A debt diary with a newly-aquired Yorkshire accent!

miss_corerupted

i'll try not very good at this thou, just read your diary

hopefully the bad luck is over now so good times ahead

mayb you and oh could go for a walk ?? i find a walk makes me feel beter and i sleep better, it's free and i hear yorkshire is nice for walking.

Milly1974

Hi Miss, and thanks for your thoughts. A walk would be lovely, but as it hasn't stopped raining all day, it would be more like a wade right now!

Picked up my breadmaker today, and have made my first loaf. Looks like it hasn't risen too well, but the flour I used was a bit old. Have bought some fresh flour today so will give that a go tomorrow. :j

Have got my mum coming to stay in a couple of weeks. I know that I shouldn't worry, but I think I will have to commit to a couple of weeks of fly-lady to get the house looking mother-friendly. Not sure I can face that level of cleaning intensity though, it has never been my strong point! Maybe scrub the bathroom top to bottom tomorrow though, get a head start.

Anyway, it is getting late and I have had enough for one day. Going to try some of my bread, put some laundry on for cheap electricity and then head to bed. :A

Night all!

Milly1974

Good heavens, I am really rubbish at keeping this up-to-date!

Well my parents were around this weekend, and everything went well and they had a nice time. Only blip on the radar was that on Friday night about 4pm a friend of ours arrived on the doorstep because his missus had thrown him out with the aid of a court order. Complete full house followed, with our friend having to sleep in the conservatory!

This time last week, we had an inspection from the letting agents, just to check we haven't trashed the place. We gave them a list of the things that need fixing by the landlady, including the rotting front door, leaking kitchen sink and toilet. They promptly called back 2 days later saying that the landlady wants us to either sign up for a new fixed term (complete with £60 admin fee) or she wants to raise the rent. Tempted to call their bluff and say that we will not be signing a new agreement and if she raises the rent we will look elsewhere. Maybe offer that we will sign a fixed term once the work is completed. In fact, I think I will give that a go now.

Update you in a bit!

Milly1974

Oooh I do like the odd bit of hard negotiation! Agents will speak to landlady and come back to me.

Now, while I have some peace and quiet, I think I will do a bit of tallying of where what money has gone this month. So from 20th March to 14th April we have spent....

Tesco - £167.41 - Thoroughly unimpressed with myself on this one. Although, when I consider that about £40 was on alcohol I allowed OH to have, and I had to buy new pillows for my parents to stay, actual food was probably nearer £120, which isn't quite as awful.

Petrol - £155.20 - Not too bad, as I only filled up on Saturday which will last a good way into next month, and himself still has plenty of petrol.

Cash - £50 - I hate when I take out cash, as I never know where it goes to. I know £20 was spent on a taxi when we were stranded 10 miles from home on the motorbike in a blizzard. The rest just disappears. Must stop doing this.

Little bits for me - £14.22 - This I am happy with. This breaks down into 3 little treats for me and one for my OH, just to brighten up the month.

So I think the next few days will be grocery challenge type days. I have a fair amount of ingredients and whatnot in the cupboard, so I want to go until Friday (payday) without buying any more food. Think will need to crack down on the alcohol next month as well. Had a grace period this month as did not have council tax coming out due to council being rubbish, but did agree with OH that he buys his own alcohol. Gave him some leeway this month as could afford it and he has just given up smoking, but need to be stricter next month.

Right, think it is now time to kick him out of bed! Needs to get himself sorted to go with our friend to the solicitor today.

Milly1974

Haven't updated for a while, but tonight I need to have a rant. Hope no-one minds.

(Have deleted this rant, as I want to forget about it and move on! Milly 30/5)

iwanttosavemoney2008

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.

does this mean you can get back the £300 for your training you did???
worth asking

Milly1974

Right. I'm back, and this time I mean business!

Got myself very very down over the last few months and came quite close to breaking point from the stress, but OH has got himself a job and I can now take my head out of the sand. The situation got a bit pants, but hopefully we are now on the way back up.

New resolve, New SOA methinks.

Household

Joint account (For everything for the house)
Income from me - £500 a month
Income from himself - £400 a month (Not yet re-negotiated, but seems fair)
Total per month - £900

Outgoings
Rent - £425
Contents Insurance - £10.74
Electricity - £43.00
Phone Line - £10.50
Virgin Media (Broadband and calls) - £25.00 average
Council Tax (from April over 9) - £135.00
Coal - Nothing in Summer.
Water - Currently not being taken. Already had £20 rebate this year!
Food/Cleaning etc - £200
Total - £849.24

My Money

Incoming
£1264 (Now have season ticket taken direct from wages)

Outgoing
£500 - Joint Account
£160 - Towards mortgage + insurance on my flat (currently let out)
£12.30 - Life insurance
£23.50 - Repayment on Sofa in flat (0%)
£25.53 - Car Insurance
£5.00 - Mobile (now on PAYG)
£60.00 - Petrol (sometimes more)
£100.00 - Towards cards
Remainder - Tend to allow myself a couple of treats a month, which usually consist of fabric for house-based projects, magazines or Pret coffee (naughty but oh so nice!) and the rest will go to the overdraft.

Obviously this will need re-jigging, and I need a session of separating my accounts again, as it all got muddled over the last three months.

So, the cards currently stand at
Citi - £463.24 - 0% until August
Egg - £1927.38 - 0% until I'm-not-sure-when
O/D - £600 ish - Dipped into at the end of the month. 15.9%

So here it is Ladies and Gents. Please rip me to shreds, as I am ready for it! :rotfl:

Milly1974

Today's good points:

- £20 coming through from Quidco that I have been waiting since September for.
- Should have 5 hours of overtime being paid to me this month.
- Went to the pub and only spent £5 last night. :beer:
- If have not received refund for train tickets on Friday, can ring yet again and go really mad at them. :mad:
- Have got my brother visiting this weekend for a few days or so.
- Have not spent money on lunch this week.
- Am going to go to DIY shop and get some dowel for a frame to make a rug this evening, which will give me something fun to do.
- Have a freezer stuffed full of home made meals from this weekend.

Think that will do for positive MSE thoughts for the day!:rotfl:

Keeping_Positive

Hi Milly

Good to see you back. SOA looks good. Its important to get a balance of clearing debt but still having a life. The £5 spend, £20 quidco and overtime will all add up.

Well done on the homemade meals Im not doing to well at planning meals at the moment.

Milly1974

Hi KP.

I was still lurking over the last three months, I just knew that there wasn't anything I could really do to make our situation any better, and that any posts I made would be soooo depressing! Thanks for the 'welcome back' though.

Positive thoughts for today:

- Have received 51p in interest on my current account for the last month, which will be paid off my credit card. Every little helps and all that.
- Had free lunch today and yesterday.
- Have got free entertainment tonight helping prepare for village fair.
- OH is making dinner for me tonight. Already requested tomatoes on toast, but the thought definately counts!

M x