My new debt free diary :)

Middle_Aged_Guy

That's amazing that the help to save scheme is still running! I completely messed mine up by constantly pulling the money out before it had time to pay a bonus.

Pleasssseee don't do what i did. Let it mature and make full use of the free money being offered.

I just wish id had my lightbulb moment before opening it. 

Wow that curry sounds delicious! Im sure the turkey will work, let us know

GolfR

I’d never heard of it! I would have normally had a quick scan over Martin’s emails in the past but now I make it a point to read them fully, and I’m so glad I did I’ll do my best to keep it all in! I still have the £1000 in emergency savings so I should be ok I hope.

Apologises for no update for a few days, I’ve felt rubbish with this cold. I’m wondering if it’s covid as I’m still unwell four or so days later and I can normally shake a cold in 2/3 days. I need to make sure I update daily as I’m forgetting where I am with talking about my spending/budgets i do have a budget book that I update daily so it’s all in there and I’ve switched to using the Moneyhub app now instead of Emma. I’m on a 6 month free trial with it and it’s only £14.99 a year after that and I really like it so far so I’ll likely stick with it.

It was a no spend day on Wednesday, yesterday we needed milk and my daughter wanted hairspray which was £1.65 in Lidl and also got £5.39 in food - two 4pt’s of milk (they didn’t have any 6 pinters left), a watermelon as it was on an amazing price of 59p a kg and a pasta bake sauce jar which was free with my spend over x amount coupon. I’ve sold five things on Vinted the last few days and I sent the last one today. All small amounts, it’ll be £15 in total once all payments come in.

I took my son for his last school immunisations today, he missed it when they came to the school, not quite sure why. We dropped my daughter off on the way for another sleepover and aside from a bit of driving around to find a Yodel parcel shop where the machine was actually working, it’s been a no spend day. Seems to be a thing lately where Yodel machines aren’t working so I’ve decided to take it off my postage options on Vinted. It’s not worth me driving a couple of miles up the road when the item is only selling for £2/£3. InPost is the best for me as the lockers are 24/7 and aside from once where the machine was broken and the guy was working on it as I arrived, there’s never any issues.

Had my child support of £234 in today from my ex. £40 has gone into the gifts pot, £50 I kept back in my current account for bills as I used that account to pay into the help to save account the other day. Instead of putting £100 into the car & home insurance pot and £60 into the car maintenance pot, I’ve put it into my Lloyds monthly saver where it’s giving 6.25% interest on £400 a month max deposit. I’m keeping a record of what’s going in there from those two pots so I know how much I’m able to take out if/when the time arises. May as well make whatever money I have work for me! I had £800 in my monthly saver last month and £205 in another savings of around 3% (which together make up my emergency savings) so I’ve taken that £205 out to go into the monthly saver and added £35 to it as well (that I’ll mention in a sec) as well as the £160 pot money so that I’ve been able to max that out with £400 this month. I won’t be able to next month but that’s ok  

I’ve also opened a digital saver with NatWest which is 5.5% I think, I put in £185 which is what I’m keeping to go towards my Virgin BT when it’s due towards the end of October but it spat £35 back into my C/A - I didn’t realise it was £150 max per month so this is where the other £35 came from for my monthly saver. I guess I’ll have to do this monthly until my Virgin BT is paid. It all sounds very confusing but I think I know what I’m doing thankfully

GolfR

Hi all

A rare middle of the day update from me I bought vape juices yesterday from my vape pot, it came to £20.61. I usually buy the 5 for £10 ones and I buy two lots as it’s free delivery over £20 but yesterday I decided to be more savvy and I chose a range of cheaper juices which came to £20.61 for 15 so they’ll last me 50% longer. I know it would be more savvy not to vape and I will try to quit one day

My cold has mostly gone now thankfully. I have got bit of a phlegmy chest and I’m still a little blocked up but I feel so much better in myself. I’ve had £6 in from Vinted the last couple of days with some more due in. I tried on some tops yesterday and many were too big for me so I put them on Vinted yesterday and I’ve sold two today so far. I had some spare money so with the £6 from Vinted I sent £14.66 to my loan yesterday.

Couple of things I’ve done in the last few days - I’ve put my kids as equal beneficiaries of my NHS pension and pension from my old job with Lloyds bank. My son was born within the £50 child trust fund time; I’ve checked it sporadically over the years and it’s currently at £121. I’ve opened junior ISA’s for both kids with NS&I and the CTF is in the process of being moved over (apparently it can take a couple of weeks) and I’ve also moved the kids’ premium bonds into junior ISA’s. There wasn’t a huge amount in their PB’s but once I’ve paid my debts off I’ll start paying monthly into their accounts.

I’ve been looking into a lifetime retirement ISA. I’m 22 years off the age I can withdraw it but the bonus does sound good. People recommend putting more money into a pension as opposed to opening a LISA so I’m not sure. Does anyone have any suggestions? My NHS pension is due to be updated for the previous tax year in mid August so I’m excited to see how much it’s gone up from last year. It’s currently at £52,198 so I will report back when I know! I’ve never paid much attention to my pensions before but I’ve been watching a lot of videos on net worth. Despite my debt it’s a nice feeling to see that my net worth is far from negative!

Sarahwithlove

I find pensions so confusing tbh. I pay into my local government scheme and like nhs it's a pretty good pension compared to most occ pensions. 

GolfR

I’m the same, I find them all very confusing but I have it on my radar to educate myself on them at some point!

I’ve had £3 in from Vinted today which is in my debt repayments pot until I get a couple more payments in. I did spend £7.29 yesterday on a bundle of two tops on Vinted which are the next size down. I’m just going to buy the odd item of clothing every now and then and try to get by with what I have providing it looks half decent and not like a sack like the one thing I tried on the other day and promptly stuck on Vinted still have around £12 in the clothing pot. I also spent 99p on Pokemon Go to top up my coins so that I could buy remote passes for an event yesterday.

No other spends. We’ll be likely going to Lidl tomorrow for milk and the usual top ups of eggs, fruit and veg. Hopefully I’ll have sold something else on Vinted so I can post it at the same time.

I came across a really nice looking recipe earlier for a potato based quiche. It must have known I had some potatoes here to use up! It involved boiling potatoes and smooshing them into the base of a dish, adding veg of which I put in peppers, baby plum tomatoes and beetroot and top with four eggs mixed with a touch of milk and some grated cheese. I put in a tin of butter beans with the mash as well. I had it for dinner and it was really nice! We’re having pasta bake for tea tonight with the free jar and there’s bacon we need to use up so that’ll be going in there too.

Me and the kids finally made the home made pizzas last night. My daughter had sliced up Lidl Frikadellen meatballs and gherkins, my son had sprouts (yes, really!), the meatballs and gherkins and I had tinned figs, chicken from the freezer and the meatballs. They weren’t as good as Dominos of course but they were fun to make and it used up stuff we already had here and it got us using the pizza flour I bought months ago.

My daughters friends are here again so I’m hiding away in the bath not much else to report, hope you’re all having a good Monday!

GolfR

Hi all

There’s been a bit of spending the last few days. £53 in Aldi yesterday, we went there for a change and bought quite a lot. Usual stuff - fruit, veg, eggs, milk. Kids stuff for the freezer - chips, hash browns etc. I got some things I love that I don’t see elsewhere like the tempura battered fish burgers and sweetcorn relish. I buy them every time I happen to go an Aldi. Also got bits to make us home made sausage egg McMuffins. I might make them for tea tomorrow as tonight I’ve planned to make a packet risotto that was best before 04/25 I’ve taken chicken breast and dried cooked cannellini beans out of the freezer to go with it and I got reduced tomatoes on the vine in Aldi yesterday so I’ll put some of those in too, I’m aiming to make it a casserole type dish. They also had raspberries at 75% off! We rarely get raspberries as they’re so expensive so I made the most of this and got six two each for me and the kids. There were loads left after the ones I got, I don’t like to take them all.

I popped home bargains today to buy some mailing bags for Vinted and a citronella candle, it came to £9.70 ish and I had £10 in my purse so used that. I have a small courtyard style garden and I leave the back door open for the dog and for fresh air. The flies always find their way in and I find the candles work well to keep them out. It does feel odd to have a candle going in the day though. My current one has run out, the new one was only £2.49 and it’s a really good size. I also got Buldak noodles for my daughter as she loves those and they’re hard to find over here.

I did buy another top today from Vinted of something I’ve been fancying for a while and have been looking for the right one - a 100% cotton blue and white striped blouse. It was £1 so it came to £4.19.

I had some dining chairs here I wanted rid of as I got new ones a while ago so I put those on marketplace, someone sent me a £20 deposit day before yesterday and she’s going to pick them up when she’s back from holiday this weekend. I’ve sent that £20 as well as £3 from Vinted to my loan which will be credited tomorrow. The chairs were up for £80 so I’ll be having another £60 this weekend which will also go to my loan.

I’m roughly halfway through my pay month at the moment so I’m going to take stock of my budgets today. The only one I’m technically over is my groceries one. I’ve spent £130 of £200 in the last fortnight but there’s plenty here now so £35 a week for the next two weeks shouldn’t be an issue for top ups. From what I’ve seen online £200 a month for three is actually a pretty low budget for groceries so I’m really pleased that I’m able to stick to this. It does help that I have a lot in the cupboards and freezers still

GolfR

Hi everyone

I’m proud to announce that it’s a no spend day today I’ve got £9 at the moment in my debt repayments pot from Vinted sales so I’ll send that to my loan after I’ve had the £60 from the dining chairs. I’m due another £8 in from Vinted but that probably won’t be until next week.

I’m going to write my halfway monthly budgets so that I can keep myself accountable. I’ll write them in the order of how they come up on my Moneyhub app. My NatWest bills account is separate and I check it daily so I won’t be including that here. I will write it in order of what’s left and the original budget amount.

Pots/budgets: 

Car & house insurance and car tax - £100/£100
Car maintenance - £60/£60
Clothes - £8.38/£30
Dog food - £13.50/£25
Eating out - £0/£20
Fuel - £69.73/£150
General - £16.11/£20
Groceries - £75/£200
House & garden - £17.51/£20
Kids - £13.05/£30
Protein powder - £15/£15
Uniforms - £10/£10
Personal care - £0/£175
Vape - £4.39/£25

I’m happy with where I am. Just need to make sure I back off on the grocery spending

My kids get £10 pocket money each month and my daughter has agreed to put £5 of that away into her Junior ISA because she normally uses it on sweets and soft drinks when she goes out with her friends and she said ‘I know I’ll waste it all if it’s there to spend’. Does anyone have any tips for encouraging kids not to spend everything they have? I’m going to do the same with my son although he’s better with his money than she is. He has more in his savings than my daughter so once my loan is paid off I’ll top hers up to where his is and then I’ll put money each month into both of their accounts. I’m not quite sure why he has more, the only thing I can think is that I saved for him after he was born before my daughter was then born.

I may have to either buy a dehumidifier or another tumble dryer. I’ve dried some clothes on the horse which have been there for days and the majority smell of damp this isn’t a problem in the winter when the heating is on but in the summer it’s a rubbish time to dry clothes where it’s not nice enough to put them on the line and it’s not warm enough to dry inside. I had a dehumidifier with my ex before and I remember it costing a lot on electric but if it’s necessary then I have no choice. Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading my diary if you’ve come this far on my journey. It means a lot

Blackcats

Great work on keeping a really close eye on your budgets. I need to take a leaf out of your book and scrutinise my spending so far this month.  Ithink it might not be very pretty 🥴

I've got a heated airer which I got from Lakeland.  It's pretty good and has the added bonus of warming the room up in the winter although I prefer to keep a window open.  I think it works well for us as there are just 2 adults here whereas with children's clothes it might struggle to keep up.

GolfR

I’ve heard before that those Lakeland heated airers are good, I may need to save up for one. I’ve really made the most of the weather the last few days with putting clothes on the line! 

No updates for the last few days sorry, I was looking after my friends dog and it was rather busy she’s gone home today so it’s a bit less nuts here now. I sold the dining chairs Saturday morning and I had the other £60 for them. I need to buy some uniform pieces for my daughter so it’ll probably go towards that. My son doesn’t need any thankfully and I’m more of a ‘buy when I need it’ person when it comes to uniform, I don’t tend to buy it in the summer holidays unless they need it.

I’ve had some payments in from Vinted the last few days so with taking the odd pound or two from a few of my pots I paid £30.54 off my loan last night. I opened a cash ISA with Plum the other day, it was one of the best rates on MSE and the app was user friendly which is why I chose that one. I took the £60 from my travel budget and £40 from my gifts budget and put it in there as it had a £100 minimum opening balance. I’m due a 3.6% back pay into my pay this month which I’m thinking will be around £500 so I’ll be able to put a lot more towards my loan which is very exciting!

I have an M&S top here that I love but is too big for me. I’ve been looking for one on Vinted for a while in my current size and I found one the other day and I got it for £1.50! With the extras it was just under £5. Around £3.50 left in the clothes budget now. I had child benefit in today of £173; £70 went to my groceries budget, £30 into my credit card fund account for going over the ‘halfway’ groceries budget, £65 to my fuel budget and the rest went towards the loan payment I made last night. I’m due £133 in from UC on Thursday. We’re going up to my partners house tomorrow for around 10 days so I’ll be keeping that for any days out we might do when we’re up there.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

You seem to be making very steady progress. Well done!