Here’s to the future...

CreditCardJunkie

Hi! Well done on the debt busting so far! My budget advice if planning for a baby is to make sure you can cover all your bills (including gifts etc) comfortably on whatever your maternity pay will be so that you don't have to borrow. For me this meant handing back my lease car. I actually managed to clear my personal debt whilst on statutory maternity pay by doing lots of mystery shopping, KIT days and a little freelancing. We have a little joint debt to clear as a result of not having enough of an emergency fund while I was off (it seemed everything that could go wrong did go wrong £600 to fix my car, vet bills, needed a new boiler!). I think for me the biggest thing was accepting that there was no quick fix, its commitment and determination needed! Good luck 😊

Scloud

This is such a good point CreditCardJunkie. Maternity leave worries are my main motivator in helping me to focus on getting the debt down. I hadn't factored in KIT days which is such a great point - I will keep them out of my budget so that I can get some nice extra surprises along the way. At the moment we will be fine for the first 4 months of maternity leave. It is month 6 onwards that we will really struggle as my wage drops to SMP and I am the highest earner. I hope to take between 7 - 9 months off. 

My current approach is to get the debt down as much as possible whilst building a small emergency fund as this will help to lower the minimum payments for the months our income plummets. I'm also thinking of nursery payments once back at work and needing to make sure we have enough after outgoings to cover this comfortably. 
When we find out we are pregnant then I think I will switch to saving as much as possible whilst paying the minimum payments to cover the shortfall for those months. It's quite stressful but I regret so much about my debt and don't want it to get in the way of starting a family and I am getting towards my mid 30s. 

It's great to hear that you managed it - and yes - quick fix mentality got me here but it's not going to help me to climb out of this hole! 

Lookafterthepennies2020

Hi scloud
just stumbled across your diary and will be following along as someone who got into most of her debt whilst on maternity it’s a really good plan you have got going lol x 

Scloud

Thanks @Lookafterthepennies2020 - I can totally see how people get into debt on maternity leave. It's not a time that you have a lot of space to focus on money worries I am sure! 

Scloud

Last few card statements of the month came in today and we have now reduced our debt by £6210 so thats 16% paid off. 

I've been starting to feel a little worried about the quarantine lifting and being able to do more things. I hate to say no to events partly because I don't want to miss out but also because I don't want to be held back due to money worries. I am very much in the mindset of got to spend all of my money and have been so unrestrained when it comes to spending money I don't have because the impulse was stronger. It happens with big things like holidays but also smaller things like a half pint turns into getting a meal at the pub because every one was and I felt hungry and like I deserved to be able to afford that meal too. 

This month I have noticed a bit of a pattern of us overspending in certain budgets and dipping into an overdraft or finding a way or excuse to cover it. I've decided to take the approach that I have taken to dieting when it comes to cutting the budget which is - not do it! When I restrict the budget I find that I spend way more almost as a reflex. So I am slightly increasing the budget to somewhere I feel comfortable and giving myself the target to stay within that budget first and hopefully start to become comfortable with having a few pounds left over at the end of the month. This is going to be a long journey so I need to get comfy for it! (Note: giving myself a bit more spending money is coming from my wage and will not come from credit at all - of course!) 

Target for July: 
Increase food shopping budget from £180 for the month to £250.
All food spends to come from this food budget (including little extras / coffees etc).
Shop weekly (no more large start of month shops that we will make last - we do not make these last). 

savingholmes

Hi - well done on your progress so far. Have you tried posting an SOA to get an idea on where other people make savings?

Scloud

I have avoided doing a SOA so far because I'm not sure I want to face the situation in such stark clarity but I think I will do today. Thanks @savingholmes for the prompt to do so! 

Lookafterthepennies2020

Scloud said:

Thanks @Lookafterthepennies2020 - I can totally see how people get into debt on maternity leave. It's not a time that you have a lot of space to focus on money worries I am sure! 

I think my issue was that as stupid as it seems I never sat back and thought, right my money is reducing my outgoings need to also..I wanted to be out of the house as much as possible so would walk into town, go to cafes etc.  I was the main earner and  I just kept spending as usual and then all of a sudden I had nothing to pay on basics even shopping and electric etc.  I ended up getting in a horrible payday loan cycle but thankfully it's all in the past

Lookafterthepennies2020

Scloud said:

Last few card statements of the month came in today and we have now reduced our debt by £6210 so thats 16% paid off. 

I've been starting to feel a little worried about the quarantine lifting and being able to do more things. I hate to say no to events partly because I don't want to miss out but also because I don't want to be held back due to money worries. I am very much in the mindset of got to spend all of my money and have been so unrestrained when it comes to spending money I don't have because the impulse was stronger. It happens with big things like holidays but also smaller things like a half pint turns into getting a meal at the pub because every one was and I felt hungry and like I deserved to be able to afford that meal too. 

This month I have noticed a bit of a pattern of us overspending in certain budgets and dipping into an overdraft or finding a way or excuse to cover it. I've decided to take the approach that I have taken to dieting when it comes to cutting the budget which is - not do it! When I restrict the budget I find that I spend way more almost as a reflex. So I am slightly increasing the budget to somewhere I feel comfortable and giving myself the target to stay within that budget first and hopefully start to become comfortable with having a few pounds left over at the end of the month. This is going to be a long journey so I need to get comfy for it! (Note: giving myself a bit more spending money is coming from my wage and will not come from credit at all - of course!) 

Target for July: 
Increase food shopping budget from £180 for the month to £250.
All food spends to come from this food budget (including little extras / coffees etc).
Shop weekly (no more large start of month shops that we will make last - we do not make these last). 

You seem to have a good plan for next month, I have switched to weekly shops and it seems to make a massive difference (I am only in week two    I tended to do a big shop (£150ish) then lots of top ups throughout the weeks and I haven't even dare to work out how much I was spending in food. I now do a meal plan with what I have in and go every saturday and it seems to be a lot better, when everything is getting a bit sparse there's usually only a day or two to go so I have been using up cupboard bits and bats! I think the food shop is a major spend for most people so it's great your trying to get on top of it ! x

Scloud

@Lookafterthepennies2020. It's funny how simple things such as a weekly shop and meal planning can make such a difference isn't it! We have found the same - if we know the shopping is coming in the next day or two we can manage without popping to the co-op for extra food. With the monthly shop we still only seemed to by enough meals for one week and the extra shops were just out of control! On the plus side - we are well stocked for beans and chopped tomotoes thanks to months of big unplanned shops!