Debt free by 40

EssexHebridean

Hope the passport comes through soon - I’ve seen lots of folk saying they’ve been waiting ages! 

No news from our council about the rebate - I am checking for it regularly though as I don’t want to risk missing it and not siphoning it out of the account to where it needs to be. It’s going straight into our “energy buffer fund” account ready for adding to the electricity account if needed later in the year. 

Being able to pay for a holiday upfront and budgeted is a great feeling. We found it helped to sit down  and go right through all likely spending to know exactly what budget we needed to set ahead of time - we also over-estimated for some of the smaller stuff - in our case that was mostly tea and cake! Better to come back and think “oh look - some spare money which will roll over to next year!” than having to scrape around and find extra! We also do find it useful to put all holiday spending while away onto a credit card as it means it’s all in one place and totals can be totted up more easily. 

boxofpaws

Tea and cake - yes. For us it’s Mr P, needing regular coffee breaks. I don’t spend that much on holiday, so I’m hoping that by putting him in charge of spending money, he will start to see how much these coffee breaks add up.

I think this will be the first time we’ve ever saved money in advance for a holiday. Feels so good ! I also agree that a holiday is necessary.

jokono

We've applied for passports for both boys at the beginning of March, Boy1's was ready about 5-6 weeks later but for Boy2 they asked us to send his birth certificate. Not sure why they only asked for one of them, the only difference is Boy2 was born here in the UK so that must be why?

Good idea using the same card, we'll probably use our Revolut cards as you can have different currency accounts and exchange in the app. Like Paws, I don't spend a lot either while away but I will budget for some fabric just in case we end up in a town with a fabric shop/stall. That's my kind of souvenir 😄

jokono

Chessington was nice, we spent a bit more than anticipated because it was very full and we decided to get 2 reserve and rides passes at £15 each. Very frustrating, just like Legoland, you pay a lot of money to get in, that should be enough to get you in the rides. But without the passes you could be queueing more than half the day and wouldn'tbe able to do all/most of the rides. 🤬
I took lots of sandwiches and fruit and other snacks, we only bought lunches there for the boys as it's part of the experience for them.

We stayed in a Travelodge that night and the boys loved it, Boy1 even said he was more excited about the hotel than he was about the park! 🤣🤣🤣 
The hotel was on the highstreet so we had a cheap and way too big breakfast in a local cafe, then went into the local poundstretcher and got some soap, loo rool and other bits as everything was half price. 😀

I'm going to go for a run now. Haven't been for around 2 months, since before the long cold/covid/cold again. Not really feeling like it but I decided last night I'll do it, my resting heart rate went up by 10 points in the last few months, I've been so lazy. I need to get back into it.

WinterWarrior

It sounds like you had a lovely time 😁
uggg…running 😖

MissRikkiC

Your trip sounds lovely! I wouldn’t think to take lunch for the adults but let the children have lunch out, it’s clever and doesn’t deter from the experience for them whilst not costing as much as it would otherwise. 

Well done on getting out for a run today. It’s a lovely day for it  

EssexHebridean

Great idea on the lunch thing - very clever! And yes, I completely agree about the queueing/cost thing. If these places can’t manage flows to ensure people don’t have to spend hours of their (expensive!) day wasted just queuing then they need to re-think how they do things IMO - good value for money that is not! 

jokono

@MissRikkiC it was the first time I took out lunch for us, didn't think of it before. It started as money saving but to be honest I don't particularly enjoy their overpriced junk food. That being said, I did finish Boy2's portion of chips 

@EssexHebridean I'm looking forward to the day when I don't have to go to one of them anymore. Last year we went to Legoland for Boy2's birthday and we decided it was going to be the last time we go there.

I went for another short run this morning, trying to make it routine again. When I cam back I had a lovely shower with the lavender & rosemary soap I bought yesterday to use in the new soap cosy I crocheted over the weekend. Surprisingly I don't have any 100% cotton in my vast yarn collection, I made this last cosy using a deep red Lyocell and linen yarn - super soft and with a bit of a sheen. The soap was expensive at £2, I bought 4 Dove pink bars the same day for slightly less than that, but it smells amazing. No regrets!

I'll do my numbers tomorrow as it's payday on Friday. Happy to say I went over the £100 debt reduction target, will confirm tomorrow the exact amount as I'm still waiting for my last loan overpayment to go through. I have £35 pending from V!nted, £22 payable on TCB but that will most likely go against next month's numbers now.

Boy1's birthday tomorrow, he asked for plain sponge cake with chocolate cream. I think I'll bake the sponges today and make a ganache tomorrow morning, it might get too stressful if I leave everything for tomorrow.

jokono

Payday tomorrow! 🥳 The main bank account's been on 0 for a week, had to check it daily to make sure no unexpected transactions took me into an unarranged overdraft. The bank usually sends texts when that happens but didn't want to risk it! 

After buying a new phone this month the debt reduction is only £125 but I will call that a win. The new Sant and er CC won't get a statement/due date until next payday so I will make a bigger overpayment on the loan this month. The original end date for the loan would've been May 2024, at the moment it's showing as Feb 2024 and after this next OP should go to Jan 2024. I decided to send all extra money to the loan as it's the only debt incurring interest, I'm sure I will mange to pay it off by the end of 2023 now. The CCs will still get regular fixed payments but will focus all extras towards the loan. 

jokono

Oh, and the council tax rebate is still pending, apparently the council has technical issues and keeps pushing it back. It should be the end of this week now...