The Three C's - Coffee, Clothes & Credit Cards

Sarahwithlove

July feels like the longest month ever. Really struggling with motivation to cook and had way too many takeaways and meal deals.

Don't have much left in the budget so bound to go over, this means the extra money I got from overtime is basically going on paying that back. 

Seems our payrise has been agreed, will be an extra £50 per month after deductions from Septembers pay and it gets backdated to April. 

So after car had its MOT and few days later the one tyre they didn't change blew. So had to get a new tyre and car tax was also due. Add home insurance costs and it's been an expensive month. 

My friend is visiting this weekend with her kids, we will eat out most of the weekend so not gonna be cheap. But I have no plans for rest of month so need to try and keep costs down. 

Wish me luck 

Newstartforme

Hope you had a nice time with your friend and her family and that it wasn't too costly . Also hope your back is alright.  Similar payrise here , not sure it covers all the rises in groceries , council tax etc 

Sarahwithlove

Newstartforme said:

Hope you had a nice time with your friend and her family and that it wasn't too costly . Also hope your back is alright.  Similar payrise here , not sure it covers all the rises in groceries , council tax etc 

No but I went up a step on the pay scale in April as well so combo does for me. Luckily.

Weekend was good thanks, im knackered now and back is hurting. Managed to have a massage today which has helped a bit. Not ready for work again tomorrow though. 

I'm so poor, the weekend basically went on my monzo credit card and will be paid off by my overtime pay on payday. I really need to plan better for their trip next year as always expensive. But I had a great weekend and it's only once a year. Fortunate that I did overtime and the cost is covered. 

I looked back through my spending for the month and realised I need to really control my spending. Too many bakery lunches, takeaways and random purchases. 

Sarahwithlove

New month is here. Monzo credit card was cleared by overtime pay and £50 i had planned to put it into long term savings. Really need to make sure I do better this month. I'm going to sit down this evening and work out what activities/expenses I have this month, do a freezer and cupboard check and make some meal plans. Hopefully then next months overtime can go towards the debt rather than frivolous spending. 

I also realised that I need to pay for my football tickets from my spending money so the extra £50 a month is going to have to pay for tickets and expenses for away games. So think i will put this in a separate pot to my usual spending money so it doesn't get spent on rubbish. 

Im off to watch a friendly game today, ticket was purchased last month. But I had to purchase ferry ticket (5 returns so should be ok for a while), train ticket and then treated myself to a Costa. 

Tomorrow im visiting my uncle to help finalise is lpoa and then beach in evening. So should be a low or no spends day. Though depends if I do food shop tonight on way home or tomorrow on way back from my uncles. Hmm decisions. 

katsu

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

LzzyIsGod said:

I like the idea of being DF at 40 (my aim is slightly older sadly at 50) it would be a massive accomplishment! But I can see the appeal of debt neutral....... having money actually in the bank is very comforting.

I think debt neutral is more a realistic target for me but I'd love to be debt free. Who knows what will happen in the next 3.5 years. I just know the time will fly by very quickly. 

Ahhh, money decisions, decisions!

Personally, I would aim to be debt free first.  You have shifted some of your debt to your dad.  It will always be a mental string tugging at the back of your mind.  Get that dad loan out of your life.

We seem to have an unhealthy obsession in this country with overpaying the mortgage.  Even at the expense of debts and no/little emergency fund.  

Of course, I’ll always be bias to ‘busting the debt before 40’. 

Sorry, couldn’t resist.   

I do want it gone, if only to free up the £100 a month. But the mortgage OP is only £38 a month and I can just see it being absorbed into my budget rather than being saved. So for now im gonna keep it as an OP and review it regularly. 

I have a £1k emergency fund, a regularly funded sinking Fund and trying to have a savings buffer as well. So I think it's good to get a balance of it all. 

Fair doos.  An extra £38 to knock off 5 years is a pretty good deal.

Mine?  Rounding it up to nearest 100 is an extra £60 a month and will only knock off two years.

Meh…

How much will you save in interest? 

We paid ours off early for peace of mind. Securing our house means being out of work etc is less worrying. It's amazing how fast you get used to having no mortgage or rent payments! 

It's a personal choice for sure.

Chocolatefund

katsu said:

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

LzzyIsGod said:

I like the idea of being DF at 40 (my aim is slightly older sadly at 50) it would be a massive accomplishment! But I can see the appeal of debt neutral....... having money actually in the bank is very comforting.

I think debt neutral is more a realistic target for me but I'd love to be debt free. Who knows what will happen in the next 3.5 years. I just know the time will fly by very quickly. 

Ahhh, money decisions, decisions!

Personally, I would aim to be debt free first.  You have shifted some of your debt to your dad.  It will always be a mental string tugging at the back of your mind.  Get that dad loan out of your life.

We seem to have an unhealthy obsession in this country with overpaying the mortgage.  Even at the expense of debts and no/little emergency fund.  

Of course, I’ll always be bias to ‘busting the debt before 40’. 

Sorry, couldn’t resist.   

I do want it gone, if only to free up the £100 a month. But the mortgage OP is only £38 a month and I can just see it being absorbed into my budget rather than being saved. So for now im gonna keep it as an OP and review it regularly. 

I have a £1k emergency fund, a regularly funded sinking Fund and trying to have a savings buffer as well. So I think it's good to get a balance of it all. 

Fair doos.  An extra £38 to knock off 5 years is a pretty good deal.

Mine?  Rounding it up to nearest 100 is an extra £60 a month and will only knock off two years.

Meh…

How much will you save in interest? 

We paid ours off early for peace of mind. Securing our house means being out of work etc is less worrying. It's amazing how fast you get used to having no mortgage or rent payments! 

It's a personal choice for sure.

About 7k

I’ve chosen to focus on my ISA more.  Eventually as the years pass in the distant future it will get to an amount that I could pay of the mortgage with it if I wanted to.  I like the having the option there if I need it.

Sarahwithlove

Chocolatefund said:

katsu said:

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Chocolatefund said:

Sarahwithlove said:

LzzyIsGod said:

I like the idea of being DF at 40 (my aim is slightly older sadly at 50) it would be a massive accomplishment! But I can see the appeal of debt neutral....... having money actually in the bank is very comforting.

I think debt neutral is more a realistic target for me but I'd love to be debt free. Who knows what will happen in the next 3.5 years. I just know the time will fly by very quickly. 

Ahhh, money decisions, decisions!

Personally, I would aim to be debt free first.  You have shifted some of your debt to your dad.  It will always be a mental string tugging at the back of your mind.  Get that dad loan out of your life.

We seem to have an unhealthy obsession in this country with overpaying the mortgage.  Even at the expense of debts and no/little emergency fund.  

Of course, I’ll always be bias to ‘busting the debt before 40’. 

Sorry, couldn’t resist.   

I do want it gone, if only to free up the £100 a month. But the mortgage OP is only £38 a month and I can just see it being absorbed into my budget rather than being saved. So for now im gonna keep it as an OP and review it regularly. 

I have a £1k emergency fund, a regularly funded sinking Fund and trying to have a savings buffer as well. So I think it's good to get a balance of it all. 

Fair doos.  An extra £38 to knock off 5 years is a pretty good deal.

Mine?  Rounding it up to nearest 100 is an extra £60 a month and will only knock off two years.

Meh…

How much will you save in interest? 

We paid ours off early for peace of mind. Securing our house means being out of work etc is less worrying. It's amazing how fast you get used to having no mortgage or rent payments! 

It's a personal choice for sure.

About 7k

I’ve chosen to focus on my ISA more.  Eventually as the years pass in the distant future it will get to an amount that I could pay of the mortgage with it if I wanted to.  I like the having the option there if I need it.

Yes I feel like i need a good balance of the two. I want a good emergency fund behind me and then I will feel better about making mortgage overpayments. 

Sarahwithlove

Urgh my mind is spinning again. I hate being in credit card debt when I know i have the money in savings to clear it. So now im debating using my savings buffer to bring my emergency fund up to 1500, then paying the £400 off Natwest to have that cleared. Then when get paid at end of month I know it's all going into savings rather than card. That would then just leave the creation loan and dad loan. Need to check how overpayments on Creation work as well. 

biggerpickle

I'd be tempted to use the buffer fund like you said and then keep your emergency fund topped up to your target? 

Definitely find out about Creation overpayments!

Sarahwithlove

biggerpickle said:

I'd be tempted to use the buffer fund like you said and then keep your emergency fund topped up to your target? 

Definitely find out about Creation overpayments!

Im tempted as I have my sinking funds building up every month separate to these for my annual expenses. That includes both car and household fund. I just want the debt gone. It's very frustrating seeing my money go elsewhere each month. 

Checked Creation app and looks simple to make Overpayments.