Mrs Sparkle's sparkly debt diary
Mrs_Sparkle
Forumite 1.8K Posts
Forgive my self-indulgence but I think I need to keep writing this down so I keep focused. I had a sleepless night last night- kept thinking "26 THOUSAND POUNDS" over and over- what a lot of money and not much to show for it either.
It's been a bad month this month due to some necessary expenses and my total debt actually went up rather than down which I beat myself up about for a few days. I know September's payslip will be put to better DFW use and I'm counting the days down till it arrives in my bank account. It's sad isn't it that I'm wishing my life away like this?
Anyway, a bit about myself: I'm 35, married with an unexpected (but welcome!) baby on the way. I'm due in February and my aim is to get my debt below £20K by the time baby arrives. I have managed to collect a good variety of unisex baby clothes by sniping eBay items in the last couple of minutes and by rummaging through sales piles. If I do need to buy anything new I intend to do this through Quidco wherever possible- see, I am learning!
This week has been a good week. I used to spend an obscene amount of money on food- seriously, after work I'd pop into M+S to grab 2 curries, 2 pilau rice, naan breads, pickles, a bottle of wine, something sweet... suddenly I was handing my Switch card over for £18 for one meal :eek: My weekly visits to Tesco used to cost £80-90. This week I have spent £35 on the weekly bill and £10 of that was for a huge sack of dried cat food. We haven't gone hungry at all- on Tuesday we had a gorgeous home made vegetable soup with dumplings- ate half, froze half, total cost about £1.20. Last night we had a pasta bake with mushrooms, chorizo and a tin of haricot beans and it was yummy. Hubby tonight has a ready made chicken meal which came out of the freezer from a previous month's spend and I'm having the leftover pasta from last night.
I've also had 2 no spend days this week and am on target for a 3rd today. Now if only I could have lived like this 3 years ago I would not be in the situation I am in today!
It's been a bad month this month due to some necessary expenses and my total debt actually went up rather than down which I beat myself up about for a few days. I know September's payslip will be put to better DFW use and I'm counting the days down till it arrives in my bank account. It's sad isn't it that I'm wishing my life away like this?
Anyway, a bit about myself: I'm 35, married with an unexpected (but welcome!) baby on the way. I'm due in February and my aim is to get my debt below £20K by the time baby arrives. I have managed to collect a good variety of unisex baby clothes by sniping eBay items in the last couple of minutes and by rummaging through sales piles. If I do need to buy anything new I intend to do this through Quidco wherever possible- see, I am learning!
This week has been a good week. I used to spend an obscene amount of money on food- seriously, after work I'd pop into M+S to grab 2 curries, 2 pilau rice, naan breads, pickles, a bottle of wine, something sweet... suddenly I was handing my Switch card over for £18 for one meal :eek: My weekly visits to Tesco used to cost £80-90. This week I have spent £35 on the weekly bill and £10 of that was for a huge sack of dried cat food. We haven't gone hungry at all- on Tuesday we had a gorgeous home made vegetable soup with dumplings- ate half, froze half, total cost about £1.20. Last night we had a pasta bake with mushrooms, chorizo and a tin of haricot beans and it was yummy. Hubby tonight has a ready made chicken meal which came out of the freezer from a previous month's spend and I'm having the leftover pasta from last night.
I've also had 2 no spend days this week and am on target for a 3rd today. Now if only I could have lived like this 3 years ago I would not be in the situation I am in today!
Debt at highest May 2006: £27,472.24
currently: £13,353.25
currently: £13,353.25
DFW Nerd 178
Proud to be dealing with my debts
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We'll all keep an eye on your progress and apply encouragement :T and tell you off
Do you want to post both a breakdown of your debts and your SOA so we can see what you're up against? I know you've probably done it before but it might be worth having all under one thread...
DDDK :money:
Debt 2006: Jul:£18,552.06|Aug:£17,615.14|Sep:£16,297.98|Oct:£15,961|Nov:£15,760.66|Dec:£13,204.37
Debt 2007: Jan:£13,183.71|Feb:£13,851.03|Mar:£13,349.15|April:£12,997.33 | May: £12,300.00 | June: £12,000 | July: £9,894.44 |Aug:£0
Debt Free Date: 31 August 2007
The £2 Coin Savers Club = £72
Reclaiming my bank charges - £105 reclaimed
My Diary: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=230561
OK, total debts are £25,757.75
Egg loan £15,377.82
Egg card £4510.56
Mint card £2122
&More card: £1430
First Direct Gold card £2317.37
SOA to follow soon...
currently: £13,353.25
Income
Salary: 2592.71
Other: 650.00 (hubby pays me standing order for his share of mortgage)
Total: 3242.71
Outgoings
Mortgage 1400.00
Mortgage ins. 56.78
Life ins. (me) 11.19
Life ins. (H) 11.36
Home ins. 25.71
Contents ins. 15.63
Pet ins. (2 cats) 14.21
Oyster card (rail travel) 121.40
Cancer Research 5.00
Gym 36.95 (tied in till April)
Christmas + presents 20.00 (average throughout year)
Vet bills 20.00 (average throughout year for non-insured items such as innoculations, worming tablets etc)
Food 250.00 (2 adults + 2 cats, trying to reduce this further)
Toiletries 10.00
Entertainment 100.00
Clothes 75.00
Gas, electricity, phone, broadband, TV licence all 0.00 hubby pays
Mobile 0.00 work pays
Debt paying:
Egg loan: 399.25
FD Gold card: 200.00
Mint card: 100.00
Egg card: 100.00
&More card: 100.00
Total: 3072.48
Any comments are welcome. Tellings off and encouragement are both equally welcome here.
currently: £13,353.25
Sorry, just noticed you're expecting so this may not be useful unless you could transfer it to OH or someone
Now let's see....
You are doing well and with a bit of 'tightening', it will be even easier to get those debts eliminated
Yep, that's the only problem- I have 3 months maternity leave soon and won't need a season ticket then. It's on my to do list for April though when I return to work. OH has (and needs) a company car so it wouldn't be any good to him. Thanks anyway!
currently: £13,353.25
You say your gym membership is tied until April - tell 'em you are pregnant or cannot go on health grounds.
Get a couple of keep fit books/dvds from the library and walk everywhere instead.
Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind!
Before printing, think about the environment![/size]
Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind!
Before printing, think about the environment![/size]
Hey Mrs Sparkle!
I am worried about you only taking 3 months maternity leave - will this give you enough time to recover after the birth? I know that this is probably a financial decision but this is a really scary prospect?!!? Sorry if this is a really personal question but I'm worried about you.
You have really high outgoings and seem to be really dependant on your income - would you consider moving to a cheaper area? I understand you are in/near London and I don't have a lot of experience of living in the south of England.
I think you are doing really well but I am worried about the fact you cannot afford to take your allocated maternity leave - sorry to keep harping on.
Lots of love - comments are intended with kindness.
scottishspendaholic x
Tesco = £2,910.11 / Smile overdraft = £500
Bank of Scotland = £2,782.83
Thank you very much for taking the time to comment. I do realise that I'm taking far short of the 26 usual weeks for maternity leave but yes, it's purely a financial decision, based on the miserable £108 a week statutory maternity pay.
We are considering moving a bit further out of London at the moment. The main problem is that I'd be looking at 1.5 hours' travel to and from work (i.e. 3 hours a day) rather than the hour each way I do now- plus a more expensive season ticket and probably extra childminding hours too. It's all quite depressing but I think it's probably best to stay where we are and avoid the additional costs and fees of moving.
The good thing about my job is that I do have a lot of autonomy so I can pretty much work hours to suit myself. It's going to be hard though. Do you have kids? Sounds like you know what it's like to leave a baby and go out to work.
Clothes have been over-estimated- certainly it's been a lot less than that this month and last.
Entertainment- again I've over-estimated and I'm hardly going out at all these days. You know how it is though- a friend invites everyone to a restaurant for a birthday bash and you end up £40 down and I don't even drink these days! It's true that my existing 2-3 social events a month will probably be close to zero in a couple of months so I will reduce this amount.
I'll give the gym some serious thought... it's the best exercise I get now that I've been scared off my bike by scary car drivers :-0
Point taken with the food- you're absolutely right, I still haven't bought Stardrops and I do allow us a few treats here and there. I will try harder!
Thanks again x
currently: £13,353.25