Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Great idea about the advent calendar! Mse and less tat in the house. 

crunchy_time

Great money chat. Although he did look a bit bored towards the end. No arguing or shouting and it was done without the spreadsheet in front of me which is a massive change as usually he needs to see where there is room for manouver.  I was able to talk about specific pots and the plans for them. We have decided to stick to the £150 a week food budget and save what’s left Into an overflow pot on monzo.  Once the last £167 is paid off his credit card for house stuff and we have bought the last paint for the inside of the house we shall save an extra £100 a month each into our savings account to pay for all the other projects. We agreed it’s nice to save up and cost up projects. Garden landscaping is our next on the list in the spring as well as a wardrobe so this is a step forward. We also really want to get rid of this consumer debt as soon as possible to be free of it together, forever. I said that if we manage a frugal winter sticking to budgets then we are well on the way!
All in all positive. No angst. The prof is in the pudding though.

crunchy_time

Morning all! 

Anxiety is increasing over new national lockdown. I’m not worried about myself -just everyone else and that we are going to pay for this for years to come!
We can do this! We can do hard things. At least I don’t have to home school my kids this time. 

Anyway, I realised yesterday that I have made a boob of my figures on my signature. Husbands loan had about £3500 of interest added to it when he took it out earlier this year. I separated it from the totals as the plan is to pay this loan back early so this interest will reduce significantly during our repayment period. Once we have paid everything off the plan was to find out how much was left on the balance and then have a period of time paying off the interest that was left. 

I realised I didn’t do this for my loan. I took out £10k over 5 years which the bank calculated would have £907 if interest. So I am going to take this off and park for now.
Just for clarity, once the items in my signature are paid off we have the following to pay next:
£10,089 - car
£5,000 - Initial home improvements 
£4462 approx of interest - worse case scenario. This is for 2 loans over 5 years. 

Since it’s the 1st of the month I have taken off the minimum payments for each loan. Things look positive at the moment and we are slowly getting to grips with the consumer debt, but I know there is more to come. 

Plans today include being taken out to lunch by in laws so a no spend day here! Going to have a little tidy up as well and get ready for a tricky half term at school coming up.
hope everyone is happy and healthy!
crunchy xx

ohdearhowdidthathappen

You can check NI contributions on your government gateaway account if you have one

crunchy_time

Afternoon all
Stressful day at work today. First day after a holiday always is. Feeling a bit meh about lockdown number 2 but determine not to let it get to me and make the most out of it. 

I’ve been reading mr money moustache’s blog again hoping to pick up some sensible money tips and motivation to keep our outgoings as slim as possible and our wants few. I love his posts about his annual accounts. They are really inspiring. I was also reading a career book for women and a top tip was to only work for as much money as you need whilst your children are small. It sounds weird but my thinking for the last 4 years at least was to earn enough money to prove my worth despite being mother. I am a feminist and I never thought about ‘working for what you need’ it was always to earn As much as you can to prove to the patriarchy that you can do it. It’s given me a new perspective. 

Crunchy xx

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

I know what you mean @crunchy_time about earning and being a mum. I've got my career on hold but thinking of pushing more again. DD is 8 this week.

Never heard of this blog, will check it out! We've really looked at the food budget as it was out of control. Brought it in budget with 5 shops so pleased about that. Any not spent will go off the loan so really need to keep that up if it will be paid but the end of 2021.

crunchy_time

Evening all
Lockdown v2 officially started.  Started another box set - Orange is the new black.  An eye-opener.  7 seasons!
For the last 5 weeks or so I have been waking up with a headache and I think they may be tension headaches.  I then got worried because I don't know what to do about them.  I rolled my back with a ball and lots of tension would release.  I need to slow down and take stock sometimes.  Sometimes everything just gets on top of me and I find it hard to relax.
Anyway, back to money.  Just added up what bills were left to come out of the joint account and there was £50 left so slung that at the husband's loan.  I think we are overestimating how much we put in the joint account but I'm not changing it right now - I like being able to overpay in stages throughout the month and it is always there just in case.
I have ten days to do the next assignment for my course!!  Arghh!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Hi everyone!
First lockdown weekend nearly completed.  I actually feel well rested from not running around to children's clubs!  Husband is cooking a roast and I am on my second glass of wine celebrating Biden's win. 2020 just got a bit better eh?
I've been playing around with my spreadsheet and have a couple of things to report.
1) I've cancelled the vet subscription of £15 for dog's flea, worm, annual jab, nail clipping package.  He can't have his nails clipped - he gets too scared, we don't give the dog the kennel cough thing as he doesn't go into kennels and when we did he had a reaction to it.  It's just the annual jab and the flea and wormers I need to pay for so it's just not worth it.  
2) I'm replacing it with a health budget of £40 a month (there is some extra in the joint account every month so there is enough to cover the extra £25).  We went to the dentist this week and I had completely forgotten about how to pay for it.  It was £329 - check up and scale and polish for both adults and xrays for me - children are free.  This is private.  I was private all my life and I have had no fillings and my teeth are in excellent condition for a nearly 40 year old so its worth the money.  When I was NHS i wasn't happy.  We didn't have the money as it slipped my mind for the SOA so its on credit card.  What we shall do is use the £40 per month to pay it off and then save for the next one.  This health budget will also cover chiropractor appointments and opticians.
3) After being very good with the food budget its now gone a bit tight due to a few top up shops.  To be honest it was a rubbish week what with the election, lockdown and first week back after half term.  Husband and I are determined to make it through the month under £600.  
4)  I've cancelled my subscription to an exercise sub I wasn't really using costing £11 a month freeing up a bit of money. Its been replaced by a teaching resource at £5 a month but I'm going to download everything I need and then close it so freeing up more money.
5) I've decided not to buy any more clothes for the rest of the year and make do with what I have.  I have a lot and don't need anything considering we are in lockdown I'm not going anywhere or doing anything.  There is no need to upgrade anything and make the most of what I have!
6) I've started looking ahead to 2021 and what our financial plans are.  Probably should do a review of the year to put it in perspective.  My year runs different from others as I have a birthday in early December so I get started about a month early than anyone who has year resolutions.
Anyway, husband is calling me for dinner so I had better go!
Happy Sunday!!
Crunchy xx

Sarahwithlove

Good plan with the vet and health stuff I think it will work better for you by sounds of it. I've been thinking about my yearly roundup and its crazy to look back at it all. 

crunchy_time

I've had to trawl through my old diaries to find out what the debt looked like last year as so much has changed.  On the 6th February it was £18,642
On 1st Dec it will be £13,450 - this is including the £5000 for house renovations that I am currently not calculating in my signature but I was earlier in the year.  I'm breaking it down into chunks.
So a nice £5k drop which is good.  I'm hoping for a lot more next year!
Not 100% sure how I am going to get there though.  It feels like a mountain to climb!!