My debt free diet

donkids22

Today will be an NSD my 1st of the month.  I have to work till 6pm tomorrow its just been dropped on me as my manager is booking holiday, so will to swop meals around as i brought and planned on cooking something that takes a while tomorrow and by the time we had tea if would be gone 7pm and thats no good when i have kid coming out of school at 2.45pm by then she would be starving lol.  I organised the freezer at the weekend and we could live out of meals from there for 2 weeks, just really need to shop this week for fresh fruit, veg and bread so that will keep the shopping budget down.  

MidsHollie

Hi, congrats on starting a diary! 

Does your husband also have debt, or have you listed all your debt? Was the debt accrued only by you and for you, eg nothing for the kids at all? I only ask, because I really think that something like managing debt needs to be done as a team, and arguably a whole family. If you are the only one to work towards paying off debt and sticking to a budget, how can you do anything as a family team? You may not want to share all the details with your eldest, but you can start to have realistic conversations about how she is going to help herself through uni. 

Also, your eldest is 16. If she wants the newest phone she can earn it. Maybe you could agree that you pay for a basic phone and sim package, and if she wants more, she can find the cash to get what she wants. 

Are you keeping track of your spending? It has really helped me with my SOA and now I am able to plan ahead how much I spend in each category and therefore, how much I need to budget.

donkids22

MidsHollie said:

Hi, congrats on starting a diary! 

Does your husband also have debt, or have you listed all your debt? Was the debt accrued only by you and for you, eg nothing for the kids at all? I only ask, because I really think that something like managing debt needs to be done as a team, and arguably a whole family. If you are the only one to work towards paying off debt and sticking to a budget, how can you do anything as a family team? You may not want to share all the details with your eldest, but you can start to have realistic conversations about how she is going to help herself through uni. 

Also, your eldest is 16. If she wants the newest phone she can earn it. Maybe you could agree that you pay for a basic phone and sim package, and if she wants more, she can find the cash to get what she wants. 

Are you keeping track of your spending? It has really helped me with my SOA and now I am able to plan ahead how much I spend in each category and therefore, how much I need to budget.

My OH is not have any debt.  We have always kept our finances separate as he knows I am terrible at managing money.  A lot of the credit card debt is due to my overspending and just thinking I will stick this on the card and I will pay it off next month then the next month comes and I don't pay it off.  Some went on family holidays which I was surposed to save for but that went on the card.  My 16 year old wants to be a vet and me and oh have both said we don't want her getting a job that will take over all her time as she needs to study and get top draw a levels as the course is very competitive to get on, if we knew she could get a job that's just a Saturday or sunday we won't mind, but at the moment with people being made redundant from shops hospitality it's going yo be hard for her to mind a job.

donkids22

2 NSD today and great news i will be able to go home and have tea with the family tonight  which is all from the freezer.  I will also be able to cook my lunch for tomorrow which means i can stick to my diet.  

MidsHollie

Perhaps your daughter could get a weekend job in a field that is aligned to Veterinary medicine. Universities are very competitive, but grades aren’t the be all and end all. Uni’s will value the experience and the dedication. The other option is to take a gap year, also in a role related.

I really feel for people like you, where you are having to go it alone in a family that isn’t wholly aligned with your goals too.
Well done on another NSD. I really want to pick up something warming from the shop on the way home, but I also want to get home as quickly as possible! I think the latter will won for me tonight, so another NSD for me too! 

donkids22

MidsHollie said:

Perhaps your daughter could get a weekend job in a field that is aligned to Veterinary medicine. Universities are very competitive, but grades aren’t the be all and end all. Uni’s will value the experience and the dedication. The other option is to take a gap year, also in a role related.

I really feel for people like you, where you are having to go it alone in a family that isn’t wholly aligned with your goals too.
Well done on another NSD. I really want to pick up something warming from the shop on the way home, but I also want to get home as quickly as possible! I think the latter will won for me tonight, so another NSD for me too! 

Well done on your NSD.  Funny enough a local vets tweeted the other day that they are looking for someone to help out who is looking to train to be a vet assistant or nurse so she has applied.  Although they did say they needed to be flexible which is tough as she's full time college 3 days a week, don't know if that might change as they said they would review after 6 weeks.   

MidsHollie

Ah that is great news - fingers crossed for her! Loads of vets do evening clinics and things, so it might pan out well for her. And if this one doesn’t work out, maybe she could approach other local vets.  

donkids22

MidsHollie said:

Ah that is great news - fingers crossed for her! Loads of vets do evening clinics and things, so it might pan out well for her. And if this one doesn’t work out, maybe she could approach other local vets.  

Are you a mind reader I was only just saying the same to my friend at work yesterday.  🤣.  NSD 3 yesterday.  A bad day at work turns out the director wants me to tell tales on my manager which I do not feel comfortable with.  Got to stay till 6 on Thursday and probably 4 on Friday and next week is all lates.  OH is angry as he has to do tea and he is not a great cook and hates cooking he also messes up my organisation of the freezer.

joedenise

@donkids22 could you prepare some HM ready meals to keep in the freezer so all that your OH has to do is reheat them and then do some carbs & veg to go with it.  You'd just need to have a plan in place to ensure you take something out of the freezer, I usually take out the night before and put in fridge to ensure it's defrosted properly.

You could batch cook things like curries, chillies, stews - beef and chicken, or just a vegetable stew in the slow cooker.  Alternatively, could you just put something in the slow cooker before you go to work so that it's ready when you get in and just needs rice, potatoes, pasta etc to go with it?

donkids22

joedenise said:

@donkids22 could you prepare some HM ready meals to keep in the freezer so all that your OH has to do is reheat them and then do some carbs & veg to go with it.  You'd just need to have a plan in place to ensure you take something out of the freezer, I usually take out the night before and put in fridge to ensure it's defrosted properly.

You could batch cook things like curries, chillies, stews - beef and chicken, or just a vegetable stew in the slow cooker.  Alternatively, could you just put something in the slow cooker before you go to work so that it's ready when you get in and just needs rice, potatoes, pasta etc to go with it?

I've been leaving him simple things to do pasta with sauce, beans sausage and hash browns he just moans he loathes cooking.