Organisation will be the key
Purplesocks
Forumite 24 Posts
Forumite
So a quick introduction, I’m 43 married, work part time and have an adult son still living at home. After getting debt free several years ago, and getting to a point where we have savings has been a massive positive in our lives, it has meant I was able to leave a job I hated and was making me ill. Also in the last few years both my husband and son suffered medical emergencies that meant they were transferred away from our local hospital, having savings for the first time in our lives meant that in all the stress and worry money was never an issue. This truly was priceless, being able to focus on being with them instead of worrying about lost wages or how we were going to pay for transport or accommodation made the most awful times of my lives bearable.
Both of them have recovered :j:j but have been left with manageable long term issues.
As a result this year has gone by in a blur, and while I was strong at the time, as they have steadily improved, (particularly my son) I find oddly enough that I am coping less and have let fair to much runaway from me. My eating has gone out of control and I have gained back the weight I had previously lost, my alcohol consumption is starting to become worrying and my sleep patterns are a mess lurching from insomnia to excessive sleeping.
So I have a plan and I’m hoping this diary will keep me honest and accountable. Rather than try to change everything and once and ultimately set myself up to fail i’m going to focus on one thing at a time. Because to be honest any small improvement is going to make my life easier.:)
1st Goal: Fix sleeping pattern.
I plan to follow an 11pm-7am sleeping plan, I have done this before and it truly made a huge difference. So no cheeky afternoon naps and much less lazing around while on my tablet.
My head is not in the right place to commit to a diet or have the motivation to exercise, my house is a mess and I’m am so disorganised with food that I end up eating rubbish or even worse paying for takeaway when I have lots of food in the freezer!!
So baby steps, better sleep and general pottering round the house just to get my off my ever increasing behind.
Both of them have recovered :j:j but have been left with manageable long term issues.
As a result this year has gone by in a blur, and while I was strong at the time, as they have steadily improved, (particularly my son) I find oddly enough that I am coping less and have let fair to much runaway from me. My eating has gone out of control and I have gained back the weight I had previously lost, my alcohol consumption is starting to become worrying and my sleep patterns are a mess lurching from insomnia to excessive sleeping.
So I have a plan and I’m hoping this diary will keep me honest and accountable. Rather than try to change everything and once and ultimately set myself up to fail i’m going to focus on one thing at a time. Because to be honest any small improvement is going to make my life easier.:)
1st Goal: Fix sleeping pattern.
I plan to follow an 11pm-7am sleeping plan, I have done this before and it truly made a huge difference. So no cheeky afternoon naps and much less lazing around while on my tablet.
My head is not in the right place to commit to a diet or have the motivation to exercise, my house is a mess and I’m am so disorganised with food that I end up eating rubbish or even worse paying for takeaway when I have lots of food in the freezer!!
So baby steps, better sleep and general pottering round the house just to get my off my ever increasing behind.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Replies
Personal debt
C.card £560 0% ( check when runs out)
Simply be £41 (aim to clear on payday)
Our debt
Loan 5346.37
(home improvement loan - money still in savings, we have yet to organise this due to awful year and my lack of energy)
Mortgage 9696.58
Both have been overpaid but I need to decide on a strategy of which to concentrate on attacking.
Edit: have realised in post 3 that this money needs to go to the emergency fund for a while
3/10/19
Personal Debt £500
Our Debt
Loan £5225.33
Mortgage
Bank 1 £4500
Bank 2 £2500
Bank 3 £3300
Total £ 10, 300
£7500 home improvement money from loan
£2000 bathroom money
£800 emergency fund and house insurance savings.
Emergency fund seriously needs boosting :eek:, I think that’s where the overpayment money needs to go for the rest of the year. Will review in January.
3/10/19
Emergency fund £701.00
Home improvement £9500
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 0
Number of cars owned.................... 0
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 586.69
Partners monthly income after tax....... 962.86
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1549.55
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 224.2
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 110
Electricity............................. 103 (duel fuel)
Gas..................................... 0
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 65 (South West Water)
Telephone (land line)................... 40 (phone line, unlimited calls and broadband) fixed summer 20
Mobile phone............................ 0
TV Licence.............................. 13
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 280
Clothing................................ 0
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Weekly Money........... 260
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 9 (will be saved in a yearly costs account)
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 0
Buildings insurance..................... 21 ( combined) (will be saved in a yearly costs account)
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 29
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 38 (will be saved in a yearly costs account)
Haircuts................................ 0
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1192.2
Assets
Cash.................................... 9941
House value (Gross)..................... 150000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 159941
Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 9699.67..(224.2)....0
Total secured & HP debts...... 9699.67...-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................5346.37...136.2.....2.5
Total unsecured debts..........5346.37...136.2.....- [/b
Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,549.55
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,192.2
Available for debt repayments........... 357.35
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 136.2
Amount left after debt repayments....... 221.15
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 159,941
Total HP & Secured debt................. -9,699.67
Total Unsecured debt.................... -5,346.37
Net Assets.............................. 144,894.96
Created using the SOA calculator at https://www.stoozing.com.
Just a few points to make the soa clearer.
~ wages shown are actually the amount Dh and I add to bill account.
~ Clothes, transport, gifts to each other and personal wants are from our individual personal money
~ overtime is shared pro-rota between bill account and personal spends
~ I get paid on a 4-4-5 basis, it was a nightmare to get used to but I have adjusted
~ I allow £60 a week for top up shops and fresh bits and pieces, it also covers any random bits and pieces.
~ anything I have left over I count as free money and use to pay down the loan or mortgage, for the next few months this money will be going to the emergency fund.
~ Ds pays keep money, I am saving this in separate regular savers. The plan is when he is ready to buy his own home there should be a nice pot of money for him. I do also consider this as SHTF money, only to be used as a last resort.
~ small change is collected in a pot, any change I have at the end of the week is also put in, as soon as I get to £10 it’s banked.
~ I use topcashback where possible and am half way to a payout on yougov surveys, this money is also banked.
~ buildings and contents is probably higher than it should be as I didn’t get my head out of the sand quick enough to shop around this year, so just went with the renewal price. I have divided this into 12 and will start saving for next year, any savings will be passes to EF or an overpayment.
~ water is ridiculously high, I have checked the SWW site to see if a meter is cheaper and it came out slightly more. I may have overestimated my usage and one of my plans for the future is to track usage.
~ Gas and electric I shop around for and am currently locked in to EDF for another year, this was purchased through the mse energy club.
~ Phone and internet is with plusnet, I hate shopping around for this as I don’t really understand it. I signed up to what looked like a good deal and am locked in till summer 2020. This is definitely an area where I need to do more research for next year.
~ I know there is quite a bit of room to cut back if necessary, but we are living at a level we are comfortable with and is sustainable.
I’m not going to weigh myself again for a while it’s just to depressing. But I did want to record my weight now, so that as I start to get back on track I will have a starting point.
Good luck with everything and i shall be following along and checking in with you on your journey. You got this!
**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~**
MFW. Finally mortgage free February 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
It starts with you, it starts from now. *** It is ok to be me.***
***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
Solicitor/survey savings 300/1700
Emergency fund 0/1000
Buffer fund 0/200
Not a great night sleep, last time I looked at the clock it was 1.30am, but I did get up at 7am; It was a struggle
I did potter around the house this morning in an effort to keep moving, which was productive - beds stripped and in the wash, washing up, and half of the floordrobe put away. Ds had sold a PlayStation game so I ended up with the job of meeting her (surprise), but it did mean I got into town early. Picked up a lottery ticket for tomorrow, trip to the library and a bit of shopping.
I also weighed myself, 15st 8 :eek::eek::eek: I don’t plan on dieting at the moment, but am hoping that my plan of getting of my backside more so that I can sleep better, may have a bonus result of losing a bit of weight. I can only hope :rotfl:
I’m also going to avoid using my tablet or kindle an hour before bed to see if this helps me sleep, so I picked up a couple of library books to unwind with.
Stayed moving when I finished work, Dh has a rotten cold so I cooked tea, finished hanging up the clothes and made Ds help me make the beds. I find stripping the beds first thing in the morning strangely satisfy, but making them back up in the evening an awful chore, I have yet to understand that one. I’ve just remembered I have some lavender spray somewhere I may spray the bed with that.
And the biggest achievement of the day - I remembered to take the mince out of the freezer for tomorrow’s tea :j:j:j:j:j yay me.
You've got this, you'll get to where you need to be, I'm proud of you for making the first plans to change. x
That’s kind of where I’m aiming to keep my mind set, going from survival mode to head-in-the- sand mode was probably some kind of coping/healing mechanism and that if i start to feel guilty or as if I failed then I’m just creating more problems for myself. This is also why I want to ease myself back into ‘normality’ (although to be fair I don’t think that’s ever been a word to describe me😉) if I try to do everything at once I think I am just going to overwhelm myself - I don’t want to set myself up for failure as i think that will set me back further.
Much better sleep last night, although I must have got up 4 times to go to the loo, I read that dehydration can cause sleep problems so I made a point to drink more yesterday. I may have gone to far the other way - oops.
Our emergency fund has been further depleted, we needed to buy a dehumidifier and pay the house insurance. Last autumn we took the old one apart, oiled it and managed to get another winter out of it, but by spring it was toofar gone. We don’t have a tumble dryer so dry our clothes upstairs, so it was an unfortunate but essential buy. The insurance was an extortionate amount but that is a result of how I have been ignoring things lately. It runs out at 12pm tonight, so I just paid the renewal amount - no shopping around no cash back what would Martin say?
“ my name is purple socks and I promise most Faithfully that in future I will shop around 3 weeks before renewal and use cash back sites” Am I forgiven?
On the plus side for the second night in a row I have remembered to take the meat out for the next days tea, and I had an NSD. 🥳
Despite being a lurker for several years I’ve never joined the NSD challenge, I think that may be one of my future goals. For the time being I think I’ll just practice.