Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Hello again, hope everyone is well. August seems to be dragging on and on for me but I guess a combination of school holidays, poorly children, pending job changes and the usual day to day demands of family life are just affecting me more than usual at the minute. Just need to ride it out and start afresh in September I think.



Spends seem to be under control this month, very little additional income made from surveys, ebay, etc but I forgot all about some cashback pending following a change in supplier for gas/electric so an unexpected £25 in my account yesterday was rounded up to £30 and sent across to CC1.
This means that since starting my diary I have paid £1001 in total off my debt! It feels amazing to achieve this little milestone and gives me a bit of renewed hope that we can be debt free if we just keep chipping away.


We're having a fairly quiet weekend. I was working this morning, once I got home we decided to head out to a local kite flying festival which DS1 particularly enjoyed. Tomorrow we need to clear out DS2's bedroom, this is the largest bedroom and has been a combination of nursery and general dumping ground (poor DS2 ). Once we've decorated, the plan is for the boys to share and then use what is currently DS1's bedroom (smallest bedroom) as an office/guest room as both DH and I have scope to work from home from September and there are a number of upcoming family visits so the extra bed will be much needed.



Unbelievably DS2 has his first birthday on Tuesday!!! The last year has gone so quickly I'm genuinely a little shocked that he's one already. So no doubt we'll have plenty of visitors over the next few days and he'll be spoiled rotten. We've been quite reserved and just bought him 2 small toys we'll think he'll enjoy (1 from us, 1 from DS1) and then I'm taking both boys and their 3 cousins to a local soft play on Tuesday - unlimited play and lunch £5 each which I think is quite a good deal, with the added bonus that they'll all get to burn off a lot of energy while my lovely SIL and I have a coffee and a catch up

savingholmes

Well done on hitting the £1K paid off debt milestone. I sympathise on the kids at home over the summer - even though I worked - I couldn't wait for them to be back in the structure of school.

Kite flying sounds fun - and redecoration plans.

DancingInTheRain

Thanks Saving, hope you're recovering well after your fall - poor you


Well the bedroom is empty, the other 2 bedrooms are now fit to burst but it's only for the next few days so I'm sure we'll survive.


Our friend is going to paint for us, he's a painter and decorator so doing mates rates. Have used some TCB to buy the boys some new bedding and curtains so I think it should look great for not too much of a spend.


Lets see what next week brings, hopefully a more positive outlook for me! Certainly feeling more motivated after doing something proactive at home today

DancingInTheRain

Hi all, it's been a while


Continuing to plod through August, altough I have made a few small overpayments made to CC1 since I last logged in and the debt total is now at £12,600.


The redecorating took longer than expected but all sorted now and the room looks great and, so far, the boys are enjoying sharing. Going to do a bit of decluttering before redecorating what was DS1's room before changing this into an office/guest room.


This week marks the last week in my current job, my last shift will be on Saturday :eek: with the new job starting on Monday. Current employers have been great, going to miss my colleagues.



I still need some office wear for the new job but I hate clothes shopping so this, combined with a general lack of motivation the last few weeks, means I haven't even been anywhere or looked online I have enough to get me started so not worrying too much about this.


Continued to use RH and Shoppix so they're both building up points nicely again but haven't logged on to any of the survey sites this last week or so.


Payday for me Tuesday and DH Friday. My payday in the new job is the same as DH's so need to remember my payday will be a little later at the end of September.


I'll be pleased to get started in the new job, it feels like it's been a long time coming. DS1 is back at school on Wednesday too so the start of a whole new routine for us. I think it will help motivate me in general but with the debt busting too. DH has also been advised his surgery is likely to be in October so at least I'll be settled in the new job by then and hopefully will be able to get DH to and from the hospital, he's likely to be in a knee brace for a few weeks while he recovers so no doubt we won't be going far when that happens, should help us control spending and pay down debts.



We're still aiming to be at £9,999 at the end of the year so £2600 from 5 pay days, an average of £520 per month. Apart from the 'C' word in December (budgeted for) there shouldn't be any big expenses coming up so although the target is a stretch for us it's not impossible.


Speaking of the 'C' word, I may have bought a couple of presents on Saturday.... There was a continental market near us at the weekend where my Mum fell in love with a hand crafted wooden elephant so I sneakily managed to get one for her while she kindly took DS1 to the loo Also picked up some fleecy PJ's for the boys stockings. They're at the age now where I can get them matching clothes so going to make the most of it while I can as I love how cute they look dressed the same


I have been lurking on diaries over the last few days so cheering everyone on silently if nothing else, hope everyone is well and enjoying the bank holiday weekend x

sashybo

Well done on getting started with the C word. I need to start looking for a few things as like to spread the cost a bit.

August and September are really busy birthday months in our family though - 3 nieces and 2 nephews all have their birthdays within 4 weeks of each other. :eek: I'm pretty organised apart from my oldest nephew who will be 18, not sure whether it's better to give him a present or money. I'd like to give him money towards driving lessons but think he might spend it on other things. :rotfl:

Good idea getting the boys matching pjs, so cute.

Good luck with the new job. :beer:

DancingInTheRain

To help me keep track and get some motivation my current survey totals are:


Yougov - 1825/5000
OnePoll - £11.40/£25.00
Prolific - £0.34/£5.00 confirmed, £0.00 pending
vypr - 7990/10000
Receipt Hog - 549/1500
Shoppix - 2435/3200



A couple of those really aren't too far away from cashing out so need to try to do a few more surveys, etc. Should be a bit easier now we're getting the boys back in to their usual bedtime routine now the novelty of sharing a room is wearing off



Final payday from my current employer today, also got my P45 so all feeling very real! Days off today and tomorrow then working Thu/Fri/Sat so just taking the time to keep on top of things at home so I can focus on the new job and DS1's return to school next week.


Weather forecast is rubbish tomorrow so going to get the boys together for a playdate with their cousins to stop them all climbing the walls

DancingInTheRain

Had some time to look at finances today (again ) and have sent CC1's payment today instead on the 1st, £135 paid to bring this card down to £1600. Sent £30 to CC2 so this now stands at £5760 when the regular payment goes out on the 7th, this account will be down to £5700. £100 sent to family loan bringing this down to £4975 so this is now back below £5000.
So debt total now stands at £12,335 - Nearly at 10% paid off since starting the diary :T
September will see me chipping away at CC1 with any extra income and ad-hoc payments. I have a fair idea of what my take home pay will be from the new job, once I see this at the end of September I can make a definite decision on how much I am going to increase debt payments as our income will be fixed now, neither of our jobs pay overtime and no pay rises due from either company until at least April.

[Deleted User]

That's a great amount paid off so far - well done xx

lightbulbtime

Just popped in to say you're an inspiration, keep up the good work! Loving your diary and how you deal with so much without really skipping a beat at times.

DancingInTheRain

That's so kind of you lightbulb time, thank you



Busy day at work today then came home to an email from the new job wanting a few more documents so waited for the boys to go to bed before scanning and emailing those over, hopefully that's everything in place for Monday.
Been putting a list together of things to sort over the weekend to double check DS1 is ready for school and I'm ready for the new job, got childcare sorted (thanks to my lovely family), the usual boring chores are up to date apart from the dreaded ironing, so as long as we work through the list over the next couple of days we should be ready for our new routine next week.
Have also taken cash out of the bank today and put in envelopes ready for each week in September to cover DS1's school dinner money and my parking costs. Pleased I remembered about this as I don't often have cash on me so this will help keep me on the right track over the next few weeks.
Still haven't completed any surveys :cool: must do better!