo slowly!!

Been keeping a close eye on the budgets and hopefully I will be able to get everything I need in time for the holiday, DS3's birthday including his party, and the Christening we need to attend.

I'm torn about the gift I need to take to the Christening.....we don't know the child at all (it's an old friend whom we've just got back in touch with's son) and we haven't even met the mother before! Was thinking a book for the LO (he's 2) and a nice card. Don't really want to give cash as I don't know them well and don't know what else they'd want/need. No instructions on the invitation.

Youngest picked up a book last weekend from a charity shop - a 'Boys Handbook' and so far he's done loads out of it. This morning he was responsible for our smoothies to go with breakfast. He picked the ingredients, (I topped the strawbs and chopped the banana) and did all the blending himself....it is delicious! Very proud of my little chef - he's not even 6 and that's twice he's cooked this week!

Got to get sorted for his birthday but finding it difficult to get out and shop without the children so looks like I'll have to send hubby or order on-line. I have 3 things on my wish list for him and he has specifically asked for skylanders that I have already bought and are stashed under the bed! He wants dinosaur 'things' so anything dinosaur related....looking at a Dinosaur Build a Bear, some more dino models and a dino bed set, maybe some thing else like art stuff or a book if I can manage it in time. He needs a new bike helmet so that covers that base - I like to do the 'want, need, wear, read' rule but I'm flexible lol. He's also specifically asked for a pink turtle (he collects turtle cuddly toys and he saw one in a gift shop the other day) so will pick that up next time i'm in town too!

Plan for today is get everyone up and dressed, do a few house jobs then out for a picnic over lunch time. Back for the afternoon, tidy and clean the living room and kitchen and then try to keep it tidy. We've got people over tomorrow for a BBQ.

So very very busy!

P.s. forgot to add I ordered DS2 his school backpack today. He picked one off ebay and it was only £4!! Hopefully it's not naff but to be honest, for that price if it lasts half a term I'll be very happy!

aimeemum

Lovely day today - it feels like a Saturday!

Hubby is off so we had a lazy morning, I managed to find some crumpets in the freezer for breakfast and then smallest and I went to Morrisons. Got our entire list and also got 8 bubble swords (50p each!) for party favours for his little party in a couple of weeks time. So far I only have 2 RSVPs but he invited 7, plus him and his brother. I may (just to be safe) get 1 more in the coming weeks but I will need to chase to see if people are coming I think. There's bound to be at least 1 who can't make it! He's asked for pottery painting as his main activity so I'll be going to hobby craft for that lol. I'll then set up some games in the garden and put cartoons on in the living room....hopefully it will be a nice day!

We were supposed to be having a BBQ today but the weather is abysmal. We've opted for supermarket pizzas and sides instead....probably cheaper and much less weather dependent lol.

Payday tomorrow and we get Bracken for the weekend - we're all so excited!

Anyway, I'm off to do the dishes ....there's always something needs doing!

aimeemum

Yuck! I feel awful. Had a bad night's sleep and woken up with a stuffy head and really grumpy! I have already apologised to the kids about it lol.

Still haven't done any of my jobs for today and to be honest I have no inclination to actually do them but I know I need to.

We have Bracken at the moment too - she arrived yesterday and she's awesome but she's a pain! lol. Moulting at the moment so my usually beige carpets are currently in varying stages of turning black! :rotfl:

Money wise - It's been a good week so far. We have £100 left in the account when all bills have been paid bar the two that come out later in the month, and I've even managed to take £15 off the debt totals too! :j I'm hopeful I'll be able to send another £15 across to the CCJ later in the week as we have lots of NSDs planned this week....hubby is working 6 days in a row so no choice but to stay home and make our own fun!

aimeemum

Been sorting youngest's birthday. So far I have:

3 x skylanders - £22.00
Dinosaur Socks - £3.00
Dinosaur Cake toppers - £4.75 (Ordered a 'kit' to top his big cake and a set of 12 to top cupcakes)
8 x favours - Bubble Swords - £4.00
Cuddly Turtle - £5
Cuddly Dinosaur - £7.50
Dinosaur Book - £7.50


Still to get:

Food and party stuff - £24.00
8 x Paint-you-own kits from Hobbycraft - £16.00
Cards and wrap - £4
Haribo (big bag!) - £8

Total spend - £53.75+£54 = £105.75

aimeemum

Happy Monday (I'm completely thrown at the moment....no idea what day it is! lol).

Bit of a strange day. Today would have been my Dad's 92nd Birthday. He passed away 6.5 years ago and I still don't quite believe he's gone. I still feel like I could pick the phone up and speak to him and I so wish I could. It upsets me that he doesn't get to see the kids grow up - he didn't even know about youngest's existence as we only found out we were pregnant a week before he passed. This makes me sad but I'm determined to make him proud, to bring them up right, and to work on our finances and get the most out of our lives just like he did.

Anyway, time to get on with our day.

Money-wise - I have 8 more pay-days until I want to be free from our debt payments. 8 weeks. On the week commencing 30th September I will (not hpefully, I will!) call up all my remaining creditor (Elec company) and re-set my payment structure to a monthly DD and that will mark the start of the restof our lives. I am torn about when I should sit down and re-do the budget....probably after the UC calc has been done for the end of September as then I'll know what October's money will look like. I'm excited...

Before then we need to get 3 things done and 2 of them are nearly there.

1. Youngest's birthday. I just have to get his party sorted and then we're done .......about £40.
2. School uniform. At some point next week I will get the kids to try on all their shoes and I'll double check all the clothes. I am hoping that I will be able to keep the outlay down because I should only need 1 pair of shoes! My current list is £48.
3. Sort out the money for the holiday. I have about £250 definitely put aside.....plus the food and fuel budgets for each week. Aim is to have £300 in cash to take with us before the 2 pay-packets are added in. I am confident I can do that.

Just watching some DR videos about goal-setting and I'm motivated to set my own goals now. I'm setting up my own 'control journal' (FLYlady style) and I think it would make a good page in there.

Anyway, I was up stupid early this morning and I already feel like I am at lunch time!

aimeemum

Seriously....8 weeks! That's too close! I have worked out that at that point I will owe less than £1k (£630 on vanquis, and approx £370 of Elec arrears, down £1,000 on my opening balance!!) which is amazing. I'll continue to overpay on the elec (by at least £30 a month so the arrears left will be gone by next summer) but I really need to prioritise the service and MOT for the car and then Christmas, Birthdays and other expenses.

Speaking of the C word - I've made my list for the kids.....can't believe the numbers I'm seeing on my list.....the whole thing comes to 4 figures but I'm hoping to get some bargains to keep the cost down.

aimeemum

Happy Weekend everyone! We're having a really nice one. Yesterday we dropped the boys off at their Auntie's house for an over-night sleepover. First time they've been away and I've not been in labour or we've had to go to a wedding/night out. I'm feeling incredibly rested this morning....wish we had a little longer today but we have to go and get them by midday so will have to leave very soon as it's a 1.5 hour drive to get them. Going to treat everyone to a KFC on the way home as hubby has a money off voucher

Yesterday on the way home we finished the shopping for youngest's birthday and party. Spent a bit more money than intended but have now got EVERYTHING we need plus picked up a few little extras to put aside for later on in the year:
- a big box of craft supplies for Middle DS for Cmas - £5
- Birthday card for Eldest ready for October - £1 (was 3 for £3 and we got the christening card for tomorrow too!)

Also picked up the drinks we've been asked to take with us for the Christening tomorrow and filled the car with fuel to cover the next two days of travelling....I think we're all sorted and I don't need to go out at all this week. I do have a £7 voucher for Morrisons but I don't think I can get there before it expires to be honest. I'll just do my usual Tesco and try to keep it below £70 to make up for it. Plan is to go to F'land using our passes on Mon/Tuesday to get us out of the house and to have a look at the progress with the new rollercoaster and Cheetah enclosure.

Debt repayments haven't gone as well as usual this week due to all the expense but I do feel like I'm ahead of the game as I now only have school uniforms to sort and holiday spending money to put aside from the next 2 pay packets (have the rest of the holiday pitch fees earmarked from the CB which comes in Tuesday so that's sorted). I have a feeling September is going to be super-frugal but to be honest I'm well and truly up for it!

aimeemum

Wednesday -

Today isn't going to be a long day. Mum and Dad are supposed to come and visit today (they're coming on the bus) - I'm not particularly happy about it but I can't really stop them, plus they're bringing youngest his birthday present so he'll be happy

Weekend was great....expensive as expected. I have had to dip into the earmarked CB - It was over a full tank of fuel to ferry the kids about and then get to the christening. On the plus side, the christening was great and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. These summer holidays are going to quickly - can't believe we're half way through August already and it's only 2 weeks until we go away. Tesco order is already done for this coming Thursday and for next. I'm hoping to keep the spend right down so I can keep that budget back to cover some spends. I've ordered the food to take camping to come in next week's tesco order too....lots of the kids favourites.

Plan for today - breakfast, dressed and then do the housework that needs doing before the 'rents get here. Looking forward to the weekend....I think youngest is going to have fun. I haven't sorted out somewhere for eldest to go yet but without the car I can't go and pick him up anyway so I'm not sure he'll be able to go elsewhere like he wants to. It'll all pan out I'm sure.

Will update tomorrow with our current financial situation