Debt, Endo and Reno

Sarahwithlove

I'd suggest setting yourself a limit for them, could you maybe do something with them rather than buy something? 

birdsfoottrefoil

That’s a good idea thanks @Sarahwithlove! (has reminded me that I am a bad aunty that still needs to take one of my nephews fishing though as promised….). I found the hampers really good last year as though it sounds like a bit to buy at first, as we did it across all parents and siblings on both sides it worked out quite cheaply. 

Been good on the spending this week but a bit of a rubbish one otherwise. Still got the lurgy, have been to the Drs and after an improvement with antibiotics it’s come back now I’ve finished the course. Feeling quite sorry for myself. Boyfriend is away for a few days and I’m checking his sheep, felt completely useless as couldn’t catch a one that had come lame before work this morning. Shall have to have another go tomorrow in a more organised manner with the pens set up, as after chasing and coughing around after her it was clear she was
wary and there was no way I’d be getting them penned on my own. Will go again tomorrow as they normally forget when you arrive with new food. I’m normally capable with the sheep so I’m blaming the lurgy. Then my computer has decided to go all glitchy so I’ll have to drive in to see the IT staff at head office on Monday, as they couldn’t solve it remotely. 

Anyway hopefully storm Bert won’t be too bad….

birdsfoottrefoil

Morning! 

Four days till pay day including today!! Feeling quite skint. Only have one more bill £33 for pet insurance, I have tried to get them to move it to the beginning of the month but to no avail. 

I probably only have about £40 without dipping into the Christmas/house pot, so it’s going to be a very tight week. Boyfriend did a big shop on Saturday, hopefully that should tide us over till Friday. I’ve got leftover for my lunch today, hotpot and Kale. 

Lurgy is still here and I feel exhausted. Now a steroid spray, so another prescription charge.

Gosh this is maudlin!!! On the positives I see they’ve got the Colin Firth/ Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice on Iplayer which I love. Also started watching Brassic on Netflix with the Boyfriend. 

Electrician is still AWOL but the Joiner turned up this morning. Announced he wouldn’t be here on Friday as he had to go to Magistrates Court (over a speeding ticket). He’s quite into his “theory’s” so after following me round the house with his hands over his eyes to illustrate how I’m apparently “blind to the truth”; he announced that he’s going to be claiming he’s gods image in court…. Apparently that means that Common Law won’t apply to him as “he’s not claimed his official title”. Honestly it was bizarre!! But did brighten my morning in its oddness. 

Worked out I’m only going to be about £57pm better off after the pay raise. So much of it disappears in Tax/NI and student loans. I hope this doesn’t class as political debate but I cannot wait for the Gov to finally rise the tax threshold, I think it’s years away though. 

Worked out after my card swap around I’ll be paying £377 next month off my debt. I’ll also try and do some small couple of quid payments towards it during the month. 

Have had a slight over spend this month, but I’ve still paid off more. I forgot I had a subscription for a organisation I’m a member of to do with work which was about £180. It’s so useful for CPD for my qualification, so I keep it up but annoyingly work don’t pay it and you can’t put it against your tax. If it hadn’t been for that (and the illness and car and vet) I’d not have ended up with some card spending. I’m not beating myself up as I’m still having less spending each month, but still a lesson that I need to work harder and get a fund together so I’m not dipping into house money or spending on my card. 

Have a meeting after work tomorrow, but I’m going to go and do an hour or so painting at the house after work tonight. 

littlegreen

Completely different subject and potentially a bit TMI, but has anyone tried period pants? How did you get on with them if so and is there a brand you’d recommend? Both on the good value and do the job front. I’m out on site quite a bit with work and I think they’d be useful. 

I really rate Cheeky Pants (and other products they retail too). They will probably have an offer on for Black Friday but they sometimes have sale stock too, plus they tell you exactly how to care for them. Really nice ethical brand and lots of styles and fits too and really not pricey, I think sometimes £8 a pair. Honestly I've never looked back, they are super comfy and save me only say a fiver a month, but that does all add up

birdsfoottrefoil

Thanks @littlegreen I’ll have a look at them! 

Back to the Drs as it turns out they gave me a child’s antibiotic amount…. Decided to get the yearly prescription thing as I’m back on a monthly-ish prescription. I’d asked the “in GP pharmacy” about this last week when I picked up 3 prescriptions and she advised me
to apply for it just before my next one. On filling it in online it stated you can claim back previous prescriptions if you can provide the receipt. So I asked if I could have a copy of the receipt off the same pharmacist when I was in picking up the right antibiotics and asthma inhaler, to be informed that I had to have asked for that exact form at the time for that purpose and they can’t do it now…. Feel rather !!!!!! off that the pharmacist didn’t tell me this when I asked her about it last week!!! So I’m £114.5 down for the yearly and about £30 quid for the prescriptions from last week I now can’t claim back, as the pharmacist didn’t tell me about the form at the time. Not impressed and quite skint!! Had a whinge to my mother about it (pharmacist is her neighbour) and she said that she probably assumes “you have enough money”, ah the joys of assumptions!! Could very easily get a bit grumpy and bitter here! 

 

Have made about £12 this week so far on Vinted and Prolific, I’m trying to do a survey every morning before work. I’ve got a morning cleaning on Saturday which should be £40 so hopefully that’ll help towards the prescription drama. 

There’s a happy hour on at the pub down the road tonight so meeting a pal for a quick pint, I haven’t seen her all month. I’ve said no to going out with another friend the night after though as I can’t afford both. 

I’ve always treated myself to something with my back pay, so this is the first year I’m not doing that. I feel this is progress in the mindset, did get very tempted by the Christmas offers at the beauticians near work… I will resist!! Have dropped some
hints that a voucher might be a good present…. 

birdsfoottrefoil

Morning!

As ever a mix of fortunes.

On the positives my debt stands at £18,131, only £54 less then last month but with unexpected car, vet, CPD and medical costs I’m just happy it’s going down. Even with the over spends my spending has again gone down last month, still more than I’d like but £500 less per month then when I started the spreadsheet in May.

Extra income - Pay came in for the 2 mornings cleaning after tax about £80, I’ll do the same this month. I’ve tried as well to do a survey everyday, prolific account stands at £9.35. I’m going to try and keep that up all month and then half it after pay day between savings for January and debt.

The bad- Felt an odd shaped lump on my dog earlier this week, which after her odd collapse a few weeks ago and weight loss, the vets want to operate on it straight away. The estimate is under a grand but only a few hundred more than the excess. So aside from being very worried about her as she’s been with me 5 years now, I’ve been having a debate on whether to claim on the insurance if they’ll only pay out a few hundred but will increase my renewal. The boyfriend has given me some money to pay for it on the proviso I pay him back when I can. I’ve never borrowed money from friends/family before, so I’m not sure how I feel about this honestly!!! 

Anyway I’ve taken the morning off work and taken her in. Can’t really concentrate on anything else and 🤞🤞🤞🤞 the lump is benign and she’ll be ok!!

love a very worried Birdsfoot

twiggy86

Fingers crossed pooch is ok x

Humdinger1

Dear @birdsfoottrefoil have just found your diary, read and am riveted!  I've subscribed.   I've never heard of anyone being booted off the boards apart from trolling, other deliberate nastiness or posting under more than one identity! You are absolutely right to keep posting. Paying off debt is a process not an event and you're doing well.  I agree that letting your house will be the major step forward and also agree that if you do that, it doesn't make sense to sell it.  Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

birdsfoottrefoil

Thank you @Humdinger1 for the lovely comment I really appreciate it! I really do need to focus on the house and get it sorted ASAP! I’ve done some more painting over the Christmas break, but I’m still waiting on the electrician…

Thanks @twiggy86 luckily it turned out to be benign for now (risk it might turn cancerous when she’s old but all good now).

Big relief on my dog being ok! I think I’d have had a full meltdown if it hadn’t been the case. 

I’ve been a bit nervous of posting as I’ve been sure with the vet costs (not even adding on what my boyfriend had lent me) and Christmas my CC debt was going to be terrible. I’ve had an add up this morning and altogether it’s gone up by £160. I know this is bad but I am so relieved it’s not as bad as expected!! I’ve been super stingey (is that how you spell it, as in very tight and a bit mean) since Christmas, it’s been left overs and long walks with the occasional pint (made the mistake of having a Guinness the other day and I think I’m still scared by the cost, just under £6 not in a touristy pub!). 

So the plan for Jan:

• Not fully dry January but reduce alcohol intake significantly. Have indulged a bit too much recently and I worry about it being a habit.
• Have 2 Saturday cleaning shifts I can cover, so that will be about an extra £160. Annoyingly this will finish at the end of Jan as the girl I’m covering for is back from Spain then. More reason to get house done!!!
• Book dental check up. I’m still NHS and if you don’t go every other year they chuck you of the list. There’s no other NHS dentist in the county so I need to make sure I don’t lose my place.
• Don’t get stressed by work and do have everything in writing! I won’t go into more detail then that, but local gov isn’t always the most supportive place to work.
• Try and have a minimum of 2 no spend days a week but aim for 4.
• Start yoga or Pilates again.
• Save up to see private Endo specialist. The hospital I am under for my Endo has lost its specialist status so I need to transfer as my most recent appointment was rubbish, they had no record of the surgery they’d done on me so the trainee I saw was unable to provide any relevant advice (I have requested my notes which thankfully had records but no details or photos). However the best “local” (within 2.5 hours) BSGE accredited Endo clinic has a 2-3 year waiting list just for a first appointment. Or I can see the same specialist at a neighbouring private hospital within a few weeks for £275 and then see if there’s anything that can be done and if it’s worth joining the waiting list.
• Sort out house!!!
• Sell some more on Vinted and get back to doing a survey a day!

Aside from the finances Endo has being bothering me, had quite a lot of pain since Christmas. I had a day where I really struggled to get up and out of bed as I just felt so depressed about it all and if this was going to be the rest of my life. This is mainly why I need to start Pilates/yoga again as it does help keep me sane. I’m thinking of changing to Pilates as I can walk to the class and it’s slightly cheaper.

Anyway, off to get some supplies and check the boyfriends sheep. The weather is supposed to come in bad here, so I want to make sure we’ve some more candles/logs for the stove and everything is fully charged before tonight as they’re predicting power cuts. I’m a bit snivelly this morning but we set off laying the hedge here yesterday and had a big bonfire so I think it might be from the smoke. Oddly the wood burner doesn’t bother me but bonfires do.

Hope everyone’s having a good new year!

birdsfoottrefoil

Edited as put in salary £100 less by accident…. So not as skint as I thought!

So thought it was time for a new SOA, though I do at times feel like it should be called Statement of Shame….

I‘ve been recording my spending since May so I’ve gone off those averages, although I think I can still do better and probably sometimes I do worse! Also doesn’t include the occasional extra work I do or vinted etc, so it explains why I’ve been treading water or getting worse as according to this I’ve only about £30 spare. As my debts increased I clearly am not currently giving myself a safety net.

On the positives I won’t pay council tax in Feb/March, so that can go towards some extra payments/boosting the emergency fund (normally put £20 pm away but it’s been drained recently).

On other notes:

• Disney will go soon (only got it for Rivals)
• I’ve reduced my petrol spend but I’ve not lowered it too much just in case. 
• Keeping car spend the same as it’s now done 170k
• Groceries is way more then expected on first SOA
• I’m picky on my hair dresser so that isn’t going to change and I have my eyebrows waxed which won’t change either as I’m not willing to DIY.
• However my clothes spend has been minimal and probably less then the average of £20pm.

I think this has made me realise quite how much I was spending as I’ve cut back a lot but I’m still clearly spending a bit too much. I think I thought I was quite frugal as I mainly buy second hand etc.

[font=courier new][b]Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet[/b][b]

Monthly Income Details[/b]

Monthly income after tax................ 2331.52

Partners monthly income after tax....... 0

Benefits................................ 0

Other income............................ 0[b]

Total monthly income.................... 2331.52[/b][b]

Monthly Expense Details[/b]

Mortgage................................ 635

Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0

Rent.................................... 0

Management charge (leasehold property).. 0

Council tax............................. 183

Electricity............................. 30

Gas..................................... 0

Oil..................................... 100

Water rates............................. 21.69

Telephone (land line)................... 0

Mobile phone............................ 13

TV Licence.............................. 14

Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0

Internet Services....................... 25.99

Groceries etc. ......................... 220

Clothing................................ 20

Petrol/diesel........................... 120

Road tax................................ 21

Car Insurance........................... 38

Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 50

Car parking............................. 0

Other travel............................ 0

Childcare/nursery....................... 0

Other child related expenses............ 0

Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 55

Pet insurance/vet bills................. 35

Buildings insurance..................... 23.35

Contents insurance...................... 0

Life assurance ......................... 25.83

Other insurance......................... 0

Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 30

Haircuts................................ 50

Entertainment........................... 120

Holiday................................. 20

Emergency fund.......................... 20

Other pet/poultry costs ................ 20

Apple Musicand storage ................. 12.99

Disney.................................. 4.99

Netflix................................. 9

NT...................................... 7.6[b]

Total monthly expenses.................. 1925.44[/b]

[b]

Assets[/b]

Cash.................................... 700

House value (Gross)..................... 225000

Shares and bonds........................ 0

Car(s).................................. 3000

Other assets............................ 0[b]

Total Assets............................ 228700[/b]

[b]

Secured & HP Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

Mortgage...................... 115429...(635)......4.26[b]

Total secured & HP debts...... 115429....-.........-   [/b]

[b]Unsecured Debts[/b]

Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR

T Card June 25.................4290......62........0

S Card July 25.................2692......34........0

S loan ........................4882......156.......20.89

H Card Nov 26..................4407......72........6.9

L Card Sept 25.................2076......53........0[b]

Total unsecured debts..........18347.....377.......-  [/b]

[b]

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]

Total monthly income.................... 2,331.52

Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,925.44

Available for debt repayments........... 406.08

Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 377[b]

Amount left after debt repayments....... 29.08[/b]

[b]Personal Balance Sheet Summary[/b]

Total assets (things you own)........... 228,700

Total HP & Secured debt................. -115,429

Total Unsecured debt.................... -18,347[b]

Net Assets.............................. 94,924[/b]

[i]Created using the SOA calculator at www.LemonFool.co.uk.

Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using other browser.[/i][/font]