Trying to get the balance right

Mrsfreshstart2023

End of Feb figures - credit cards stand at £9555. 

Keep plodding on. It's an £1880 increase due to garage door replacement. This might pretty much end my hopes that we will be credit card free by the end of this year. 

Will have to try and work out a new debt free date. It feels like it's never going to be gone.

lucielle

Keep going!  

L

Mrsfreshstart2023

Money saving news, nothing exiting but every little helps. 

I've applied for the £200 switch incentive with Natwast current account. I did this with Nationwide last October time and I really don't like their online banking set up so hopefully Natwest will suit me more. 

We have a trip abroad booked for May this year, flights have been booked since last year. This is the first time EVER that we have paid for a holiday in cash and not put it on a credit card. It has made things feel more tight and I am wondering how I'm going to get our spending money saved from now until May but it's crazy where you find the spare in your budget when you really need to, so fingers crossed it's do-able. 

Still need to pay final accommodation instalment but I know that will be paid from the money set aside from not paying council tax in March and some of overtime my husband did last month. 

I do plan on having a sort out through wardrobes, the kids have grew and there will be lots of branded items that I know will sell but I sometimes need a kick up the behind when it comes to selling on vinted. It's so easy yet  i find it so hard to motivate myself to getting it done.

lucielle

Can you challenge yourself to list 5 items per day and keep a running tally on your diary. 

L

Mrsfreshstart2023

Full of mixed feelingsthis month, we've had a spendy month. It was 2 of my little ones birthdays, we took 1 of them away for a night for her 13th birthday and the she needed spends more her residential trip. I'm sure there have been other things too but regardless a very expensive month. 

I'm feeling frustrated because I want this debt gone but sometimes the amount I'm paying off per month impacts on our month to month living. I've gone from feeling determined to get the credit cards paid off to then feeling dis-heartened and thinking are we better off paying les off them per month so we don't always feel like we're chasing our tails? 

We used to always pay off £500 off cards each month and managed this fine. On paper we have more income now but I feel like it's now much more difficult to manage. 

We have been saving hard the last couple of months to pay for our holiday, this is now paid and we just need to save a little bit more for our spends. I think the pressure of finding this money has kind of side tracked me from the paying off the debt. 

Also, the fact we had to put the garage door on a credit card really put a dampner on things and I am really motivated by the figures each month going down, so when this has went up its felt like such a step backwards.

Ending on a positive, no further spending on cards so they are still coming down.

enthusiasticsaver

You were doing very well in getting the debt down so I understand your frustration. At least you saved for the holiday rather than put it on credit. Once the holiday is over I would not book another until the cards are paid off. You will be in a much better position then with around £1k spare each month. 

Mrsfreshstart2023

End of March credit card figure- £9155

Baby steps, we will get there.

Spendless

Hi 

Perhaps re-adjust your budget figures that might help. Some months are more expensive than others in day to day life and not all can be anticipated. 

Only *IF* you feel disciplined enough then you could just pay the minimum off the 0% CC bang the difference into a high interest savings account which you don't touch   and then when the CC 0% deal is about to be up you pay off and the interest is yours.

That is what we have done. Our CC debt won't be paid until July but we are on track to have enough savings to cover whereas to the CC company it looks like we only just pay off  min amount each month. One  of our HI accounts has recently paid out interest and though we had no prior plans to what to do with this money, I lost my job back in December and still haven't found another so the interest is going towards our DD's student rent.

Mrsfreshstart2023

Spendless said:

Hi 

Perhaps re-adjust your budget figures that might help. Some months are more expensive than others in day to day life and not all can be anticipated. 

Only *IF* you feel disciplined enough then you could just pay the minimum off the 0% CC bang the difference into a high interest savings account which you don't touch   and then when the CC 0% deal is about to be up you pay off and the interest is yours.

That is what we have done. Our CC debt won't be paid until July but we are on track to have enough savings to cover whereas to the CC company it looks like we only just pay off  min amount each month. One  of our HI accounts has recently paid out interest and though we had no prior plans to what to do with this money, I lost my job back in December and still haven't found another so the interest is going towards our DD's student rent.

Thank you for your advice, it is certainly food for thought. I like to see the balances coming down each month so dont know if this would be the best method for me. 

Sorry to hear about your job @spendless. Hope you find something soon x

Mrsfreshstart2023

I've been hearing lots of people talk about YNAB and it all sounds very positive. I've signed up to the free trial will give it a go. 

Does anybody have any hints or tips on how best to use YNAB and if it is as good as what people say? 

Thanks 😊