Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

crunchy_time

Quick update...
I needed to buy a relative a birthday present but already had something at home so have slushed the value of it towards the loan - £15 - unexpected money.
Also, it looks like we will  have about £150 left in the joint account at the end of the month but I'm going to leave it there for now as it's a five-week month so we may need to dip into it for food.  Hopefully not but I'd rather I had something.
I feel like I'm getting angry at this debt now which is the right way to tackle it.  I'm trying to find unexpected money all the time now and really considering my purchases and socialising options - they are limited anyway but walks around the village with garden drinks afterwards is a great way forward in this current climate.
I've been sent a tax code from HMRC so hopefully my next pay packet will not be overtaxed and I shall get a refund in the next few months.
I need to think about what to do for the husbands special birthday coming up.  We have a big holiday booked for next year (at the moment at least) but will need a gift and something to do.  Thankfully he is not a big party sort of a guy but still must get my thinking cap on.
Crunchy xx

enthusiasticsaver

Nothing wrong with getting angry with debt.  It holds most people back.  Beating yourself up about it is not great either though so find a balance between being angry enough with it to determine you won't go into high unsecured debt again and looking for constructive ways to bring it down without being so impatient and depressed about it you give up as it is too hard and will take a long time to get it paid off. 
Suggesting a few drinks in your garden for your DH and his mates sounds like a good compromise.  I agree that it will be busy this weekend and good for your DH deciding not to sink all his money on beer too. 

crunchy_time

enthusiasticsaver said:

Nothing wrong with getting angry with debt.  It holds most people back.  Beating yourself up about it is not great either though so find a balance between being angry enough with it to determine you won't go into high unsecured debt again and looking for constructive ways to bring it down without being so impatient and depressed about it you give up as it is too hard and will take a long time to get it paid off. 
Suggesting a few drinks in your garden for your DH and his mates sounds like a good compromise.  I agree that it will be busy this weekend and good for your DH deciding not to sink all his money on beer too. 

You are right.  I also have a house to paint and furnish and make into a home so I have to find balance somewhere.
Sinking money on beer always feels like a good idea at the time but he always regrets it.  What is it about guys and having to keep up with their mates?  Or is it just my husband?

Sarahwithlove

crunchy_time said:

enthusiasticsaver said:

Nothing wrong with getting angry with debt.  It holds most people back.  Beating yourself up about it is not great either though so find a balance between being angry enough with it to determine you won't go into high unsecured debt again and looking for constructive ways to bring it down without being so impatient and depressed about it you give up as it is too hard and will take a long time to get it paid off. 
Suggesting a few drinks in your garden for your DH and his mates sounds like a good compromise.  I agree that it will be busy this weekend and good for your DH deciding not to sink all his money on beer too. 

You are right.  I also have a house to paint and furnish and make into a home so I have to find balance somewhere.
Sinking money on beer always feels like a good idea at the time but he always regrets it.  What is it about guys and having to keep up with their mates?  Or is it just my husband?

Definitely a guy thing and worse at a pun with footy on 

crunchy_time

Afternoon all,
i was going to go for a run but I’ve just got off a rather harrowing work call (child safeguarding) so having a sly gin in a tin on the sofa. The run would of course been a better options but still waiting for husband to get off his work phone call so I can’t leave the children.
I need to work on my own problems so I don’t get drowned feeling awful about other people’s problems.
There was £25 left in my bank account after my bills went out yesterday and I’m wondering what to do with it. We could do with some picture frames so I think I might buy some of those as a treat rather than slush it on debt. But it is technically unexpected money which should technically go on the loan. Dilemma.

Other thoughts for the day are that I have started planning decorating the kids bedrooms and also starting thinking about Christmas and autumn when three of us have birthdays and husband will have his special one. I’m considering 40 gifts on the day of various values would be bettter than one expensive present. I found a few ideas on Pinterest and going to start planning now. The sooner the better as we always seem to get a bit speedy in the latter half of the year and I want to avoid that going forward.
a budget of £200 should be plenty but I am hopeful I can get some meaningful presents for less than that. Also - where on earth can I store these things where he can’t find them? 

Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Just rounded down all my husband's accounts and chucked another £6 at the loan!
Crunch xx

crunchy_time

Morning all
We had a lovely morning out at the zoo yesterday. It’s our local zoo and we have been there many times over the last 5 years and I was pleased to support it after these tricky times. I don’t think we will go back again though. I think my two have outgrown it and are ready for other things. It cost £80 and we saw some lovely animals but it cost £80 for us. I’m not too bothered about the money for a day out......but we were there for three hours!!! Ah well, I’ve done my bit. It’s made me think about things that will entertain my two as day trips now they are 8 and nearly 6. Really must make a list for the summer holidays.

Just under two weeks until payday! This year is going so fast! Must slow down and enjoy it rather than be thinking about the future all the time.
 Going to finish a few house jobs today and then take kids for a bike ride followed by a work out. Husband is taking the tiles down from the bathroom today so that’s going to be a bit messy. 

Anyway,not much re report other than husband made potato cakes for breakfast with left over mashed potatoes! Frugal and green!!
Happy Sunday everyone!
Crunchy xx

missymoo81

Hey crunchy, sounds like the zoo was nice but you’re right children grow out of these things and £80 is a lot! I hoe you managed to get some jobs done.

crunchy_time

Afternoon all
I haven't got a lot of paid work to do today so I am relaxing a bit as other days can be better.  Only half way through homeschooling my one child who is home though so must crack on with that in a bit.
Haven't made anymore payments towards the loan yet.  we have had to buy a few things like printer cartridges so I am waiting for those payments to clear and get a bit more through the month before I can do any slushing.  No unexpected money either.
The children are going off to stay with grandparents this weekend (support bubble) so husband is going to crack on with the bathroom whilst I get some organising done.  One of my jobs is to go around the house looking for things to sell/get rid of.  The other job is to start my ultimate organisation binder so we get super organised with things to do with the house, finances etc etc.  If I get time I might start some sewing. Ha ha!  
In all honesty I might start the planning for the organisation binder tonight to get a head start.
Everyday, I am asking myself the question 'what can I do today to get our debt down?' Today the answer was to have a use up weekend of food from the freezer and cupboards.  It's just the husband and I which makes it a bit easier.  I have provisionally booked at sains delivery slot for Sunday night so we have to get through until then.  I feel ready to try home delivery again after several weeks of A ldi.  I think it will make us more frugal as we can see what we are spending and it makes us plan our meals better.
I haven't heard from our house painter but then the weather has been rubbish and I did say to him that we want it down by the end of the summer so we are flexible.  It's going to cost about £1850 ish and so far we have £300.  When I get paid it will be another £300 and perhaps some more.  My £600 tax rebate will need to go towards it too.
Anyway, enough rambling from me!  Time to do some homeschooling.
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Evening all!
First stop tonight in organisational weekend is doing an SOA.  I know everyone loves an SOA - here is mine!

Household Information[/b]

Number of adults in household........... 2

Number of children in household......... 2

Number of cars owned.................... 2

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 1150

Partners monthly income after tax....... 4050

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0

Total monthly income.................... 5200

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 1136

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 186

Electricity............................. 90 (This is for the winter months - during the summer its £54 a month - still budgeting the extra to slush the deficit towards the debt.

Gas..................................... 0

Oil..................................... 50 (we have half a tank currently unused and £200 in a savings account ready for the the payment.  I may be overbudgeting for this so if I am, the deficit will go towards the debt.

Water rates............................. 26 (we don't pay sewerage as we have our own tank which was emptied last year for £150 and won't need doing this year.  I usually save the Feb/march council tax money to pay for this.  Must get some insurance or maintenance agreement for the pump/tank though - ON LIST!!

Telephone (land line)................... 71.5  But it was £59 last month.  I must ring up and check we are getting the best deal.  This is for a phone we don't use because you need a landline and the best internet we can afford.  We don't have many options for comparison as we live in the sticks but always keeping an eye on developments in our area.

Mobile phone............................ 38 - just mine as husbands is a work one.

TV Licence.............................. 11.39

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 0

Groceries etc. ......................... 550

Clothing................................ 250 - non-negotiable and for two growing kids too.

Petrol/diesel........................... 200 

Road tax................................ 11

Car Insurance........................... 40 - for two cars

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 275 - hopefully we can get this down as husband can do more pick ups and drop offs to school thanks to covid stopping all his traveling.

Other child related expenses............ 120 -  swimming lessons x 2, Karate and Gymnastics.

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 29.5 - contact lessons although currently cancelled as husband is investigating a cheaper provider.

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 24

Buildings insurance..................... 19.94 including contents

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 76.57

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100

Haircuts................................ 35

Entertainment........................... 200

Holiday................................. 500  I know people will be horrified at this but travelling is our thing!  Big holiday booked for next year - South America!  Covid dependent of course!!  Cornwall this year.

Emergency fund.......................... 100

Total monthly expenses.................. 4189.9

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 3312

House value (Gross)..................... 355000  - what we bought it for 3 years ago.  No idea of value now.

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 10000 - for larger family one.  Smaller run around is 13 years old 140k on click and worth nothing.  Before covid all we used it for was taking husband to the train station at stupid o clock as there were no taxi's at that time.  We could survive without it but to be honest when it dies we may replace it with another banger.

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 368312[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 279792...(1136).....1.49[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 279792....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Consolidation Loan.............16668.....365.......6.9

Car Loan.......................10363.....181.......3.6 This is for our 4 year old family wagon - I don't take this into account in my debts really as car's are like a tax to us.  The loan has only just started so there will be plans to pay it off.  I may have a play around as I think we should pay £365 towards the car debt first and £181 towards the consolidation loan as we are likely to want to replace the car sooner than in 5 years.

Sofa Loan......................1396......41.06.....0 Again - don't include this in debt signature as it is 0% and the sofa will last us a while.  It's a year old and the debt will run for another 3.

Total unsecured debts..........28427.....587.06....-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 5,200

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 4,189.9

Available for debt repayments........... 1,010.1

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 587.06[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 423.04[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 368,312

Total HP & Secured debt................. -279,792

Total Unsecured debt.................... -28,427[b]

Net Assets.............................. 60,093[/b]

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