Living in the black

Working_Mum

Hello again YM,
Ah takeaways!! We still have a "take away tin" - this was an old tin I kept in a kitchen cupboard which i would throw what was left of my weekly budget in on a Wednesday evening. I would love seeing the pennies increase and then be able to say to the kids "takeaway tonight/tomorrow" and it was always a real treat.

Nowadays I still put money in there but it tends to be a fiver here and there. My kids love the "take away tin" as silly as it sounds!!

I was in receipt of Child Benefit whilst my kids were growing up so when they were 14 I transferred it to them - every 4 weeks they'd get £70 or so. This was their clothing allowance. I would still buy the school uniform etc, pants, socks, coats etc but this money was for their clothes. I gave them their pocket money on a Thursday morning so between this, their child benefit and their own money they earned through a variety of part time jobs they have both learned about money and how to budget etc. They're 20 and 18 now and we discuss money, budgetting and savings goals - my son even discussed starting a pension the other day (I nearly fell off my chair!). They still spend way too much money on clothes (in my opinion) but they are young and fashion is important to them!!

My budget week is Thursday to Wednesday but I tend to have a plan for the next few weeks in my mind so if I know I am going on a long journey I will add a few £'s of fuel to my weekly top up so I accrue a little in my tank each week. Or I look ahead for birthdays/going out etc and will put cash away in a tin in my office (there is a theme isn't there!!) This works for me to even things out and balance my books. Organisation is key to getting traction when handling money I believe.

The Old Style Forum has some great threads about making food go further and budgetting, prepping for winter etc. My next goal is to reduce my mortgage so I have been reading the Mortgage Free Wannabe Forum and it is so insightful and filled with simple steps.

Wishing you wonderful day!!

Yellow_mango

I spent a long time last night working on my spreadsheet and going through various scenarios. Feeling totally overwhelmed right now.

It’s looking like it won’t be realistic to use the OD to buffer the BC. The school fees in September will take it over £2k OD so the fees will be substantial. So I think I’ll have to transfer onto the Virgin card. Plus I’ve realised I’ve been ignoring the £1k ish which is going to hit the BC in July from the final holiday payments.

Having finally added it all up properly, I’m looking at over £9k debt. Which feels a world away from the £5kish I thought we had. And even throwing everything at it it’ll take at least a year to clear. Realistically, far more. Gulp. Guess it’s good that I am tackling it now before it gets any worse :-/

Anyway. At least I have a plan.

NSD today. That’s one positive.

enthusiasticsaver

Yellow_mango wrote: »

I spent a long time last night working on my spreadsheet and going through various scenarios. Feeling totally overwhelmed right now.

It’s looking like it won’t be realistic to use the OD to buffer the BC. The school fees in September will take it over £2k OD so the fees will be substantial. So I think I’ll have to transfer onto the Virgin card. Plus I’ve realised I’ve been ignoring the £1k ish which is going to hit the BC in July from the final holiday payments.

Having finally added it all up properly, I’m looking at over £9k debt. Which feels a world away from the £5kish I thought we had. And even throwing everything at it it’ll take at least a year to clear. Realistically, far more. Gulp. Guess it’s good that I am tackling it now before it gets any worse :-/

Anyway. At least I have a plan.

NSD today. That’s one positive.

Yes, I did suspect that paying a £3k bill from your current account could mean a substantial overdraft ignoring your holiday payments. I think biting the bullet and transferring it to a 0% card or at least some of it is inevitable or you will be playing catch up and juggling money for the next few months in September. £5k was never a true debt figure as you had the £3k on the BC plus the holiday payments.

It is good that you are tackling it now and I think it reinforces the fact that you can no longer live the lifestyle you did have now you have a large mortgage especially as you have private school fees too. So maybe for next year you do a cheap holiday and if your DH complains ask him to get involved with cutting back on other things.

You do have a surplus though so I would put £500 initially monthly towards the debt and see how you get on. If you have a surplus then put it in savings. When do the 0% deals finish?

Moneywhizz

It is good that you have everything down in black and white and know exactly where you stand. it may seem overwhelming but at least you are addressing it now and not allowing things to spiral out of control. Although you have a very high income your situation is quite precarious, given that you have very high outgoings and no savings. I also think that you should pay £500 monthly to your debt to try and get it down as soon as possible and also make sure that you start building up an emergency fund. Longer term though, unless you can get your husband on board and start to reduce your monthly expenditure, you are going to struggle to fund an extension, replacement car etc. You must be feeling quite frustrated by this but small steps are the way forward and getting this debt paid down will be a good start.

Yellow_mango

DH and DS1 are away for a few days, so it’s just me and the two youngest kids at home. Had an early night last night and feel more positive this morning.

Nothing much happening on the money front. Need to wait until Friday night to implement my Family Budget Masterplan. And another week until payday until I can actually move any money...

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck implementing your new budget master plan. Is that £173 to cover groceries etc until the end of June?

Working_Mum

Do the school offer different ways of paying their fees. My kids school offer 3 x term invoices or 9 x monthly direct debit. The Bursar and Head were great with me when my situation was dire - I paid weekly for a couple of years (because that was how I was paying everything!!).

Maybe see if you could switch - this would even out your expenditure each month and may level out some of the angst a bit.

Friday is almost here and your new weekly budget is on the starts blocks!

Yellow_mango

Thankyou!

Yes that was the original plan. But I think that to pitch it to the family I might need to top it up a little.

The plan is £200pw to cover all food (incl. groceries / takeaway / eating out) and entertainment. With everyone involved in keeping to this, and deciding what to do with any leftovers at the end of each week. I think it should be manageable with a bit of awareness from everyone.

Yellow_mango

Do the school offer different ways of paying their fees. My kids school offer 3 x term invoices or 9 x monthly direct debit. The Bursar and Head were great with me when my situation was dire - I paid weekly for a couple of years (because that was how I was paying everything!!).

Maybe see if you could switch - this would even out your expenditure each month and may level out some of the angst a bit.

That’s a really good point. I’m pretty sure there is a monthly dd option. I can’t remember why I went for termly tbh. Switching would probably make sense! I’ll ask the school!

enthusiasticsaver

Yellow_mango wrote: »

Thankyou!

Yes that was the original plan. But I think that to pitch it to the family I might need to top it up a little.

The plan is £200pw to cover all food (incl. groceries / takeaway / eating out) and entertainment. With everyone involved in keeping to this, and deciding what to do with any leftovers at the end of each week. I think it should be manageable with a bit of awareness from everyone.

That is a really good plan. i also think asking for a payment plan on the school fees would be better now you have a large mortgage payment.