Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

jwil · 30 May 2018 at 9:45AM

AdventureWanted wrote: »

Putting my debt round up so far here for days when I'm having a wobble and feel down.

Total debt at 30/5/18 - £23,305
Total debt at 27/4/18 - £24,997.50
Total debt at 29/3/18 - £26,305
Total debt at 27/2/18 = £27,920
Total debt at 31/1/18 - £28,992
Total debt at 31/12/17 - £30,581.60
Total debt at 30/11/17 - £32,130
Total debt at 30/10/17 = £35,163

October 2017 was a low moment, as poor planning meant I had to take out an additional cc to pay off our car balancing payment and DH's ptr balancing payment. Since then I'm pretty pleased with the direction things are heading in. I think this journey has made me so horrified at the amount of money we are spending repaying old debts that I don't ever want to be in this situation again.

Will be happy to get rid of all CCs (expect our Tesco card which we buy shopping, fuel, etc on each month for Clubcard points and pay off each week).

That is flipping amazing, well done you! :j:j

Well done on the decluttering, it's so nice to see stuff leaving, especially if cash is coming in at the same time!

AdventureWanted · 30 May 2018 at 7:21PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Wow! £12k almost repaid since last October. Keep it up. If your aim is £17k by the end of the year that is more than 50% of it gone.

Thanks ES. I think each month I'm so focused on how large the figure still is that I hadn't even realised we'd paid back that much or that I could be halfway through the debt in Dec. It's definitely spurred me on more to get to the halfway point by the end of the year.

AdventureWanted · 30 May 2018 at 7:24PM

jwil wrote: »

That is flipping amazing, well done you! :j:j

Well done on the decluttering, it's so nice to see stuff leaving, especially if cash is coming in at the same time!

Thanks Jwil.

I still can't believe how much we've paid! There's no way we would have paid that much without joining this forum, reading everyone's diaries each day and getting advice from others.

AdventureWanted · 30 May 2018 at 7:31PM

Feel pretty good today. Feel like we are finally getting somewhere with the debt and that it won't be around forever. Also I've been so productive today and have done some serious batch cooking. Huge portions of chilli, cottage pie and Monday pie have been made. So that is 6 meals made. We're away on holiday Saturday, so we're planning on freezing some meals and taking them with us so we don't have to cook too much whilst away.

I also got sent a £5 voucher for Tesco today as our shopping was delivered late yesterday. I was really surprised to receive it, especially as it wasn't a problem it being late, but it was such a nice surprise.

jwil · 1 June 2018 at 12:28PM

Great news about the voucher. What is Monday pie?

Have a lovely holiday x

AdventureWanted · 10 June 2018 at 11:25AM

jwil wrote: »

Great news about the voucher. What is Monday pie?

Have a lovely holiday x

Hi, was hoping to reply to your message before we went away, but as is always the case we ran out of time to do anything other than pack.

Monday pie (this is something my mum used to cook us) is similar in a way to cottage pie. Is minced beef, mixed veg, gravy/stock, can of baked beans, sliced potatoes and then when it's cooked you put grated cheese on top. I think my mum used to only put carrots and peas in, but I found that I can throw in loads of veg that the DC won't usually eat (courgettes, mushrooms, etc) and they'll still wolf it down! Is great for the slow cooker and I usually make loads. One 750g pack of mince will be used and it usually makes 2/3 meals worth for all of us.x

AdventureWanted · 10 June 2018 at 11:44AM

We got back from holiday late yesterday afternoon. Had a really lovely holiday, but was lovely getting back to our own house and own beds. It's been an eventful week. We visited quite a few national trust places, which helped keep the cost of the holiday down (we've got a family membership). DC1 got to use his adventurers backpack we got him for his birthday and had a go at orienteering at Ilam Park. We did loads of walking, which was just what the doctor ordered. Loved being out in the countryside and spending the day with few plans.

On Tuesday we had tickets booked to Alton towers. Just after we'd got the DC in the car DH noticed that the rear tyre was flat. After pumping it up, we could see a HUGE rip in the tyre. So our early start to Alton towers didn't happen, as had to find a local garage to organise a new tyre. Luckily the nearest village had a good garage and they could order the tyres the same day. We had to get 2 new tyres, as the other rear tyre was pretty worn too and DH decided it was best to replace both at same time. Spent a fair amount at Alton towers on coffees, games for kids, souvenirs. I had money budgeted for the holiday spending money, but wish I hadn't spent quite as much on the games.
Alton towers shut at 4 on Tuesday (loads earlier than we had expected), so we had enough time to pop to the garage and get the tyres changed.
Whilst we were away DH and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We were quite MSE about it and just had a family meal out at pizza express (using our Tesco vouchers), so we only spent £15.
The rest of the week was spent travelling around and exploring. Was really nice to tick somewhere else off on our map of counties visited in the UK.
On our final evening DC3 had a high temp and wasn't really eating yesterday on our way home. She had a rash on her feet and hands yesterday, which we originally thought was due to being in the hot tub for a few mins and the higher chlorine levels, but now we think it might be hand, foot and mouth

.

Have spent last night and part of this morning updating ynab and reading the diaries I subscribe to. We didn't have access to any internet whilst in the holiday accommodation, so didn't get a chance to check the bank all week.

Budget wise, we've spent quite a bit on fuel this month already, so hopefully I can reduce day trips to keep it on budget. Likewise the food budget is going to be tight this month. I'm going to do next weeks meal plan later today and hopefully I can use up the freezer and cupboard items this month and just buy milk, bread, fruit, veg and any other bits needed for recipes. Hmmm we will see. Need to keep a good handle on this from now on.

Today's pads
£9 to CC2
55p to debt savings

AdventureWanted · 10 June 2018 at 11:55AM

Should have said. Car tyres cost £228, which due to having only just paid for my annual car insurance I didn't have enough in the car pot

. Luckily DH has been saving more than he needs for his car pot, so is going to transfer the money across.

DH has started his monthly £20 payments to our small variable part of the mortgage, which should help to bring the balance down a bit. However, he has now reduced his car savings by £20 a month, which isn't really what I had in mind. He's coming round to the idea of getting a spending tracker, but as yet hasn't actually done it. He's openly said he has no idea where his £200 spending money goes. Although I can't really whinge too much at him, as he's the one doing extra days at work to help pay off the debt quicker.

AdventureWanted · 11 June 2018 at 8:15AM

The dds for CC2 and CC4 have come out today, so the balances are all looking slightly better.

CC1 - £0
CC2 - £799
CC3 - £10,220
CC4 - £11,960

Total debt at 11/6/18 - £22,979

Is nice having CC4 below £12k now and we've crept into the next debt bracket (£22ks). Getting ever closer to having less than £20k of debt.

DC3 is feeling better, which is brilliant. She didn't have a temperature at all yesterday, although her rash on her feet are still there, although much fainter. I'm going to take her to the pharmacist today to see what they think it might be. I don't think it is hand, foot and mouth anymore, I'm guessing it's either a reaction to the chlorine or a viral rash (although the DC usually get this on their chests). Will wait and see what they say.

Finally managed to finish unpacking the suitcases this morning, so I'll try and pop them in the loft later (or will leave for DH, as he will put them back in the correct place). Need to have a general tidy up this week. Our hallway is getting pretty cluttered, as is the landing, so need to get on top of this.

jwil · 11 June 2018 at 1:48PM

Glad you had a good holiday, shame about the car bill!

Hope DD is better soon x

Adventure wanted, but first we must rid ourselves of debt

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