Flying solo

Sarahwithlove

Just seen the news, congratulations so pleased for you 

twiggy86

Sorry I'm being a bit rubbish at coming on here and updating!!!

The main update I have today is that I made a payment of £515 to my MBNA CC this morning! Which takes my total debt figure to £5,935... i.e. it starts with a 5!!! It also takes me to 61% of my starting debt now paid - plus I have a few round ups to do tomorrow which should take me to 62% as only £7 off that at the moment! 

I know I had said that OH wants me to just pay the minimums and he intends to clear any remaining when he receives his inheritance. However, my MBNA interest free period expires in August and although I could balance transfer, I'd just really like to get down to only having 1 CC. So the balance of that card now sits at £320, which I'm hoping to clear next month. 

However, I got paid less than anticipated - which I think is emergency tax but still waiting on payslip to materialise! I actually got paid last Friday but I have ignored for now and will "re-start" the budget from tomorrow! But at least getting paid in advance means that I have been able to play around with the budget to account for getting less! 

I'm sure I have lots of little bits and bobs that I could ramble on about, but I'll leave it there! 

badmemory

Is the tax thing a correction due to being paid by both employers in the same month.  I'm sure I remember you saying that you were.

Sarahwithlove

Sounds like it might be emergency tax. Hope you're doing ok

twiggy86

Hi! Sorry I'm being rubbish at updating still!!!

Great news... 

I have cleared my MBNA CC and have now paid off over £10k!!! Meaning I now only have one credit card left with a balance of £5,555! 

Plan for now is to just pay minimums on the remaining card and OH clear when he gets his inheritance. HOWEVER, my intention is to keep stacking cash in the bank and so if I/we change our mind on this plan then I have a pot of cash available to me. Of course, we are also in the process of selling our houses AND planning a wedding, so money will be helpful in any event!!! 

I do have a slightly expensive month - as we booked to go away in September for a weekend so need to top up my holiday pot, plus I am away at a festival at the end of this month and need my spending money for that. So saving above that is fairly minimal this month, not forgetting the extra tax this month! Not entirely sure why that was but I'm sure it will straighten itself out!!!

Sarahwithlove

Great news about paying off the card. The end is in sight for you and so pleased for you 

twiggy86

Don't feel like I have much to say today, but need to get back into the habit of posting more regularly! 

I'm working from home this week, as the days I could go into the office, nobody else was around! I'm off Thursday though for OH's birthday and Friday there is a team & family work BBQ - weirdly apprehensive about that! So I will have to drive to the office on Friday but currently have half a tank of petrol! OH has his daughter this week, so far she has been good at not disturbing me but his niece is coming over this afternoon as well - so that will be noisy no doubt! Work is going well and is slowly picking up, so feeling more like a useful part of the team! Especially as I potentially saved my colleagues client£18k after a bit of research for him!!!

I did have a bit of splurge last night on buying some clothes on Vinted - need to add it all into my spreadsheet to work out exact cost! I do have a few social engagements this month, but should all be covered by the personal/ fun budget! Plans have meant that I can't do netball all month, so at least it saves money there!!! The thing that I'm starting to feel the impact of is my 1p per day challenge - where it takes a penny extra each day. I'm now at day 215, meaning it takes £2.15 and puts it into savings (and tomorrow will be £2.16 etc). It's really starting to add up as I now have £232 in the savings but it feels like it's squeezing my "fun" budget, so may need to consider whether to keep going with this!

Right that's enough waffle for now!

KajiKita

What I have seen other people do with the '1p per day challenge' is put it all the individual values into a chart to tick off, and then they pick values as they feel richer or less so on the day. I think that might work quite well and that way it doesn't steadily get harder and harder ... (which puts me off I must confess ... )

KK  

badmemory

I have seen people who do the first & last days over 2 days then the 2nd & next to last days over 2 days. so basically £1.83 a day.  I know back when I could have been doing this (way before MSE) there is no way I could have even thought about that last week at over £25 & my only debt was my mortgage.  Even £1.83 is almost £13 a week.  It is something to aim for, most of us would not stand a chance.  I am sure when I used to read that there were people who would say MY TARGET is.  So not the whole amount.  So if you have managed your target so far then go back to first day = 1p.  It is mostly about just doing something.

joedenise

I was going to suggest the same thing @badmemory.