Why is spending money so easy......

Snwps

Thought I'd add a breakdown of individual debts:
Loan - £2,032.38
Tesco 1 - £5,255.92
Tesco 2 - £4,806.39
Halifax 1 - £3,473.85
Halifax 2 - £2,711.53
Barclaycard - £5,575.08
MBNA - £1,801.40
Post Office - £963.00
M&S - £883.51
HMRC - £660.00

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on sticking to this for  a year now and you have made a great start in paying off almost 25% of the debt. Just think how much extra money you will have once this debt is gone and then you will be able to do home improvements without saddling yourself with a load of debt. 

suki1964

You have done fantastically well

The best news is knowing your mind set about debt has changed

Snwps

Another DD has come out today making the total debt £28,001.63. Its so close to getting under the £28k mark I had to move some money round to make an additional payment to get into the £27k's. The next DD is due on 9th but me being impatient I couldnt wait. So I've paid £3.85 onto the Halifax 1 CC to round that card down to £3,470.00 and make the debt total £27,997.78. Ah that feels good, slowly creeping up the the £10k paid off mark. 

I can see why people like rounding down and having even numbers on their spreadsheets, this could be something I could get on board with.

Snwps

I have a bit of a predicament, we have been waiting months to get some home renovations done and have the money saved in a separate account for the sum agreed with the builder. Then lockdown hit and now things have been suspended until god knows when. I've been trying to get in touch with the builder to see if hes working, when he thinks work can begin, how many people are on the waiting list ahead of us also waiting etc, but he's just not getting back to me. We used this builder due to the price being competitave and as we know him personally, being a friend. I'm worried that we're getting pushed to the back of the que due to us being a 'friend' and if we have to look elsewhere for another builder it will cost us more money which I would need to take from DH's job #2 pay this week and will effect the amount we pay off the debts this month. 

So should I hold tight with our current builder and see how things go or should I start looking for a new builder and save the money from this months job #2?

Snwps

So DH job #2 pay hit the bank account this morning, £750 which I really want to pay off the debt but I've had to put aside until I sort out the builder. I've phoned him yesterday and this morning and no reply. I don't know what to do. If he was not working due to lockdown I'd be fine with that it's just hes not replying to any of our calls/messages which worries me. 

I've been playing around with a snowball app to see how much I can save in intrest by changing the order which I repay the credit cards and its showing my DFD as being July 2021. I think as long as I can clear it be Dec 2021 I'd be happy, giving myself a few months leaway.

When we started the journey we considered getting a DMP. When we done the SOA it was showing a minus in the available funds at the end of the month and we were only paying the minimums which was around £1000 per month and there was no room to make overpayments. I had already cut back on all non essential bills and expenses where I could so there was no room to save any more to pay towards the debt. The only way we could sort our situation was to increase our income. I'm lucky my kids are old enough to be left alone for an hour or so and I was lucky to get a delivery job and DH got a second job working around his already long hours. It seems to be working well at the moment but we both know it's not something we can continue forever. We are both working long hours and not having much family time but we are taking it day by day and make sure we keep each other informed on how we're doing. We have a deal in that as soon as one/either of us had enough we stop, and re-evaluate. On the plus side though, we've paid off 3 debts and now have £460 of these 3 minimums that we're snowballing so if we did loose our 2x 2nd jobs we have a surplus to overpay, albeit on a smaller scale.

We are paying interest on 3 of the cards and some of the 0% deals are expiring this year. I'm hoping as our debt figure comes down we can get some more 0% deals to switch so we pay less interest.

My other confession is that we do not have an emergency fund. (i feel a lot of fingers wagging in my direction lol) I know this is the first rule of debt busting but at the moment we are paying quite a bit of interest so it feels wrong having £1000 sitting in a bank instead of paying towards the high interest card. It is something I plan on doing soon, definaltey by end of the year. But then I suppose if we dont use the £750 we've saved from DHs pay today we can use that towards an EF. Well see.

Snwps

I'm watching Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away and having bayliffs calling scares the life out of me. I used to watch it regularly a few years ago and it was one of the reasons I wanted to sort out my finances. The thought of someone taking items from my home or our cars is awful. I feel for some of the people on here. 

I'm sad to report that one of the cards had interest added so the debt figure has gone to just about £28k but I know this is only until next week when it will go back down again once a few DD's come out. £28,050.47. 

Good news, I may have found someone to do the house work and it could be done in the next 4 weeks. I should hear for certain later today. Unfortunately he is more money than the other guy but that's just the way it is and I just want it done now. 

Snwps

Its been a very quiet weekend here, not been far the weathers very up and down so been curled up binge watching boxsets. Good news is that we've not had a take away this weekend or spent any money but do have a food shop delivery coming soon which is more than I normally spend on my normal food shop in Aldi. I hate going out at the moment so the extra cost can be worth it for piece of mind I suppose, but it's definatley not something I plan on keeping up. The food shop is the one place where I cant seem to get a hold of. I can shop in Aldi and get a good shop for my £££, but then theres usually something I couldnt get there so have to go to the bigger supermarket and spend more. I see peoples food budget on here and wonder how they do it. It baffles me. I dont even spend money on treats like pop, chocolates, cakes, nice bread or biscuits which can drive up the cost, just basic ingredients to make 3 meals per day. Plus I do meal plan. A weeks grocery shop (including toiletries and cleaning products) for 4 adults and a dog is about £100-£120 per week.

I need to get a grip with the going out again as I'm back in job no 2 next week. Need to start earning my 2nd income again to get back on track with the debt repayments. Will see how it goes. Its been so long since I've been I dont want to go back but I know when I get there and see everyone and get back into it, I'll be fine. 

On the house renovations front, the new builder has confirmed me and booked us in for middle of July. So relieved to be getting somewhere with this again. 

I've spent ages this weekend reading other diaries and willing time to go a little quicker so I can see these figures go down. Middle of the month is always a lull and I get so impatient. I've done some forecasting and all going well should be in the £26ks by end of the month. Roll on payday.

I've just counted and we're currently paying about £210 per month on interest. We've paid off 2 of the high interest cars we're now saving £142 in interest off these 2 cards. So this helps.

Snwps

Ive been thinking a lot lately about savings, mainly that I have none lol. Im considering easing up on the budget and pay less towards the debt busting to build up some savings. At the moment Ive stripped back the budget to bills, fuel and groceries and debt repayments, maybe a couple of take aways as a treat. I've been thinking about saving some of the money currently going towards debt overpayments and putting in a savings account. Christmas is coming! should I be savings to pay bills annually instead of monthly? I have no EF or car maintenance fund. 

I applied for a savings account back in January with Credit Union. I was looking for a savings account where I cant access the funds online and transfer the money between my bank accounts when things get tight. I have emailed them today to see if the account is set up and how I can pay into it. Step 1, check.

Its my payday next week and am due to pay about £1000 towards debt as an overpayment, plus DH 2nd job pay due the following week and due about £800. How should I tackle this? How much shall I save? Put it all towards the debt and save monthly? Or Save the lot then get back to the debt busting?

No take aways this week. Not been out this week. Had grocery shop delivered last Saturday and my fridge is empty, might have to go tomorrow to do the weekly shop a day early. I do have a delivery slot booked for Saturday but I find MrT so expensive. I'm thinking of cancelling it and just going to Ald1 tomorrow to stick to tighter budget. I've made a list ready.

Snwps

I went shopping on Friday and saved a bit, spent £88.07 in Aldi and £7.20 in Tesco.Plus I took back the Primera cheese spread which has been recalled and had £3 back. Still not the £80 budget but better than the £117 the week before. I then cancelled the delivery slot as it was not needed.

Back to job no 2 on Saturday was nice to see everyone and have a catch up on what I've missed for the past 12 weeks. Worked 9 hours over the weekend and made £29 in drops (for fuel) and £2 tips. I filled the car up on Saturday and it cost me £32.06 and it should last me a while seen as I'm only out delivering, as working from home for Job #1 at the moment. I have 4 shifts this week so anything earned in drops/tips will be profit and can put towards EF. I've adjusted YNAB to separate this from normal job #2 pay so that I can see how much I'm making on drops/tips on top of my hourly rate once fuel has been paid. I'm just glad I've got a fuel efficient car! 

Payday on Friday and I cant wait to make an overpayment of £988.99. The debt figure should be in the £26k's by end of the month.