Mrs P's Diary - The Final Push

MrsPorridge · 2 December 2015 at 9:04PM

Its been quite a few months since I have posted anything on my diary - so I thought I would start a shiny new one.

A bit about myself - I am the wrong side of 50, married with one son who is in his second year at university. DH and I both work.

I am aiming to be almost debt free by December 2017. I want to count my mortgage in with this debt.

I can feel bad habits starting to creep in again and want to nip it in the bud so hopefully this diary will help to keep me on track.

Money owed:

Credit Card £1350 approx
Overdraft £1500 approx
Loan 1 £10,000 approx
Loan 2 £15,000 approx
Mortage £15,000 approx

Savings are £6,500

We also need some work done to the guttering and roof of the house which is costing £1,900 - have saved £1,500 towards this - the work will be done mid-January so i do have a bit of time to save up the £400.

At the moment am working to pay off the cc and the overdraft so a bit on each every month.

The loans are of course being paid monthly - I am aiming to also save once the OD and CC are paid off and then try and pay down Loan 1.

I have gone back to meal planning and doing one big shop once a month - did this last month and it worked really well. Have already done my meal plans for December and January and am hoping not to have to do a big shop until we are paid at the end of January.

MrsPorridge · 16 December 2015 at 2:01PM

Oh dear - why does it always happen? Repair on DH's bike will cost us £506 which is going on the CC and DS has just asked for £500 for his house rent as he is "in his overdraft" so I have just transferred to him.

Have told DS we will be looking at budgeting when he comes home for Christmas this week. Its hard for students I think as he gets a lump sum every quarter and is supposed to budget with that - I can barely do it when paid monthly! Also as DH and my salaries are taken into account he only gets a grant which covers 3 months rent only.

In happier news - the meal planning is going well and DH and I are questioning if we want a large purchase and the freezer is full to bursting so we shouldn't have any big shopping (as I call it) to do till hopefully beginning of February.

Taylor132 · 16 December 2015 at 3:14PM

Hello Mrs Porridge

I know exactly what you mean. I've managed to wrack up about £5k on various things over the last few years or rather never clear them..... I'm on to it now though.

I hope this doesn't cause offense, but this is a perfect time to education your student. When I say educate, scare the s**t out of them in the hope of saving them from the cycle of debt we all inhabit.

I wish so much I had been prudent with my student loan and got a little part job. I'm fairly certain I would have left uni with a good starting point for a house deposit......

MrsPorridge · 2 January 2016 at 2:27PM

Taylor - agree completely and have been trying to make DS money savvy I don't want him to end up like me.

Haven't done too badly over Christmas mainly by dint of staying in a lot and just watching loads of TV. Having said that it has been a really nice break. We still have loads of food left over so are still on track to not having to do a big shop till end of January.

MrsPorridge · 3 January 2016 at 4:38PM

Something to celebrate. We went into town today to order some contact lenses and actually walked out of Tescos without buying anything. Its a brilliant start for the New Year.

MrsPorridge · 19 January 2016 at 9:33PM

One big change is not stopping off at the supermarket for something I forgot and then spending upwards of £20 odd. Have restricted myself to going to the supermarket once a week - meal planning, writing a shopping list and actually sticking to it.

We still have loads of food in the freezer and as its just the two of us it doesn't matter if we have strange combinations.

Have also decided to try and lose some much needed weight - all my clothes are feeling very tight and when I can do them up its a struggle and I look awful.

To that end am going to try and keep my diet food plan on here as well and try and fill this diary in a bit more.

After discussion with DH we have decided to attack the CC first. Will update the totals on pay day.

Tomorrow I will have a yoghurt for breakfast. I am attending an all day event at work and lunch will be provided - its sandwiches so not that brilliant for weight loss - but a free lunch is always great for a Moneysaver! There is always plenty left over so I am taking an empty butty box with me and hope to get enough for myself and DH's lunches the following day as we are allowed to take the left-overs and its always a bit of a scrum so elbows at the ready.

Dinner tomorrow is chicken and broccoli bakes with baked beans.

MrsPorridge · 30 January 2016 at 9:05PM

A real result today. Went into town to upgrade DH's phone. His bill has now gone down by £5 with a new phone and traded his old oe in so no outlay - in fact we got £40 refunded. Also changed DS' tariff (which we pay) and his gone down from £39.50 to £12. Also changed mine down from £33 to £14. can hardly believe it. Just really goes to show what a rip off these mobiles really are if you don't keep on top of it.

MrsPorridge · 2 February 2016 at 4:01PM

Got home yesterday to find the water bill - we are in credit and as form 1st March our payments will drop from £55 pm to £21.50! I guess it took just over a year from DS moving out for it to show up that we aren't having showers every five minutes nor using the washing machine every day

Finished work a bit earlier. Was tempted to stop off at Sainsbogs for "stuff". Drove straight past - so that is another £10 - 20 saved.

I also had lunch at my desk - normally I go to a canteen and buy a drink and eat my packed lunch - so an NSD for me.

MrsPorridge · 9 February 2016 at 7:14PM

Pancakes for tea tonight - we made extra and I filled them with a cheese and ham sauce (cheese sauce made with some leftover creme fraciche). These have gone in the butty boxes for lunch tomorrow - goodness knows if you can microwave pancakes but will find out tomorrow!

beanielou · 9 February 2016 at 10:53PM

Great savings on the mobiles

Desperate_to_be_debt_free · 10 February 2016 at 10:26AM

Been reading your diary Mrs P. Good luck with your final push, you seem to be really motivated. I can relate to you having weird food combination. We quite often have a 'muck and bullets' tea when I'm clearing out the freezer.

Mrs P's Diary - The Final Push

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