AimeeMum's Debt-free challenge

aimeemum

Welcome to a new week! 
Weekend was lovely - very laid back, lots of movies, ice-creams and treats with the kids. I'm pretty much set up for the coming week of home-school, and I've got a few jobs to do as we're going to make a start working on eldest's room. 
I also spent a lot of time working on the budget yesterday - working out DFD's and how much savings we need to be able to have a nice life and I worked out that in order to have a good budget for things like birthdays, Christmas, the cover the car, the animals, the house and everything else, we would need £69.95 a week to be put aside (as sinking funds)....and we have £70 available. It couldn't be cut finer, and there will be a lot of discipline required, but I'm heartened to know we can do it!! I'm happy! 
In the meantime, I'm putting it in place to get the OVO and the barclaycard/halifax cleared by 1st October. It's going to be tight, and I need to pay about £200 in addition to my regular payments so that's my challenge to make that extra money appear - looking at doing some ebaying as and when, and I will be working the budget as hard as I can to make extra payments too. 

aimeemum

Hubby has got himself a new project - he is getting a new motorbike. It's a shell, needs so much work, and it's in Ireland! He's booked his ferry crossing for going to fetch it for mid-July (hopefully the quarantines over there will be over by then!) and then he's going to use his credit union savings to pay for the work - he gets £25 a week put in there over and above the family budget, I sometimes even forget it happens! lol 
Today's task - look at my schedule, stick to my schedule, make progress!  

aimeemum

Big changes here - I've not been on in ages as it's taken me a while to get my head around everything while still trying to keep on track with money etc.....but I think we're there. 

We've officially de-registered the boys from school and will be home-schooling until September 2021! It's been an easy decision in some ways as it means that we will have so much more time and freedom....we moved our May Half term break by 1 week to before half term and the cost went down by more than half! We saved over £280!!! I'm now putting together a good weekly schedule and shopping lists for resources, books etc for the boys. It's going to cost us about the same as all the new uniforms would have cost for the year, so not actually as much expense as I thought. We're joining national trust as well as keeping our EH membership so we're never without a day trip, and booking our holidays outside school hols to save us some money too. We're keeping the October half term break as that's when hubby's holiday week is already. Eldest starts secondary in September 2021 so we'll be applying for him to start as we would anyway, and taking it from there. We thought that with all the upheaval it was the best thing all around, plus the younger two are coming on so much better with their learning, I am very happy to keep it going! 
In other news I've also started a new schedule for writing around the boys - actually managed to publish a blog post and write some of my fiction WIP this week which is more work than I've done in weeks! Trying to be more organised generally and so far, so good. 

Money wise, things are going ok. Managed to take a chunk off the debts and back below £2k....hubby has bought some bits for his bike project but he's also got lots of things on ebay so hopefully we'll make that money back within a couple of weeks so will be paid off. Spent about £100 getting his workshop up and running too. Next stop is to sort the loft - planning on getting shelves and extra boxes to get it sorted out properly. Decluttering is going well.....took 4 car loads to the tip out of the garage, and have 2 massive bags of stuff to go to the charity shop. Put a few things on ebay but nothing doing. Not an issue, I'm just glad to be rid. 

Best crack on, lots to do as usual! 

abba1772

hats off to you doing home schooling with three boys....you're brave 

well done on getting the debt back below 2K that must be a nice feeling

aimeemum

Sorry It's been another month but it's been a busy one, plus hubby had his 2 weeks annual leave so we've spent a lot of time getting the house sorted too. 

Decluttering etc wise: the house is about 98% done. I have 4 bags to take to the Charity shop, a few bits still on ebay which end this weekend so will either go in the CS bags or get sent out to the buyers, and I have a couple of bags of rubbish that I'm waiting to put out with the bins on Friday. Once that's done I've officially finished decluttering!!!! I do have a couple of bigger things left to sell, but they're currently up in the loft and stored until I can get hubby to help me get them down. Over hubby's two weeks off we re-decorated and kitted out the boys' bedroom and I just need to get their bed-frames but I'm saving up for them at the moment, so now I'm moving on to the next project which is the gardens. We've made a start chopping down some of the bushes at the front....about a third of them are gone, so we're making progress slowly. Aiming to have everything swept out/chopped back ready for winter, and then in the spring we're going to make it nice  

Kids/Home-schooling: We've had a lovely couple of weeks off but I'm now trying to ease them back in to some sort of working schedule. Started yesterday with some piano and reading. Today was a house-helping day, and so on and so forth. I've almost finished getting the materials I need together - just a couple more workbooks each for maths/english....already got their french and science ones, plus some KS2 reference books for me to read through too. I have spent some time working out what we need to do/cover and some nice topics to have a look at together too, and (covid permitting) some really good field trips! We're excited for September 1st to roll around but we are going to take some of the summer to have some fun and also sort the garden while the weather is mostly on our side. 

Money: Hubby got the bikes.....cost us a flippin' fortune in ferries, van hires, insurances and fuel, but it was small change really compared to the value of the bike. Hubby is happy as larry to have it home! The ebay stuff didn't sell very well, so we are left with a lot of it to cover ourselves, but even that withstanding we're still at £2,814 of debts TOTAL!! Hubby has promised that he will pay off whatever his bike has added to the debts from his own monies in his credit union so it's not too bad really (and it's all on 0%). I'm not particularly happy about it but it was an opportunity that we couldn't have let go. In other bike related news, hubby has been offered ANOTHER bike for free.......not sure what lucky penny he picked up! ........this one is actually running, is a tiny engine so will only cost £70 a year to insure, and is so old it's both Tax and MOT exempt!! He's getting it Sunday......he'll be the death of me! 

Personal/Writing etc: Well, I've not been great at sticking to my routines, especially with hubby off, but I'm trying to work when he goes to work, which is normally between 6am and 7.30am, so it's before the kids are up and time I would normally spend watching the news and drinking coffee. Two mornings in and I've written over 1k words so far. On a more personal side, I've been having a few ups and downs but mostly I've been ok health wise and I haven't regained the weight I lost which is a bonus!! I've been spending lots of time on YouTube learning about intentional thinking, motivation, efficiency and time keeping...irony I know! lol .....but it has helped me get more focussed and organised so it's got to be a good thing. 

Anyway, setting some targets for the next 4 weeks to keep me motivated and intentional. I'm going to write at least 5 mornings a week with my morning coffee. Even if it's only 5 minutes, it's still more words on the page. I'm going to make sure my Morning jobs are done every morning, and my evening jobs are done every night after dinner. I've written a master list of meals which is making meal planning run smoother, and I'm trying to work the same methodology onto housework with a master list of jobs to work through....all laminated so I can use dry-board pens on them. With money, I will be paying a minimum of 1% of the balance off weekly (£28.14) and I'm just about to make myself a debt square to help with my tracking (and hubby's!). Wehave some big expenses coming up in October-time so I want to be very much in control by then. We also have 2 birthdays coming up in the next 6 weeks (Youngest's and mine!) and I intend on us having a rare old time!!  

So there we go. We're all up to date. I'm off to go be a bit craft and make a number square. Take care, stay safe, be well! 

aimeemum

Good updates to be had (even if it's still not great in terms of debts etc) 
Sold lots of stuff on ebay and covered the cost of youngest's birthday AND hubby's new bike with the proceeds - wasn't the intention, but some of the stuff sold really well and I got a lot for it, so it's balanced my books a bit  
Hubby's new bike gear is therefore all bought and paid for and not still on the CC. I also used his Ebay proceeds to pay towards his tax and insurance for the bike so that only cost me about £25! 

Re-jigged the ENTIRE budget....I have a major headache now but it's done!.....and I think things will be a little bit less up in the air from now on. Aiming to get this debt all gone, no matter what, within 12 months of today. 

Started a new 52 week savings challenge too.. which suits me well...starts small, every week you put that week's number of £s in a savings jar/accounts. I've printed off the tracker. If I follow it we'll have £1300 in there by this time next year but going to stop at £1250 as that's what I need for my EF! Determined to do it...although it's going to be tricky to 'make' the money as much as I can (which is what I would like to do!). 

aimeemum

2 whole months since I've been on, and shockingly not a lot has changed. 

Hubby has gone back on 4-day which has helped with more time off and less fuel bills He's also happier now he's on a more regular routine, which is helping me too as I can meal plan better. 
The kids have just completed week 6 of home-school and it's gong well. I think all the planning and prep I did over the summer has helped massively as I now literally just look at the list and pick a topic to do that week. Much easier than winging it. They're loving it, it was definitely not a mistake! One job I have to do this week is sit down with eldest and do his secondary school application. We've sat down with him and 'attended' all the virtual open evenings for the schools in the area and he thinks he's happy and has made a choice but I've said I'd give him a few days and then we'll tackle the forms together. It's also his birthday on the 26th and I've got 2 of his 4 gifts sorted.....2 more weeks to get the rest together. 
We decided to pay for the holiday at October half term. it's risky as it looks like we're headed for a lockdown over half term, but to be honest I'm looking forward to a few days out and about in a different 4 walls and next to a beach. I've been pulling together food and toiletries for the trip so we're not having to go shopping much while we're up there. 

Money: Well, where do I start. We've gone backwards a little as our debt is now £2,561. We do however have nearly £900 in savings so that's not too bad! I'm paying a regular payment to each debt each week, saving regularly too each week/month, and it's all creeping up/down. I would like it to go quicker but I have to be realistic. I'm managing to pay for eldest's birthday with cash, and we'll take cash with us for spends on holiday too, plus the food stash. The car is going in for it's MOT next week but hubby hasn't really done anything about it yet, and that will all be going on the CC and then I'll pay a chunk off that I can afford in November. Dog is also going in for his op in November, all being well, so that's another £250 that I'll need to find. Again I'll opt for the CC and pay a chunk off with any cash I have. Then Christmas....I'm hoping it will be a bit more frugal this year but it's already adding up with everything I need to get/buy for people. At least we wont need to do all the obligatory visits! 

To be frank, I'm a bit fed up at the moment. No matter what I do we never have enough. The debts are creeping up again and it's all unavoidable stuff, and I'd love to just say sod it and buy everyone the clothes they need etc but I'm having to really scrimp to make everything fit in each week/month. I think I need to go back to basics again, but I think hubby has lost some of his mojo for being debt free.....he seems to think that having CCs etc is just a part of life and it's fine to keep using them. To a certain extent he's right but I hate using them and seeing the balances go up again. Positive notes are that the Elec arrears that were up at over £1000 last year are now down at £250 and 2 more months of payments will see it all gone completely!! I will then be able to reduce the CC by £50 a month. Our bed payments of £70 a month come to an end in December too.....so that will all snowball into savings/repayments.....it can't come quick enough. My H2S also has it's first payout sometime in January for what should be just over £200....I'm going to use that to pay off what's left of the Vanquis (will request an F&F - current balance is £346) and then that weekly SO can stop too. Basically I just need to keep us on the straight and narrow until January 1st.....at that point I should be able to start to snowball a LOT of money onto the CCs. Aim is to be completely debt free by the 1st of May so when we go away end of May we will be RICH!!!! I jest of course, but comparatively speaking, we will be! 

Anyway, that's enough moaning from me. I have missed writing on this journal and with everything going on at the moment I think I need to pick it back up properly to give me somewhere to vent......It all helps with the end result. 

Wish me luck x

aimeemum

Feeling a bit more in control today - have spent a bit of time this morning (hubby was up early to go fishing so I got up with him) putting together the budgets for the next 3 months to find out how much money I have and when for Christmas. Worked out well and have more than I thought while still covering the debts, the bills and a bit of savings too! Very happy. It's going to be a frugal Christmas like I said but I'm happy that we'll have everything and a bit more we could possibly need or want. 

In the mean time I've got to finish planning and prepping for Eldest's birthday and our trip. Can't quite believe he's going to be 11! Also need to get fireworks sorted for bonfire night, and sweets for halloween this year....not going trick or treating so need to make up goody bags for them.

ETA: Just spent a while putting together my next two weeks of meal plans. I need to make sure I have a couple of days of food in the cupboards before we go away too....so I wont need to go shopping on the way home! All lists written, all plans done. Very excited....and feeling awfully festive after spending all that time thinking about Cmas......but the boys have told me it's too early to watch The Nightmare before Christmas....apparently we're not close enough to Halloween yet.  

aimeemum

Just got my English Heritage mag through and it had a voucher for Bloom and Wild - £33 they have a 'twinkle tree' for Christmas and I'm thinking that if I use the £10 voucher it will be £23 and would make a great present for my Mum and Dad...I always struggle with them and don't like sending food (my Mum's diabetic), they don't drink and have very few hobbies. Can also pre-book it for delivery on the 1st of December which is brilliant. I had a budget of £10 each, so only a tiny bit over budget, but I've convinced hubby to not get a goose this year so will be saving loads there!  Christmas is starting to come together  

Hubby has just left for his fishing trip, and so me, the boys and the dogs are having a lazy afternoon before I spend most of the night working. I've a stew in the SC for tea (just add dumplings!) and a few snacks for me to have later. Plan is to spend most of the evening reading sources and writing notes on my NF book (the one I was supposed to have started back in March) and then, if I'm not too tired I'll plan a blog post or two. Not very often I get silence to work in so i'm intending to make the most of it. 

Hubby also rang the garage and the car is booked in for MOT next Thursday and we've ordered all the parts/extras for him to fit and get it ready on Friday. Fingers crossed it passes as otherwise it's definitely no scotland. We will see later on what NS and BJ have to say on the subject too. 

aimeemum

Thursday payday as usual - paid my regular payments as always, plus £20 into savings. With the spending we've done on the CC this week for the car that has added £20 to the overall balance (Net) so not too bad. Car is in for MOT on Thursday next so fingers crossed. Put some money aside for spends when/if we go away on the 26th, and ordered the last of eldest's birthday presents - got a bit of a bargain so very happy! - which will arrive by next Thursday so well in time for his actual birthday. 
So, all in all, today has been good so far. Tesco man is coming 10-11 and bringing lots of food for the holiday stash plus 2 things for the Xmas cupboard.

Sorely tempted to decorate the house today but going to hold off until Monday for our home-school 'Halloween Week'. We've worked really hard and have gotten through all but 1 lesson of our Autumn project (a day all about Hedgehogs lol) so I think we may have a re-grouping day and then over tomorrow and Saturday we'll do our hedgehog project (one of the tasks is making hedgehog bread rolls ) around the other work we need to do. The kids have all done so well.....maybe a board game or jigsaw may enter into today too.