Project Change!

Sarahwithlove

I've heard of people getting the free trial extended as well last the 35 days if they need more time to decide if it's for them. 

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning! It’s a wet dismal day here and already one route out of the village has become flooded! Wasn’t expecting that at 6am this morning as I made my way back from feeding the ponies - we must have had a lot of rain overnight. 

Payday is finally here   and I’ve managed to get my head around what’s been paid this month. I’ll spare you the full breakdown this month, as with the balance transfers it’s all got a bit messy! But in total £413.28 has been paid off taking the overall total from £16411.30 down to £15998.02 - would have been over £500 if it hadn’t been for BT fees, but they’ll be worth it in the end.

This morning I’ve paid off the Very account (I’ve not included it in the above, as it will fall into Febs money), so next target is the £150 next bill. I’ve transferred all funds allocated for repayments into a separate account for now. I’ll make sure the minimum payments are made and then safeguard this money for the remainder of the month, until hopefully at month end it’ll still be intact and I can make over payments. I’d rather do it this way at the moment as I don’t want to overstretch ourselves and pay it now when we haven’t got to grip with this budgeting lark and then end up upping overdraft or using credit cards.  I’ve also got a vets bill winging it’s way to me this month which I’m expecting to be around £250 mark as one of the ponies has been unwell. 

Right best get myself psyched up for a day of home schooling - wish me luck!

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning - the weekend at last! 

Nothing much to report moneywise, but just checking in to maintain focus. I’ve got a food shop booked tomorrow and so far it’s looking pricey. We’ve run out of so much. I’m hoping it’ll be one decent sized one for month followed by 3 smaller ones - fingers crossed. 

Managed a 5 mile run on the treadmill yesterday - my furthest so far on it.  I much prefer running outside, I find the treadmill dull but a combination of the weather and trying to pick a time when the streets are quiet is meaning I’m turning to my treadmill more and more. I daren’t step on the scales at the moment though - I’m fully aware I’ve been comfort eating an awful lot lately as my anxiety hasn’t been good, need to get back on it! 

Task for this weekend is to get the house in some sort of clean tidy state - it’s horrendous at the minute. Thank goodness we can’t have visitors! Might try and send OH and DS out for a walk as it’s impossible to achieve anything with those two around!

I’ve got an item ending on eBay today - it’s up to £20 so far which I’m happy with. Need to buy a couple of bits for the ponies so I’m hoping this will cover it.

Have a good weekend 

savingholmes

Well done on reducing debt. Ouch to the vet bill. Once you've cleaned and tidied your house - do you fancy doing mine? So missing our cleaner - but trying to stay safe...

Adjusting_the_balance

Thanks Savingholmes. Housework didn’t go according to plan though! I got part way there and the hurricane child hit again - I’m thinking I perhaps need to lower my standards abit whilst he’s not at school, otherwise accept that I’m wasting my time! 

BT card became visible in the app - turns out the fee was 1.3% and not 3%, so last months payments actually topped the £500 mark at £501.75, which brings the total outstanding down to £15881.77. Pleased with that, especially for January. 

Vet bill arrived over the weekend and was lower than expected, a lot lower. I suspect this may just be part one of two, so will get this one paid and sit tight and see if anymore turn up! We get 30 days to pay so hopefully I can push the rest out into next months pay and use the council tax money to clear it.

Another 8 miles done on the treadmill over the weekend- after 2 years of it being sat unloved I finally feel like I’m being to bond with it and actually enjoy using it. Still prefer the great out doors, but it’s certainly keeping me moving during the icy, cold, windy, dark winter months. 

Right, signing off for now as not much to say - Happy Monday everyone 😊

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning, another grey and very wet day here. I think once again the roads will be flooded by the time I pop out to the ponies later.

Day in the office yesterday, was quite productive. I’ve been given my goals for the year and have a scary amount to achieve. They forget I work 2 days less than the rest of the team, workload certainly doesn’t reflect this. Can’t wait to be debt free and not so tied to this place. At the moment the wages, hours and location work well with DS being so small, however the politics, stress and workload are a different matter! 

I’ve paid off the next account this morning - very pleased! Next target is CC1 - hoping it can be gone by the end of March. Pony may need additional tests in the next few weeks - keeping everything crossed it doesn’t come to it, however with no council tax payments this month or next it does free up £400 so if it has to be done it the best time to do it financially! 

I’ve repurposed my Christmas / birthday money as an emergency fund. I was keeping it in my personal spends account to treat myself if I saw something I wanted, however it seems extremely frivolous to do so given the current state of things! So emergency fund currently stands at £500 😊. I’d much rather have the security blanket of the EF than fritter such a substantial amount of money away on more stuff. 

Right time to get cracking so much to do! Have a great day x 

savingholmes

Sounds like a plan with the EF. You've given yourself the present of peace of mind.

Adjusting_the_balance

Definitely Savingholmes - big relief and weight off my shoulders. As an added incentive I’ve played with the figures and if I can top up to £1k in the next couple of months and then divert this money to the debt, it is possible (at a stretch) that it can all be paid off in 2 years time. It’s a stretch but definitely not impossible. Massive incentive to guard the EF with my life! 

Quiet couple of days here. Pony showing small signs of improvement so keeping everything crossed that we won’t need the vet again whilst putting the money aside next month just in case (the rest of the vets bill also came through - I knew it was too good to be true! )  Car insurance has been renewed. Managed to save £10 a month plus £40 cashback so happy with that 😊. 

Right short and sweet this morning as back in the office - best show willing! 

savingholmes

Well done on the insurance renewal. Ouch to vet bills. It's good to have a plan with how quickly to pay off debt. We're just trying to throw any and all spare cash at debt at the moment just to get it gone. Then we have choices again.

Adjusting_the_balance

Morning! 

Well scrap my last post - a temporary spanner has been thrown in works. Don’t want to go into too much detail on here, but long story short our outgoings will be increased by £300-£400 a month for a few months. I’m hoping it’ll be a case of short term pain for long term gain, but time will tell. The good news is that everything is now on 0% so reducing planned payments for a few months won’t cost extra interest. 

Lazy day yesterday and looks like the same planned for today - I’m shattered. Just bracing myself for the snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow 😫 it makes everything so much more difficult with the animals. Fingers crossed it won’t be as bad as forecast. 

Nothing much else to report, just need to get my head around the new budget and take it from there. 

Have a good weekend x