Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

crunchy_time

Morning!
Taking the dog to get a hair cut this morning so will pop into the supermarket while we wait to pick up a few things. That is our plan for the day! 

The local community are organising a yard sale for a few weeks time. We have a lot to get rid of but it’s on the day after our holiday which isn’t ideal. I wonder whether gumtree when we get back would be the way forward. It’s mainly a few bits of furniture and some kids toys and I have a few things to sell on eBay as well. I haven’t been keen on eBay in recent years but willing to give it a go again. 

It’s not even nine am and my two are already arguing. It’s only day two of the holidays! Sigh! 

Crunchy xx

enthusiasticsaver

How about Facebook selling? We sold our old kitchen on gumtree and was amazed how quickly it went. 

crunchy_time

enthusiasticsaver said:

How about Facebook selling? We sold our old kitchen on gumtree and was amazed how quickly it went. 

Great idea thank you but I’m not on Facebook. I deactivated my account a while back and have now started the process to permanently deleting it.  Xx

crunchy_time

Morning all!
Checked bank account this morning and there will be £20 left in the bills account after the last two come out next week so I have slushed it over to the loan bringing it down to £16,498!  I love unexpected money.  A week today the monthly payment will bring us closer to £15,xxx and it will be lovely to get to sub £16k by the end of August.
Yesterday I picked up a few bits from the supermarket and used my nectar points to get two photo frames for some pictures I have been meaning to frame for ages.  In terms of my organisation project, I have made a list of what we need for each room which is a great start so I can start to look at costing these things up.  Today's plans involving spring cleaning my 8 year old boys room seeing what 'delights' are in store for me under his bed whilst trying to get him to part with some of his old toys he doesn't play with anymore.  Once the bathroom is done, his room will be the first to paint upstairs this autumn.  I've got to start to look out for some appropriate toy storage for him as his current system isn't working - there is just rubbish everywhere but getting rid of some will be a good start.  We are going to paint some of his furniture so that's coming up as a lovely summer project after the holiday.
Have a lovely day everyone!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Morning all
Husbands payday today so I have spent the morning doing the money shuffle. The minimum loan payment is going out on Monday but we are away so I have adjusted my signature in the meantime.  The loan is now £16,142 so edging nicely downwards.
We need to get tyres for the car all round so husband has taken it to get sorted this morning.  It's estimated to cost about £600.  He is going to pop it on the credit card but we will need to withdraw money from the emergency fund to pay it off.  Our emergency pot is supposed to cover car repairs as well of which there haven't been for a while as it is 4 years old now and was covered for a while under its warranty and service package.  Bearing mind the chunk that will come out of the pot for this and also to what I will need to borrow from it for the housepainting, I am wondering whether we should start paying £100 each a month into it rather than £50 each.   Husband didn't want to start this until after we have paid off the loan.  The thing is, in 2 years time, when the loan is much lower, we could use any excess savings to pay it down further if we need to.  Apparently, his payrise is for September so perhaps we should do it from then.  
We are on holiday next week and the objective for me is for the husband to feel like he is having fun but stop him from excessively spending money because 'this is our holiday this year.'  I managed to stop him from thinking a cafe breakfast on the way was in the plan so far.  I said that we are shopping today for a picnic in aldi so the only time we need to stop is for the toilet and not to buy extra snacks.  
When we get back, I will need to start thinking about his birthday and Christmas and get them planned and budgeted for as we have lots of painting plans for the house which will soon eat up our extra money and I want the loan to be at £14k by the end of the year.
I'm signing off for a week or so!  Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

hello all!
Back from holiday.  We all had a lovely time and managed to just about stay in budget - just fuel money I need to account for.  I'm going to head over into husbands accounts now to suss out the damage but I just wanted to make note of an update...
because of being away, the window cleaner hasn't been so I shall have to do them myself and slush the money towards the loan as it is unexpected and all that - £30 bringing the loan down to £16,112.
Hurrah!
Crunchy x

crunchy_time

Right, there was only £67 from buying wetsuits and body boards for the children and then a tank of fuel which hasn't hit the credit card yet.  Other than that we are ok.  Reining husband in was actually fine. Grandparents had given the children some spending money (which of course was spent on tat) and I managed to restrict him to one souvenir for the house.  The majority of spending was the food of course and parking.  we had two takeaways and one meal out.
I've decided to pay for the tyres using the £600 I had saved for the house painting and put off taking money out of my savings account for as long as possible.  I don't know when the guy is coming so it's pointless holding on to it for the time being.
I have £450 for food to last three weeks, £100 for fuel for three weeks and half a tank in the car and not much else.  This is probably too much money though so as long as I have as frugal three weeks as possible then I should be able to squeeze some money from this and pay off the few odds and sods that are left on our credit cards.
Now we are back from the holiday, the plan is to finish off the lockdown jobs we started and have a big clear out of things to sell and get rid of.  My first job tomorrow is to clear out the shed.  I'm looking for plastic storage containers that I know are in there somewhere that I can use in the kitchen without spending any money on more.  I also know there is LOADS of stuff we can sell or get rid of.  I must try and balance sorting out the house with spending time with the children though.  The gum tree and flea bay apps have been reloaded and I am ready to go!!
Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

I've just upped my monthly payment to my savings account to £100.  We do need to start saving more for the larger house repair things like the house painting.  Now the the debt is under control it is time.  I want husband to do the same thing but I'm going to wait to ask him to change his dd next month.
Crunchy 

crunchy_time

Morning!
Back from the hairdressers for my post lockdown cut - I feel so refreshed!  I had a cut and budgeted for a treatment as my hair is so dry but they didn't have one part of it so just did the second part and didn't charge me for it - happy days!!  So slushed over £20 to the loan bringing it to £16,092.  Unexpected money is the key to this!  Husband joked about buying a bottle of wine or some paint for the next phase of house projects but I'm not.  I get paid next Wednesday so shall be able to afford to do more bits then.
I  have a car boot full of stuff to take to the charity shop but the ones I go to are not accepting stuff at the moment.  Neither are the charity points in car parks.  I'm going to put I sign up outside my house for 'free' and hoping to get rid of a lot of the stuff that way.  One of the pieces of furniture I had earmarked to sell on gumtree I've moved back into the house as it suits a little corner.  It might need sprucing up a bit.  Perhaps repurposing stuff is the way forward at the moment.  I actually like doing that and giving stuff a way as well.  I've only found one thing to put on ebay and its more for winter so shall hold off putting that one for the time being.
Sigh, things to do with the kids this summer.  I'm brainstorming cheap and free things to do - any ideas?
Crunchy x

crunchy_time

2 more bits of money saving news...
1) husbands contact lenses have costed us £30 a month for the last god knows how many years - 15 since I have known him. He hasn’t liked the optician for years and it’s miles from where we live. I’ve been in at him to change for years but, typically husband, head in sand. They recently raised the DD to £41.50 with no explanation (that I can remember seeing). I told husband and he was outraged and immediately cancelled it. He has since found a provider for better lenses that cost £50 every 6 months which is miles cheaper. He will need to get his eyes tested every year as that was included in the cost of the direct debit but I can’t believe such a massive amount of difference. 

2) the painter is hopefully coming next week to paint the house. By then I will have £300 to go towards the £1850 quote. I reckon husband and I should withdraw equal amounts from our savings accounts to pay for the rest. We have roughly £1500 each so it makes sense to use this. I’ve always been reluctant to have just £1000 in an emergency fund as that wouldn’t cover us if either of us was made redundant (although our jobs are pretty secure).
i forgot to say earlier that I met a friend the other night who is on a low wage and by himself and he has managed to save £30k for a house deposit which is amazing! I’m so inspired I want to start saving. All this unexpected money we are using to pay down the loan I am going to start thinking of as savings as once the loan is slashed, we can apply the same principle to our savings accounts and start building up a nice nest egg.
This time last year I would have worried that I wasn’t doing enough with my kids right now as in it being the summer holidays and we are not going out meeting people or in day trips as mischief as we would have been last year. But since lockdown I have learned that all they need is love and and none stressed out mum and right now that have definitely got that. Feeling really in control and in a mission right now.

crunchy xx