Don't hit me with those negative waves Moriarity

rachmac3

And this is now the song I have playing in my head as I go to sleep.
But yes, we will survive! I hope you're doing ok and get the results you're hoping for.
March sure has been a strange month, it's definitely felt more like February to me because that's usually my struggle month and by March I'm back on the bright side.
Go on now, go! To bed. Night night.

LzzyIsGod

Thanks @rachmac3 March has been a bit of a non starter 😅 but I think I'm still down debt wise although not as much as I normally have paid off. It's comforting to read other diaries to see that this isn't unusual to have months when things go a bit Pete Tong.

Today's ear worm for me was I Will Wait Mumford & Sons as I am definitely clinging on for payday 🤣

Essential spend today on petrol as I was running on fumes from allocated budget - I was quite pleased last week as Mechanic Mate serviced my car (mates rates!) and I had the money in the car pot for this. Mechanic Mate is building quite a side gig bless him as he's also did friends car at the weekend.

Next month I defo need to jiggle more money into the health pot - dentist prices are really dear and I'm going quite a lot at the moment. It's the school holidays next month again (yes again! Where did that 6 weeks go!) And I'm aiming to allocate a more realistic budget for some activities/ days out. The old NT card may get some hammer as that's a cheap day out if I take a picnic and avoid the tearooms!

Early night for me as I'm shattered today but quick catch up on other diaries first.

Cara_

Sorry you have had a health scare and I hope you get the rest of your results soon.

Even though you might not have paid off as much as you wanted in March, the debt still reduced and that was whilst you were covering other costs.

I hope you had a good nigths sleep and are feeling rested today..

LzzyIsGod

Thanks @Cara_ it was definitely a very spendy month but I think I'm still down overall just not where my projections said I should be. Health wise I'm picking up (thank the Lord) just waiting on a few more tests but so far all coming back with good news. 

And today was payday!! Woohoo!! Expenses came through for work trip so need to pay that off- there has been some spending on my previously cleared CC (regrettable but goes to show I need to keep it at zero!!) so next month I need to focus the mind on clearing that.

 However for the first time in a long time, despite needing the occasional dip into the EF and joint EF, these both continue to grow each month so that's got to be a positive. I could use some of that money to pay it all off but I want to properly think it through first and not make any rash decisions (I like the EFs being healthy just in case of disasters).

So I've decided today's song should be Believer - Imagine Dragons because I still believe I can tackle this even if it is bit by bit and slowly, slowly.

LzzyIsGod

Welcome to the circus - 5 finger death punch 

Ah and so we go. Just waiting to hear from dh if we won on the euro.millons (we really aren't that lucky) I'm not greedy tbh..... 300k would be enough 

Not done much debtbusting wise although had my usual food delivery this evening - due to meal planning and using up the cupboard and freezer I was really low on what chefs call staples so it was a bit bigger than usual.

DH and I did do a bit of number crunching and decided to put more into the holiday pot to make sure we can pay for our annual holiday with cash rather than credit.  He's doing his bit though and negotiated a cheaper deal on the broadband so a saving of 30 quid a month. I have booked a weekend away in the summer but it's camping with friends so a grand total of 44 quid (we will take food and drink)

Everyone though seems to feeling the pinch - I popped for a quick pint last night and was chatting with our local landlord - they are having to put their prices up next week to make ends meet even though they don't really want to ..... my hairdresser who's run her own salon closes today after 20 years as she says its just not viable anymore and locally the nhs trust is saying there will be job cuts.......  feels all very 2010ish ......


I meant to post this last night but fell asleep !

dawnybabes

Unless your DH lives in Austria he didn’t win.  I noticed if you’d got 6 numbers you ‘only’ got about £300K. That just doesn’t feel enough for how hard it is to get them ….. although if agent lotter6 is watching I’d be happy to get 300k 🤣🤣

LzzyIsGod

Well we did win! A highly impressive £2.80 😂😂 

Yesterday was side hustle day (although they still.owe me from last week) so minimal spend day other than 1 coffee to warm me up and 1 beer. Must chase the cash though as I need to get back on track debt wise.

I did spend a little bit of money on Friday on things for the garden - some seeds and some compost. I've gone for a mix of easy veg and wildflowers and sweet peas, when I looked at the food shop we do get through a lot of salad (mainly me tbh) so just thought I'd give some mixed lettuce leaves a try. I will report back over the summer on how well (or not it's gone).

Mothering Sunday today so planning to spend some time with the yoofs - I'm not cooking today for a change and dh is in charge of plans .....not sure yet what the plans are but they all seem to know what they are doing so I won't interfere! Hope all the mothers have a good day xx

jwil

Well done on the win!  Try not to spend it all at once

LzzyIsGod

Good evening Pop Pickers. Today we are On A (debt busting) Mission - Gabrielle Cilmi

Not the usual "rock" taste I usually display on my choice of tune but even i need a little Pop in my life!

The next round of debt paying off is here and today I paid the expenses I got for the beginning of the months work trip off mynoreviouslt cleared CC.  Sadly there remains a smallish (in comparison to everything else!) balance on there which I have berated myself for and given myself a bit of a talking to about.No point in dwelling on it, I need to refocus and crack on paying things down.

Currently I have a surplus of £300 from the overtime paid in last weeks pay packet - this is separate to the already budgeted for £200 for joint EF and £250 personal EF. I have squirreled it away into an entirely different bank account whilst I ponder on how to best use it to my advantage - my initial instinct was to try and clear CC1 however I'm Mindful of upcoming school holidays and after dipping into the EF during Feb half term I may need to ring fence a small amount of it to cover holiday activities. I am as always open to suggestions! 

Current position end of March :
           Current  / Nov 24
Loan 15906.67 / 17144
CC2    6825.00 / 7911    
CC3    8959.50 / 9665    
CC4    4017.00 / 4312      
Cc1       402.00 / zero  
OD            zero /  1750   
EF         1200 
        
Total 20 203.50  + 15906.67 = 36110.17 vs 39161(Nov 24)

So overall since my LBM I've paid £3k off. Considering up to then things were just spiralling in the opposite direction, I'm hoping you can all see that things are atleast moving in the right direction despite only winjing £2.80 on the euromillions!  April's goal is Total to be £35500.

rachmac3

Excellent figures! Well done!
Don't dwell too much on the credit card, you'll sort it soon enough. 
If I add my car loan to my first direct loan we have very similar figures. I kind of knew we were similar but I've just realised how similar. 
Onwards and upwards! or downwards I guess, for the debt at least.