The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

Sounds like you had a great time @AntoMac! Wow, 30 years is a long time, but I'm so glad that you were able to catch up with your family. It really does make a difference having that quality time with loved ones doesn't it? It really is special and it's good to always cherish the opportunity. We are often so busy with life passing us by, that the simple things and taking time out to be with those that matter to us, makes all the difference. It also feels good when you can have a holiday that you've budgeted for 😁. Even though I'm still paying it all off via the credit card, I am really looking forward to my holiday next year to Turkey.

I had a really good time @LittleMissDetermined and @cinnamon123, thank you. It was good to see my friends and have a catch up and we didn't have any activities planned. We just caught up and the kids played and it was great. We've been organised and planned two more meet ups, one at the end of November in Suffolk with just us adults and then they're coming to London see the Christmas lights and go to the museums, just before Christmas. I'm very excited, but it'll be a tight squeeze as there will be 10 of us (4 adults and 6 kids including my son) in my 2 bed flat, so some decluttering will be needed before they come to visit and that's a good incentive as any to get things sorted out 😂.

I've finally made a payment to my mum for the school fees, and put some money aside for the exam fees. I've been trying to sort out things for my son's birthday as well, he wants Fifa on the PS4 and some money, so I'm getting that together. The finances are not great, but since I've been cutting back on freelancing as my health just couldn't hack it, that is to be expected. Once I get the exam fees squared away and my heating fund up to £600, then I'll blitz what I can of my MBNA credit card. Octopus reduced my direct debt from £150 to £83 due to the £67 rebate, but I have changed the direct debit back to £150, so that the £400 becomes credit and I don't have to figure out how to pay the bills. If I keep it at the reduced rate, I'll be anxious about the bills, as I've already put my heating back on, albeit on a reduced timer as it's just too cold for my joints already.

I've decided that having so many payments is stressing me out more so than the actual amounts (I mean I don't have money and that's not a surprise considering I'm £19k in debt), as the responsibility of servicing so many lines of credit gets me down. So I spoke to my mum and she has agreed for me to keep the repayment at £50 a month until December 2023, rather than increasing to £150 a month from January. I'll be putting that extra £100 a month onto the MBNA card, and that will be £1,200 over the course of next year to get rid of the balance. Although Barclaycard has the highest balance at £9,495 compared to MBNA's £2,900, the interest free period for MBNA ends 6 months before Barclaycard. 

Aside from running costs, every penny I earn from freelancing, now until the end of the tax year, will go towards MBNA overpayments. Then once that card has been cleared, I'll be able to make more of a dent in the Barclaycard. I won't really be freelancing next tax year, so getting rid of as much as I can with MBNA whilst I've got the additional income makes sense. The monthly direct debit to Creation for our mattresses and the one to Sky Mobile for our handsets don't bother me as much as the credit cards. Creation is due to be paid off by October 2023 and the phones are part of my phone bill and comes out of my bills pot.

Today has been a good day PAD wise, with £50 paid towards the school fees and £100 put aside for the exam fees. I've called around for exam centres, and I'm not panicking so much now, as I only have to pay for 3 qualifications and there's still time to get it sorted as I get the money together. The main thing I need to do is send off for my son's passport this week, as he needs valid ID to register for the exams, and he can now get an adult one as he's 16 next week, and the old child's passport ran out last week. Turns out that I need my full birth certificate as proof of my citizenship so that he can get a passport, so I'll have to see if my mum has it as I can't find it at home. Fingers crossed I've not lost it, as paying for another one and having delays to the whole process will not be good. We need the passports to travel, but most importantly I don't want to pay late exam entrance fees as I'm waiting for the passport. Fingers crossed it doesn't take the full anticipated 10 weeks, as that will really screw up my timings. 

As we are approaching the end of the month, I need to sit down and do October's budget and a review of September. Once the expense of our birthdays is out of the way, things will get easier. As next month is a very expensive one. Lord help me.

Keedie

Morning everyone, had lots of payments today so that's a good thing 😁.

£284.85 to Barclaycard
£100 to energy fund
£5 to emergency fund
£10 to birthday pot
£6.80 to PAD pot
£5 to energy pot

So that's a total of £411.65 paid today. My energy fund is really coming along, and I have £175/£600, so that's 29.17% and this is good because it means that once I reach my target, between that buffer, the £400 energy rebate and keeping my direct debit high at £150 a month, I should hopefully be able to get through winter with a small deficit that can balance out in the summer of 2023.

I'm in the office today, so I'd better get a move on, but have a great day evyerone.xx

LittleMissDetermined

Good plan on keeping the energy payments at £150 Keedie. I am doing the same, I can't understand why they are reducing the DDs instead of giving people an option. We haven't put the heating on yet, but I can tell it's noticeably colder than it has been, especially in the mornings.  We have lots of blanket throws in the lounge so I usually get snuggled under one of those with the dog in the evenings. 

Enjoy your day in the office 
LMD x

badmemory

With what are looking like some of the most massive DDs ever, they don't want us to overpay, remember if we are £500 in debt to them we can't transfer.  The way my DD is going that will be just over a month short.  So they think they have me.

LittleMissDetermined

badmemory said:

With what are looking like some of the most massive DDs ever, they don't want us to overpay, remember if we are £500 in debt to them we can't transfer.  The way my DD is going that will be just over a month short.  So they think they have me.

Is that the reason they're reducing the DDs? How sly! We are currently in credit but I can't see the point of moving to an alternative provider.

Keedie

No I can't see the point in moving to another provider either. There's no good deals and too much change and sorting out life admin impacts my moods and stress levels. As there's nothing to save any money out there, I've not stressed myself. 

I do think it's very sneaky to trap people via arrears given the situation we're in, knowing that the rebate is there to help. If the rates were not so astronomical, then we wouldn't need the rebate. But so it goes I guess. But knowing that my direct debit and the rebate is £216/£217 a month for a 6 months plus I'll have my energy fund to top things up, will really help with peace of mind and putting on the heating without feeling guilty or anxious. I doubt it will all be enough, but it's a start.

abaka

Just getting caught up on the diary Keedie!! You’re making amazing progress!! Hope you’re keeping well!!!


Im sort of burying my head in the sand right now on the electric/gas.  We have PAYG meters and currently topping up around 30 a fortnight.  I’m hoping that this will stay the same over the winter months….No idea if we’ll get the £400 rebate through anytime soon on N.Ireland but here’s hoping that will come through soon.  I’m hoping we can get by with the money we pay increasing by 50% which is incredibly optimistic 

Keedie

Ahh bless you @abaka, that really means a lot to me and thanks for reading.

I buried my head in the sand about the energy prices for a long time, but the reality is that I just get too sick when I'm cold, so I knew that I had to act, or I would be left with another massive debt. I'm already struggling as it is financially. But not having the heating on wasn't an option. I think if you're able to top up an additional 50% it would take the sting out of it, but the prices are so crazy that even with a 50% increase, it's hard to judge what the usage would be. Why does the government always make things difficult for people in Northern Ireland? I really don't get it. Hopefully you won't be waiting too long for the rebate to be applied, although I don't know what the process is for prepayment meters??

I honestly don't understand the unit prices and how it all works out, so I have to look at in terms of money that I am spending and using. At the moment, it's £401.21 in credit, but I know that I will burn through that fairly quickly once the temperature starts to drop even further. Especially as I gradually increase the duration of the timer for the heating until it is more or less always on. I might be overestimating my usage, as I didn't bother with meter readings last winter, and I do them monthly now, but the rates are astronomically high compared to last year, so I will see how it goes.

If it turns out that with the credit I'm building by keeping the direct debit the same, plus the £400 rebate, means that I don't need to make additional payments from the £600 winter fund or use it all, then I'll just use that money as a lump sum to a credit card when I turn my boiler back to hot water only come April/May 2023.

I've got a preliminary budget for October 2022 to December 2022, as I spent all yesterday evening trying to work it all out. Here are some of the changes that I made:

•  Fixed direct debit for Barclaycard - I've cleared my PAD Pot of £55.57 and sent this to Barclaycard, and set the direct debit to £275 a month so that I can slowly over time as the balance reduces, be paying a larger sum than the minimum payment. The balance is £9,154.58, and the fixed direct debit will take this down to £5,304.58 by December 2023. Which is the majority of the first 0% plan that ends on 01/02/2023.

• Postponing sinking funds - I've paused my sinking funds top ups in October aside from Christmas, the travel fund (for petrol etc) and for eating out, and the other ones will kick back in for November 2022. This gives me the extra that I need to complete the exam fees fund so that I can book the exams once the timetable is published. As he has exams with the home education college, I need to check the times of the exams in case he has two in one day (one for the college and one for the online school), as I would need to pick an exam centre closer to the college so that he's not stressed by a major location change

• Reduced sinking funds - I've reduced the sinking funds from November 2022 so that I have more disposable income, but still have some money towards car maintenance, household purchases, birthdays etc. I've updated my sinking funds tracker so that I can save for Christmas 2022, my MOT and service and for my holiday spending money. Once I open my sealed pot challenge on 27/10/2022, I'll be able to adjust what I pay into the holiday sinking fund to meet the target amount. As I've kept the car, I now need to factor in airport parking. I thought I could do this on public transport, but my son pointed out that I won't be able to hold a suitcase, my walking stick and the rollator that I am saving up for. Hopefully a chunk of the parking fee will be covered by the sealed pot challenge.

• Reduced weekly allowance - I've reduced my son's pocket money to reflect his payment towards his mobile phone, his iCloud storage and for his Starz Play subscription. I realised that I was just paying twice over by giving him his full allowance on default and still having the payments coming from my account. I've kept my allowance the same, as it means a lot to me to have that money to myself each week.

• Emergency fund - once I have completed the exam fees fund and the energy fund, I'll top my emergency fund back up to £500. Currently it is £135.20 and one sister owes me £300 from my emergency fund which she will pay straight back into that account. I'll need to find an additional £64.80 to get the account back to £500 and then I won't touch it unless it's dire.

• Debt overpayments - once the sinking funds are where they need to be and the emergency fund has bounced back, then I'll be in a position to start debt overpayments with MBNA. The money that my brother and other sister owe me (£805.75 combined), will go towards my MBNA card, so that I can clear as much of this before the interest free period ends on 15/08/2023. From there I will snowball additional payments to Barclaycard.

I'll do a full summary of my finances on 01/10/2022, but things are slowly but surely coming together for my grand financial masterplan...

Debsnewbudget

Is it worth having a chat with the college where tour son goes to see if its possible to book the extra exams through them ? 

Sorry if it doesn’t work like that.
you are doing a fantastic job, well done.

LittleMissDetermined

Hey @keedie, I think your preliminary plans seems a sensible option and increasing your DD to Barclaycard is a game changer given how much you will have cleared on that by Dec 23!
Keep at it, you've got this
LMD x