“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

ohdearhowdidthathappen

browneyed_girl wrote: »

Had some great news today . It’s payday and I noticed that my pay was £700 more than usual. Called payroll in a panic, concerned that they’d paid me incorrectly and expect it back (probably after I’d already earmarked it for various things), only to find that they’d made a mistake with my pay since April and owed me that amount! :j Have already used the extra to pay off the balances on the Amazon and Natwest CCs :T

Wow, how lovely! Well done on using it to pay balances :T

browneyed_girl

Ugh. Don’t really have the words to describe today. Rubbish weather meant trying to entertain all the kids indoors and they seemed determined to make it as difficult as possible. DD1 and DD2 are either the best of friends and sharing a bed, or at each other’s throats. Guess which one it was today...:(. DS is trying very hard not to have his nap these days and DD3 has a scream that is known to be the only sound you can hear in space. Didn’t react very well to it all (blame a long week at work and residual stress) and now that they’re all in bed, I’m trying to think of ways to make it up to them in the morning.

Didn’t do too badly from an MSE perspective though, so the day hasn’t been a complete write-off. Came up with the weekly meal plan and shopping list for tomorrow, which is making the most of what we already have in the cupboards. DH and I also went on a hunt for change and found £17.34 which has now been added to the sealed pot :T Am close to £25 in one of my survey accounts so will be able to withdraw that into my emergency fund soon.

Well, going to head off for an early night and hope for a better day tomorrow. Night all! :wave:

jwil

Great news about the extra pay and well done for paying it off the cards :T

browneyed_girl

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

Wow, how lovely! Well done on using it to pay balances :T

jwil wrote: »

Great news about the extra pay and well done for paying it off the cards :T

Thank you! Seeing those balances go back to zero is a wonderful feeling! And my spreadsheets look lovely!

A satisfying day today and very little spending - only £13 for a top-up shop at Mr T as I didn’t have anything in for DDs lunchboxes. Visited family to drop in some birthday presents (both wrapped in reclaimed gift wrap ) and also took a few of DH’s shirts that are too small and barely worn to give to a nephew. I’ve also used Ziffit to clear some unwanted books and DVDs - decluttering and minimising is definitely good for the soul! I think I’m going to try to declutter at least one item every day...

Long day at work tomorrow so should be able to achieve a NSD for me. DH will be doing the main food shop and needs fuel, but I love that this is all budgeted for and DH is quickly learning not to go rogue! :rotfl:

darrannah

Great news on the extra pay, it’s a nice little boost for you
I tried that Ziffit, I scanned over 150 DVD’s but they would only accept 3 �� looks like I’ll have to get rid of them another way!!

browneyed_girl

Late start at work today, but also a very late finish. Trying to make the most of the next few hours and thought I’d start with a relaxing cup of tea whilst DH took DDs to school and pre-school. DS playing very nicely and it all seemed to be going to plan...until I happened to stumble upon DD3’s handiwork in the upstairs bathroom. It looks as though she’s emptied an entire bottle of shower gel into the bath and used a whole tube of toothpaste to decorate every surface she could find :eek: Now need to add those things to the shopping list. Only supermarket brand stuff but still an unnecessary £1.80. Last time I’ll be asking DD1 to supervise teeth brushing

Feeling a bit disheartened today - not because of being fed up with scrimping, but because I wish I could be doing more to pay off the debts quicker. The past 10 months since the original LBM in December have been spent organising our finances, changing our attitude to spending, increasing our income and actually saving towards a mortgage deposit (never had savings before then!). It now all feels as though things have slowed down and we’re just waiting for our hard work to pay off.

Have made some more plans moving forward though. DH’s part-time salary is around £650 monthly and we’ve agreed that he’ll start paying £150 towards Very (until March), £150 into his ISA and the remainder will cover the grocery budget. In order to clear the Sainsbury’s loan by the planned date, I then need to find £540 a month for overpayments from my salary. On paper this isn’t a challenge, but if it was that easy we would have been doing it already!

savingholmes

Hi - just found your diary. It sounds like you are doing well at finding and plugging the purse leaks. I like your challenge and penalty.

Do you allow each other some personal spends a month - pocket money for adults? I find it makes the world of difference to willingness to stick to the rest of the budget. I also found that forcing DH to meet with me monthly to discuss the budget and download banking apps - has made a world of difference to his fritter spends and brought more visibility and challenge of my own. This is now working much better for us.

Making sure you have pots for annual spends also helps. I literally have separate bank accounts to help with some of this.

browneyed_girl

savingholmes wrote: »

Hi - just found your diary. It sounds like you are doing well at finding and plugging the purse leaks. I like your challenge and penalty.

Do you allow each other some personal spends a month - pocket money for adults? I find it makes the world of difference to willingness to stick to the rest of the budget.

It sounds terrible, but I don’t trust DH with a set amount put aside for personal spends. Any money he has seems to burn a hole in his pocket. If he had £50 for personal spends each month, he’d see that as a target rather than a budget! And the things that he buys are often completely unnecessary - even he admits it! He has at least three of everything and I have a cupboard and garage full of things he’s bought that don’t get used and just take up space! He has started to sell bits and pieces, with any money made being earmarked for debt overpayments which is helpful. What we do instead is to discuss any purchases he feels he needs to make and agree together on what is a justifiable cost. Often, I can help him find something similar for a lower price and he does the same for me

Need to update on spends (12 hour shifts meant I neglected this diary the past few days), but will do this later when DS isn’t attempting to eat batteries...:wall:

browneyed_girl

I promised to update the spends over the past few days, so here they are...

Monday - £45.83 on main shop from Mr T. I also spent £4 on parking closer to work as I was finishing late and didn’t fancy walking in the dark any further than I absolutely had to.

Tuesday - DH spent £21 on a dedicated shop for cleaning products (I think this included at least three bottles of bleach). Not sure how he can spend that much, but I’ve noticed a few branded items that he thinks work better (I’m not convinced). Since he’s subsequently cleaned the kitchen and both bathrooms, I’ll forgive him the extra cost just this once! . Another £4 on parking for me, but no other spends :T

Wednesday - £23.43 on top-up shop at Lid! (DH likes to pick up a few items that are a lot cheaper here than at Mr T), which now leaves 74p of the grocery budget until Monday. All meals planned with what we have in the cupboards, but we will inevitably need more milk before then so will be a tad over this week. £20 planned spend on fuel and I also spent £26.90 on gifts for a colleague. This sounds worse than it is as the cost is being shared between eight of us, I’m just the responsible one that always ends up having to organise it all! Just need to chase everyone now for their contribution...

Hoping for a NSD today - DH completely on board. Currently sat at home together wondering if it’s too early in the year to light a fire (it’s a tad on the chilly side here and I don’t tolerate the cold at all!).

browneyed_girl

Ooh, almost forgot...DH sent DD1 off with money for school dinner on Tuesday (DD2 still gets them for free) so that’s another £2.20. I do find this frustrating because I can make the lunchboxes for so much cheaper, but if I’m working DH says he can’t find the time to make them.

Need to change the unnecessary spend tally to:

Me - £29.10
DH - £38.53
Kids - £21.19 (added £4 for the school dinner and DD3s art supplies in the bathroom a few days ago. Was almost a lot more as DD1 somehow managed to misplace three school cardigans and a jumper - it’s not even half-term! Luckily came back from school having found two and I’m hoping the others turn up soon).

Just finished making a veggie chilli for dinner with soya mince and some sad looking vegetables that needed using up. Smells delicious - smoked paprika is my all-time favourite ingredient!

I’ve also booked the family holiday for next year, which I’ve put on my credit card (for the protection it offers), but other family are transferring me their portion and we will be counting up the change in our sealed pot at the end of the month to pay off our bit :T DH suggested using one of his credit cards (he has two cards for emergencies that have had the balances paid off and not been used for a year), but my Natwest CC is linked to my current account and appears on my banking app so it’s very visible and screams at me to not forget about it and get it cleared ASAP!

Already looking forward to this holiday and planning at least one day out which will be completely paid for with Clubcard vouchers (currently have over £100 saved up) once I’ve exchanged them for 3x their value :j. Lots of free activities also - I don’t plan on forgetting the MSE ways just because I’m on holiday!