Keeping on track after Covid

enthusiasticsaver

The buildings insurance is high even if it includes contents.  Do you pay it annually?  That is the cheapest way of paying for insurance. 

enthusiasticsaver

How are you getting on with your budget this month? 

2020newfocus

We are doing okay, thank you. We only have £132 in the bank account with 10 days until payday, which usually I would worry about. However we have full cupboards and a full freezer, all the bills have been paid this month and absolutely no plans thanks to Covid. So we will easily make it to payday, although there won't be anything spare to pay towards the debts until then. Sadly the overtime that I was doing has ended this week as work is getting back on an even keel, but we will still have extra to pay down the debt at the start of July. Waiting for payday is now exciting instead of worrying which is great in itself!
Current debt as of today: £11261.08

enthusiasticsaver

It sounds like you are doing really well. All bills paid, money in the bank and full cupboards.  You have made great progress in such a short time. 

2020newfocus

Well today is payday, we made it  . Over the last week or so I'm starting to see where our "spare" £150-£200 a month disappears to. A couple days ago, both kids managed to ruin their duvets by tearing them (I think it was a den building accident but apparently neither child can remember what happened). In the past if that had happened just before payday I would have bought new duvets on a credit card to replace them immediately. But I made them put up with it this time and ordered two new duvets today, plus a casio scientific calculator the eldest needs for school in August, total £34.19 with free next day delivery. But it got me thinking that things like that seem to happen all the time, and I think our child related costs are higher than I put in my SOA for that reason.
I haven't paid any extra to the debts yet today, as the bills don't come out until tomorrow, and we've learned exactly  how much our eldest's school uniform will cost us (he's moving to high school). £87.50 for the blazer, £24 for two hoodies, £8 for the tie, £39 for the gym kit, all school branded. Everything else can be supermarket generic thank goodness, but we can't really complain because we requested this school for him (very high performing in our city) and we are extremely lucky he got in as we are out of catchment. He will also need a bag, a coat for weekends, and shoes. To be safe, I'm setting aside £300 from the wages to cover it, which eats up all my overtime and more, but since we don't have childcare costs we should still have a couple hundred to put towards the debts, on top of what we pay regularly.
I will update in a few days, I'm off to have a panic attack about my baby travelling across the city by himself to get to school come August 

2020newfocus

Current debt as of today: £10714.07!!
All our bills have come out (I set up all the direct debits for the 1st), and I've put £300 in another account to pay for school uniform, and £450 in a third account for food and incidentals this month. I feel like separating the money will help us to budget, because we won't eat into the food budget for school stuff (I hope). There is £218 left in the main account, which I will leave there just in case and pay the debt down further later in the month as long as we don't need it. OH and I have both put our joint account cards in the cupboard, so we can't dip into that £218 easily. 
I'm getting really excited because we owed about £15000 in November 2019, and by the start of August we will be down to owing 4 figures. I was panicking last year because we owed so much. 
We are paying the debt down much quicker than I thought and I can see an end to this within 15/16 months if we are really disciplined. 

2020newfocus

Well we are but a few days from payday, we have £79.71 left in the account and full fridge and cupboards. The kids shoes and other school uniform cost more than we expected but we were able to cover it without using a credit card. I'm not sure exactly when we last used the credit cards but it was pre-lockdown which I'm really proud of. We need to start paying for after school childcare next month as I could be recalled to the office at any moment but we should be able to cover it without dipping into the cards.
Still feeling positive but I can't get complacent! 

enthusiasticsaver

Congratulations on almost paying off £5000.  It will be great to see it below £10k.  Also good you are saving and planning for upcoming expenses. 

ceremony

Well done on your progress so far! School uniforms are so expensive glad you've got that expense out of the way. Even if things aren't going as fast as you want them to you're still making progress. Just a few more months and the loan will be paid off after all!

2020newfocus

Current debt as of today: £10277.07
We have had a bit of a wobble this month. I had hoped last month that this would be the month we got under £10k, but a number of things have happened that have made it impossible.
Firstly the kids school needs ended up being far more expensive than I budgeted for. For two pairs of trainers for gym, £45, 2 pairs of school shoes, £84, 2 winter 2in1 coats £88.
We live in North East Scotland so their "Winter" coats are needed from mid September to April really. We get 2in1 coats that have a detachable fleece inner lining so suitable for Autumn and Winter, but they are more expensive than supermarket coats. 
Secondly our childcare provider has switched to payment 4 weeks in advance due to Covid and difficulties with a few non-paying parents before lockdown. It's understandable, but has meant shelling out £186 this week. 
We did talk about dipping into the emergency fund to pay for these things but agreed that they aren't "emergencies" as such, and we have less than £600 in the emergency fund anyway so need to build it up.
Instead we paid less to the credit cards than we wanted to. We still covered the usual payments we make just no extra.
We have £273 left and all bills paid, so this is the food budget for the rest of the month. We should be okay I think. 
Trying to stay positive, the debt is still coming down at least!