A Much Needed Wake Up Call...

BL07478

Hello there to anyone who reads...

This is my first time posting anything like this, all following a frank heart to heart with my SO earlier on this week, when at one point during the day there was a very frank possibility of us separating. As it ended up, we're both doubling down on our efforts to not neglect each other as much and are signed up to our next 2 year tenancy in our rented home. 2 years was all that was being offered by our current landlord and nothing else suitable around, which I think may have thrown up any underlying concerns bubbling under the surface.

One of the biggest conversations was our joint effort towards money. Every month we say we really need to be good this month, every month we end up gorging on takeaways or just pointless junk... my SO has a good few years on me and is actually extremely worried that we're not going to be anywhere near ready to buy a house in 10 years, let alone 2 and worried he will go into retirement still renting.

We both have debt, both have a rough idea of the others and both properly committed to getting it down as quickly as possible in order to start smashing the house savings. 

My job is the only one of the two with overtime available so I am looking to pick up at least 1 shift (or the odd hours here and there to make up effectively one shift) which is paid at time and a half, unless its a Sunday or Bank Hol which is double time. The extra money is likely to go as a larger percentage to debt payments and smaller percentage into my freshly opened LISA.

I'm also going to start picking up surveys where I can just because it can't hurt to have that extra money no matter how small.

My aim for this diary is to try and update on a Wednesday, I do shift work but its the one day my SO is at work literally all day so I can sit down and update at my leisure.

My first small goal is for September to be the month where I have no bounced direct debits, no dipping into the food shopping or petrol money for other unnecessary spends or resorting to the £1 petrol trick!

I'll probably aim to get a full SOA done by the end of September when I've done all of the costcutting I can for the wise ones on here to review. Whilst I only plan to update once a week myself, I will be nosing around on the website most days probably to get tips!

WinterWarrior

Good luck. You will find lots of support here. 

Four_Seasons

Good luck I will be cheering you on. 

AntoMac

You’ve taken a big step by facing up to it. Good luck. Bad habits can be hard to break but you CAN do it.

LittleMissDetermined

Well done on taking the first steps, from experience there’s nothing quite like intending on buying a new house to get your @r$e in gear and get debt shifted! 

There’s an abundance of support, advice and guidance on this forum and if you’re not sure of anything there’s no such thing as a silly question. 

It would probably be useful to post your statement of affairs (SOA) to see if there are any quick wins or overspending that can be stopped. 

If you’re intending to buy in a few years it’s worth signing up to the free credit check companies and keep an eye on your score. This really helped me work out where my debt priorities were. 

We love to order takeout too, especially after long hard days at work but we lab one in now once a week, which is manageable in terms of affordability and it’s something to look forward to.  There’s no point going from 100 to zero as you’ll be less likely to stick to a plan. 

Lots of luck! Subscribed to cheer you on and offer support 
LMD x

BellaLasagna2018

Good luck. I will be following your diary. 

BL07478

Hello everyone - took longer to come back than planned but got some sad news about a family member on the Tuesday so spent a lot of the Wednesday moping around.

This Wednesday my OH was off all day too so just catching up on things now

Clearly did not do my budget well enough this month as all of a sudden a lot of my was gone and all on things that I thought I had accounted for so I am just reviewing now what went wrong and why so I don't make the same mistake again next month

I get my second influx of income on Monday which will be enough to cover the bills for the rest of the month and a few gifts for OH's birthday - he's been very clear about not spending a lot of money so this will be the first year I stick to that, previously it's all gone on credit cards and catalogue companies.

I am already signed up to Credit Karma, Clearscore and MSE Credit Club and keeping a close eye on things there for any unexpected and unwelcome surprises. 

That's my super quick update, time to sift through whats gone out this month and will be back on Wednesday with any updates or wins!

SavingPennies_2

Just so you know if you havent yet signed the contract,  your landlord can't make you sign up for two years. You should have had the offer of a rolling contract (rolls one month at a time as long as you want but you can leave any time with one month's notice). Of course if you want the security of 2 years that's fine, especially if rentals are hard to come by at the moment, but EA often try it on and make you think you have to sign up for longer contracts as that often suits the LL more than the tenant. Good luck.

BL07478

Hello all,

Checking in on my first real downtime this week, only worked Weds-Friday on this set of shifts but it was so intense, busy and downright knackering. I have been seeing family so far this weekend and have just returned from dinner round a family members.

It's just me at home for the rest of the day so I have got my feet up for a little while before I make a coffee and set to looking at my budget for next month and making sure nothing gets missed out.

I've been invited for a girls night of dinner and drinks next month, I offered to treat my nan to a pedicure for her birthday next month also, I need to work on making promises with stuff like that as it then puts pressure on me further down the line.

I've said yes to the girls night as it stands as it's my first invite to anything where it's been a personal invite in the year I've been there, I will just look to set myself a budget on the night that I can actually afford. 

My nan would absolutely refuse for me to pay for her pedicure if she knew I was struggling with money, in fact she'd probably offer to help out where she could but she's got so much going on with my grandad who's recently been diagnosed with various long term conditions that I don't need her worrying about that

Feeling very lost and tired this week, I've just about caught up on the ironing, washing and housework, back to work tomorrow albeit on night shifts so I will have some downtime in the day time tomorrow where I will have a valid reason to go back to sleep for a bit!

BL07478

SavingPennies_2 said:

Just so you know if you havent yet signed the contract,  your landlord can't make you sign up for two years. You should have had the offer of a rolling contract (rolls one month at a time as long as you want but you can leave any time with one month's notice). Of course if you want the security of 2 years that's fine, especially if rentals are hard to come by at the moment, but EA often try it on and make you think you have to sign up for longer contracts as that often suits the LL more than the tenant. Good luck.

Thank you - we've actually opted for it as the house before these we were renting the landlady sold up and the one before that we had to move out when the tenancy was over as the landlord wanted to move an employee in, so the security for another 2 years is just a relief quite frankly lol

BL07478

Popping in again quickly, last night shift tonight for this set of shifts so just relaxing at home before I need to get ready, planning on try to stay up tomorrow to get stuff done and maybe have a nap mid-afternoon.

Had a bit of a break down the other day, OH came home and I had to tell him I couldnt go and get our food shopping as my outgoings had been higher than my income basically had a panic attack and was crying for ages. He was lovely - went straight out and got some dinner for that night, went and did the food shopping the next day and said we should just go to Lidl or Aldi exclusively going forwards to save money on the food shopping. Next months budget should be easier as I've got some overtime added into it, I need to phone Sky tomorrow and say I'm leaving as I'm out of contract - we pay £60 a month at the moment, they best they could offer on live chat was £51, however I can add TV onto our BT Broadband for £12 a month for all the basic channels and sky channels, so going back to them with that and quite happy to leave if they don't have anything good enough for us to stay. 

Cancelled my Les Mills on Demand subscription, I don't use it and prefer the gym, cancelled My Fitness Pal as I'm rubbish at tracking my meals on there and don't even know why I got the premium.

Sold some weights on FB Marketplace for £20 yesterday so got a little extra cash there. 

Next month is all about making any small extra payments I can to my debts and just getting them under control - feel a bit lighter after the little meltdown the other day, my OH knew I was working on my debts but knows now that things are very tight for me and will help if needed.

I get various offers for reloadable supermarket giftcards through my work perks so will look into those too as a way of saving money with the food shop. 

Doesn't help this month that I had to take the cat to the vets and pay £35 for some steroid cream, OH's birthday and various other bits that just need more forward planning.