A welcome wake up call

twiggy86

Thanks for your comments. And you're right SusieT, all the little bits do add up! I'm not afraid to pick a penny up in the road (found one this morning!), so why would I want to pay a penny more than I have to?!

So it's Wednesday and I finally added my weekends spends to my spreadsheet. I didn't want to see how far over budget I am but there's no good sticking my head in the sand now! I had made a very tight budget this month but ended up £205 over budget (obviously there may still be a couple of spends). I know I could pull this in more and did have quite an expensive month with presents compared to usual - total spend was about £100 and only had £15 in the "pot". I had three new little ones added to the bunch (friends - not me!) so I did buy them all something as babies are very special! This won't happen every month but shows I need to build up a more substantial pot.

I have been good and bought my lunch to work every day this month (you know I'm going to leave it on the side or something now tomorrow!). This along with parking for free will have made a difference. I will continue parking for free if I can, I have a couple of appointments before work next month so will likely need to pay to park to avoid being ridiculously late for work!

I'm slightly over the slump and feeling more positive! I'm not where I want to be, but I'm in a much better place than I was!

clearmydebts

Glad you are feeling better Twiggy! I find I have a slump in between paydays as there isn't much happening. The main thing is all the debts are going downwards

twiggy86

Thanks clearmydebts! Even better I actually managed a NSD yesterday!!

Today my plan is to pay 12 month's car tax so it's cheaper and look into TV package deals - must stop faffing on this and make a decision!!!

twiggy86

So it's payday today, so I guess I should reflect on this month's progress.

The Good:
* I paid £387.32 off the CCs
* I have effectively cleared Vcard (although it was a BT)
* All debt is at 4.9% or lower (rather than predominately over 18% when I started!)
* I took my lunch to work everyday this month after joining in the challenge
* In the past 3 weeks I walked 14 out of 15 days so only spent £5.10 on parking, rather than buying a new pass for £80
* I had money aside for car tax and service
* Christmas presents predominately bought from TK Maxx and mostly for about £5 - all paid for from pot

The Bad:
* I only paid £387.32 off the CCs which made a difference of £336.45
* OH had some expenses crop up which means he hasn't been able to give me as much money as usual
* My motivation has been wobbly this month
* I've overspent compared to my budget (however this hasn't meant I've added to the debts, rather I used money OH gave me rather than paying it off CCs)
* I won't hit the target I'd set myself of sub 10K by the end of the year

Goals
My goals for the rest of the year are:
* Close Vcard, if I can, once the statement has come in and any final interest paid
* Try get total debt figure to sub 11K (currently £11,536.20)

Jerry's final thoughts...
It feels like its been a lot worse this month than it actually has. I think it's the final payment figure is much lower than I'd have liked but bearing in mind how little OH has given me, I have actually done quite well! (Not OH's fault and he's given me what I can but work on his truck had to be carried out or he wouldn't be able to work - yes he needs savings!) I'm proud of myself for walking in, even in the rain, and for not succumbing and buying lunch in town!

twiggy86

I am definitely having a wobbly time right now! Seem to have lost my MSE mojo!

I did a bit of shopping on Friday as I "needed" a new outfit for Saturday. It is something I will re-wear but definitely was a want not a need. I then went out on Saturday and got drunk which is normally a dangerous move! However, I "only" spent £50, including dinner and taxis whereas normally I'm the generous one buying rounds of drinks on my cards! But I was then hungover yesterday and bought a takeaway! And this morning I was feeling too lazy to make lunch - however this is the first time since October that I will buy lunch.

Right, enough whinging! So what am I going to do today to try turn this around...
* Take something back which I bought on Friday, so that will be £22.99 coming back
* Pay off £2.21 interest that was added to Vcard - once that's cleared will try to close
* Pay off other minimum CC payments
* Email old energy company to see when I can expect the refund (£230!)
* Get OH to call sky as had a letter saying they owe us £29! (When we closed the account about 2 years ago there was a whole palava and apparently they owe us money!)
* Cash out on PA - use as a CC overpayment

I really don't want to totally fall off the wagon this month! So a bit of damage limitation is needed!

twiggy86

The positive twigs is here today!

I'm celebrating that I've paid over £2k off my debts! This is the actually difference after interest etc, so the total payments is actually over £2,600 - thank god I've now massively reduced the interest! All minimum payments have been made, so anything extra is an over-payment. Total debt currently stands at £11,344.90 so a way to go yet to meet my target of sub £11k by New Year. However I should finally be receiving the refund from my old energy company this week which will only leave £110 to find. Might be tight but I'll my best - would be ok if it wasn't Christmas and all the social events that go with it!

I got the refund of £22.99 from the leggings I took back. Also nearly at the cash out point on Receipt Hog - finally!!! Should hopefully soon get the £25 cashback for switching via MSE. Erm, where else can I find some money... £23 still pending in TCB. Just cashed out £14.29 on Prolific, so I need to build that back up! Also need to nag OH about that sky refund!

Yes I have kind of mucked up my budget this month by overspending, and still have a few outings this month. However, I need to keep reminding myself how much I've improved my position!

twiggy86

Finally received the refund from my old energy supplier - £231.72. My original plan was to pay this straight of the CC, however I've decided to leave it where it is for now. I'm more comfortable having it sat as a buffer for over Christmas, particularly as OH won't be working and therefore not paid (self-employed builder). But if come end of the year it's still sat there (which I'm hoping), then it will go to the credit card. So at the moment its an added bonus!

twiggy86

I've been spending the last few days reading through my old diary, haven't got all the way to the end yet but didn't want to neglect my diary for any longer. Thought I might pick up some tips but in all honesty I don't know how I used to do it!!! I earned less and was totally smashing it for months! Like between £700-£800 most months and paid off £6k in 9 months!

Problem is I'm not sure what the difference is this time around. For some of the time we did have a lodger which we don't now but not for that whole time. Think I need to go through it again and see what I'm missing as was also doing our house up at the time! However what I think is the difference is the motivation of both me and OH (although his light bulb has always been slightly faulty!)

This month I feel like my motivation is definitely failing me. For example last night I went to buy our Christmas tree and managed to get it for £17 instead of £30.. "Brilliant, what's the problem" I hear you say... well I came home and bought a takeaway after not too much persuasion from OH!!! And I was already stressed about money, so why put more pressure on myself??!?!? Maybe its that end of year thing where I'm telling myself "from the new year I'll smash this"!

Right enough whinging! To balance things out, here are some positives...

* I'm within my Christmas budget and pretty much have got everything except food.
* I have only spent £10.20 on parking this month meaning that I still have £69.80 set aside which can be utilised/ paid off debt.
* I received the refund from OVO which can also be utlised/ used for debt repayment.
* I had the dentist this month which I had money set aside for mostly.
* Again I just have to appreciate how much I've helped myself just by reducing the amount of interest I'm paying.

Need to have a chat with OH to get him back on board as it is so much easier! And whilst I'm at it, I'll ask if he's seen my motivation laying around!!! https://images6.moneysavingexpert.com/images/forum_smilies/laughing-smiley-014.gif

1LuckyLady

You're doing so well Twiggy, I think its a bit like dieting at this time of year.... it will seem easier in the New Year.

Lemon_Tree

You have done well but I know what you mean about managing so much more debt clearing the first time around, I've certainly found motivation harder to find this time, but then again last time I didn't have a hubby, who doesn't know what a LBM looks like if it stood on his nose, and two children.