A debt diary with a newly-aquired Yorkshire accent!

pandapaws

Good luck for the last day at work, getting settled in, and for all the plans! You'll be pleased to know that - so far - it is a lovely day up here, no fog, and not too cold either!

Have a great Christmas in your new home!
x

Milly1974

Blimming 'eck, it's been busy!

I've just decided to take a break from clearing up. We had friends over for dinner last night, and then 3 extras turned up, so we have glasses for 7 all over the place, not to mention all the mucky pots and pans. OH was supposed to be cleaning up, but he has just come down with man-flu (although he is calling it bird-flu after meeting some chickens last night!) :rolleyes:

Christmas was great and hasn't been too awful money wise. I've sold the OH on meal-planning and cheap shopping, which should mean I can rein that side of it in. :money: We have even agreed that alcohol does not come as part of food shopping, which is a huge bonus, as he drinks far more than I do.

Have been sorting out the house loads, as renting a furnished place I NEED to clean all the furniture before I can use it. Really difficult as well when I don't have a hoover with any attachments, meaning I can't hoover nooks and crannies. Being someone who hates spiders, I really can't just put a duster through a spider web to clear it, it has to be hoovered up. Any suggestions anyone?

So now it is just a case of waiting to start work on Wednesday. Happy New Year Everyone! :beer:

Milly1974

Well I'm back at work with a vengeance! Going OK so far, but the first few days are always boring while computer training goes on. Eurgh!
On the plus side, I am finally getting money on from the OH! :T:beer::D I was starting to get a bit worried as if I didn't get something soon, I would end up having to extend the overdraft until I get paid. My pay date has moved back a week as well, from the 20th to the 27th. Just hope that everything goes through OK with my first pay packet...

I managed to excape the flu as well!

Today I need to:
- Get a clothes airer, as our current drying tactics are getting silly
- Try to find a door curtain for the back door
- Tidy up the bedrooms

Wish me luck!

Milly1974

Now then!

Well good god things have changed in 10 weeks. The new job I started on the 2nd Janary turned out to be a living hell, but (and this has to be a miracle) someone left my old company and they have taken me on in their office up here. I don't think I have ever been more glad to leave a job. I was practically dancing around the office in my notice period.

So now, apart from the fact that I will be paid this month by cheque on the last day in March, then regularly by BACS on the 20th again from April, everything is pretty much settled down. So here is what you have all been waiting for (yeah right). My SOA!

Joint account (For everything for the house)
Income from me - £500 a month
Income from himself - £100 a week
Total average per month - £933

Outgoings
Rent - £425
Contents Insurance - £10.74
Electricity - £43.00
Phone Line - £10.50
Virgin Media (Broadband and calls) - £19.00 average
Council Tax (from April over 10) - £120.00
Coal - £20.00 ish
Water (over 8) - £27.40
Food/Cleaning etc - £150 - 200
Total - £875.64

Thats the first time I have added it all up, and I'm quite impressed. I know the food could be better, but I am fussy about shopping locally, buying organic/free range/fair trade where I can. I don't eat meat myself, but himself does and I refuse to allow him to eat badly cared for animals, so 100 sausages for 50p type food is off the menu!

I think the area where I am let down will be my own personal budget. I know I am not as disciplined as I should be, and I am terrible at 'treating myself' if I am having a bad week! Hopefully though, I have put a couple of things in place that will make me better. I gave up buying food at work for lent, which I have almost entirely stuck to, and which has hopefully got me into the good habit of taking work to lunch.

Also, I have been accepted for a 0% card to transfer my current balance to. I am terrible with one of my cards in that as I am already paying interest, I get very lazy and use it and then I don't get anywhere in paying it off. The current 0% card I have means that I have never used that card, because I know it would be a bad thing to do.

So,

Incoming
£1500 ish

Outgoing
£500 - Joint Account
£250 - Season ticket to work
£150 - Towards mortgage on my flat (currently let out)
£12.30 - Life insurance
£23.50 - Repayment on Sofa in flat (0%)
£25.49 - Car Insurance
£22.00 - Mobile (will probably get rid of this when contract ends in a couple of months)
£50.00 - Petrol (sometimes more)
£150.00 - Towards cards (quidco/topcashback also goes towards cards)
Which leaves me with about £315 that seems to disappear each month. I know that I have spent about £64 on some clothes for himself, curtains and an outfit for me this month, as well as having bought more petrol than usual, and some parts for the car. Overtime covered the actual MOT mostly, but I still seem to be really rubbish with money. I can track it and know where it goes, but I still seem to spend it!

OK, thats enough for now I think. Going for a bike ride with himself now!

bank_of_slate

Hi Milly
Have you tried keeping a spending diary? It really helps to show where that money disappears to...snacks, lunch, drinks, magazines etc
worked for me
...Linda xx = fellow Yorkshire peep

kunekune

If you are back with your old company, is there any way you can get them to reverse the deduction they did for the training course?

Keeping_Positive

Link to spending diary http://www.spendingdiary.com/ that might help.

Milly1974

kunekune wrote: »

If you are back with your old company, is there any way you can get them to reverse the deduction they did for the training course?

I hadn't thought of that, I had completely forgotten about it! Good idea! I could try, but then I would have to try to continue the course. While it would probably be a good idea in the long run, at the moment I want to spend my free time making friends around here and spending time with himself. That is the major reason I moved here! For the moment, I've got enough on my plate outside work without spending hours studying.

bank_of_slate wrote: »

Hi Milly
Have you tried keeping a spending diary? It really helps to show where that money disappears to...snacks, lunch, drinks, magazines etc
worked for me
...Linda xx = fellow Yorkshire peep

I think the real problem isn't keeping a spending diary. I know where the money goes, but I still spend when I don't think I really should. I didn't technically need new curtains, but as I really hate my landlady's taste in chintz, I wanted them. I didn't spend a lot, and I had the money, but I should probably have paid the money off one of my cards instead.

I know I should just be glad to be making progress, but I get frustrated that it is such slow progress!

Milly1974

Well do you want the good news or the bad news?

The good news is that hopefully the bad news will be sorted out quickly.

The bad news is that the couple letting my flat have split up, he has left and she now has to try to claim benefit. Kind of worried, as I will now not be getting rent for a while, and if nothing is sorted by the end of April it could get ugly.

Does anyone know anything about claiming housing benefit? How does it work and how long does it take? I am assuming that a young mum with a baby of about 5 months shouldn't have any problems claiming?

I'm sure someone on here will know more about this than I do! Help!

Milly1974

It never rains but it pours, eh!

Himself just got made redundant from his job of 5 months.

You really couldn't make it up, could you?