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Hello friends.
Sorry for going ghost mode on you all. I had some really bad burnout and ended up off sick from work for a few months. I ended up getting a new job that is fully remote! And has lots of overtime available. Lucky for me that means that my income has gone up rather nicely. My new manager is incredibly supportive and kind, and I am much happier.
Mini Fox has started secondary school. Our oldest stepson has had a second baby so now I am a grandma twice over at the grand age of 35. They are due to move close to us in the coming months and I am looking foward to it. Very sadly we lost my beloved FIL a few weeks before the second baby was born. Mr Fox has taken it very hard. Once his son moves down they are both going to be working together so he will start contributing to the household and a pension!
We haven't moved house again. Somehow the tiny terrace has become home. We have been working on the garden and spending lots of time together. I have been striving for peace, and sometimes it almost feels like it's acheiveable.
Now I just need to get the finances locked down. Things have slipped in the last few months, but I am due to pass probation in a week and have already been promoted, so now I am feeling happier and more secure, I am hoping to get a strong budget together and stick. to. it. Which is where I always come unstuck.
So, I think I'm back, if you'll have me.
I've made £57 on Vinted tonight, and I've got £235 due to me from working the Senedd election last month that ought to appear in the next fortnight. The first goal is to build some sort of emergency savings as the funeral costs have totally wiped us out. So half of everything extra I make is going to savings, and we have set goals that we want to work towards to improve the house/family life. The other half is going to pay down debts. As always. Hopefully this year we see some real progress.
Love as always,
Fox <3
Welcome back and congratulations on the new job and promotion! Also for being a Grandmother again. 😊
I'm sorry to hear about your FiL, so sad.
And since when was MiniFox old enough for secondary school?!
Great to hear from you Fox, and pleased to hear your job is going well and congrats on becoming grandma twice!
Sounds like things are coming together for you and the family, looking forward to hearing how things progress financially too.
Nice to have you back!
Fab to hear from you @foxandflowers! Your plans are excellent. So sorry to hear about FIL. I think you're right to stay put and it's good that DH has had his LBM. Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx
Welcome back!! Looking forward to hearing how the new job goes. So sorry to hear about FIL and your own health problems. Things can only get better. X
Aww glad to see you're back, sorry to her you've had a few upsetting experiences. Pleased you've found a job you like and are much happier. Just your financial situation to get to grips with now . It wont be a big challenge given you are already through the hard stuff already.
Hello foxcubs, I am so pleased some of you are still here. Thank you for my warm welcome back!
Suppose we better start getting into the debt situation… Might as well just take the plunge and get it over with. This feels like an awkard confessional, so just know I have been a bad Fox, but I am back on the right path.
Current income is about £3,300 after tax, working 50 hour weeks, so almost double what I had when I started posting here, and there is room to make more if I want to, but I am trying to avoid burnout. Sometimes work offers triple time pay overtime, so when that is available I will take advantage of it (I have an extra £1000 net this month on top to play with). So that feels very good. Unfortunately we have let a little lifestyle creep in, especially given that this house is a lot cheaper to run than other houses we've been in.
Fixed outgoings without debts are £1,900 including all bills, fuel, food, dog related nonsense and about £200 worth of discretionary spending that could be cut on a tight month (ie getting my hair cut etc.)
Debts are, better than they were I think. But borderline spiralling out of control after the last few months. So we have £1700 left on a loan, approx £4000 on credit cards, and £25k with stepchange still. I thought I was smarter with money than I was, got a loan for to pay off my cards which got racked up whilst I was off long term sick from work, then got hit with funeral costs. I'm paying about £400 a month on all the debt which is not great, slightly over minimums but still a bit painful to face up to.
My priorities are as I mentioned to rebuild the emergency fund, pay off everything outside of stepchange, do some quality of life improvements around the house, and try and get myself back on track. I was doing really really well, and then I all of a sudden wasn't.
Those of you who are good at mental math will see that I have about £1000 spare each month, if I actually stick to a budget. Unfortunately Fox has been notoriously bad at that. We spent £300 on takeaways in May, and were also £350 over the grocery budget. Just shockingly wasteful. We are now back on meal planning and no takeaways!
I have a six month plan to tackle (almost) everything, and get some savings behind me. Month one and two I will clear and close the three smallest cards, then snowball the extra payments into the next one and next one and so on, so by September I will have cleared and closed four of them. By Christmas, I will have cleared or closed all my cards, and by putting £200 a month into an emergency fund, and £200 into my "life upgrade" fund, I will also have saved up £1,200 emergency fund AND been able to get a countertop dishwasher, skim plaster my bedroom to sort out the mould issue on the exterior wall, get some blackout curtains, and be in a much better position than I am now.
As I said, any extra I make will go half towards savings and half towards debt, and I have extra money to play with this month. Honestly what I want to do is buy the countertop dishwasher because my sink is for toddler ants (its like a prep sink not a real one and I cannot fit a full size dinner plate in it and we have been washing up by hand for over a year and my water bill is through the roof) and kickstart the Emergency Fund, but I'm open to ideas.
Love,
Fox
it’s doable. Spending money on take aways etc , at the end of the day, you were off work sick with burnout. Having been there myself and still am. I definitely understand why you did it! I didn’t/ don’t , because it’s just me. I don’t have anyone else to look after which is added pressure.
won’t you have extra money coming in when Mr Fox starts work ?,
