Road To Financial Recovery

FootyFanDan

Payday budget now done and all updated in YNAB. I have managed to keep a track of everything pretty well this month which is unusual haha. I have paid just short of £500 in total to the credit card since my last payday which is just staggering, great that I can pay that amount but thinking of what that money could go to. There has been a bit of interest go on but still solid progress.

I have reviewed spending and we spent £200 on dining out/food spends that aren't from the grocery category, this has been time enjoyed and spent without worrying so that is good but more than I usually spend in this area. This does include some junk food for movies nights and one takeaway too. 

I have sent all the funds to the various pots/debt accounts. We currently have £250 in the sinking funds as it stands and we have covered school uniforms, back to school stuff and also some new trainlers for little one through these saved pots so these have been a real good thing. At present my main focuses for these pots are now Xmas, Daughter B.Day and Car servicing, so if I can keep topping these up that would be good. 

These last few months I feel I have managed to really tackle the credit card debt and still take advantage of been able to enjoy things. No doubt about it the extra salary does help, but that might change at any time so for me getting rid of that credit card ASAP is vital or at least getting it to a pretty low level is vital. I have been offered another job but I am debating what to do so that is something I need to think about, there are some days where I feel it clicks and then other days where it is utter carnage and I feel so overwhelmed as there is no real control of stuff. I do regret it on reflection, but now I am in the role it is difficult to quit haha.

I need to review where my main focus goes this month. I have been thinking about the YNAB way is to always allocate every single penny to a job but I sometimes find it difficult to not have like a buffer so I have built that now into the budget so I know we always have enough for any hiccups.

Overall a pretty decent month, despite having some off days - 

FootyFanDan

Morning All, 

Ready for a nice weekend, my social energy seems to have been fully used this last few weeks! I am ready for a bit of my own relaxation haha. This weekend is likely to be a little more low key, I have football today but driving so will be low spends, just parking and a soft drink - tomorrow we are out with family however after the last few spendy weekends we have decided on a nice walk around local country park and maybe 1 beer lol. I do also need to find some time to cut the grass and will do online shop.

I have been trying to work out best way to utilise how our income is dealt with, we generally have 4 paydays through the month, some on Mondays and then some on Fridays. The way it will work is if I treat every Monday as a payday / budget reset it should pan out pretty good. This income can then cover the weekly shop, petrol, school meals. I need to try get into habit of getting some stuff bulk bought but this is totally new to me so any ideas shout them at me!!. I like the idea of been able to bulk buy certain stuff and then only have to get essentials each week but not sure if that works out cheaper or not, will need to look. 

Payday Week - My income to cover all essentials and this will then leave the amount we have left to last the month for anything thing we need. I need to get to a point where every single penny is budgeted for something but not sure what as we have no real focus, we do need to sort our bedroom so maybe this

Every Monday - Any income calculated will cover food, petrol and school meals, any remaining (which most weeks should be a decent sum) will be equally split into Pots, CC overpayment and next month pot in YNAB, the next month pot can then rollover into my salary week. I am hopeful by doing this eventually it will get to a point where we can slowly work at getting a month ahead.

My min payment on CC is dropping now as my balance drops but I going to keep paying the amount I am, not sure if this month I can sustain the overpayment amounts I have been paying recently but we should be able to pay some extra.

hope everyone has a fab weekend.

FootyFanDan

Happy Monday, and welcome into Autumn 🍂 🎃. This morning and the day in general has been so dull and rainy. I generally love autumn season so I am looking forward to next few months. 

We had a lovely weekend that was a bit more lowkey, but we still managed to socialise. We went for the walk as planned and then had a drink and ended up with carvery in a lovely little pub. Aside from me and brother we aren't really a close family, but over last few months we have managed to get out a bit more and spend some family time together. 

The majority of monthly direct debits have come out as planned, still Council Tax (5th) & Broadband (10th) to follow but funds already allocated in my bills pot. No major spends over this week, we do need to start looking at saving for some wardrobes for our room so I suspect a lot of our ' unallocated Funds' through the month will go towards this. We have now got all the required items for the back to school so although that pot is very drained it has served it's purpose, in a previous time it wouldn't have been save for then we would have be panic buying using the CC. We will keep funding this pot.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I have food shop to get which will be done tomorrow on route home from work and petrol spends have been used this week. 

I am thinking I will be changing jobs and do have a couple of open options so need to think about that. Although I had decided I wasn't succeeding and feeling really out of my depth, I came into an email from manager this morning thanking me for my efforts and that they have seen me really stand up and be counted recently. I dunno maybe it is all in my mind haha

Sarahwithlove

I love autumn too! Good job on saving for back to school, I hate spending from my savings pots but nice to have the funds for it. 

Shame about the job, especially with them acknowledging your work. Will any of the options mean a pay cut? 

FootyFanDan

I am not so keen on winter mind!  , something about autumnal walks and the whole season just is fab.
Yeah, the spending from pots is an hurdle I need to overcome haha.
Both options mean a paycut, but how big depends on which option I take. I have also been offered my old role back at more money than I was previously on by about 2k, with a promise of another 2k rise (in writing) in April, so in effect by April the difference will be my car allowance. Honestly I came into the new role hoping for so much and in my own head all I feel is failure, as the way I am been allowed to learn is by making errors and been made to feel silly. There have been many discussions with management who are saying i am doing great but feels like not acknowledging the issues ( however they are losing alot of staff so makes me question it).

FootyFanDan

Midweek check in - Happy Wednesday.

Not really much to update but want to keep making sure I keep myself accountable on here.

Credit Card Balance is now £825.99 (not liking this uneven number so might need to find 5.99 haha). This is slowly coming down but it hasn't been this low for such a long time.

Food shop came in under budget this week, we seem to have got an handle on this most weeks now, but will keep tracking it for the foreseeable. 

We have found the bedroom furniture that we like and now I have setup a target within YNAB and will start working towards this, we've been putting this off way too much. 

Hope everyone has had a good week so far.

alt80

Great news on the card balance mate. I really do wonder if you are overthinking the job and possibly the management approach. Are you really looking silly or are you just uncomfortable with being thrown in at the deep end? No need to answer me if you don’t want to- just something to consider. From what you have previously said on here I don’t know why you would want to take a pay cut to go back to your old job where you stated on numerous occasions that you were not appreciated, stressed and overworked to the extent of struggling with your sleep. Again not for me to comment really but it seems the new management can’t do right for doing wrong. Of course I don’t have the full picture but have an objective view on it before deciding to possibly do something that you may regret quickly- we spend a lot of time working.

FootyFanDan

alt80 said:

Great news on the card balance mate. I really do wonder if you are overthinking the job and possibly the management approach. Are you really looking silly or are you just uncomfortable with being thrown in at the deep end? No need to answer me if you don’t want to- just something to consider. From what you have previously said on here I don’t know why you would want to take a pay cut to go back to your old job where you stated on numerous occasions that you were not appreciated, stressed and overworked to the extent of struggling with your sleep. Again not for me to comment really but it seems the new management can’t do right for doing wrong. Of course I don’t have the full picture but have an objective view on it before deciding to possibly do something that you may regret quickly- we spend a lot of time working.

Hope you are good mate.
Im not sure it’s the management approach, but I’m not keen on the f!!!k up to learn route. I was sold it as one job and it’s totally the opposite so feeling frustrated by that. I’ve explained in various meetings that I feel I’m not get the training / on site experience that I was advised I would get. Add that to the fact I’ve now got three peoples work hahaha. I am always overly critical of myself (possibly without reason) Sonim in the same situation as my old job except I’ve not got the tools to deal with it 

The old job was a nightmare at times and I’d got to the point i was doing far too much, this was explained to my old manager, I’d be going back to a different role but for more than I was on before but again I’m fully aware of the implications if I went back. The reality is I’d been promoted into a role I wasn’t fully prepared for and I didn’t deal with it well, sometimes we fail however crap that sounds to admit 

the sleep is still an issue lol so might have other reasons.

 

Lonelygambler

Hey, it's refreshing to read how your new job is really helping you. You are doing very well with the payments and having a life. 

Good work. LG

Sarahwithlove

I think a lot of jobs now do on the job training tbh. And if management are happy with your progress. It can be frustrating when you just want to learn it all. Maybe you need to ask them to give you a structured training plan. I'm never a big fan of returning to a job as you left for a reason.