£22248

storybookgirl

I did it!  I phoned the bank to ask for a bank card!  A silly amount of anxiety seeing as the account is in credit but at least I've done it!!  When that comes through I can take out a small bit of the money that doesn't belong in that account and put it to one of the debts.  The rest of the money in there is business earnings for a small amount of freelance work that I do none of it is actually for debt or spending as I'm not taking a wage from it yet, it's going back in for resources and training.  I need to change the payment of a laptop to come out of that account so that it is separate from my personal account and then put some money aside for tax.  I really want to be able to build on this little venture but I may just do some research between now and the new year as I think taking on more 6 weeks before baby will be a bit too much seeing as I'm also doing a module towards my masters degree in a couple of months.

I sat down with my husband this morning and we went through the budget and agreed our plan.  He asked if we could make one adjustment which is putting £10 aside for kids toys/books each month (essentially £1.25 pocket money each, each week) which I have agreed to.  We're not big spenders on toys, our boy is very content with what he has but his birthday is also very close to Christmas so he doesn't get much through the year and I guess having a little put put aside wouldn't hurt as he develops through the year.

We're now targeting the £180 capital one card first and I'm actually hopeful that we'll be able to clear that in the first month which would be such a relief!  So far I've got £57.62 squirrelled away to pay off of it and I'll keep adding to that where I can through the month.

I'm starting to think that eBay don't actually do free listing weekends anymore and I that I just get a certain amount of items free each month so I'm going to go ahead and start getting things on there to sell.  I've had a read through of the guide on here on how to make the most money from it so I'll work on that through the week and aim to get things live for Thursday/Friday to finish on Sunday.

BlytheDoll

Hi, just read through your diary, it’s lovely to see your so passionate and organised, this will go along way for you. I agreed with the previous advice of paying off those smaller amount first, which I can see that you are aiming to do, well done!
 Definitely consider selling as much as you can through eBay, if you need any advice let me know as I have lots of experience and could offer you some great tips. I have both a business and personal account, and you are correct in saying that it’s not very often you get a free listing weekend, sometimes you get a number of days with free listing, or £1 selling charges but generally on a personal account you get 1000 free listings per month.  You will be amazed at how much you can make from selling bits from around the house, a little bit of effort will reap the rewards and get some of those debts paid quicker. Wishing you well along the way.

Mummy_bear

Hi, I've subscribed to your diary and will cheer you along on this journey.

My DH is shocking with money. I've previously had to give him pocket money. He forgets to pay things as well as forgets to cancel things. Seriously disorganised and what never helped was his stress about money wouldn't creep in until it was too late. Never really had that safety switch in his brain to kick in and prevent things getting worse. 

I had to take over. Too many times I tried to give him a chance to earn to budget. It failed every single time.

Things are waaaaaay better now I'm in control and we're about 6 months to being debt free.

It sounds like you're the one to take control. You can do it!

MB

BabyStepper

Mummy_bear said:

Hi, I've subscribed to your diary and will cheer you along on this journey.

My DH is shocking with money. I've previously had to give him pocket money. He forgets to pay things as well as forgets to cancel things. Seriously disorganised and what never helped was his stress about money wouldn't creep in until it was too late. Never really had that safety switch in his brain to kick in and prevent things getting worse. 

I had to take over. Too many times I tried to give him a chance to earn to budget. It failed every single time.

Things are waaaaaay better now I'm in control and we're about 6 months to being debt free.

It sounds like you're the one to take control. You can do it!

MB

I totally agree. Just take charge and get it done. There's plenty of time to figure out how things will be once the debt is gone. 

storybookgirl

Ooh don't you all worry, I am now in charge of everything!!  

I had contacted Cineworld about a subscription that was cancelled in 2018 and I was hoping to be able to get a refund for - well it turns out that my husbands card had been cancelled instead (guess who's job that was!) and as he was using the card I'm not entitled to a refund which is perfectly acceptable.  When I phoned to then cancel the card they offered me a months membership refund....  I'm not sure why but I now have an extra £18.40 to overpay the debt next month!

So far I have £89.07 to overpay with next month which I'm very excited about!  I still haven't gotten around to listing on eBay yet though, I'm so exhausted at the moment once my toddler is in bed but I'll aim to just get 5 items done tonight, I think I've just been making it too hard for myself by trying to do to much.

I've been having a good think about how to earn some extra income and I'm going to make a real go of getting some freelance work in the new year.  I'm researching into the practicalities of this at the moment and looking at what software and systems etc I will need to get started with.  I'm also looking in to a bit of blogging/health writing which wouldn't be paid until I get a bit of a portfolio going (or ever) but it will be useful to get my name out there in to the field that I work in.  I've got a writing opportunity at the moment so tonight I will sit and tailor my CV and come up with a few idea titles to pitch.

I might have a look at something like people per hour or fiverr and see if there's anything on there that I could offer .  I have a skill but not the confidence and I think that always puts me off.

We're doing well with the shopping budget.  It's definitely worked better for us with not doing a weekly shop and having less of a plan which I'm actually really surprised about!  I've always been a planner but when you plan and then it doesn't get stuck to, it gets expensive!  We have less waste now which is great!

storybookgirl

I've just received my maternity pay breakdown through the post and I will be getting roughly what I estimated.  I'll wait for the first months mat pay and then readjust the budget as needed but that won't come in to effect until the end of September.  It's a huge relief!  Still waiting on my husband to confirm his hours at work.  He is working nearly full time now but not on a contract and I'd rather there was a contract so that he has a guarantee of the income and would be entitled to annual leave etc.

He's also hurt his shoulder which isn't great but it means that we'll be cancelling the gym membership for 3 months until he heals.  That can go towards the debt over payments for now too.

I still haven't sorted out contents insurance which I will get done today.

I'm really hopeful that we can make this work.  Realistically we won't be going out much for a few months so that will help and our family day out budget £50/month can either go in the emergency fund or towards a debt.  

storybookgirl

I also think that any of our combined wages that take us over £2700 will go into the emergency fund for now so that we're building that a bit faster which makes me feel more comfortable!

storybookgirl

I know....  3 posts in one day BUT.....

I just asked my husband if he was going to cancel his gym membership or if he needed me to do it for him....  he went straight on to the app to cancel it, told me that he just needed to cancel the direct debit to cancel as there's no notice period (I checked this out too) and then he logged in to the bank to cancel it himself!  I think he's finally getting it!!  Win!

BabyStepper

Yey! Progress! 

catlady1990

So I have just started reading your dairy and you are so organised. I have to deal with all our joint money as my bf just doesn't seem to sort anything out. Although, his job this month is to sort out contents insurance as I do the cats and my car. Let's see if I have to nag him for 18 days or if he will get it sorted. I find if he doesn't do something within the time frame I just do it and then he gets annoyed that I did it. But it's exhausting having to nag constantly. 

I would be terrified not having a proper shopping list and meal plan before going to the shops but if it saves you money that is great 😀

Good luck with your last couple of months pre maternity.