Dilemma, Dilemma, Dilemma

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello April 1st!

Its a day off work for me to eek out more of the bank holiday weekend! Hurrah! Kids are going to the grandparents this afternoon for bowling fun and myself and OH are off to a line dancing event.

Lets start the diary with some super ace positive news…! My mortgage is now officially under 100k after today's payment 🤩🤩.

I need to call the council, frustratingly they want us to download the council tax bill online but I can't access it and typically can only contact them by email. Have estimated this months bill and paid that just so not to miss a payment but what a faff. Need to spend a bit of time updating spending trackers to capture where bills have gone up in April.

Kids are having a nice chilled Easter holidays, we haven't done much tbh as I have mainly been working but now am off till Tuesday will get out and about and do something. We have rough idea what we are doing each day.

beanielou

Great achievement.

Sammie_1985

well done on getting your mortgage under 100k, must be a great feeling.

Jessy103

Great news getting under 100k! Well done! 🎉

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Easter Sunday!

I don't follow religion myself but sending seasonal wishes to anyone celebrating today.

In the hive we have been enjoying the holidays, its funny by taking Weds off work I have a week off work and it feels even longer. Its been a really nice time just to relax at home with the kids. We've been enjoying simple pleasures such as board games, gardening (kids kicking the ball around), going for beach walks and exploring a town we pass through on the train but hadn't been to before. Today there is a duck race on in our local town which I have been wanting to do for years but the moons never aligned and tomorrow we go to York for a train model railway show (we love our trains!). So looking forward to that.

Money wise, i've been trying hard to get the balance right between frugal and trying to not be too tight being its the school holidays and if i'm honest with the kids being here I have felt conflicted on it as the difference between under and over spending and undoing some little green shoots is not much at all. Its a fair statement that my spending was out of control in 2023-2025 to a degree despite trying to rein it in each month, something always came up (as it does!). In Jan 2025 my target was to not get the cc's to over 20k. They peaked this year in Feb at £21,376 and have since got them down to £21,127 at today's figures at 5th April. To do this saving has frankly dropped off a cliff for this year. Anyway I have decided that by the end of the year the cc debt has to be under 20k which I would say is doable.

One of the things that has helped in this school holidays was being more prepared food wise. I think at Christmas and Feb half term I had a big realisation that the kids are bigger and eat more. Don't ask me why this was a revelation but it seems for me it was. I was totally unrealistic before in portion sizes and letting their fussyness dictate meals. Well, have totally changed mindset on this and the kids are being given meals that before they would have kicked up a fuss and tbh they have embrased. The teen has seen "stressed mummy" face and he's been a darling they have been great. I did big (for us) food shop at the start of the holidays and now we are using up the supplies up in wk 2. I need to go through the chest freezer today and review my list of what we have in but think we have enough to get us through most of the week. I did buy two lots of the 15p veg from Mr T. We had a big sausage casserole yesterday with some of the veg. Planning to make me some home made soups to freeze down using the parsnips and carrotts. Kids won't entertain jacket potatoes or mash but this will be fine for me & OH after the kids have gone back to their dad's. Tomorrow we are taking flasks for hot drinks for me & OH and will be making a picnic lunch.

debtfreewannabe321

Happy bank hols to you too (also not really a fan of religion, but do like the choc 😂)

You've had a hard year or so, when we have no savings, CC debt is bound to be expected, good luck getting it below £20k though. you haven't got far to go to reach that, surveys, v1nted sales, selling some old bits around the house and cashback will probably get you there alone 😊.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Hello Weds Morning,

It was back to work yesterday and the day went ok, its a really busy time and on a short week, pretty challenging tbh. Was working into the evening to make progress. Its really frustrating but i'd miss a launch if I didn't do it and it'd cause problems so soldier on. Speaking of work, i'm trying my best to be positive but really not feeling as much love at the moment. It sounds like the managers have been given a sweetener bonus and we are not getting pay increases this year. Lots of other negative stuff and thinking it might be time to move on.

Woke up to 1 of the CC's moving on to a new month, the monthly interest was £172.10 and now officially the most I have paid to date. Its totally thrown me off and frankly put me in a mood. It just shows how hard it is to pay back debt. Am going to stop using this card and add a extra £50 payment. I will not let this knock me down but try to keep it as a reminder that this can't be repeated. CC debt footer updated.

UPDATE

Just read back this entry, it reads a bit doom and gloom… ooops sorry! Its honestly not as bad as it reads, just a tad bit of frustration but its not enough to dampen my spirits.

Hope everyone has had a good Easter holiday. Ours has been lovely. Kids are enjoying themselves and have eaten wayyyy too much chocolate. I still need to do an Easter egg hunt for them and make easter nests. I have made some really sensible money choices too so I feel chuffed as the holidays are notoriously expensive.

debtfreewannabe321

QoftH you can be as doom and gloom as you like on your diary... (I am)...I've an awful memory so don't know if you've already dismissed this idea, but if you're locked into a good mortgage deal for a while yet would it be worth doing a self managed DMP to give you a chance to catch up with yourself and life especially if there might be job changes on the horizon. When I went on one years ago it was the best thing I'd done with my debt to that date. I'd never have been able to pay off the debt we had in any good time (£20k plus) and I actually managed to do lots of settlements for half price and also a few written off and I had it done in two years as opposed to 15+ years I think is should have probably taken. Understandable if you don't want to take this route it does mess with the credit rating a lot but thought I'd just throw it out there.

I hope you have a good day at work today 🥰.

Queen_of_the_Hive

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81954323#Comment_81954323

Thanks @debtfreewannabe321 - your kind words are appreciated. I haven't yet seriously considered a formal debt repayment plan.

Queen_of_the_Hive

Prolific surveys was a bit more fruitful in March. Earned £30.68. £25 was distributed to reno & refurb which is now sitting at £625 and the remaining £5.68 was invested into a shiny brand new pot for 'Garden'. I'd love to have a little pot of money for the garden for next year to cover off buying seeds, compost, pots etc. So going forward am going to top up garden pot with any amount thats extra from Prolfiic post £25 to reno & refurb.

Today also marked an improvement to S&S ISA performance. It was looking a bit more healthier as it has been recently.