£2,576.79 to clear by March

DD265

Husband is settling into his new job. Things are a little all over the place in terms of hours during the training, and I'm not sure when his formal shift pattern is expected to start. It means having one-person food options readily available and ideally we'll get properly back into batch cooking. The challenge with that is our cats are now eating food that arrives/is stored frozen, and we get the biggest quantity delivered for the cost savings so it takes up two full freezer drawers.

His first pay will be 20th November, so we do indeed have a gap. I want to put that pay towards December, like I do my own, meaning we have to keep things low key in November. I am due that bonus (though as I previously explained, I have plans for it!), and my husband has asked to sell what he can of this years holiday because he doesn't feel like there's any opportunity to take it during his training period, so that could be an extra few hundred.

The cat insurance renews this month and it's gone up significantly; from £86 to £102 for the pair. We have pre-existing conditions so can't shop around, and our boys are only 9. We have claimed for one of them 3-4 times, so we've had reasonable value for money. I don't think it's sensible to cancel now given our existing credit card debt and lack of savings, but we'll definitely be reassessing at renewal in 2026!

DD265

Husband was paid last week; ended up being just over £3150 so substantially more than expected. I did have to route some into the budget for November and also covered a couple of 'exceptional' expenses; £400 of hotel booking for work (should be repaid for that next week as my expenses claim has already been approved) and the £300 to get some artwork framed. In this case, it's a triptych (one image split into 3 prints) where I bought the digital files as I wanted a bigger size, got them printed, and they're with the framer. This is only our second artwork purchase because we only buy things we both love. I also got a ballpark from the framer before I pulled the trigger on having the files printed and I thought it would be more!

The rest of my husband's salary went through to the December budget, as will the expenses reimbursement. The way things are looking, I expect to have about £320 "spare" plus whatever the bonus payment works out to be, so I'm hoping it's a reasonable amount for a decent gaming laptop. I can trust my husband to be reasonable with what he buys at least, whereas I'd be more inclined to upgrade just because. Anything left over will go towards a Lego set that comes out at the end of this month (I'd wait, but I want the limited edition gift with purchase) and should there be anything left after that, into the pot towards a new set of tyres.

I got my car serviced the week before last, because husband thought he could smell burning oil. I realised it'd had a couple of specific bits done and a once over, but not a proper service. They couldn't find any issues, and just made me aware that two of the tyres are beginning to crack a bit - I was aiming to replace the whole set before spring/MOT anyway but the tyres alone are about £160 each. It looks like the CrossClimate 2 are being replaced by the 3, so there are some stock issues. I'd rather get the 3 because then if I have to replace one in short order (I've genuinely had tyres fitted one day and a non-repairable puncture the next!) I know they'll match.

Waiting for pay day...

Humdinger1

Dear @DD265 gosh, you've been through a lot this year! I've subscribed and am following with interest.   Congratulations on all the debt you've cleared and still more getting to LBM. Now that things have settled, might it be worth doing an SOA? I don't have it to hand but several other regulars do.  I think it perhaps offers a different way of looking at things than YNAB.  Onwards and upwards love Humdinger 

DD265

@Humdinger1 it is a while since I've done a SOA, although the way I break down my budget categories is somewhat similar as I knew about the SOA from MSE before I got into YNAB. I might do one for January when we should both have had our normal pay at the end of December; this month mine has included a hefty bonus and my husband's included the holiday he'd sold back to them and something about an extra week's pay due to their exact start date.

As said above I have indeed been paid and it is my biggest bonus to date. It doesn't necessarily mean I've worked harder (although I have) as it's based on the hours that we can bill to customers vs 'internal work', but considering this time last year I was trying to pysch myself up to return to work for just 2 hours a day, it's something I'm proud of.

Husband has a healthy budget for a gaming laptop; I've explained that if the peripherals can wait then it would be my preference to do so, but we'll definitely make sure it has a protective case and insurance. If he does choose to spend the top end of the budget, I know it'll be because that laptop is genuinely the best one for him, but he wasn't expecting remotely near the budget I gave him (or to get a laptop so soon at all).

I was also able to order my dream Lego set, and the December budget is fully funded barring £200 of non-essentials - any left over from the laptop pot will cover those first and then go in the tyre pot or a tradesman job we want to get done. It feels good to be properly back on track!

DD265

Husband doesn't have his laptop yet - it's on back order - but we spent £1850 (or thereabouts) and that included putting additional storage into the laptop. I'd allotted £2400, so I've managed to fully fund the budget and the tradesman job. Nothing in the tyre pot; I had about £2.50 left over then so put it into next month's budget instead. We have £330 in the car maintenance pot at the moment (I add £200 a month) so its likely the tyres will be done in January/February. My next bonus isn't until the end of March, but we should have some surplus in the budget and I'll be getting expenses back from work; the hotel/food is obviously money I've paid out, but the 'profit' from the mileage portion can go towards tyres etc.

I've just sorted the breakdown renewal for next year; we're with the AA, as I prefer to have one of the own-fleet providers, and it jumped by about 25%. Managed to get it £2 cheaper than the current price so happy with that.

Last weekend we visited a couple of artisan Christmas markets. I'd set aside some spending money, mostly to buy gifts, and managed to stay comfortably within that. There were some beautiful pieces of artwork I could've happily brought home, but they were out of our budget. On the subject of artwork, the prints we had framed are on our wall and they look fabulous. The next piece on my list to get framed is a watercolour done by a family member, but it needs some repairs to the paper first ideally. I've found some restorers online, and in the new year I'll see if I can get some ballparks - they all seem to work with big institutions so I'm a little worried that I'll be out of my league. This piece has no monetary value but it is highly sentimental.

We have no plans this weekend; just chores and errands really. Next weekend we have a family meal and I'm getting my hair done, but more importantly, on Thursday I break up for Christmas and I don't go back to work until the 5th. I really need the break because I feel like I've been burning the candle at both ends and on all sides. Financially aside from the drives to see family and the meal, it should be a quiet one.

DD265

Merry Christmas, I hope it was a good one.

Ours has been bittersweet, but mostly positive. Lots of good food, pleasant company, some great presents exchanged (one of the favourites being the cheapest, naturally) and the journeys weren't bad either.

In between I was painting the shelves the builder put up in the office, and this afternoon we've put the desks back in place. Husband will apply the wax in a week once the paint is 100% dry, then our Lego can go on display. It's currently split between the conservatory and the loft, and very much in the way! Longer term we're going to rearrange and downsize our desks, then put a single sofa bed in there. I'm hoping to get this done in 2026, but as usual there are various other priorities and debt repayments to consider.

On the subject of which, the smaller credit card will be paid off no later than July. Once we've settled in to my husband's new takehome pay, I'll see about increasing repayments if we're consistently having money 'spare'. And the bigger credit card will drop under £10k in January (the one that's being paid back at £500 a month). That's interest free until July 2027, but at the moment I'm not able to throw anything else at it. The middling credit card - the one that I use for my work hotel expenses and last month was husband's laptop - is having the statement balance paid off every month so whilst it's not dropping to £0 balance any time soon, I have the money set aside for all the repayments. I have a fourth credit card which does have a £0 balance, so if we book a 2026 holiday, I'll use that card (again paying off in full without interest) purely to have a recent transaction; one of my husband's credit cards was closed a few weeks ago because he hadn't used it. Once we've paid off the longer term balances, I will rethink whether we actually need all four cards, but for now, it's good to have options for balance transfers if I need them etc. Husband has two remaining credit cards but given the limits (£2-3k vs my £12k minimum) they serve no real purpose these days.

Husband is working the next 4 days, so I'll have some time to myself. I have some more chores I'd like to get done but also plenty of downtime planned because I'm approaching halfway through my time off, and there'll be no easing in period when I go back to work on the 5th.