Keeping on the Straight and Narrow...

DancingInTheRain

Thanks @FootyFanDan & I'm sorry to hear you're feeling unbalanced, adulting is so hard sometimes isn't it? 

The big positive for you at the moment is being debt free so at least while you navigate the work/balance issue at least your wages are going towards current/future you rather than paying for the 'old' you. I truly hope you find some way to balance everything soon x

FootyFanDan

Thank you, yeah it does really suck been an adult at times. I don't know it is kinda hard to describe I want to be the best at my job I can be and I think I put unnecessary pressure on myself to push myself to the limit. It is something I have always struggled with but I need to find a way to balance it out.  

DancingInTheRain

My baby is now a threenager! He had a lovely birthday yesterday, we had a small birthday tea with his cousins and various members of the family have popped in over the last few days which has been lovely but exhausting! We didn't go overboard with gifts but he loves what he's received and has been on cloud 9 since waking up yesterday.

There's a circus in a town a few miles from us so we also got a family ticket for that tomorrow as a nice way to end the birthday celebrations. Had an extremely lazy day today, the 4 of us have barely moved from the sofa and had far too much screen time but we were all tired and the weather's atrocious so why not as a one off?

Posting on here this week has contributed to me being more mindful about spending, as hoped (and still liking YNAB so far ) looking forward to getting through the rest of the month before becoming super focused once the boys are back at school/nursery in September.

Take care x

DancingInTheRain

Happy Monday!

The circus was fun yesterday although DS1 has developed a tummy bug and spent most of last nigh being sick, poor love. He's really fatigued but seems to be on the mend now so hopefully a good night's sleep will get him back on track. The weather was lovely here so got plenty of washing done and pegged out with DS2's assistance.

Have made a £70 overpayment to the mortgage today with some free money made up of the £64 cash back from TCB & £4.47 from my bills account monthly cash back. Naturally I couldn't send £68.47 with it being an odd amount so rounded it up to £70

Also listed a couple of outgrown kids toys on FB marketplace, hopefully they'll generate a bit of interest. Got a lot of other items to list on there, ebay and vinted and am aiming to crack on with this in more detail when the boys are back in school/nursery next week.

savingholmes

Sounds like a great birthday treat and fab OP too.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

Good for you for making the right decision for your family.  Hope you're doing ok

DancingInTheRain

4 months since my last check in, wow! I appear to have returned to being a lurker here 😳

It's been a busy few months despite not working, lots of adjusting to not working, renovating, kids being off school (precaution for PCR tests, no actual illness thank goodness) & spending 😳😳

Everything seems to be settling into a rhythm now and with DH and the children all off for Xmas it feels like a natural time to review our last 12 months and look to our plans for 2022.

Christmas spends all seem to be on track, gifts and cards all been delivered today so time to batten down the hatches and enjoy the next few days.

DS1 & 2 (ages 5 and 3) are both beyond excited about Santa coming so they're definitely filling us with a bit of Christmas excitement/magic!

Looking forward to posting more regularly, hope everyone who usually visits here is doing well. Will post a financial update ahead of the new year.

Sending love and hugs to all xx

savingholmes

Glad you are doing well. Hope you have a fabulous Christmas.

DancingInTheRain

****Keeping On The Straight & Narrow Part 2****

Don't want to start a new diary but definitely moving into the 2nd phase of this one.

With all the changes 2021 brought the DITR household the plan for 2022 will simply be a year of making minimum payments to mortgage, 0% credit card  and DH student loan and then small overpayments to round accounts to end in zero.

This will then free us up to boost savings where possible, slightly tricky with being a 1 income household, however we agree that this continues to be the best option for us at the moment, we will continue to review on a monthly basis but my Mum is definitely showing signs of slowing down and DS2 is going through a phase of being increasingly clingy with me so we would rather keep him in nursery mornings only for the time being and gradually increase this for him as he hopefully gets more independent.

All being well I'll look to return to work from September and take advantage of breakfast clubs & after school clubs if needed.

The credit card balance is quite high but as a result of a few unexpected but necessary jobs needing completed during the last few months on our home and DH car, we didn't want to completely erode our savings (some of which we'd sent across to the mortgage as an overpayment before the problems arose 🤦) so this was a considered addition to debt to balance our budget.

Current scores on the doors are:

- Mortgage £46,415
- Credit Card £8,175 🤯🤯
- DH Student Loan £5,285

What We Owe The World total = £59,875. Signature updated to show this.

Mortgage rate is currently 2.49% (0.15% rate rise pending) 2 year variable rate until May 2022. Payments are £292, monthly interest approx £96 so the capital reduces by around £200 per month.

Credit card minimum payments are 3.25%, so next payment approx £260. Card is 0% until Feb 2023.

Student Loan payments (direct from DH pay) approx £88 per month with an interest rate of 1.1%

Savings total £3775.

Debts should reduce naturally by at least £500 per month on average across the year so ideally we'd like to end 2022 owing the world £54,000.

Savings target is simply to keep having  savings ☺️ no specific target at this point but hope to squirrel away money from surveys, vouchers, selling items to slowly build savings all being well.

Christmas has been relatively quiet but relaxing, have family visiting Thursday and Friday which will be nice (depending on lateral flow tests too), we've taken all decorations down today, ready to clean the house ready for a new year, new start.

Hope anyone reading has had a peaceful Christmas xx

savingholmes

Welcome to part 2.... 

Your overall debt level seems small - so as you say - one you rejoin the workforce later in 2022 you should be able to make significant inroads. Meanwhile you are investing in your little ones and I imagine your own MH. Nursery fees can be so expensive with two little ones close in age -it's hard to break even never mind a profit on working...