Extracting head from sand and facing the truth

So, got turned down for the Santander CC. Been looking at what else i can do to re-jig things as one of the Barclaycard 0% deals comes to an end this month.

I'm hoping to speak to hubbie this week to see if we can move it to one of his existing cards. If we can do this, we wont have any more credit checks or refusals against us and i can close the Barclaycard to prevent further temptation and also reduce the overall credit showing as available to me on my credit reports.

Need to update current SOA as just found out that work will no longer pay our internet (historically they have paid for a business line they installed years ago, but are reducing their own outgoings so we will be losing this perk).

Have been making a concerted effort having left-overs for lunch, and am currently meal planning using food from the freezer and cupboards and trying to just buy bread, milk and veg. Hoping to do a stock take tomorrow to allow proper meal planning to avoid shops as much as possible until pay day.

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

Happy new diary! You seem off to a really good start. Dave Ramsey is ace. Harsh and evangelical, but ace. I'm a big fan of his.

A zero based budget is the best thing I ever did. It takes about 3 months to get it right, so don't beat yourself up if you get it wrong the first couple of times. I didn't operate sinking funds for the first 9 months. I just paid for things as and when they happened and put whatever was left that month towards debt repayments. But, I had DF as my emergency fund. I now have my own emergency fund and it works just as well. I will, from January '19, operate sinking funds for everything - all annual and monthly expenses. I just wanted to do 'scorched earth' and rid a lot of my debt before I started them because I'm impatient and obstinate!

Look forward to seeing your journey develop.

Thanks. Yeah, the zero based budget has been a real eye opener, and it's definitely going to take a few months to get the hang of it. I'm sure a few pennies are unaccounted for, but by and large i'm shocked how quickly unplanned things have crept in. Mostly school or kids clubs related this month. Keeping a track of it all has made me realise i need to cut back in other areas to keep the budget on track. I think your idea of no sinking funds is probably a better idea until we get to grips with things and pay more of the debt off. I've already had to alter some of these sinking funds as i needed to pay them this month eg. Hubbie has to pay registration fee every 6 months for his profession. I plan to budget for this in the future but had to pay £45 this month as it was due. Similarly i tried to save a bit for clothes this month as i will need to buy school uniform and shoes over the summer holidays, but my son is moving up to secondary school and his blazer and tie had to be bought this week at the induction evening.

I hope to start saving for car repairs too, but my exhaust sounds like it is blowing now. I'm hoping to ask my brother to take a look at it when he returns from holiday to see if he can patch it up to last a little longer :cool: I think I'm going to be raiding the sink funds constantly at the moment as our budget is so tight and sods law means that things break or go wrong at the most inconvenient of times.

I'm managing to log on and check our bank account daily and am keeping the spending spreadsheet up to date daily too which means i am actually aware of how much we are spending and how we need to really be careful until pay day on the food front if we are to control any over-spending. I'll be much happier once July is over as i'll know how much our newest credit card payment will be, along with hopefully a refund on our energy bill as we have recently transferred to a new provider. :j