£2,576.79 to clear by March

DD265

Literally within 2 weeks of the new tyres and brakes on my car - which was about £900 - the car was written off whilst parked. Nobody was hurt, but the other driver wrote off both my car and hers on Monday morning, so that was a great start to the week. /s

I have settled with her insurance company and have the cash in the bank. I was able to negotiate up to a valuation I was happy with, but I'm still going to be out of pocket. The £2.5k I've spent on the car this year is money I'm never getting back, and there's been so much stress which now leaves me with the hassle of having to find a new car.

My insurance premiums will almost certainly go up (I suspect, as we were on a multi-car policy, that my husband's premiums have be recalculated mid-term when my car was removed, too), I'm probably going to have to replace part of the dashcam unless the salvage company will retrieve it for me (we couldn't roadside, so only got the actual front camera out, but the rear camera and front mount cost about £100 new!), not to mention having it wired in, plus I would have my garage service any new-to-me car, probably better tyres on etc.

I'm not sure what I'll do yet. We're a bit in limbo (husband still temping, and if a project at work gets signed off, I'll be travelling a fair bit) and I wasn't planning on replacing my car for another 5 or so years, which means I haven't been thinking about what to get instead. We may end up borrowing a family members car for a while so we don't have to rush into a decision. Not keen on that option (I hate driving their car) but at least it's a possibility.

I can keep a hire car for up to two weeks. We're out visiting family tomorrow (and needed the hire car as our EV can't make the round trip, same next weekend) but will visit a car supermarket on Sunday to start narrowing down the options. Might go old-used and buy outright, newer-used on finance (with the settlement as a deposit), or brand new on lease with the aim of using the settlement to cover the lease repayments. I'm hesitant to buy a new-to-me 10 year old car; I trusted mine, but you never know how well someone else looked after theirs! However I also don't want to dig us a financial hole by committing to repayments.

I don't believe in any kind of higher power, but I'm definitely feeling like something is out to get me! We've been having such a rough time of it, and the bad things just keep on coming.

The only positive I can pull out of the situation is that I don't have to pay for a new flywheel any more which means the budget is fully funded this month already. I do feel financially stable again, finally, which is part of my reluctance around the car purchase. We still have a way to go with the emergency fund, though, and chances of a holiday this year, which I could definitely do with, remain slim.

DD265

We have a new car - a 9 year old which is low mileage for its age and it's been looked after very well, although there are a few niggles to sort out; the most urgent being a new tyre as there's a mismatched pair. Then a short list to work through gradually as we have the funds.

We test drove a few 2022-ish cars but I ended up liking the same model best again, even in the newer version. I decided I really didn't want to commit to finance payments, hence looking for something around 10 years old like mine, and purchasing outright - £200 went on the credit card for that extra protection.

The new car cost almost £3k more than my settlement, but it was a fair price and ultimately we concluded it was worth the extra. I used £1k set aside for credit card payments (this was accumulated in the budget before the statement triggered the direct debit), the £1k emergency fund and the 'excess' money in the budget. I'm currently £265 in the red on an interest charging credit card, but the interest won't kick in until July so I can manage that.

The insurance refund was higher than the amount I just paid to put the new car on, and the new car is lower in tax because there were some changes in between the two cars (the old car was Jan 2015, the new one is Jan 2016) which have worked in our favour. But I lost the full tank of fuel, I've ended up replacing the front dashcam mount, the rear dashcam and mount, plus the hardwire kit and I need to get it hardwired in - we daren't do it ourselves as there are airbags in the pillars the cable will travel down - and obviously all the maintenance work I'd paid for is money down the drain.

In addition, I have some dental work coming up which will be £830 (hopefully worth the ~£500 extra to a) get it done weeks earlier and b) have a stronger material so it will last longer) that I will add to the same credit card, so I have breathing space to get back on track. I don't want to take all our cash out of the budget, just in case.

It does feel like we're haemorrhaging cash and I suppose we are, but other spends have been low. For example, I don't think we've ever gotten this far into a month and still had £180 left on the food budget! We'll get back to where we were in terms of savings, but it's so frustrating given it wasn't our fault that the car got written off. Thankfully it's pay day next week so I can hopefully start the process of rebuilding those funds.

Sarahwithlove

Glad you managed to find a car you are happy with. 

1stTimer

Sorry to hear about the car, it’s incredibly frustrating when you are trying so hard. Glad you’ve found a new one though, onwards and upwards

DD265

Thank you both. This was money that shouldn't have needed to be spent, but it is what it is.

I unexpectedly got a bonus in my May pay, so we'll be able to fund everything by the 20th June - my husband gets paid on Fridays - and we should have about £500 'spare' to put back in the emergency fund. This includes covering the dental work; so everything on the interest charging credit card. We'll still be 'short' on our emergency fund but £500 is better than £0 and I have plenty of cards to fall back on, plus some savings in various budget pots. Also the £1k that had been set aside for the interest-free credit card is something I'll need to make up but can do at a later date.

The new car has had £330 spent on it; taking into account an £85 contribution from the dealer to get an ABS sensor sorted (common fault with these cars), the replacement for the odd tyre, a once over from my trusted local garage, and a paint touch up kit. I'm not including the dashcam mounts/wiring kit because I can't think of the prices right now; probably around £100 in total. I managed to plug the dashcams in to the 12v socket and tuck the wires away so they aren't irritating, but getting them properly wired is second on the list when I find an auto electrician locally. I have looked into doing it myself and still don't feel confident, which is a pity but it is what it is. Before that, I'm going to book it into VW for a recall (which is free).

I have a week off later this month which I am really looking forward to. I'm planning to make the most of time down at the allotment, and avoid going out shopping unless I have a very specific list and budget. That's the plan for most of the month though! I'm getting quite good at choosing not to pop into the shop for a snack, or avoiding going for a mooch because I'm bored. I've also been dodging impulse purchases online by adding things to my shopping list and waiting until I have a few things to get together, or just leaving them on the list until they're actually needed.

DD265

I've left it a bit long... we're still experiencing constant demands on our cash, but I feel in a better position than we were in June even if technically we're worse off.

The 'new' car is doing fine. It's just had the brake fluid changed and the aircon re-gassed; these were flagged by the main dealer when it went in for a recall (which was resolved for free), but I got them done by my local trusted garage so it worked out cheaper (£145). The dashcam is being wired in at the end of September (£65 - half the price of what Nextbase would charge), and I'm getting the touch screen display sorted then too. That's just under £350, but I'm struggling to live with it not working fully. A brand new unit is £1200, reconditioned around £500, and there was the option of £350 for an OEM one from a different country, but I felt more comfortable keeping it original. Hopefully then we won't have anything until service and MOT which are due in the spring.

Where we've kind of gone wrong and I don't regret it but wish there had been other options, was taking out £2500 worth of credit card debt via money transfer to help a parent. They did exhaust all avenues, it was getting serious and my husband and I agreed that we couldn't not help them. Infuriatingly, I would've had the cash in the bank if not for replacing the car. There is an additional £100 on top for the transaction fee, but it's interest free for long enough that I can pay it off. Would much rather not have had to pay it off, given I have the other credit card as well, but it is what it is. The parent will definitely give us the money back at some point in the future, no issues there.

Additionally, both cats need dental work to the tune of £350 each, and that's assuming no extractions are needed. I'm more concerned about their health than the money, but it's still £700+ to find. My dental work was worth every penny, thankfully. I'm sure some other big bills will drop into my lap over the next few weeks also because that is how my life goes these days.

My husband is temporarily unemployed again as of this weekend; his temp contract ended. He has a new job starting in late October, so we're hoping he can find something to bridge that 7 week gap. He's waiting to hear back and keeping fingers crossed.

All this to say; I got paid a really nice £1600+ bonus from work yesterday and I feel frustrated that I can't splurge on something - it's a real motivator to get the debt paid down. Instead I've used it to fully fund the budget for September (including debt repayments, putting money aside for the car work and cat dental work, though I need to add more to both pots before the various appointments) and then if my husband brings any money in during September, we'll top up those pots and put the rest in the emergency fund, which is sitting at £400. I'm going to be travelling more for work and the mileage claims will add up; I'll be claiming once a month potentially up to £600ish. Yes - it's meant to cover fuel and increased wear and tear on the car - but I think I can safely redirect it into getting that emergency fund up and the credit cards paid down sooner.

Hopefully once my husband starts his new permanent job, things will settle down for us and we can get back on track. I spend (and eat!) more when I'm stressed - and I have been incredibly stressed for far too long.

DD265

We're in a better position than most, knowing that my husband's unemployment is for a limited period - although him getting a job offer last year and it being rescinded 12 months later (nothing to do with us) does make me wary. We have a start date for this new job, at least. With it being the 20th October, it's after payroll cutoff for most organisations, and there's a real possibility that the last pay from the temp job that we got yesterday, is the last income my husband will have until the November pay date in the new job.

So, we are 1 week down of 7 potentially unemployed weeks, but he did get some money yesterday, albeit for a 4 day week due to the bank holiday. Thanks to my bonus, the budget for September is fully funded and the emergency fund is sitting at £611. I may need to dip into that slightly for the work we're having done on the car as I think the £410 in that pot might not quite cover it, but I'll have a work expenses payment of £170+ coming in at some point - once I've confirmed that I'm not travelling again for work this month I can submit that. The plan for the month (or two months) is to not spend impulsively, and to really think through non-essential purchases.

I haven't worked out exactly how short we're going to be next month. We can absolutely cover all essential bills on my salary. At the moment, our October budget is asking for £6491 and at the end of September I'll be getting about £4200 - I'm not 100% on the figure because we've just cancelled my husband's private medical insurance which was deducted from my wages. In any case, £6500 isn't entirely accurate because we have some budget categories where the funds carry over from one month to the next, but YNAB doesn't count those funds until you're in that next month. So the cat sitter pot, for example, has £120 in it, with a target of refilling to £120 each month, but we won't be spending from it, so the October figure is basically inflated by £120 (but YNAB doesn't know that yet).

On the subject of private medical insurance, I get mine through work as a benefit in kind, and then we can add partners/children onto our policies. I guess due to claims as a group, our premium has gone up massively this year, and the cost of my husband's policy shot from £48 to £82. We've gone direct to the insurer, and will now be paying £44 a month. Mine is still better off through the work scheme, as I'm basically paying 40% of the premium through my reduced tax allowance. I think; I don't fully understand it but it has been confirmed that this is the best way of doing it for both of us. PMI is definitely a luxury, but given potential NHS waiting times, it feels worthwhile. Like any insurance, you pay the premiums hoping you don't need to use it.

DD265

Husband managed a week and a half with no work, then he got a call from the temp agency asking him to start somewhere the same day. He started the next day, did 2 days of 20 hours a week over 4 days, before they asked him to go full time. Unfortunately the commute sucks (into the city centre, 9-5 which means hitting the traffic both ways) so he's using the park and ride which does have a cost, and he isn't enjoying the work, which is involving answering the phone all the time (not his thing at all!), but he's only got 4 weeks until he starts the other job. The money is a big relief, however, as he should bring in about £2k. We were looking OK for September due to my bonus, but then October could've been extremely tight waiting for his next pay packet. Still being careful, though.

The cats are not exactly helping... We learned about the need for dental when we took them in for 'senior wellness checks'. The vets weren't able to draw blood from one of them, so we drugged him and took him back the following week - still no joy. I found a mobile vet and with a £78 call out plus £36 mileage, thought we were on to a good thing. Firstly, the cat is not stupid and I dare say he was barely less stressed - we ultimately pinned him to the table and got the blood through brute force - and secondly the invoice came through for £336 - call out, mileage, blood tests (AKA £25 worth of consumables) and then £200 of it was lab fees. Vs the £85 out vets would've charged (and did refund, given they felt they couldn't do anything). I did end up paying the invoice because I didn't want to put him through the trauma for nothing, but was very unhappy that they hadn't advised up front - and also with myself for not asking the full costs. Have ended up with a £500 emergency fund and topping the vets bill pot back up from £0, so it stands at £127 now. Then! Then the mogs have overgroomed where they were shaved, and one of them made himself very sore. He was miserable with the cone on, so we bandaged instead. We left one on for a day and went out - came home and his paw had ballooned. We ended up putting a call in to the out of hours vet, which would've been £330 had we taken him in, and they said to monitor - thankfully it did go down and was completely fine by the morning and we haven't been near him with a bandage since.

I'm off work this coming week, then travelling for work again the week after. So more expenses coming my way. It still feels like profit! Meeting a friend tomorrow, will probably involve burger-van-type food, tea with a different friend on Monday, then we have a day trip on Thursday for an anniversary (of the sad kind, unfortunately).

I will be spending time at the allotment hopefully, but also doing the jobs that my husband was going to do with his time off - like painting the fence around the pergola particularly. I definitely need to pick up a slimline waterbutt or two, probably £20 each from B&M, because the one on the cat enclosure has filled up again already. I keep checking FB but haven't gotten lucky yet. I am determined to keep within budget!