Diary of a 30-something idiot

kayannie

Well done on the refund!   Downgrade the internet & if he notices, just say that there seems to be a problem with it at the moment!

What is underneath the ripped lino on your conservatory floor? Could you leave it bare for the time being?

If the quote from the electrician is too horrific, it would be worth getting a 2nd quote.

KA

MFWannabe

Can’t remember how much your internet is? If its stupidly expensive you can definitely downgrade and it won’t be noticed 
If he’s not playing with playstation much could it be sold? 

Kim_13

Another vote for downgrade the internet and if he notices, say there seems to be a problem with it at the moment and then (if he mentions it again) it might be worth looking at a different supplier at renewal time. As he isn’t wanting to play the Playstation much, can the subscription go/be downgraded? 

Which brings me onto Chase. I’m sure I’ve had cashback on my Netflix before, so I’d make sure you’re paying this, Prime (if you still have them) as well as Cloud Storage and Ring doorbell from there, even though they’re in the budget bills as rather than general expenditure. You could have a pot with Chase for recurring card payments.

MeandO

I would downgrade the internet and tell him the truth - you can't afford it as you're the only one bringing any money into the house and once he starts contributing you may be able to afford to upgrade again!

foxandflowers

Quote for Electrician came back at £95, which isn't too bad actually. I've asked when they can go ahead and get us in. 
Mr Fox worked very hard in the garden yesterday and in the process has saved me from spending £200 in Ikea on decking tiles, as is turns out underneath the gravel that was spread, was a perfectly useable patio! It has red and yellow tiles, and after a pressure wash this weekend will be absolutely lovely. There is a local 'home recycling' shop nearby and we are going to go and have a look this Saturday and see if we can get any bargain garden furniture. No purchasing unless it is actually a bargain and needed though, mostly it's just to have a poke around.

Before:


After:


So, an all round bloody good improvement. Next step is to get the shed down. 

Also spoke to Mr Fox about downgrading the internet and he agreed. I have no idea if I'm in contract or not, but it's currently costing me £63 (!!!!!) a month. So even if I downgrade from Gigafast (which is currently on offer for £43) to the Ultrafast that would be £33 a month, and therefore a saving of £30 a month. I will ring them on lunch and see what they can do for me. I also need to ring Stepchange and add the Sky Glass, as that's finally been sold on to a debt collection company. It means adding another £719 to my outstanding debt.

We are currently at £42, 073.00 outstanding including the abovementioned Sky Glass. So after the end of this month I'll be back under the £42k mark. Ouch. 

I am ending the month with £1.14 in my account, 0.33p of cashback pending with Chase, and £27 in premium bonds.
I spent £663.76 on food shops this month, against a budget of £400. That immediately has to change, or my budget is never going to balance. I also spent £70 on getting the van towed to the garage, £269.82 on 'General' things (budget was £20!!!)- most of which was furniture for stepson, and lastly spent £98.28 on 'Eating Out' which basically involved 3 unnecessary trips to McDonald's, and £18 on two work lunches, one for book club, and one for a leaving do. Budget for Eating Out was £30, which if I'd just stuck to the work lunches wouldn't have been a problemo. 

Budgeted for spends for July include a new TV now the lounge is finished (by which I mean, a good condition second hand one from Marketplace at a cost of £150) and the electrician. I then have £35 left in General Spends for the month, which may get moved to the Home Improvement fund, as I desperately need blinds downstairs (currently we have a pink blanket nailed up in the window, which is not the vibe).

Unfortunately, we have had to put smoking back in the budget. Mr Fox managed five months, but recently fell off the wagon. I'm hoping we can remove it again before the end of the year. And due to some vehicle problems, we have also maxed out Mr Fox's credit card, so my focus now is on getting that paid off before Christmas! The balance on it is £300, so I'll be paying £100 off today when I get paid, and then £30 a month minimum to get it clear. If I can make it to the end of July without borrowing any more money, it will be a success. I also need to buy my Switch back from Cash Generators which is another £105. 

My 50/50 election form for my pension has gone through, so as of next month I will be contributing 2.9% for the next 3 years instead of 5.8%. Which may long term not be the most sensible idea, but also, I need more money coming in now and this was a quick way to do it. If things improve I can always turn around and re-elect to go for normal contributions again.  

Lastly I've set up an account with Loqbox. I have nine defaults on my credit file. I don't want to get a credit card or anything, but when my phone contract ends in 2026 (haha) I'd like to have a couple of options as at that point my phone will be four years old and although it does a great job generally, I really really regret not going for a better model because the camera is appalling. 

Just checked my bank and all my transfers are set up to go out at 3am. £1,853 in one hit and hopefully that will set me up for the month!

Anyway, that's enough waffling for this morning. 

MFWannabe

@foxandflowers have you now caught up on your missed payments? 

These should be your top priority if you haven’t before anything else 

kayannie

The 'after' pics are a great improvement, especially as you were going to spend £200 on new tiles,  which you could not afford in any case.

My OH & I moved home 3 years ago & are only  upgrading as & when we can afford to. My kitchen is firmly set in the 1970's - I hate it, but it is adequate & it is going to be upgraded this year by replacing the doors only, no point in spending money on the carcases when the current ones are in perfect condition. The work will be done by my DH. Our only income is our basic state pension ( less than £300 a week) but we have always been frugal, never had a credit card & have never been in debt. I can only imagine how worrying you find your situation.

I spend about £200 a month on food & another £20 or so on loo rolls, cleaning stuff, toiletries  etc. We haven't eaten meat for 40 years which is a great saving. I make almost everything from scratch & get a Lidl £1.50 veg box when I can. We eat very well, with lots of fruit & veg. The only eating out we do is sharing a portion of fish & chips a couple of times a month.

I know you have more mouths to feed & lack the time to cook from scratch, but the amount spent on food this month is horrific! Do you meal plan & go shopping with a list to the cheaper supermarkets?

I'm not criticising you, just trying to show you that there are ways to live according to your means, especially if you had another wage coming in!
KA

foxandflowers

@MFWannabe those are accounted for and will be paid over the next few days from my rentention payment. I think it works out as about £500 extra on missed bills  

@kayannie You are correct in that the amount we have spent on food is astronomical for the four of us. I do a weekly Asda shop that gets delivered (or try to) and that usually comes to about £80. The trouble is when we run out of things, rather than waiting until the next weekly shop, I end up going to the local co-op or corner garage, where everything is twice the price. And because I haven't had money set aside for the food shop for the past month, it's been a very ad-hoc "buy food when we have money" rather than doing a big shop. Which has ended up in me spending £5-20 every other day to stock up. And that's without saying that my husband, stepson and daughter are all ferocious snackers. I can quite happily not snack, but my daughter is having a growth spurt at the moment and is always hungry, and the men are just insatiable when it comes to crisps / chocolate / cookies. The boys also won't drink tap water. It's exhausting. 

My meal plan at the moment is as follows: 
Breakfast:  Smoothies for me to take to work made at home, eggs on toast or cereal for the boys. My daughter eats at breakfast club.
Lunch: Sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, pack of crisps. 
Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese, shepherds pie, katsu curry, chicken wings & sweetcorn fritters, tuna pasta, chicken thighs with homemade wedges & coleslaw, homemade pizza. 

Then I buy a multipack of crisps, some biscuits, and two multipacks of chocolate bars for the "snack" cupboard, but if we have all the kids, this disappears over 2 days. I am going through a loaf of bread every 2 days when the extra kids aren't here. I buy about 30 eggs a week, and 8 pints of milk. I also need bleach, toilet roll, washing up liquid, shampoo, and bits for the infernal hamster. I don't count any of the cleaning/toiletries stuff separately, that's all in the grocery budget. So in my head, if the Asda shop is £80 a week, plus £6.50 a month for delivery fee that would leave £73.50 for any extras, such as a couple of alchoholic drinks/bottles of wine, or extra snacks. The reality has absolutely not worked out like that; and I've been lazy about bringing my lunch into work on top of everything else. I really really need to knuckle down to it this month and try and stick to my plans. 

slm6002

Well done on saving money on the garden, OH has done a good job clearing things.

I think until your budget is under control you need to make do with the things you have.  Is your tv working ? (even if not fantastically) - If no then look for another. Even though it will only be one from FB marketplace, that is still money that could be used to make sure you make it through the month with out having to borrow more money or a start to an emergency fund / savings. DD will soon be on her summer holidays so a few extra pennies could mean a few days out.  Have a month of just buying the essentials - food and bills.   I cant imagine you have much time to watch tv plus the evenings are finally lovely for walks along the beach or sitting in the garden.

Food wise you need to all sit down (the whole family) and discuss how the food ordered each week is more than enough for the family and there is no money to buy more.  Tell them there is no money in the bank for more food.  If it all goes in 2 days, there will be no treats for the remainder of the week.  If it takes a week or 2 of them feeling hungry until dinner comes around.  They are having decent meals so you are not neglecting them and starving them.  They are probably bored so just turning to food. Does DD take food for school?  If so maybe keep hers in a separate area (your desk draw at work - take one snack item home each day).  If they insist on spending more send Step son and OH down to the community shop so they can join the scheme and get cheaper food.  I have 3 growing children, but they know once it is gone that is it.  

Do you buy bottled water?  My XH used to insist on the very expensive dandruff shampoo as he believed all other types made his head itch.  He had the same bottle for over 5 years without ever realising I was topping it up with 89p shampoo.  Maybe refill the bottles with tap water and put in the fridge while they are not around (send them on a dog walk), maybe they will cotton on, or maybe you will save some money.  Even if it saves half the amount.  Would they drink tap water with squash in it?

What is a typical day for OH & SS while you are out working and DD is at school?  I really do think you will burn out before too long if you are the sole income and only one looking after the house, your family and finances.  There are 2 other adults in the house and they need to be stepping up.  You need to be able to concentrate on your work without your head buzzing trying to work out the next way to make the figures balance.  You do not want to loose your job because you are unable to concentrate properly.

Kim_13

What are they drinking? I dislike tap water also, but got a Brita Marella Water filter from Amazon. It takes these filters, which are better than the Brita ones: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9476958