“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

Oh, the joys of pregnancy-induced insomnia!  Still, at least it lets me jot down a few notes without interruption...

It's been payday today so have been experiencing the dopamine rush that comes with moving money to debts and into savings.  Total of £307 has been sent to Very to pay off a couple of BNPL items - £179 from pay, £129 allocated from my tax refund which also fortuitously arrived in my account today.  The rest of the £288.76 refund has been sent to my easy access savings account to start building up an emergency fund/maternity leave buffer.  Balance only £180.94, but will be sending £300 over at the end of the month if all budgeting has gone according to plan! 

I've also made a one-off payment of £100 to my Octopus account, which comes out of the £500 "extras" monthly budget.  Annoyingly, when we moved house in December, I had nearly £200 credit in my account.  However, on getting Octopus to change this over to our new property, they found a six week period in 2023(!) that we weren't charged for which basically wiped out this credit .  They did credit me £50 for the error, but it just means we're now trying to build up a credit with them during the most expensive months - not an easy task and I don't want them increasing our direct debit if I can help it.  I've also noticed that our new house generates larger bills, but we're really keen to get solar panels installed this year so hopefully that will offset some of this cost.  

Lastly, sent another £100 overpayment to the mortgage.  I know that this could have been put towards Very or one of our loans, but I swore to myself that once we had a mortgage I would make it a habit to overpay.  I'm very motivated by the MSE mortgage overpayment calculator that tells me even a £100 overpayment each month will save over £27k in interest and pay off the mortgage 3 years early!   Our lender also allows us to use regular overpayments towards a payment holiday if we ever need it - always nice to have a back up!

DH has been on his best behaviour today and spent nothing!  Spoke to me about these smart lightbulbs he wanted to buy to put around the house, but then decided by himself that he'd rather save the money to put towards more pressing projects (we need to get the gardens sorted and really want to replace the front door).  Hopefully this will be the first of many NSDs!

browneyed_girl

Pretty non-eventful day so far - would appreciate a few more of these for my sanity!  Currently a NSD so am tasking myself with keeping DH away from random scrolling on eB@y, V!nted and FB Marketplace this evening.  Even as I type, he's suggesting a trip out to Mr T for a few top up bits...

I'm sure it must sound like I'm absolutely horrible to DH, but he is genuinely the worst person at managing money I think I have ever met!  He blames the ADHD that he believes he has (I mean, the symptoms are all there), but basically he is the type that will spend any money he has regardless of actual need for the items he's buying.  He can creatively come up with reasons for his purchases, but at the height of his spending we would be getting multiple deliveries daily and a number of these would remain unopened in the garage for months on end!! 

Thankfully, DH doesn't have an issue with keeping our accounts separate, even though we've been together 18 years and married for 15!  We do have a joint Monzo account which we put money into for our extra spending, but I dread to think how much worse our current situation could be if he had access to my main account! 

browneyed_girl

Typing this with a lovely cup of tea and NO BISCUITS!!  The kids have a lot to answer for...

Trying to relax after a morning of housework and a visit to the dentist with all the kids.  Luckily, all looking good for now and next check up booked for August.  Has reminded me that most of the kids will need braces privately though and that I should really set up another Monzo pot...Alternatively, both DH and I are are doing the 1p saving challenge with Monzo this year (just because we were going to save anyway and they come with entry into a £10k draw).  Might allocate this to dentist instead in order to avoid adding to our current list of ten pots!  Does that seem like too many?!

As for spending, have made a few purchases with money taken from 'extra spends' budget.  DD3 was in desperate need of new underwear - bought a pack of 8 for £6.99.  Also found DS in need of a new coat (how has he outgrown his old one already?!).  Almost went straight to Am@zon for this before remembering that they are now The Devil and so sent DH off to a local charity shop instead.  Luckily, we have a really good one near us that sells all children's clothing for 50p, so DH was able to pick up two good waterproof coats for only £1! Bargain of the month, I reckon

On the not so good side of the scale, DH revealed that he had a £28.95 outstanding balance with Paypal credit that I didn't know about.  Doesn't even remember what he bought with it!  Paid this off from this month's budget.  He also needed some new work trousers and waterproofs - total £33.63.  I barely spend anything on clothes (I just mend, mend, mend!!) so this seems like a lot to me, but I know it's nothing compared to what some might spend.  DH is aware that we have a set budget for these extra spends this month and once we hit it, that's it!  NO LENIENCY!!  Anything else will just have to wait until the following month unless it is deemed an emergency to save life or limb! 

Budget remaining until next payday (27.02):
- Extra spending: £301.92
- Food/fuel/sundries: £770.96   

londoner2019

Hi - just jumping on to say good luck with everything - sounds like you're on top of things!

On the student loan, because it's treated differently (if you're not earning, you don't pay anything back), I would not count this as part of your overall debt for now. Focus on everything else, and then you can later on throw money at it. When it gets down to the last few thousand, that's when you should look at paying it off in full. Yes, the interest rate is annoying, but in essence it's a graduate tax of sorts.

It's good to get on top of DH's spending habits. What's that rule - the 72 hour rule? Wait three days and then reevaluate if you need it or now.

Kudos to you! You got this.

browneyed_girl

Thanks @londoner2019 - appreciate the vote of confidence!  I like the sound of the 72 hour rule - I think I do this naturally as I like to take time weighing up every decision, but could definitely be a new mantra for DH!

LzzyIsGod

Excellent charity shop finds! That's really impressive.

browneyed_girl

So I realised on my post yesterday that I focused on all the spending and neglected to mention other money-saving that has made me feel quite proud of myself!

Cashed out £21.37 from my Prolific which I have added to the holiday pot.  I have another £22.50 pending which will also be added once it clears.  I've been using my evenings after kids have gone to bed to sit down with surveys and happy that there seems to be progress with these, although DH has said he's a bit fed up of seeing me stuck to my laptop!  Might give it a break this evening and snuggle up with a film instead

Contacted our previous council for the 3rd time after receiving another bill from them for council tax at our old property - this time for £597!  Clearly the cogs of local government grind very slowly as it's been two months since I let them know of our change of address (where's the eye rolling emoji when you need it?!).  Anyway, got them to redo their calculations and actually due £30.79 refund which I should see back in my account in a few days - persistence pays off!

Doing the big food shop this evening but feel I have been especially 'on it' this week with using bits and pieces from stores and making sure nothing goes to waste.  Used up half a courgette and leftover red pepper yesterday by chucking them into a batch of veggie bolognese.  Have enough leftover from this to make a lasagne at the weekend - only my favourite meal in the whole damn universe!  Not something I make regularly because the washing up that follows is ridiculous, though I do find making and stirring a béchamel sauce oddly relaxing.  Probably on my own there... 

Anyway, only food spend this week after initial shop was £11.05 at Mr T and this was for DH's lunchbox stuff.  This is sooooo much better than we used to be when a top-up would be £30+ and we'd probably do three a week just because we didn't fancy what we had in.  Quite some years since we've done that, but it still makes me cringe at how much money we wasted doing that at a time when we were earning less to begin with.  What I wouldn't give to go back to my younger self and give her a stern talking to!

browneyed_girl

Oh dear - last two days have been quite spendy.  Not necessarily in a bad way, but seeing available funds going down always incites a small panic and I start wondering whether we've got the right balance between saving and spending.  This is especially true now we're trying to sort various home improvements which necessitate spending a certain amount but I worry about overdoing it!

Probably easier to bullet point spends over the last 48 hours.  No major disasters I don't think...

• £24.66 on some floor length curtains for our bedroom.  Had my eye on these for a while and then saw they were 20% off so took the leap!  Considering how much I've seen certain curtains go for, this seemed like a really good deal and reviews were all positive.
• £12 on kids' tennis lessons for this week
• £22.47 at B&M for some wax melts (little gift for mother who is in need of cheering up) and a large plant for the living room.  Had looked around for some time but this plant was so much cheaper than others we had seen - £17.50, which then became £15 because the lovely lady at the checkout pointed out a few dead leaves and decided it should be discounted!
• £9.50 for a plant pot at L!dl for the above
• £7 on a present for DD1's friend.  Had less than 24 hours notice for this one so annoyed I didn't get the chance to do some proper bargain hunting, but DD1 is sure he'll like it.
• £3.50 on a birthday present for young niece we rarely see (DH really does not get on with his brother who can only politely be deemed a selfish so-and-so).  The purchase was half price in the sale at The W0rks but looks good quality - I've seen similar items on Am@zon for around £15.
• £19.98 on two baby gifts for two separate couples - less than I would usually like to spend but trying to stay in the MSE way of thinking!

Also had weekly food shop and the routine fuelling of cars - £97.65 on main food shop at L!dl, £65.03 total for fuel and then £5 to top up DD1's dinner money account (she takes lunch from home but likes to use it for the odd snack).

So all of that leaves me with the remaining amounts in this month's budgets (to last until payday 27.02):

• Food/fuel/sundries: £553.86
• Extra spends: £202.81

I feel as though there is a lot more to report on (including why I've just decided to get another CC) but this can wait until tomorrow as I'm in need of sleep!  Until then!

browneyed_girl

Morning all!

Feeling much more positive after a good night's sleep and a productive morning - yesterday had me stressed for a number of reasons.  However, in the light of day and with a lovely cuppa to keep me company (and a banana instead of biscuits - that's how motivated I am!), things don't seem quite so out of my control

Yesterday, we had a friend who works as a landscape gardener come over to help us figure out the work needed on the back garden.  It's a complete jungle - when we bought the house we saw that as an opportunity to clear it all and start from scratch with exactly what we wanted.  Sounds great in theory, but I'm not sure I really thought of the cost associated with that - it was all just so exciting at the time!

Anyway, we have a solid plan - clear all the existing plants bar a few nice bits and a bay tree; level the somewhat bumpy ground; put up fencing along the back where there is currently an attempt at a hedge (need to keep the dog from chasing all sorts into the undergrowth); pave an area for a shed; put in a couple of raised flowerbeds; fix some of the dodgy paving slabs under the veranda and lastly replace the plastic roofing on the veranda with something a bit more palatable.  In my naivety, knowing that we had our friend to help with the work (who we are paying but has given us a friends and family rate since DH will be acting as his apprentice), I assumed £2000 would be a more than adequate budget - how wrong I was!!   

Researched different fencing options last night and was absolutely shocked at the cost - even with shopping around, the best price I could find was nearly £1100!!  Just for the fencing!  That to me sounds extortionate but having made enquiries amongst other friends and family in the know, apparently it's not too bad.  I will say that this is for woven hazel fencing with hazel posts that is obviously more expensive than some options, but I don't want to scrimp on something that we're going to have to look at every day for the next 10 years!  It also fits in much better with our surroundings - our garden isn't overlooked and has the appearance of being in the middle of a forest so wanted to keep a more natural look.

Cue adjusting the budget and how best to pay for it, which had me searching for a 0% spending CC late last night.  I would normally have chucked this cost on an existing CC, paid it off over a few months and just accepted paying a bit of interest for the inconvenience.  However, I'm lucky to have a very good credit rating (despite the debt, I've never missed a payment and my income is good) so getting a CC on 0% seemed like the best option (even if I do hate having more and more cards despite the balance on all of them being zero!).  Went for the first option on the list after using the MSE eligibility calculator and now have a CC on the way with 0% on spends for 13 months and a credit limit of £11400.  As long as any spends are paid off before the interest kicks in (which they will - scout's honour!), I've convinced myself this is the best option...

Now that the money side of the garden renovation is sorted, the dread has been replaced with excitement once again!  Friend is back in two weeks to make a start with DH.  I'll be on tea and biscuit duty - might even bake a cake to celebrate the occasion!

browneyed_girl

I'm amazed at how much money-saving actually goes on on a daily basis!  Knowing I'm impatient about debt not going down quickly enough, I try to focus on the little wins - turns out there are more than I thought!

Reviewed and updated spreadsheets today in preparation for spending on the garden.  A few subscriptions were a little out of date and have since gone up by a few pounds (all adds up!) and DH has just changed his current account to one with a monthly charge in order to get the offered breakdown cover, travel and mobile phone insurance (worth a lot more than the £18 charge so feel it's worth it).  DH's car insurance has also increased significantly just for the next few months until the end of his policy, simply because of the change of address.  I've also reviewed our electricity usage over the past two months in the new house and decided to increase the DD by £20 to £140.  Hoping that we'll save a lot on this during summer in order to build up a credit for next winter.

All of this amounts to an increase in regular outgoings by £103 monthly.  Kind of a kick in the teeth, but I'd rather have everything correct to avoid accidentally overstretching myself.

Sunday is almost always a day at home catching up on housework and getting everything ready for the week ahead.  Hung out laundry instead of using the tumble dryer (thinking about the electricity bill!); used up leftover bolognese in a lasagne for dinner and have taken stock of what needs using up tomorrow (food waste = throwing money in the bin!).  Have some Greek yoghurt, hummus, boiled eggs and some slightly stale croissants that I need to find a use for.  Will probably have the yoghurt for breakfast with some frozen berries and desiccated coconut that I have been trying to use up.  Going to send DH to work with eggs and carrots with the hummus.  Thinking that I can probably make a sort of bread and butter pudding with the croissants - will check some recipes in the morning. 

Only spend today was £3.55 by DH on a clothing patch.  Also cashed out another £10.45 on Prolific and have added this to the holiday pot.  Can't think of anything we need tomorrow so hoping it can be a NSD!