Finding the way through a £100k hole

PurpleFairy26

You seem to be attacking it well. However, there doesn’t seem any point putting all your day to day spending on a CC like Aqua (even if you are paying it off in full). If you had ‘better’ cards that were giving you cash back of points I could see the point of this but you’d be best to try and not spend on the cards at all and just spend from current account so you can distinguish the two.

Well done on all the other changes you are making.

Isitdoable

PurpleFairy26 wrote: »

You seem to be attacking it well. However, there doesn’t seem any point putting all your day to day spending on a CC like Aqua (even if you are paying it off in full). If you had ‘better’ cards that were giving you cash back of points I could see the point of this but you’d be best to try and not spend on the cards at all and just spend from current account so you can distinguish the two.

Well done on all the other changes you are making.

Yes, I agree with you Purple Fairy....it started because it was the only one I had, but was a bad habit to get in to, and one I am going to stop now!

Isitdoable

A cc update for the end of Jan - or 'Feb' as I have listed it in my spreadsheet as this is where I am going to log where I am (the first of every month)

AMEX 6279
AQUA 51
BARCLAYCARD 6579
NATIONWIDE 4472
CAPITAL 1 0

TOTAL 17381

As I logged above, the Aqua card was paid in full. I have essentially now drawn our whole salary and paid the Cap 1 card off, and £500 off the AMEX. They were both due, and at high APRs I wanted to get them cleared. These are the three highest APR cards so this had to be done.

The Barclaycard has gone up slightly as I forgot I paid my Next account with it (talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul!). I have already made well over the minimum payment on this as I ended up using it for a work expense which was paid straight back). But as the now highest APR I want to try and chip away at that some more before the end of the month.

I appreciate I am lucky to be in a position I can do this, but the simple fact is, I HAVE to start reducing what I draw from the business, so now I am in a position, where I have to find money for the rest of our bills. So it is a little bit skewed this month, as I've piled some cash at the cards, in the hope of juggling the rest of the month.

Five high-ish value baby items going on EBay tomorrow. I am going to put another on FB marketplace as it is bulky and needs to be collected.

Sent an email to the company who can collect and value OH's collectibles. I'm just waiting to hear back from them.

Tax returns done. The good-ish news is that OH has a £1500 rebate and I have no liability. I say good-ish as this means our accounts weren't as good as we hoped, but I always forget by the time you do your tax return they are quite historic so are not a reflection of the profit making improvements we have made. I am however, feeling very under pressure right now, because if we don't sustain profit there are some hard decisions to be made, which I would rather not make The rebate I suspect will go towards our living costs this month, but I guess 'technically' they have been taken off our debts, as I made a massive dent in them.

I did a small Aldi shop today - there were some silly bits we needed, I really have to start getting savvy with Aldi as the cost saving is massive - I just need to work out exactly what to buy there. I went frugal with everything, as I want to try out the own brand products and see where the substitutions can be made and keep everyone happy.

Virgin and M&S cards are on the way. First thing to do will be the transfer the full balance of OH's Barclaycard as that is not a great APR and then we will see where we are with other balances.

Isitdoable

I've had a wobble this morning. Felt very overwhelmed trying to put it to the back of my mind.

Virgin Money card arrived this morning. Have transferred the full balance of OH Barclaycard on to that. So that is £4423.91 that is now 0% instead of 26%

PurpleFairy26

When I started shopping at a1di and l1dl I wrote a list of what I bought regularly and the price in each (and other sm I also shopped in) then when I wrote my list at home wrote my list under 2 shops based on price. Then when I was in there I wasn’t second guessing if it was the cheapest but also only buying what I needed and getting distracted by other ‘cheap’ things which aren’t cheap if you don’t need them!

Don’t worry about the wobble, there will be days like that. You’ve done so well so far. The BT is a good result.

Moneywhizz

Just had a read through your diary and gosh I feel kind of stressed reading about all the juggling you are doing. I know it must be hard when you are self-employed but it would be so much less stressful if you could fix your monthly salaries and then work out a monthly budget from there. You do seem to still be robbing Peter to pay Paul and I don't know how you can keep track of it all. If you set your salary at a certain amount then you would have to work to that amount. This would then allow you to see clearly if the business is making the profit that you need to draw a salary, pay the HMRC debt and start making plans for the future regarding savings, pensions, home ownership etc. I would sit down and work out a detailed monthly budget, that is realistic and includes pots for Christmas, holidays, presents and anything else you can think of. It might also help to take a weekly cash amount out for food shopping. You obviously really want to get on top of this and are working very hard to do that. I think you just need to find a better way of managing your finances to ease some of the stress that you are under right now. Will be popping into see how you are doing if you need any help with setting a budget.

missymoo81

Hey isitdoable, I’ve just read your whole diary. And your life sounds a lot like mine! I run my own business with OH and we both work stupid hours and have 2 children. It’s really hard to fit all of these money saving things in. But I’ve found it just takes organisation, well a whole lot of organisation, and preempting things. I shop at Lidl, v much like aldi and the shop is so much smaller than Tesco etc, I can whizz round it in 20 minutes. Whilst the kiddies are in the bath I make a mental note I’d meals to eat in the week then write them down and now shop once a week, which has saved loads. I also try and do things whilst dinner is cooking, I’ll cook something easy and quick (and healthy) for the children and whilst they’re eating and I’m chatting to them, I’m cooking my dinner and unloading the dishwasher, making packed lunches etc. Often the thought of doing these things and how much time they’ll take is actually far worse than the actual doing of them. Hope that all helps a little. Hope business no.2 gets off the ground well for you.

Isitdoable

Thank you everyone for popping in. It is very stressful at times, but then I tell myself, it's only money. I have my wonderful family and children, we are healthy and happy, and money can't buy that.

I have read more of my book this weekend 'The Millionaire Next Door'. Loving it, inspiring and fascinating in equal measure. One of the take aways I have got from the book is about allocating time to spend on managing your finances. In that spirit, I have already spent time today going over every spend this weekend. I intend to make that a daily habit. I find when I am keeping a strict record of everything it keeps me accountable.

This weekend -

1. Littlest child needed shoes, found £250 of vouchers we had previously won (I'd forgotten about them). They can be used in a variety of shops so I used them for the shoes (not all of them! £25!). Win!
2. Did all the ironing again to avoid the 25 ironing bill!
3. I've done a online food shop. I have a ridiculously busy week ahead and I simply do not have time for an Aldi visit this week. I've steered clear of branded stuff, shopping the offers and stocked up on all dried goods, freezer and cleaning items. All came to £95 which is a big chunk of the budget I've given myself but I feel well stocked on basics.

This week, I am hoping...

- to get some eBay sales to go in the pot!
- to get the collectibles collected
- to spend nothing unnecessary....I feel I will be too busy for frivolity but writing it down helps me stay strict
- to have some new business bank accounts open, which will assist with budgeting and planning (dividing the money into physical pots will make it easier to manage I think. And see where the money is going).

Isitdoable

A quick check in today, before I continue working. Today has been productive. Exercised this morning, then into the office. Got plenty done. Took my laptop and worked while I waited for my eldest to finish his after school class.

I've just gone through my receipts, and I forgot two spends - one lot of toiletries from Boots (at least I got the club card points), and I bought my son a MacDonalds at the weekend (partly bribery, partly we were running late and he was hungry!). This just goes to show how money just seeps away when you're not watching! I've never been this strict with myself....I'm enjoying it and also kicking myself realising I could have done this my entire adult life and saved myself a lot of trouble, but at least I can hopefully now teach my children some good habits. I've added them on and I am tallying up as I go.

There are 26 lines in my diary...I am challenging myself not to fill them over the month (i.e. have plenty of no spend days). I know some people like things like YNAB but I can't get on with it, and I like a physical visual in front of me, it just seems to work better for my brain.

Isitdoable

Not too much to update, as tomorrow I will do a real round up of my finances for the week, but popped in to check out the new forum and I haven't updated for a few days.
Its been a little spendy as I had two family birthdays and a birthday party for a friend of my eldest.  But all kept under control, no wild spending.
I've just checked and I have nearly £200 of cash back on my AMEX card.  I have used it for some incidental spends this month as it is a cash back card, but with the intention of paying those all off in full, plus obviously extra to bring the balance down.

Disappointment on the tax return front for OH, as his rebate is actually only £400 but its better than a kick up the bum!  I've also transferred £900 of his Lloyds card onto the new M&S 0% one.  This Lloyds card is now down to just over £1000.  Now when we first met 10 years ago it sat at over £12k so to pay this off in full is going to feel like an immense achievement I know it!!