AimeeMum's Debt-free challenge

aimeemum

Sunday and hubby is back to work after a week off.

Today, since he left an hour ago I have:

S+S 2 of my 3 bathrooms/toilets,
made all the beds,
vacuumed the whole of upstairs
Set the washing machine going

We're all breakfasted and dressed and the boys have quickly sorted their rooms and put their clean clothes away. We're ready for a restful day now They;'re currently watching episodes of 'Waffle the Wonder Dog' on iplayer.

I still have a few jobs to do - like make dinner in the slow cooker, make sure all my dishes are washed and put away so my kitchen is clear for dinner time, hang out the wet washing and give the living room a bit of a spruce.

Today we're trying Hairy Dieters Chick Pea Curry for dinner. Hubby has lost another 6lb - that's 26lb in total, nearly 2st which isn't bad for 6 weeks dieting. I've lost about 6lb too, but I only need to lose another 2-3lb to be at my 'ideal' so I'm only aiming for 1lb a week.

Money wise today should be a NSD....which is good Having a look at my spreadsheets later to see where I'm at with the debts. Also need to do my elec meter readings....expecting it to be a heavy month with the cold snap we had in Jan....heating was on a lot those few days

aimeemum

More achievements today:

Washing out to dry
Made the curry (currently in the slow cooker and smells delicious. Will be ready to portion up at 3pm)
Listed the suit I've had on FB for weeks onto ebay.
Entered a comp to win £100 of hobbycraft vouchers.

I've double checked my current totals for my Morrisons and my Tesco loyalty cards and there appears to be an issue with my Tesco card so will ring them up on Monday and sort that as I don't want to miss out on free money!! On the plus side I've got nearly 4k points on my Morrisons. I have the vouchers set up as Christmas saver, so I'm about 2-3 shops off my first £5 in there

aimeemum

Good morning....and what a lovely morning it is! Birds are singing so loudly - it's lovely to feel spring in the air!

Plan for today:

Take meter readings - DONE!!
Washing in machine and then hang once done - already in the washer, will hang once done.
Call Tesco - Eurgh hate ringing call centres!
Sort kitchen and living room, quick vacuum etc to make presentable.

At some point this week I need to sort the master bedroom - it's starting to look a bit messy as I've got things out to possibly sell/take to charity shop and hubby has a habit of just stacking it in a pile at the end of the bed. This pile has now reached critical mass so needs dispatching! I need to sort the garden out a bit too...the wind the other day sent a few bits of rubbish/recycling flying all over the place so I need to go and collect it all up.

MSD today - hubby needs fuel and I need a couple of bits for packed lunches although I may try to make do without shopping....wish me luck.

My thoughts this morning have been very impatient ones. I am looking at the calendar and seeing that I have 10 more days until I know what we'll get paid this month, what the CC bills (the interest calculations so I can update my figures etc) will be, what the council tax bill will be for next year, a whole host of things. It's then another 5/6 days after that that we get 'paid' with UC and CB (hubby gets paid weekly but the UC pays for the rent/bills on the whole so it's important I keep track of it all). For such a short month, February is going horrendously slowly!! It's not that we're running low on money (well, not compared to normal we're not), it's just I'm so eager to get the ball rolling and see some real progress. I know I am making SOME progress but I know in 3-4 weeks I'll be so much further down the line. I'm currently looking at a 'Debt-Free Day' of 5th September (will be week 35), but I'm hoping to bring it into August if I can find some extra funds.

aimeemum

Confusion - Tesco clubcard statement arrived with £2 all gained from on-line. When I spoke to them they said I've got 2 clubcards but one is not active and is still registered with old address so maybe I got the numbers mixed up. I'm just happy my points are being collected!

Decluttered a little in the bedroom and then spent over an hour re-configuring my website (which is my blog) and I'm happy it now looks a lot more professional. It also has my one and only piece of published work *bear in mind I've been writing since October properly) on there.....time to get some more added

aimeemum

Over the last few days I've been feeling a little bit anxious - anticipating something that cannot be rushed which has made a little (actually a lot) frustrated. Today I've decided I need to channel that energy into something constructive and have written 700+ words of my first fiction novel...I have made a start!! Aiming to write 1 chapter a week - that's 3000 words - and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's flowing....who knew?! I've probably cursed myself to never write another word again but I have at least tried

Money wise, not a lot happening. Sent hubby in with a little top-up shop list. Should come to about £7 but needed as we're almost entirely out of milk.

2 things I ordered off ebay have arrived. Eldest loves his newest book (Michael Morpurgo Butterfly Lion) and I think I'm going to have to go for a wander around some charity shops to get him some more! I ordered a pack of Skylanders for DS3 for Easter but I think I may keep it for his birthday. That means I have something for both younger boys for their birthdays. If I can't find any more money between then and now, they have something!!

aimeemum

What a fun morning to round off the longest week in history!!

All started off fine but went to pot when it came time to leave the house when my middle son decided that that was the time to throw a tantrum (bear in mind he's nearly 7yo!) about going to school. I managed to get him down to the bus stop but as soon as we got on the bus it flared up again and he refused to sit down. That leaves me in a situation of either being 'firm' and holding the entire bus full of pupils, making them late, or I pull him off the bus and take him in later on the service bus. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk him round so opted for the second scenario and took him in on the 9.30 so he wasn't massively late. It did give me a chance to have a chat with him and sort him out a little - he seems happier now so hopefully we wont get a repeat.

The whole thing cost me £4.10 in bus fares though - that had to come out of my emergency cash and I did pop into the shop and bought a multi-pack of chocolate bars (5 for £1) so that I could have something sweet as I hadn't had breakfast. Bus back home and now I'm wiped! lol

Payday tomorrow - I can't wait to have made a little headway on this. I think I can keep my grocery shop down too (although I need dishwasher tablets so that will be expensive) - I've got a few bits in the freezer that I can make good use of for at least 2 days.....hoping to convince hubby that he does, in fact, like beans on toast for tea! :rotfl:

Plan for the rest of the day - few household jobs, shopping list and meal plan, and then I hope to get back to writing. Enjoyed yesterday and after taking some advice from an author's group I feel a lot more confident I'm doing a good job! Have a good day everyone :cool:

aimeemum

Payday! Woo hoo!!!!:j:j

Been shopping - spent my whole weekly budget. Had hoped to come in a little under but got a couple of stock up things (dishwasher tablets being one thing) which pushed me up a bit. Have managed to pay off £95 of our debts this week - hoping to put that extra £5 too after the weekend. That would be great

New total is £972/£4,782 - that's 20% of the total gone and in 4 weeks the CC and Council tax arrears will be gone and I can snowball my first lot of monies. So excited....wish it was the 27th Feb already!!

aimeemum

Productive day so far:

2 loads of washing (including stripping youngest's bed) and 2 more sorted ready to wash.
Chilli in the slow cooker for tea that even hubby is saying smells good.
Vacuumed, swept and tidied downstairs.
Cleaned kitchen and shined my sink.

Sorted all my bills yesterday but I have a horrible feeling I've left myself a bit short for the week, but we will see. If I need to I can take a few £s cash out of my saving jars to get milk and a bit of fuel. Would rather not miss any payments but I miscalculated by £10 how much I needed and my eldest has his 'book day' and needs a costume that I need to find money for too.....who'd be a mum, eh?!

Anyway, forgot to put meal plan up last week, so here's this weeks:
Friday - Chilli, rice and garlic bread
Saturday - pulled chicken fajitas
Sunday - Turkey sausages 'roast'
Monday - Spud 'u' like
Tuesday - Sweet chilli pork pittas (using up the other half of the pork from last week)
Wednesday - Pizzas for the kids/Stuffed peppers for us.

aimeemum

Swings and roundabouts today and it's only 10am.

A couple of days ago I got an email from OVO about my electricity arrears - I will admit they're high but I'm paying enough to cover usage every week so they're not getting any bigger. I did speak to them a few months ago but obviously their system has been triggered. Fair enough. So today I've emailed them (they're not open at weekends) and asked for a payment structure from the beginning of April (i.e. after I've paid off CT arrears) to pay £55 a week - current rate is £25 a week - so that I'm paying arrears off within 12 months. I know I'll be able to afford more as my snowball spreadsheet has me paying £90 some weeks but I don't want to promise them that and then an emergency come up and scupper the whole thing. (Under=promise and over-deliver I believe is the mantra ) If I don't hear back by Wednesday I will call them up and discuss it but they're normally pretty good.

On the plus side I rang up DL today about the cancellation fee and asked them to delay taking it by a couple of days so that I can comfortably cover it. They were fine and have adjusted it so that it falls after the 21st like I asked. No problems which is a big weight off my mind.

In other news, I'm feeling a bit rubbish today. My Mum is in hospital as she has a large growth in her abdomen that will need to be removed. She is having a CT scan this morning to try to determine it's exact location and what it may be as the Dr's aren't sure what has caused it. She's in her 60s so obviously we're all worried but she's in Ireland so there's literally nothing I or anyone else can do. She's got Dad and his family around her though, so I know she's ok and they've said she can come out today all being well as they're due to move back to England next week....not great timing. She's planning on getting the treatment/surgery done over here rather than extending her time over there.....we will have to see what her results are to know if that's feasible.

Other than that it's a gorgeous day and once I've done my chores and the boys have had their time on the electronics I think a trip out might be a in order.....not sure wehre but it's nice to have the option to go outside. Hubby is out fishing today so it's just us.

aimeemum

What a weekend - Saturday finished up with us having friends over until well past my bedtime and I'm still paying for it now. Sunday I took the kids to a party at the trampoline park - spent £2 on a multipack of water and a bag of lollies prior to getting there and we still have some of each left so that was a good investment. Other than that nothing spent and the kids had a great time! We were all shattered!

Today I find out how Mum is getting on - she was supposed to have her CT on Saturday but it got delayed until today and she has been kept in all weekend as a result. Hoping it's good news.

Hubby managed to smash his phone at the weekend so has had to buy himself a new handset. he's got himself an ebay bargain one and I've only had a to give him £6 out of the family kitty to cover it so I don't think that's too bad (the rest is coming from his ebay profits).

Feeling really horrid today - combination of worry, fatigue and just general blues so hoping to feel better tonight. Have middle child home today as he has a horrid cough/cold that I knew school would just send him home again so no point in putting him on the bus. He's been very quiet all day so I think I made the right decision. Looks like I'll need to get new school shoes for my younger 2 boys at half term - that's £30 out of my already pretty hammered 'set aside' money. I was hoping to get them through to Easter but at least if I get them now, I know I wont need to replace them until September so a worthwhile investment.....also need new uniform for eldest as he's growing like a weed and his trousers appear to have fallen out with his socks! :mad:

Not heard back from OVO yet either which is another annoyance. Just tried to call them and it's a 12 minute wait.....I'll try again tomorrow. Also waiting on everything to tick over the next few days - ca insurance, CC interest, UC calculations.....I hate this time of the month! Still....only 9 days until the start of the next pay period and I can see how much debt we've paid off this month - That's my favourite bit!