“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

It suddenly seems as though a lot of extra expenses are popping up, and not the kind that we’re prepared for and can budget in advance

DD1 plays football and has been selected to play for the local team. Lovely news for her, but it does mean that we now have to pay out for the kit, as well as some astroturf boots now that the weather is so rubbish. Even after a lot of looking around, the cheapest we can get everything for is still £60-70 (though I know some of the parents wouldn’t hesitate to spend at least this amount on boots alone!).

Next, I’ve decided I really do need a new phone. I’ve had my current one for four years and would happily keep it longer (a concept rather lost on DH, the lover of tech and gadgets that he is) but it is rather battered (young children and phones do not mix) and some of the features are very temperamental. Sometimes it won’t even let me answer my calls (not always a bad thing depending on the caller!). Anyway, my SIM only contract is up at the end of next month and, given that this coincides with my birthday, DH has offered to buy me a new phone as a joint birthday/Xmas present. I did get offered an upgrade from my current provider for a new phone plus a slightly better data allowance at £20 per month with a 24 month contract. After some shopping around, I’ve found the same phone they were offering for £139 and can get a SIM only 1 month contract for £6 that suits my use perfectly. Working it out, that saves me £197 over two years! :T Not too shabby for 10 minutes work! I might even see if there’s some cashback to be had...:D

savingholmes

Congrats on finding a better option for your phone. Congrats to DD too on belng selected to play - understand your frustration at the costs. Celebrate your wins - as you say at least you didn't come home to a Landrover on the drive...

browneyed_girl

savingholmes wrote: »

Congrats on finding a better option for your phone. Congrats to DD too on belng selected to play - understand your frustration at the costs. Celebrate your wins - as you say at least you didn't come home to a Landrover on the drive...

Thank you! I am forever grateful that DH saw the light and made the right choice, and by that I mean my choice :rotfl:

Have just bought the phone and got £2.28 cashback via TCB (not a lot, but better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick, as DH would say). TCB are also offering £10 cashback for the SIM only plan I want. Given that it’s only £6 a month anyway, that’s essentially 7(ish) weeks of service for free .

Spent the rest of the afternoon as a busy little bee - organising, decluttering and trying to make a bit of money in the process. Currently have a few items boxed for Ziffit totalling £8.12; items put aside for Music Magpie which will be sent with my old phone once the new one arrives (approx £30-40); £7.53 banked from my rewards account and found a few more unused items that I’ll be listing on FB to sell. All these little bits of money will be added to the emergency fund, as it’s where I can see the most impact and am hoping this will keep me motivated.

jwil

Great news about the phone and congrats to DD :T

darrannah

Aww congrats to DD I bet she is really excited, I’m glad I’m out of buying Kits now as DS is 20 now and doesn’t play anymore, but when he did, boy was it expensive. Great deal on the phone tariff, I need to reduce mine so will be having a look around.
Those pesky unbudgetted extra expenses keep popping up in our house too!

browneyed_girl

darrannah wrote: »

Aww congrats to DD I bet she is really excited, I’m glad I’m out of buying Kits now as DS is 20 now and doesn’t play anymore, but when he did, boy was it expensive. Great deal on the phone tariff, I need to reduce mine so will be having a look around.
Those pesky unbudgetted extra expenses keep popping up in our house too!

Aren’t they the most frustrating?! More expenses popping up over the next week as well . School photos need to be ordered; pre-school have put DD3’s art design onto a Xmas card and expect us to order some (clearly emotional blackmail but the drawing is pretty cute); half-term next week means increased food spend (suddenly all they want to do is snack, snack, snack) and spending on activities (will try for free things as much as possible), plus Halloween plans to be made.

DH has been really helpful though and has been digging out things to sell, so have quite a bit on FB and eBay. If it all sells, this will be around £100 to add to the emergency fund . Will be so pleased if we can actually get it to £1000 by the end of the year!

browneyed_girl

So I’ve been keeping this diary for a month now and it’s definitely made me stop and think before spending, which has resulted in me actually having money left in my account before payday . Usually at this point in the month, I’d be wondering where all the money went and lamenting my life choices :rotfl:.

The last few days have seen lots of changes and decisions being made, some of which will cost us a bit more and others that aim to save, so hopefully it balances out. Those areas that will involve more spending are predominantly intended to improve our health, which I do feel is worth the investment. For one, DH has decided to switch to a vegan diet due to concerns over his cholesterol and current cheese addiction. I don’t fancy joining him on this particular venture (I was vegan for five years just over 10 years ago, but I really missed cheese, dairy ice cream and eggs) but have opted for a diet involving meal replacement shakes, because it turns out that the stone I thought I had to lose is actually 29lbs! :eek:

As a result of this, I’ve relaxed the weekly food budget from £70 to £100 a week. I know DH will want to experiment with a range of products, but likely not always to the taste of DDs (DS will eat anything except olives!) so the increase in budget will be mostly to account for different meals having to be prepared each day. Thankfully, DH is fully onboard with taking on the extra cooking duties!

I’m also trying to formalise a plan for all the extra income from surveys, selling etc. and have decided to aim for a target of £50 a week. This is as an average, with anything earned over £50 in one week added to the next week and so on. This week we’re already at £58 so trying to keep the momentum going! :T. This is all going towards boosting our emergency fund (or as DH now calls it, the Landrover account).

Honeysucklelou2

Your organisation of extra income ideas is impressive. I can see the appeal of a Landrover

savingholmes

Good luck with the diet plans. Well done on having £ left at the end of the pay day month - fab

browneyed_girl

Eek!! Has it really been three months since I last posted?! :eek:

Have had a horrendous few months (financially and otherwise), which I shall post about tomorrow at a more reasonable hour. Just updating my balances on my signature for now! In short, had to use up most of the emergency fund (back to building it up though!), yet have still managed to knock about £4000 off the debt since October.

For more details, tune in tomorrow!