Now or never

bamgbost

Good luck on your journey! Look forward to reading the progress!

Its_time

Thank you bamgbost, I am looking forward to the end of my journey when hopefully the debt will be history.  
I agree ThatKiss, food for thought, little and often is a good way.  Based on that I have decided to try and send some money every day to my plum account and then as soon as there is £500 collected, withdraw and pay it off the credit card.  With any luck that will work, it's probably a good idea because it can act as an emergency fund at the same time, I really mean emergency fund not an 'oh I fancy that' fund.   So todays' balance in the plum account is £67.67/£500, that is the cleared balance my payment from today hasn't got there yet.  If I can send £30 every day the account should have £500 by 2 Jan but I will feel like I have made dents in the debt every day.  
Not a bad day today at all other than rain ran down the windows all day long.  First thing I got up and went for it!  Before I washed etc. I was making cakes and doing the washing.  I made a loaf of bread, 1 slab cake, 1 sponge cake and 40 biscuits.  There aren't many biscuits left but the rest is in the freezer.  Lunch was bacon rolls and for tea we had sausages, the rest of the bacon and chips and a bread roll.
No house work today, just tidied the mess I made in the kitchen.  Lots of motivation which was nice.  Had a lovely chat with my DIL that was really nice, they are able to come over on Christmas day as they will be our bubble and we will go to them on Boxing day.  She likes to cook and be a bit thrifty as well so we tend to have a chat about how we can save money and cut back.
I am half way (probably more like a quarter of the way) up the front of a jumper I have been making since last winter.  I am going to get it out and try and do a few rows each night, little steps go a long way.  It's a lovely pattern in cable and is in an autumnal mustard, will be good to finish it.
It's the weekend tomorrow and although we wont get up late, we can at least turn the alarm off.  
It is feeling good being back in charge of my own life.
It's Time

Its_time

Goodness me what a day, it was like watching a scifi film when the news was on earlier.
Based on the lockdown news received today I won't be eating out of my freezers and running them down after all, I think for the time being it's best to shop weekly but rotate the freezer and cupboard stocks.  
Dinner was tuna mayo sandwiches and tea was homemade pasties and chips.
£15 sent to the plumb account.
DH has been a bit low today really can't say I blame him, extra love and cuddles needed I think.
Won't be able to go to DS and his fiances for boxing day 😪, but they can still come to us for Christmas day.  It's a strange one really we will see him everyday though as he works here but DD won't be able to come over as bubbles won't be allowed anymore.
I do feel more relaxed regarding the work I couldn't finish for business 3 before Christmas,  I spoke to my clients and explained, they were fine about it and have no realistic expectations of when they can expect it done now as collections will be very difficult.  
I knitted 4 rows tonight so with yesterday's effort thats 8 in all, pleased with that and also went for an hours walk today with DH did us good to get out and have some fresh air and stretch our legs.
Its time

Its_time

Feels quite surreal here this morning, a bit like having the carpet pulled out from under our feet.   Overnight we now just have 1 business running , thankfully it's the biggest earner and the other 2 are probably down to about 25% capacity as they are both limited pretty much to online.  Better to be safe though.  Still going from flat out to pretty steady overnight feels weird.
A cleaning day for me and a de clutter, possibly a walk but its raining really hard at the minute, if I can bring myself to switch down enough I might watch a film this afternoon and do some knitting, although saying that there are presents to wrap.
It's time

Its_time

Been quite busy today, have wrapped half the presents and they are under the tree.  Dinner was bacon sandwiches and tea was cheese toasties so not that healthy but filled a gap.  Pulled up some old lettuce in the garden that had well and truly gone to seed.  Lots more work to do outside but a little at a time I think.
I've managed some knitting this evening so my jumper is growing nicely.  
Have done 3 loads of washing and dried most of it. 
Have sent another £15 to the plum account, the cleared balance is still £67.67/£500 as it takes a few days to show up.
As long as the rain is slightly less tomorrow I might go outside and try and clear some more of the garden if I get a chance.  I am going to clean through and change the beds tomorrow, I wont have so much paperwork tomorrow as we are only down to 1 business now while on lock down, so I will have some more time on my hands, maybe I can catch up a bit I hope.
I am going to finish wrapping tomorrow as well then that is done, one job less to think about.  
I am also going to make an effort with my appearance tomorrow, shower early, wash hair, make up and actually try to straighten and then curl my hair rather than shove it up in a ponytail again.  I might even file my nails
It's time

Its_time

I got up and showered and washed my hair, no mean feat my hair is very long and thick.  Dried it and straightened it within an hour it had bounced back and the bottom was curling up.  I put make up on and dressed a little bit smarter, not much but a little bit.  Cleaned up downstairs before my meeting which lasted 2 hours, luckily it was relatively easy going so I didn't have a headache afterwards.  
I really don't know where the days are going it was 3pm before I knew it and almost dark.  It has rained all day again, is there no end to it?  
I am very out of sorts today again, one minute I am positive and being the cheerful one, next minute I am sad and worrying about everything.  It's really hard these days trying not to worry and yet I feel the decisions that have been made re lockdowns are the right ones, maybe by the time the figures start to come down again I will feel better and see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am really trying to be positive for everyone elses' sake but honestly I am getting very tired and worn down.  
I got a bit more work done this afternoon but it is on the wind down now for Christmas where there are 2 weeks off for us so that's ok we've had two new clients come through in the last week with a months work minimum between them for end of January early February, but that's lock downs permitting, that did give me a bit of a lift I always feel a bit cheerful when we have new jobs in.  I managed to hoover through today and clean up, didn't do the beds and didn't wash the floors.  Just can't seem to get into the groove at all.  I feel like I am living for the future.
I managed to get one Tesco delivery for 6th January I am hoping by then things might have started to settle into a routine, I really don't want to shop at Tesco and want to stick to Aldi but at the minute there are no slots available at all.  I tried Asda and did the shop and compared to my Aldi basket there is a difference of £15 and the bill is only £45 in Aldi and £60 in Asda, at least I can see where my money has been going.  Have sent another £15 to the plum account, cleared balance today is £67.67/£500.
I've sat down now and after doing this I am going to do some knitting again, it is coming along nicely.
It's time

joedenise

Have just read your diary through from the start and will bookmark to see your progress.

At the beginning you said your car and house insurances are due in January and will be going on your CC; going forward can I suggest that you set up a savings account which you pay into monthly for your annual bills?  To start with it's worth having just a single pot but over time start adding more pots to cover all your annual bills.  Work our how much all your annual bills total and then divide by 12 to give you a monthly figure you need to save.  This way you won't need to keep putting things onto your CC and increasing it further when you are trying to pay it off.

I appreciate this will slow down your actual rate of repayment for a while but once that pot is up and running you won't really notice it.

I'm so glad I started doing this a few years ago as now all debt is paid off and I actually have savings too!

Its_time

Hello Joedenise, thank you for your advice.  I've been thinking about it all day and have attempted to organise my finances.  I looked at how much we have from Business 1 each month, we pay a set amount to ourselves so it doesn't change (well hasn't yet), looked at the outgoings and I could see how much % debt is, bills are and food is etc. Not sure if this is a good way to do it but looked at the 50-2-3- rule and if I go by that then bills are 46%, debt repayments including over payments and our food shopping comes to 27% which leaves the rest for 'wants', now I would feel way too guilty taking all that and spending it on wants when we have debt to pay.  I thought about what Joedenise said and realised that I treat my credit card like my bank account, dip in and dip out when it suits me.  So I have set a budget, rather than just pay what I can off the debt each month, don't know if it will work and don't know if I have missed anything off. but it looks like this:
Bills - they are what they are, the only extravagance is now tv, and netflix and my mobile phone which is £23 a month, everything else is electricity, oil, water, insurances, car tax etc.  No other luxuries.
Debt - all direct debits are set to overpay monthly but I have also set a standing order to pay £120 a week to the largest credit card.  Once this is cleared which should be by December 2021 then the £120 a week will go towards the loan, it will take a while to pay that off but it is only costing £945 over the entire length of the loan which was 5 years, so it is really cheap compared to credit cards I think it is 2.9%.
Food budget is set at £75 a week, any savings on that will go into the surplus shopping account which I just made and if it is still in there at the end of the month then it can go towards debt.
From April onwards savings will be £50 a week, I don't feel able to do it sooner, increasing as the year goes on, so that will be a minimum of £1900 which will pay next years car insurance, house insurance and hopefully Christmas.  As time goes by the idea is to increase this where possible and especially from December 2021 as the credit cards will be gone and shortly after the loan also.
Any personal spends, only small, will come from the income from business 2 and 3, they are much smaller and whereas business 3s' income which is primarily DH's baby is only ever spent in an emergency, I tend to pay business 2s' which is mine off the credit card, anyway I will still carry on doing that over and above payments and over payments but it will also now cover a small amount of personal spends, only something like a nail varnish or a car magazine for DH and also clothes but we are very frugal where they are concerned.  We don't spend much on ourselves at all but we do need something.
First payment to the credit card and the shopping account is on Christmas day.
It took me about 3 hours to sort that lot out this afternoon!!
Phew!
Right other jobs for today weren't many but I did clean our bedroom properly and put all the washing away, hoover and dust.  
DS was here working as was his partner so that was nice to see them.
Wrapped two more presents and put them under the tree.
Don't feel like eating much this evening so I cooked everyone fish and chips and I had beans on toast.
I so hope this budget plan works and next year paints a completely different much more positive picture where money is concerned.
It's time

Its_time

Much drier today which is lovely, still grey but dry, a little bit colder as well and the wind has come up a bit.
Jumped out of bed this morning and stripped the bed before I changed, put it in the washing machine before breakfast.  Went outside to help DH on the yard and then back in before 9am.
Made a loaf of bread, laid the table for Christmas after washing and drying all the dishes and cutlery, wrapped the rest of the presents so all done now
Bed made up again did have to use the tumble drier but the rest of the week I manage to dry the clothes on the radiators so not too bad.
Dinnertime we had the rest of yesterdays lunch which was tuna mayo sandwiches and some sausage rolls, tonight we are having bake potato, roast chicken, chicken rice and some tuna mayo, weird concoction but very nice
I've had two video calls with my daughter so far one last night and one today, I miss her so much when we are on lock down.
I've had a good de-clutter and sort out of the dining table where all the junk goes ready for tomorrow when I can clean through ready for Christmas day.
I've seen a link for youtube where a local theatre is going to screen a pantomine on Christmas Eve, we are going to watch that and are looking forward to it.
DH is probably going to work tomorrow at least until lunchtime, I am done now though
I've cleaned my handbag out and it is about 2 tonne lighter, honestly the rubbish I carry with me.  
Been chatting to my DS today he is amazing with money, if he wants to buy something but hasn't got enough money, no matter what he will not touch his savings, if the money he wants is not in the right account he will not touch it. he will simply go without buying.  I think the fact that he is very focused must be the answer.  Wish I had his financial ability when I was his age.  
My Mum gave me and DH £100 each for Christmas, DH saved his and I put mine in the bank where it will help make it look a little healthier.  DH has saved pretty much all his money from his own business since April which means it is there as an emergency fund if we need it, but it is a real emergency fund, like the car blowing up or the house falling down emergency fund.  The savings I am going to do from next April onwards are totally separate to this.  As far as we are concerned DH's savings are not there.
Tonight we are going to sit down, I have instructions to relax and we are going to watch a film.
It's time

foxgloves

You make a good point about emergency funds, It'sTime. When I was learning how to be a reformed character on all things money-related, it did take a while to grasp the true meaning of 'Emergency Fund'..... as in a fund to help me out of sh*t creek should an unforeseen happening occur. It initially took a while to build one because I'd keep dipping into it for various 'emergencies' such as car services, new washing machine, needing a new winter coat or boots, etc. Of course as all these things are completely foreseeable, it gradually dawned on me that I needed savings pots (I began with cash in envelopes) to cover that sort of entirely expected outlay. About three years ago, I needed new specs - I never knew varifocals could be so expensive - & had to use our emergency fund. Grrrr! Was so annoyed, but as a wearer of glasses, I should have been ready, so I added 'Optician & dentist' to my Savings Pots. I am overdue an eye test, but will be ready this time. And meanwhile, that emergency fund is sitting there ready for when it's truly needed.
I may have come to budgeting later than many, but it has bwen a revelation. 
F