“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

browneyed_girl

Feeling particularly zombie-like today after a rough night with DD4.  Although she only woke up twice and settled again quickly, I just couldn't get back to sleep after being woken despite clearly being knackered!  Wondered briefly if I'd been overdoing it with caffeine during the day, only to then remember that I switched my usual tea for decaf months ago!  Brain obviously not functioning properly... 

DH is working on the back garden with MIL and FIL today.  Much cheaper than paying a gardener as FIL accepts payment in cider!  It's taken a lot longer than anticipated to get the garden sorted and I'm a bit fed up of seeing half a jungle every time I look out the window.  I wish I could be more help but DD4 seems to want exclusive access right now and is fussing any time I put her down.

So, instead I've been tackling spreadsheets and planning our budget for the month.  Current total debt still looks like a scary number, but to my delight I've found that whether using the debt snowball or avalanche method, the order of paying off debts remains the same!  I do love it when a plan comes together!

Breaking it all down, our current debt looks like this:-

• CC1 (Barclaycard) - £2026.78, currently at 0% until 06.10.25 then 25.65%
• CC2 (Virgin) - £4976.86, currently at 0% until 26.02.26 then 24.9%
• Natwest loan - £8444.80 @ 9.9%, monthly payment £150.80
• Nationwide loan - £12632.58 @ 8.7%, monthly payment £363.35

There is also my student loan with £11040.22 @ 4.3% currently and £2088.95 owing to HMRC for overpayment of child tax credits being paid back at £30 monthly.  Both of these are low priority but still need paying!!

Total debt as of today is therefore £41,210.19 

It looks like we'll manage to pay off both CCs before the 0% ends but it'll be a bit tight in view of maternity pay.  Ideally, I need to find a saving of £300 each month or earn this in addition to our standard income.  I think I can save at least £100 on the grocery budget and DH is going to work some extra hours whilst I hit Prolific and Swagbucks hard!  We're also getting an extra £69 in child benefit each month, which is fine for this tax year as my pay due to maternity shouldn't exceed the threshold, but I'm going to need to remember to set about 50% of it aside next year to pay the higher income charge.

Of course, my goal is to earn/save a lot more than that each month so I can finally get rid if this debt.  It's started to be quite a burden, particularly since we want to free up cash to sort the house and getting into further debt for this is not really an option (despite DH trying to persuade me otherwise!).

Right, going to try and put DD4 down again after managing to type this with one hand whilst breastfeeding (multitasking world championships here I come...) and hope that she stays asleep long enough for me to make some food and go to the loo - not necessarily in that order!

browneyed_girl

NSD today!!  Also gained a baby activity mat and stairgates for free from a friend so feeling really positive

I had been looking at buying an activity mat for DD4 but the cheapest I could find was still £20 and didn't have very good reviews.  Asking a friend for these things marks a big change in thinking for me, which I'm hoping can only be a good thing moving forward with clearing our debt.  Though I am by no means a snob (a lot of things in our house are second-hand, I wear clothes until they are falling apart at the seams and detest anything branded), it has always been difficult for me to ask for help in situations like this because I like to be seen as in control of all things at all times.  This means I would have in the past just spent the money to avoid asking friends for items because I would worry it would make me seem weak or needy.  Of course, this whole way of thinking is stupid and I have lovely friends who are always willing to help so I've promised myself that I will start letting them!

DH is back to work tomorrow after a week of annual leave (sort of an extension to his paternity leave) and so I'll be needing to find ways to entertain the older children whilst juggling all of DD4's demands!  I'm thinking crafty day and possibly some baking depending on how the bananas in the fruit bowl look tomorrow (I love banana cake and it's something the kids can make with minimal supervision)

browneyed_girl

An uneventful couple of days to start the week, which I'm definitely not complaining about!  DD2 is away with a friend this week and it's amazing how much quieter the house is with just one less child - she's not even the noisy one! 

The most excitement I had today was planning for our free electricity hour between 2 and 3pm (anything over normal usage is credited to your account) which we get occasionally with Octopus.  Of course, with my frugal head on I had a load in the washing machine, another in the tumble dryer, the dishwasher on AND I made the macaroni cheese for tea which would then only need reheating later.  I also managed to squeeze in boiling the kettle to make myself and DH a hot drink once the hard work was done!  Felt stupidly proud of myself after this - it really is the little things in life, isn't it?!

Moneywise we've done pretty well also.  DH picked up a few needed items from Ald! on the way home from work amounting to £12.73.  Annoyingly, he spent 30p on a bag despite us having hundreds at home, so clearly I need to work on getting him a bit more organised.  I think I'll stash a load of bags in his car, but then he'll probably only remember them once he's at the checkout anyway

My big win for the day has been cashing out £40.94 from Prolific and putting this straight onto the CC.  Seeing as this amount only took 2 days to earn (I was lucky to get some high-paying surveys), I thought I was probably done for the week, but after this I managed to earn a further £29!!  Can't cash this out until tomorrow, but at this rate I'll be able to make a significant dent on the CC!  I've decided I'm going to try and aim for £750 from surveys over the next 5 months (or £150 per month) whilst I have the time on maternity leave, with anything over this being a bonus.  Is it too much to hope I could get to an even £1000?!

browneyed_girl

So the survey push is going better than expected.  After last cashing out £40.94, I've cashed out a further £44.68 plus I have another £24 pending - that's nearly £110 in a week!  It's made me realise that if this continues, I might need to include survey earnings on my tax return, which even as I type it makes me feel a bit weird and stressed.  Anyone else had to do this?!

Did the weekly shop on Thursday and spent £76.35 at L!dl, plus £14.08 at B&M.  Going to need a few more items during the week, but hopefully can still make it less than £100 for the week.  Really trying hard to reduce our food spend as any leftover from the budget is going straight on the credit card and I plan to get the Barclaycard paid off by the end of September.  DH was paid yesterday so put just over £450 towards it as well as the survey earnings, which means the balance on the Barclaycard is now £1555.32.  I've got one more payday with close to my usual pay, then am down to half pay plus SMP from September so going to have to tighten our belts even further to keep up with paying down the debt.  

Only other spends I've had this week have been £7.28 on V!nted for two pairs of school trousers for DD1 and £36.86 on a waxed canvas jacket as an anniversary present for DH.  Quite proud of this one as wax is the traditional gift for 16 years and I'm fairly certain DH wouldn't want candles!  Jacket was in the sale so already less than it's original price of £58, but then signed up to their marketing emails to get a further 5% off and free delivery (I'll just unsubscribe later).  

Not much planned for today beyond housework and getting an early night.  Hopefully the sun will stay shining so I can hang out some laundry.  The smart meter is showing much higher costs than normal since the kids and I are home all day at the moment and I need to actively take some steps to cut it down (seems a much better approach than just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best!)

teapot2

browneyed_girl said:

So the survey push is going better than expected.  After last cashing out £40.94, I've cashed out a further £44.68 plus I have another £24 pending - that's nearly £110 in a week!  It's made me realise that if this continues, I might need to include survey earnings on my tax return, which even as I type it makes me feel a bit weird and stressed.  Anyone else had to do this?!

Yes me, I'm self employed so do self assessment.  I only do surveys on Pr0lific and 1p0ll these days as I find other sites got a bit tedious.  Last time I filled in a return I think I had abut 1k from surveys to add to my income.  If you do go down this route, it might be an idea to have a wee savings pot for putting aside survey tax?

browneyed_girl

Thank you @teapot2 - I had thought about the savings pot but might need to actually action it now!  I had looked at HMRC and was aware that less than £1k of additional earnings doesn't need to be declared, but since I'm likely to be over that I'm now trying to figure out whether declaring it means you pay tax on the whole amount or just anything over the £1k Might just pop extra aside to be on the safe side...

teapot2

My understanding as a lower rate tax payer [albeit limited understanding] is the survey money is added to other income when SE and I pay tax on the amount that remains once the personal allowance is taken into account [its currently £12,570 I think].  I guess if your income is PAYE, they may just adjust your tax code instead??

browneyed_girl

Another morning where it feels as though I got almost no sleep and am simply functioning on auto-pilot   Why did I think it was a good idea to have another baby in my late 30s?!  I mean, she's absolutely gorgeous and I wouldn't change her for the world, but having had all my other children in my 20s, it definitely seems like a lot more effort now.  Can't mention that to DH though as he already pokes fun of me for being an old woman, despite only being six months older than him!

So, DD4 is currently sleeping in her Moses basket (why couldn't she do that last night?!) and allowing me to sit down with a cup of tea kindly made for me by DD1.  I have to say, the only advantage to having a bit of a gap between children is that my older two are able to help out with baby and are really keen to do so!  DD1 in particularly is completely smitten and has become a pro at changing nappies and rocking her to sleep.  Just as well really as DH has had some very long work hours as he prepares to oversee the entire company whilst a colleague is on maternity leave.  I'm just hoping the company's owners see his worth and pay him accordingly as it would massively help clear our credit cards!

My main task for the day is taking all the kids to the dentist later.  DH was supposed to be around to do that but now has work meetings, so I'm left to do it with DD4 in tow - what could possibly go wrong?!  House is looking pretty good thanks to a combined effort, so not a lot of housework to do today.  DH went round the kitchen at the weekend with a tub of pink stuff and scrubbed every visible surface.  Hadn't used it before now, but am very impressed with the results!  DH is definitely a convert and is making plans to restock the cleaning cupboard with anything and everything pink!  

As for money stuff, I cashed out £35.65 from Prolific yesterday which makes a total of £121.27 for August so far.  I've put this straight onto the Barclaycard and have another £38 pending, which will then put the Barclaycard balance below £1500.  I really think these surveys are going to be vital in getting these cards paid off whilst receiving maternity pay - genuinely did not expect them to be so lucrative!  Should only have fuel to pay today and then hoping to have a NSD tomorrow (if DH also behaves).  I've been watching Dave Ramsey clips to try and keep my motivation up - I've gone as far as to put together a plan for paying off the mortgage and a comprehensive retirement plan!  DH thinks I've gone a bit mad but he'll thank me for it one day!
 

browneyed_girl

Have really impressed myself this week with keeping up the survey momentum!  Cashed out £20.50 yesterday to take my Barclaycard below £1500 which felt like a nice little milestone to keep the motivation going Today, I've been able to withdraw a further £36.27 (immediately sent over to the Barclaycard) with £29.30 pending!  This makes my total earnings just for August over £200!!  This already exceeds the £150 I hoped to make each month and it's only been two weeks!  Really hoping the surveys don't dry up because being able to cash out and make a payment to the CC daily is doing wonders for keeping me on track

Not much else to report for today.  Have to get some shopping in tomorrow as I've had a few of the kids grumbling that there's no food in the house (translation: I'd much rather have chocolate than something from the fruit bowl).  This will only be for a few days as I've opted for a home delivery from Mr T this weekend.  Not something I usually do, but I've been reminded that getting a big shop done with a newborn in tow is not a lot of fun.  There's also not much difference in cost (came to £104 with the cheapest delivery option), particularly considering our nearest supermarket is a half hour drive away so we'll be saving fuel and - more importantly - time.  DH has been working daft hours, so saving two hours a week by shopping online might just be worth giving up picking out my own bananas!

browneyed_girl

Quiet-ish morning so far at home with the kids keeping themselves amused whilst I crack on with some more surveys.  I swear the dopamine rush I get from seeing my Prolific balance go up has made me obsessive about checking for new surveys - even at 2am when DD4 wakes me up!  (FYI, you'd be surprised how many surveys appear through the early hours of the morning).  So far, I am up to £201.73 paid off my Barclaycard balance this month from surveys, plus I have another £60 pending on Prolific and am close to £50 on Swagbucks.  All going in the right direction so far!

I sat down with DH at the weekend to start looking at the budget for September.  It was always going to be an expensive month because of the start of term and paying for the kids' various lessons (plus DD3 is starting Brownies and we need to get her uniform etc).  Thankfully, I started a sinking fund for these costs but I'm still going to be about £100 short, which I'll have to take from the budget.  I should also be due some back pay on payday that I'm hoping can go straight onto the Barclaycard and might even get close to clearing the balance - I have everything crossed!    

My big battle at the moment is trying to get DH to stick to the debt-free plan now that he's toying with getting a new vehicle (again!).  We agreed to a longer term plan to buy a van to help transport the growing family around, but he has decided that he wants one now, and not even a good one!!  His compromise is that he'll buy something cheap and do it up, but all the vans he's been looking at do not even look roadworthy!  I think he's being very unrealistic about this - I've been suggesting waiting until I return to work and saving up enough to then buy something reliable, which would take about a year.  If it were up to me, we wouldn't be getting anything new until all the debt is paid off (proper Dave Ramsey style!).  We already have two working vehicles (and mine being a 7-seater already) and we've just paid to have DH's clutch replaced because he had agreed to keep it for longer, but he is just so fickle and impatient when vehicles are involved!