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CreditCardJunkie's back again...

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  • Payday today...

    Due to the hugee amount of OVERSPENDS last month, by the time I cleared those, what I actually paid off my cards was;

    NatWest £33 (£200 remaining)
    Barclaycard £60 (2220 remaining)

    My car also needed £400 worth of work done and still failed the mot, so I won't have the final bill until the weekend. Luckily we had some joint money put away which covered it so it didn't add to the debt, but I will have to put that back when I comfortably can over the next few months as it was planned for a home improvement.

    My lease car has gone back and the inspection charges estimated at £48 but I will have to wait and see what the invoice comes through at, I have read horror stories online of it coming back as much more. I have the £48 set aside for this from this wage, as well as the money for DH's big birthday and a friend's birthday present.

    Once my V12 direct debit comes out there will be £69.42 remaining on it.

    That brings my total debt to £2489.42 (down from £2852 last month & £3393 when I started the diary). Although my progress is relatively slow, I'm pleased the total is still coming down, not hovering around the same figure every month. I'm definitely understanding the importance of having money left over, last month's unplanned spends ran in at around £250!!
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • That brings my total debt to £2489.42 (down from £2852 last month & £3393 when I started the diary). Although my progress is relatively slow, I'm pleased the total is still coming down, not hovering around the same figure every month. I'm definitely understanding the importance of having money left over, last month's unplanned spends ran in at around £250!!


    It's going in the right direction, which is the main thing! Also, it's always slower at the start so keep going and hopefully the debt repayment will speed up for you. :)
    Debt: £11,640.02 paid in full! DFD: 30/06/20
    Starter Emergency Fund (#187): £1000/£1000
    3 month Emergency Fund (#45): £3300/£3300
  • Almost halfway through the month and I could cry. When it rains it pours. I spent over £600 getting the car through the mot, the car cost £1200 so the £1800 would have covered my lease car payments the entire time I was off. Felt really foolish thinking that a used car would save me money. I've almost got over that one and my horse is now lame, got the vet coming on Friday and god only knows how much it's going to cost. Started maternity mid last week, almost 38wks pregnant and I could really do without all this!
    Luckily we still have around £300 in joint savings which I can use for the vet bill on Friday. I need to get an emergency fund together, no matter how small or how long it takes.

    UNPLANNED SPENDS so far
    diesel 30/07 20
    breakdown cover 39 (paid for the year)
    Primark 30/07 16.55 (nursing bras)
    cake topper 01/08 2.99
    greggs 3.3
    McDonald's breakfast 03/08 6.98
    rug for nursery 04/08 12.5
    Lunch 05/08 4
    Lunch 06/08 2.9
    diesel 08/08 12.2
    Toiletries 09/08 5.96
    Puzzle book 09/08 2.5
    McDonald's 09/08 4.19
    interest 11.05
    Dinner 12/08 37.75 (always planned to put this on my card and pay when I get paid in August)
    diesel 12/08 10
    brows 13/08 20
    Total 211.87

    Obviously a lot of stuff here I didn't need. Should be able to counteract the majority of it with this month's wage as I don't have a car payment and should have a full wage or there abouts (90% pay for first 6 weeks of maternity).
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • Oh wow what a crazy 2 weeks... Vet bill came in at £130 (which was fair enough, my horse is now fine thankfully!!). I've paid this back to our joint savings.

    We welcomed our beautiful baby girl 11 days earlier than planned and it has been an absolute whirlwind!! I was planning on breastfeeding which sadly didn't work out as planned, cue buying a perfect prep machine and a ton of formula, bottles and an easier steriliser.

    On top of this I received around £200 less than expected in my wages as I hadn't accounted for tax, national insurance and pension contributions out of my maternity pay. Can still pay the bills, just means less off the debt!!

    As it stands after this month's payments;

    NatWest CC £300
    Barclaycard £2170
    V12 £69.42 (direct debit comes out of next month's wage)

    DEBT TOTAL £2539.42

    Considering the vet bill and the £200 less in my wages, I'm glad things haven't significantly went up, but they're more or less static.

    Have done a massive shop online for groceries to ensure we've plenty of food and drinks in the house to save top up shops etc.

    Next month I'll receive the remainder of my 90% mat pay and then onto the stat amount. Following this I'm going to add an updated SOA to really keep on top of things.

    Baby has received a fair wack of cash so we've already opened a savings account for her with this in it

    Thoroughly enjoying just being in our own world with our darling daughter at the moment!!
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • twiggy86
    twiggy86 Posts: 2,389 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Congratulations on the birth of your little one!
    Debt as at 5 June 2023 - £15,600.89
    Current debt - £9,690.00
    Total paid off - £5,910.89
  • Not quite halfway through the month but my little babe is sleeping so I thought I'd check in.

    Since having the baby our joint savings (which I don't count for the purpose of this forum because it's 'our' money not my money) have taken an absolute battering...we've went from 1300 to 300 since baby was born (not including the £600 fixing my car)..nothing much to show for it just lots of here and there bits and pieces!! To be fair we did enjoy a few meals out with baby while DH was in paternity leave which was lovely. Would like to get this built back up but don't have much spare cash with maternity pay. DH said not to worry about it for now. At least we haven't added any debt.

    Being in the house with baby all day however is great for my personal finances.

    UNPLANNED SPENDS
    Birthday gift (I'd totally forgotten about) £37.50

    That's it! Anytime I go out with baby I take my water bottle with me so I'm not buying drinks & I'm eating lunch at home because I'm trying to lose the baby weight! Feeling much more positive about my capability to stay within my budget!
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • Payday again! Did quite well not to spend much last month, although I do really need to try and get out of the house a little more. I've become very comfortable at home with the baby on my own and I probably should try to venture out. However it's been great for my spending habits!

    Last pay of 90% of my wages so unfortunately following this my debt busting will really slow down. Overall I paid £80 less than I wanted to this month, this is because I spent that £80 setting up a website and registering a company name to hopefully build up a bit of freelancing when I go back to work as I'll be reducing my hours so I can have an extra day with my little baby.

    DEBTS
    NatWest PAID
    Barclaycard £1750
    V12 £34.61 (won't include this on new SOA as last payment is next month)
    Original debt total £3393.22
    Debt total now £1784.61

    Progress has been slow...but it is coming down. Had I not been holding myself more accountable I'm almost sure my debt would still be hovering around 3k.

    OCTOBER AIMS
    1. Try to walk more and use the car less (saves money on diesel & helps shift baby weight)
    2. Not related to my personal debt as it comes from the joint account but I'm going to try and reduce shopping spends by shopping in Lidl to build up more of a buffer in our joint account after virtually wiping out any extra we had
    3. Stay within budget of £30 for unplanned spends for the month. I do now have a little savings I can use should I go over so I don't use my credit card but I will try not to!

    Going to post my new SOA based on my maternity pay which will kick in next month!
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • CreditCardJunkie
    CreditCardJunkie Posts: 633 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 8 December 2019 at 11:44PM
    Updated SOA page 3
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
  • Mnd
    Mnd Posts: 1,699 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    I'm referring to your last paragraph regards joint finances. I don't know how you manage paying half of this/that. I know everyone if different but we just lump everything together that's OUR money. My point is if you go out for a meal, can he afford steak, but you have to have a bowl of soup.
    No.79 save £12k in 2020. Total end May £11610
    Annual target £24000
  • Above post should read we've always had separate finances.
    To be fair, he would pay for any meals out, which have been rare over the past while. I had quite a tough pregnancy and as a result we've both been a bit reclusive! Slowly starting to feel more like myself again!
    He would also give me money or buy me things if I ask, I'm just too proud to ask which is my own fault really.
    Debt Free as of December 2020 👏

    Save 12k in 2024 #25 - £500 / £2000

    MFW - 19 months shaved off the mortgage
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