Debt free by 30!?

~FlowerPot~

Why not try fb market place for the kallax, they often come up on there? 

wannabedebtfreemum95

~FlowerPot~ said:

Why not try fb market place for the kallax, they often come up on there? 

I’ve had a look but there is currently none available! Annoyingly a few weeks ago there were loads! Ah well, I can just move stuff about and see if that works better

wannabedebtfreemum95

Had a busy day at work today, busy season has very much started. Hopefully there are very little busy season monsters in the laptops to make life easier. I’m counting today as a NSD as I only bought some yogurts and a lucky dip on a whim, but I paid in cash. I didn’t realise I had £20 in my pocket so feels free! 

My dad dropped some toilet rolls off from Costco too so that’s a win, that’ll save us some money! He’s promised to bring more in a few weeks too so no more rationing the sheets 🤣 I never play the lottery but I was feeling lucky after finding the cash and my Lidl spin to win!! 

wannabedebtfreemum95

I’m really feeling the pinch now - why did I think January was only 5 weeks between paydays?! Thank goodness for the council tax free month - the £164 saved will go straight to John Lewis card as we’ve had to use this for petrol and a food shop. I would have lifted the money from the holiday pot if it would be on there longer than a month but only 9 days to go now until payday. Not too long!

We’ve paid £75 to Lloyds credit card today and the Virgin card DD comes off in a few days (£100). I’m excited to see what we’re at after that. I need to send some money to PayPal as well to pay off Disney+ and Now TV. I don’t use them both all the time but my grandparents do, and they provide free childcare, so I won’t cancel just yet!!! In positive news, my brother was paid today and he owed me £125 so he’s paid the piper and I’m feeling flush. Not too flush, as £50 or so will need to go to the Virgin direct debit, but still feeling quids in. I’m really enjoying this Monzo 1p challenge too. I’m at £1.05 so far and contemplating paying for Monzo plus to get interest on pots and the free weekly Greggs. There is one nearby so it would pay for itself but I’ll wait until the end of the month as we’ll start saving our house deposit in Monzo as I’ve maxed out my LISA for the year. 

Morrisons shop was £85 - on the meal plan this week is:
- enchiladas
- salmon rice veg 
- pesto chicken pasta
- sweet and sour chicken
- roast chicken 
- nadiya from the bake off chicken 
- fish fingers 

wannabedebtfreemum95

After thinking about buying the Ikea stuff for weeks, talking about it on here and searching FB marketplace daily, I finally purchased the stuff today. £78 hopefully well spent if it keeps the house tidier and more in order. This came out of the kids Christmas money and we saved £30 delivery as my dad will pick it up from the store. He’ll build it and attach it to the wall too! I bought 1 4x2 Kallax unit, 6 Drona boxes, a kids cleaning kit and a roll of paper for their easel. I got them new plates, bowls, cups and cutlery too as the ones we’ve got all look a bit scratched and minging! I’m very excited to make a plan - I think we’ll keep the Lego downstairs and bring puzzles etc upstairs. My master plan is to have less downstairs and bring things up and down on rotation but we’ll see how long that lasts. I’m going to put spare bedding, blankets etc in the boxes too to give more room in the drawers. Excited for some tidy possibilities!

wannabedebtfreemum95

It’s been a week since I’ve updated and a lot has happened - mostly negative! I’ve paid my direct debit to Virgin so the debt is now £100 less, yay! I ended up ordering wool (boo!) with my Xmas money to make a cardigan for my friends wee girl. I’m excited because I never get to make pink girly things! We’ve had to use the credit card a few times this month too for various things like electric top ups, gas, a food shop, petrol… all comes down to not budgeting properly for the extra long time between being paid. We don’t pay council tax in Feb so there’s an immediate £164 going to pay off the card when it’s payday. It’s been freezing here with the storm so I’m not going to feel bad about extra gas and electricity because it kept my boys toasty warm! 

Yesterday we had a day out to the science centre planned but the car broke down on the way. The science centre refunded our tickets which was great, then after the faff of sorting out a car, we phoned and they gave us free entry for a late afternoon visit. We only had to pay for the planetarium! What a win! Excellent customer service and two happy kids. No idea how much the car will cost to fix, whether we’ll need a new car, but that’s an issue for another day… 

wannabedebtfreemum95

Yay it’s finally payday for both of us and our debt is now in the £12k!!! Only slightly but happy days. We’ve still got most of our direct debits to go out for the month towards debt (£75 Lloyds, £75 NatWest, £100 Virgin) but we’re getting there. 

We’ve saved less towards a house this month (£300 v £1000) because the car is in the garage. Not sure what’s wrong with it yet… or the cost! 

Each week we’ve budgeted £125pw for food, £75pw for days out and we’ve got our own spending money too. We’ve got 2 birthdays this month so we’ve got extra in the party gift pot and we’re due to pay another squirrels instalment so that’s another £55 there. Our plan is to do No Takeaway February so hopefully that helps the budget!!

wannabedebtfreemum95

It was my non-working day today so I popped to the shops for birthday party gifts. I feel quite smug as I’m under budget too! I had a free drink to redeem at Costa so used that then went to Bookbug (free). I’ve booked an eye test for next week (work pay for this) as I can’t use my free glasses voucher without getting a new sight test. Ah well, not my money! 

We usually go for a book and a tenner per party rather than a gift, usually a sticker book too. I’m now thinking maybe we just go for a book?! I don’t want to look stingy but it’s so expensive. We’ve had 2 birthday parties so far this year with at least 2 in March. I’ll have a think. The book, card and gift wrap was £10. We had to get a wee gift for my best friends daughter so got her a cute wee set from H&M (£17.99). She didn’t get a book! H&M were doing cash back on Monzo so got 3% back (54p). I was feeling frustrated yesterday as Monzo told me I could’ve activated 5% cash back on my Morrisons shop. It’s multi-use so I activated it then this afternoon I got a notification saying they were paying me it, yay! £4.74 back! The cashback will go to PayPal as my card of the quarter. I bought the big boy a sticker book too (£9) as we’ve been enjoying doing these together for 1 on 1 time. He was pleased to see it after nursery! I bought myself coffee and a cake for the walk to bus stop (£8) and this was very disappointing. When will I learn?! Starbucks is never the answer. I came home from shops early and made a lovely lunch, prepped dinner and picked up the big boy so we’ve had a great afternoon and the baby’s in bed. Time to relax!!! 

This weekend, we’re going to speak to the showhome sales people after our language class. The stamp duty calculation made me a bit sick but it’s good to have a goal!

wannabedebtfreemum95

It’s been two weeks since I’ve updated my diary and what a two weeks it’s been! We’ve had some highs (we’ve had an offer accepted on a house) and some lows (the clutch and flywheel being replaced on the car) but the debt keeps moving. We’ve got the car repairs sitting on the John Lewis card (£1170) but we’ve got £500 in an easy access savings account so that’ll pay off half. I’ll need to pay the other half on payday as I told the mortgage people it would be clear!!! 

The house was on the market for a while so we offered under home report. We’re using the 5k mortgage scheme so the interest rate is slightly higher but means we’ve got a space to call our own. It’s a lovely detached house with a massive garden - I am so excited for the potential! My estimate is that the mortgage will be around £1400 per month. Currently we’re paying £500 rent and saving £1000 so I think we’ll be fine! We’re expecting council tax to increase 10% at least, and we’ll go up a few bands but we’re much closer to nursery. My mum’s offered to pay solicitors fees so all that’s left to do is save up for stamp duty! We’ve no idea when we’ll be able to exchange so hopefully at least 2 more paydays until we get the keys. The Lloyds and NatWest cards both won’t be paid until next month due to the shorter month so it’ll be only the Virgin card lowering before next pay day (to under £4K!!!). Mr WDF is also expecting backdated car allowance from work so that, along with no council tax, will likely clear the John Lewis card too. I’ve not got much money left for personal spending (£80) but all the bills are paid, the freezer is jam packed with food and we’ve got hello fresh coming on Tuesday as it was 50% off. 

Next weekend we’ve got lunch out with the in-laws one day so that will be a cheap day out!!! We’ll need to fill the other day with something free. We’re away to the theatre during the week next week too so gran is on babysitting duty. 

I’m feeling a bit stressed about the thought of moving and all the costs that mount up for that. I think we’ll stop saving for birthdays and Christmas for a few months to build up a bigger emergency and a decorating fund. We’ve got most of the furniture we need but we’ll buy a new sofa. Thank the lord for 0% IKEA finance! 

The mortgage term is 5 year fix and with the current level of debt payments, we’re due to be debt free in 3 years. I’d love to be able to start overpaying the mortgage too but once we’re debt free. We’ll get there! The big goal down the line is extending the house but no mad rush, the kids are small