The light is well and truly on!'

RhiBi · 11 April 2018 at 11:45AM

Thanks, I do need to get my head around the different pots, I get paid on Friday, so need to start doing this then. In the past I've left the money in the current account to see what's left (if anything) when the next payday comes around. If there's anything, then I've transferred it, but I think I need to be more proactive, and move it first, then I know what I have left!

Today, I've got bread proving and also spicy butternut squash soup cooking for lunch, all things I had here so no spends! I've got some sewing to finish, so that'll earn me a little money too.

I'm going to walk the dog later to get out for some fresh air, other than that it's a quiet day here!

Have a good day everyone!

RhiBi · 11 April 2018 at 7:27PM

Evening!

A strange day today, my daughter did her grade 8 piano exam last month, and today we heard she'd failed by 4 points. I'm absolutely gutted for her. She has her A levels next month so wanted this exam out of the way!

Other news, I got my payslip, my pay has gone up by £4!!! I've decided that I'll do my spending diary in a book and transfer it to a spreadsheet weekly. I'm going to keep the notebook on the worktop so that it's easily accessible for both dh and I to note things down.

So when my pay goes in I normal pay £50 off Next when I get paid and another £50 when dh gets paid, but I think I'm going to pay £100 at each payday, plus my usual £2 PADding! I'm determined to do my best to clear that debt by August! Then I'll apply the same principle (with the addition of released Next payments) to one of the credit cards.

This evening, I need to finish some sewing and I intend to have a glass or two of wine to lighten my mood a little!!

stinabean · 11 April 2018 at 9:14PM

Nooo how awful for her !!!128547; can they squeeze in another test before A levels? Do they still say what the errors were?

Good luck with the increased payments!

RhiBi · 12 April 2018 at 12:37AM

Next piano exams are July so we need to see what she wants to do, it's a lot of pressure. Her uni course is medical engineering, so the music is a personal goal rather than an academic one.

She will have a breakdown of score, but not seen her teacher yet although she said it was the aural section that let her down, she absolutely hates the aural, so I'm not surprised we just hoped the rest would carry it. Xxxx

RhiBi · 12 April 2018 at 9:38AM

Morning! Today's another day, so onwards we go!!

Youngest daughter couldn't sleep last night, which means I couldn't either...!!! Lazy day today I think. Payday tomorrow, so I need to decide how best to pay my bills, rather than muddle through like I normally do. Bills to be paid are Next and Barclaycard. I've noticed from reading here that a lot of people set up a direct debit for these bills and then make additionalpayments too. That definitely sounds a good idea! Maybe another look at the Bills account is needed!

My daughter is coming home from uni for the eeekend so we have to meet the bus in Cardiff to pick her up! We're going to Birmingham to see the dancing on Ice Tour tomorrow, the tickets were a Christmas gift and the hotel is paid for. Looking at the map, there is a Wetherspoons close to the hotel which should give us a low cost meal out before the show but I intend to look around at options today! If anyone knows the area and can suggest anything I'd be grateful

RhiBi · 12 April 2018 at 10:19AM

I'm sitting here mentally paying off bills when my pay goes in, this could get me really down so I have to be positive about this. I'm proud of how I'm doing with the Next bill, the others are ticking over so I have to think of the long game!!

What I would love, is someone to sit down and tell me how much money and where to put it for all these 'pots'. What I'm also struggling with, is what to pay out of each pay as they're 2 weeks apart. I've always liked the 'it's only ever 2 weeks to a payday' scenario, but I'm finding it harder to work out when to put money away and when to pay bills. If anyone feels able to hold my hand and guide me through as I'm getting in a right muddle with it all!

Mumoffourkids · 12 April 2018 at 10:50AM

Ok I might be able to help as I currently get some money in weekly (tax credits, child benefit, one lot of maintenance), some money in 2 weekly (housing benefit) and some money in monthly (wages, second lot of maintenance). I spent hours on a spreadsheet changing stuff around to work out what money was going to pay for what!

Especially as my work have changed my pay date from the middle of the month to the beginning of the month. I used to use my wages and the maintenance to pay the rest of my rent and the nursery fees which are due at the end of the month but from this month, my wages will be used for something else!

So what pots do you need to put money into and how regularly do you need to put money into them?

RhiBi · 12 April 2018 at 12:17PM

Thank you!!! If I list pay dates, card payments and saving that might help! My head is a jumble and I'm over complicating things I think!

Paydates

Dh 28th month (approx 2900
Mine 15th (904)
Child benefit 4 weekly, next payment 16/04

Payments

28th £1700 for all household bills and loans, the debts listed below, do not come out of this, they are paid out of our current account.

Other payments

Next - minimum currently £70. Paying £50 at each payday, plus PADding £2 a day

Littlewoods, minimum £36.12, paying £20 at each payday

MBNA 1 minimum £65, paying £65
MBNA 2 minimum £191, paying £200
Brarclaycard, minimum £161, paying £170

The three credit cards are paid ad hoc through the month, we try to pay the 2 mbna when dh gets paid and the barclaycard when I get paid.

Writing down i feel it's the 3 credit cards we're chasing our tail with! I don't know whether to set up direct debits to pay them in which case I need to increase the £1700 to the bill account! But increasing it on the 28th will stretch things a bit so do I increase the payment but also do a 2nd dd into the bills account when I get paid! This is where I get in a muddle, what to do when! Maybe and extra £300 on 28th (totalling £2000 transfer) and £300 when I get paid. I'll do the PADding out of my current account daily.

Then comes the savings pots! My child benefit and any little sewing money I get goes into a Smile savings account. I try to leave that alone and only move money out of it as and when I need to. I could use that as my birthday/holiday pot. I have 2 other instant access accounts that are just sitting there doing nothing so could use those for house/car savings maybe?

I'm worried I'm going to get everything confused and end up in a worse situation!!!

On a positive, we have streamlined the bills account so that is one good thing, maybe I need to streamline the debt repayments first, before tackling the other things! Take it one step at a time?

RhiBi · 12 April 2018 at 3:52PM

After speaking with DH, we have decided to put £2000 into the bill's account on 28th of each month, and another £300 on the 16th. Now we are going to set up direct debits for our debts of just above the minimum payments, to come out of the bill's account. I will continue my over payments of the other bills from the current account to pay things off quicker.

Next, I'll tackle the pots of money for different things, but for now, I feel I'm getting everything in order.

Mumoffourkids · 12 April 2018 at 9:51PM

It sounds like you have a plan for the bills and the debt repayments and that sounds like a good plan putting in £2000 when DH gets paid and then £300 when you get paid.

Does food and petrol come out of the bills account as well then?

And yes leaving your child benefit and sewing money as christmas and birthdays sounds good.

The way I do it is to treat my savings transfers as bills and they get transferred weekly out of my tax credits money. Maybe treat them as bills and set up a standing order to your instant access account for an amount monthly for the house and car savings.

I think I put £17.50 a week into house savings, but that should cover house insurance paid annually, tv licence paid annually, any little bits I need to buy for the house like bulbs etc and if anything big blows up like my washing machine or tumble dryer. I am in rented so I don't need to worry about major repairs.

Then my car savings, I put in £25 a week for maintenance and mot etc, £1 a week for breakdown cover so I can pay it annually, £6.50 a week for car tax and £12.50 a week for car insurance.

I think if you treat the savings amounts as bills and transfer as soon as either you or your husband get paid and then you know how much you have left for the month and you can start getting some savings together.

The light is well and truly on!'

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