Diary of a reformed shopaholic (I hope)

enthusiasticsaver

Good idea to streamline your current accounts and cards even if your DH wont get rid of his.  On the positive side if he has that amount of available credit and two cards are empty he must have some financial discipline. Analysing statements regularly and a spending diary is the single most effective way of cutting down on spending.  Adding up how much you are spending in Costa each month is a great way of making you think twice if it is worth going into debt for.  I agree debit cards should be the way forward.  Have you got a system for savings and spending pots?  

We do  the following which might work for you. Every payday I do a monthly budget and separate our money into savings and spending accounts. I work out the monthly bills (direct debits) and leave that in our current account along with the amount needed to clear our food and fuel credit card bill in full and a buffer of around £100. I then transfer £200 into my personal account and £200 into my DHs personal account and that covers our spends for clothing, hobbies, personal entertainment etc.  You could also have a separate account for "monkey boy". The rest is divided into savings pots.  General/Emergency savings. Car Account. House Account. Holidays Account and Presents Account.  It is all in one savings account but separated on a spreadsheet into separate pots. I am not precious about transferring between pots though so if the house needs an expensive repair and there is not enough in it I take it from Presents or Holiday account if there is no imminent need to spend from there. 

My DH uses his personal account as he is a fritterer and this stops him spending too much if he does not use the main current account.  We have a joint food and fuel credit card which I have to keep an eye on but I set a limit and adjust our shopping days accordingly. DH knows any large amounts for the house or car will have to come out of savings so he tends to run it past me which effectively sometimes puts the brakes on his spending. 

shoppingobsessed2020

Thanks, I set up multiple savings accounts the other week linked to dh current account.  So they are nicknamed emergency fund, monkey boy, Christmas, car etc so they now get moved over come pay day.   We already did this for insurances so it’s not a new thing, just a much more organised thing for us.

I’m so used to using my card for everything that it’s literally been what card I pull out first that gets used, sometimes it’s a credit card, sometimes it’s my debit card (thankfully we have no overdrafts) and when it has been the credit card it’s not registered that I should pay more than the minimum as everything is set up on direct debits so I didn’t have to do anything,  complete ignorance and laziness on my part.

wont happen again though as I’ve taken the joint account card out my purse along with all credit cards so it’s just my current accounts that are in there but I need to move a couple of direct debits so I can close one account.

believe it or not when we bought the house we were amazingly organised and on track hence overpaying the mortgage and pots for car and home insurance.  Dh started going for promotion and then things just got away from us chasing that pay rise leaving us with our dream house on the market and not able to move.

shoppingobsessed2020

Tonight I think I made a mistake.  I applied for and got accepted for a fluid card with 9 months 0% interest free balance transfer.  Don’t know the credit limit yet but assuming it won’t be decent  Normal interest rate is then 34.9%.

i couldn’t get anything better as my credit rating is probably rubbish due to my high debt to income ratio.  

I’m now doubting myself as why add another card to my name even though it is interest free for 9 months,

enthusiasticsaver

My advice would be don't transfer anything you will not be able to repay within that 9 month period then as the rate is so high after the deal period finishes.  If the limit is low it will be debatable whether it is worth paying the BT fee to transfer anything over.  It probably would have been better to wait until some of that debt had gone. You can always close the Fluid card without using it but the search and application will now be on your file so applying for anything else should wait for a few months at least.  My advice would be repay the store cards and high credit cards then tackle your Barclays account. 

dd1981

Just read through your diary and you are doing brilliantly. I’m back on here after ages away and silly amounts of debt again 🤦🏽‍♀️ Back on the wagon though and ready to tackle it again! 

Drawingaline

As ES says transfer a part balance and set up a s/o to clear it before the 0%ends, and make sure to calculate the fee in too.
Get those store cards and small debts gone and accounts closed, s/o to any accounts that are interest free to clear in time and then focus on the higher interest ones. As you start to clear them offers will start to appear, then you can be savvy and move balances when this happens.

Keep with it. 

shoppingobsessed2020

Thanks.  I am just wishing the time away to next month and pay day so that I can start and then the cycle will continue as there’s only so much you can do.  Feel like I’m hitting a brick wall and I just want it to be 18 months later, 18k hopefully paid off and enjoying the run up to my favourite time of the year.

i didn’t end up this way overnight and it won’t go overnight but I feel like I’m in a holding pattern waiting to be told it’s my turn.

shopping spend today £19.95 as went and got steak and burgers from the butchers this morning.  Going to have a lovely last day with monkey boy before he goes to my parents with burgers and chips for lunch and then steak this evening with a film when he’s gone.

Aspiration

Hope you have a great day with your son, can imagine it’s going to be hard not seeing him.

Sounds like you’re doing great on the debt front, I find the challenge is maintaining the momentum.

Drawingaline

I feel like I spend all my time waiting between paydays, and I am not even in a payday to payday cycle! It does get easier, and the day you log onto Internet banking and wonder why your balance is so high because you got paid and forgot it was payday will come 😂

Stick with your plan and don't get disheartened by any bumps in the road. They will come wether it's because of a spending spree, or unforseen circumstances. It's how you stop, reflect and pick yourself up after that really matters. 

shoppingobsessed2020

Shopping now at £152.23/£250.  Fuel at £20.13/£100.

i went to Costco yesterday so didn’t do too badly.  Haven’t included my parents spend above as they transferred me what theirs cost . I only got a huge pack of chicken breasts plus the butcher meat on Saturday and topped my car up with fuel as it was cheaper at Costco than the local garage.

got to go into the office tomorrow so will be interesting.  Need to get some files sorted that can’t be done from home but should only need to go into the office next week for maybe half a day to switch out those files and take more home.

working from home has been so quiet without monkey boy, it was odd being in the study without him there but was nice to have that space so I could go downstairs and break the day up otherwise I think the temptation to just pop on my laptop and do some more work in the evening would happen.

electricity usage hasn’t dropped with monkey boy being away from what I have observed.  It’s too early to tell really but hopefully as I get into a routine in my own it will.

its been discussed this evening that I won’t be getting monkey boy back till the end of August at the earliest.  Our school has said they will not fine if parents don’t want to send their kids back yet and they are working on a plan due to the small size of the school before opening it up to pupils again.  So the plus side is may and june pay days will top parent pay up to 8 weeks in all categories, then I won’t need to put anything to parent pay till August pay day.  Same with child activities although I will use some of that money to treat my parents and I’ll send monkey boy stuff.  They won’t accept any money for looking after him so it’s the least I can do.  Just need to find small thoughtful gifts now rather than the small expensive gifts that they like and are sooo much easier to buy!

i know I could have kept monkey boy home with me but I’m terrified of going into the office tomorrow, we have residents and staff who have/had the virus and I’m petrified of catching it and passing it on.  That’s the main reason monkey boy has decamped to my parents as I can’t keep him safe for the few hours a week I have to go into the office it’s just not worth the risk for him.

im taking my parents some more shopping this weekend so will get to see monkey boy but will be from the end of the drive so that and FaceTime will have to suffice.  Honestly don’t know how parents can send their child to boarding school voluntarily as this is awful.

looking to the positives though, my food bill is going to be minuscule these next couple of months