Hugglemonster hits the debt hard!

hugglemonster

I think a few people on here are mentioning about the increase to ynab, I can't justify paying the fee for what I use it for so I've cancelled and started a spreadsheet. I just have to be more organised and do my own pots/reports. I know businesses need to be cost effective and make a profit but when you're counting every penny I'm afraid you have to be selfish.

I'm done the basic income/expenditure page so far and taken off all the due bills until I get paid, it doesn't leave us with much left. A reality check that although we're in a much better position, we still can't take our eye off the ball. 

So on my spreadsheet I have £212 left to pay for food, fuel, school dinners, dd birthday, and anything else that crops up. 

Food and alcohol is still our biggest expense, embarrassingly high and although we are batch cooking it's all the little 'treats' that add up and add to our waist line. Thank goodness I have an active job and activities!

H x

savingholmes

I prefer spreadsheets for forecasting. Hope it helps you work out where to get the rest of the school fees from

monz

You are doing so well for school fees!!!xx

pennywisepoundstupid

Happy Hew Year Huggle, hope all is well with you xx

savingholmes

Happy New Year

hugglemonster

Happy New Year - Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

After a few very busy weeks and a few days before I go back to my main job, I thought it would be good to have a restart and update current situations and plans for the year ahead.

So here we go.....

Jobs:
* Main job - I finally managed to get 4 1/2 days sorted and should be going up to the full 5 days, great to have the extra pay and will be leading on one area when my colleague goes on Maternity leave in March. I keep hassling to get my contract sorted so it's all official.
Very frustrating that due to rules in Wales many of our events have had to be cancelled or postponed.
* 2nd job - ticking along, worked Xmas night and last night so some extra pay for January. Last night was especially busy involving a call to ambulance service, but after talking to Paramedic it showed that I may be busy but they are severely under-staffed and under resourced! 
* Own business - still busy, we're back second week of January and I've had some kids moved to the next part of club so need to see how many spaces I have available for new ones. I started paying myself a bit extra per hour and will use this money for myself next year.

Family:
All immediate family are good, we managed to get down to see dh's family the week before Xmas. For dh it was great as he hadn't seen them for 2 years, great to spend some time with them. 

Home/Life/Debts:
So we were due to end 2021 pretty much debt free except for the money my parents had loaned us, unfortunately a number of events has lead us to being back in debt and also ordered some items that needed replacing. 

We had just ordered a new oven, after several years of managing with an inadequate top oven we decided enough was enough and with the batch cooking we do it made sense to get a new one. No sooner had we ordered it then within a few days and checking the heating system that we discovered a fault with the boiler that resulted in several hundreds of pounds worth of repairs. The mixture of the that along with an increase to school fees, Xmas coming up and lack of emergency fund, and something else that needed sorting we decided to take the easy option and get a loan. Feel annoyed and ashamed but stress levels were beyond caring.

We now have an oven to pay for, a loan and also dh needed to replace his computer. Oh and finish paying back my parents.

But I have plans to get it sorted as well as some events and trips that we already had planned for the year, plus things around the home as usual. Debt busting will take a back seat for a few months but it will sort itself.

So here it goes my plans and goals for the foreseeable....

* DS has a school trip to Iceland (not the supermarket!!) in October, next payment needs to be made by end of January, this will be paid out of next pay.
* Get ahead with dd school fees, Jan and Feb are Council Tax and Water free months so will add these to the funds.
* We have a trip to Birmingham in the summer to see a sporting event, I need to pay for the tickets on Tuesday but I have most of it ready. We then need to pay for accommodation for 2 days which is looking expensive. 
* We have a trip to Scotland in September, again need to pay for accommodation for a few days but can hopefully find a nice camping site.

Savings:
* Only £50 to go and then I've hit my target of £1000 for dd trust fund for when she turns 18 later this year. I'm not going to tackle ds fund just yet as have a few years to go.
* Save funds for guttering and pipes to be replaced - after the recent storm I'm not confident that they will last much longer.
* Build first emergency fund of £1000, continue with annual costs pots in my Monz* account.

Debts:
Oven
Computer
Loan
Parents - now down to £900

Right lots to do and lots of lovely diaries to catch up on, H x

lucielle

Sometimes you just have to do what’s best at the time. Don’t beat yourself up. All jobs and projects sounding good 

Happy New Year

L

pennywisepoundstupid

Aww Huggle sorry to hear that it's been an expensive time, you are doing really well and seem really focussed.
We have had a pants few months regarding money, but no point dwelling just got to keep plodding.

hugglemonster

lucielle said:

Sometimes you just have to do what’s best at the time. Don’t beat yourself up. All jobs and projects sounding good 

Happy New Year

L

Yep totally agree, still in a much better position than we have been for many years.

pennywisepoundstupid said:

Aww Huggle sorry to hear that it's been an expensive time, you are doing really well and seem really focussed.
We have had a pants few months regarding money, but no point dwelling just got to keep plodding.

Yep determined not to be disappointed just get on with it, one day the emergency fund will do it's job.

Sorry posted and then went to sort dinner. I have some little goals that I want to achieve each day, I think small steps in all areas of my life will make them easier to achieve but the progress real.

Goals for each day; sort out/tidy an area in the house, sort out/tidy an area in the garden, sort out a financial task, pay a debt or something towards savings every day.

Starting tomorrow as I'm shattered from night shift, so tomorrow is:

* Put away Xmas decorations and put up in attic
* Tidy compost/pots in back garden
* Send a invoice to reclaim money owed for some equipment
* Transfer what would have been paid for water/council tax to dd school fund.

H x

hugglemonster

Afternoon all, I went to bed at 9pm and woke up at 9am so am recovered from night shift! Have a headache this afternoon though so will be another early night but will set alarm to get back into getting up for work on Tuesday.

Kids are off until 10th January due to extra days preparing for Covid requirements.

I've completed all the tasks on my list, only need to finish sorting out invoice as I can't find the address of the chap I need to post it too plus I need a stamp. He's an older gentleman so it's still a case of posting and getting a cheque unfortunately.

DH actually helped taking the decorations down, plus he's spent hours preparing a fabulous Lasagne for tea so bonus points for him today!

I started doing some surveys again but have hit a block as can't log into one site and the reset password option doesn't seem to be working either. I'll try again tomorrow.

Daily budget has been updated and need to plan for 3 birthdays this month, my Sister's is on Tuesday so will have to send an email voucher as too late to post anything.

Here's tomorrow's little goals:
* Tidy everything on top of cabinet under the stairs (work stuff) so it's clear and file paperwork.
* Tidy area next to shed.
* Sister's birthday present
* Pay last £50 to dd trust fund to complete that goal.

Hope everyone has a good evening, H x