£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Treadingonplaymobil · 11 March 2017 at 2:10PM

Moneywhizz wrote: »

That is great that you will be able to earn so much more when your little starts school. What a difference that will make to your debt free date. In the meantime every little helps!

I hope so! I've set our DFD on the basis of our current lowest income (i.e. me only earning £120 per month plus child benefit on top of DH's salary), so every extra bit of earning and subsequent overpayment will really help.

Treadingonplaymobil · 11 March 2017 at 10:04PM

And here endeth the fourth week! With no fireworks or fanfare, I’m afraid, just steady progress, which I’m more than happy to settle for.

Speaking of fireworks and fanfare, did the rest of the world know about the special effects you can add to messages between iPhones? Press and hold down the send button after you write a message and there are speech bubble and screen effect options. Totally new discovery to me.

Had an absolutely lovely afternoon catching up with my friend, and she generously treated me to tea and cake (for no particular reason, she has no idea about our financial situation), so it ended up being totally guilt free on the spending front! And we went for a lovely walk along the canal rather than through town, so no further shopping temptation.

To do today:
1. Feed sourdough starter. Done!
2. ice biscuits for clients. Done!
3. finish cleaning house for clients. Done!
4. Post on social media for work. Done, only for one business though.
5. Knit socks (I'd like to get past the heel on the second sock). Not done yet! Going to sit and knit in bed with an audiobook for a little while in a moment though (this is the kind of indulgence I get up to when my family go away for the weekend. Rock n roll).
6. Order essential oils so I can make more candles. Done! Found some new scent combination ideas on pinterest, and there was a 4for3 offer on eNaissance, so have gone for four cheap oils - lavender, lemon, peppermint and eucalyptus.
7. Don't get tempted into browsing shops after coffee with friend - I'll end up blowing the budget! Done!

To do this week:
1. Look into changing bank accounts and decide whether we want the hassle (I rather like having all our accounts available under one login, not sure I want to open up three new accounts). Done! Not changing right now, will wait until there’s an even better deal around.
2. Make the statement payment to the barclaycard (it will come out by DD if I don't pay it manually, but I like to get everything lined up as early as possible so it makes my YNAB look prettier). Done!
3. List old unloved handbag on eb@y. Haven’t had a moment to do this, it’s going on Monday’s list.
4. Order birthday presents for child 2 and child 3. I need Dh here to double check I’ve made the best choices, but I’m ready to hit the order button.
5. Plan birthday parties so anything needed can be ordered in. Haven’t done this at all, must get on the case asap or I’ll be paying express delivery for things again.
6. Declutter one room - I feel like the clutter in the house is bothering me again, it's been building up over the past few weeks. Done!
7. Take lots of photos for social media at an event I'm going to on Thursday. Done!

I feel like this has been a fairly static week for me, debt-wise, I’m hoping to make some little overpayments next week as the food budget for the rest of the month starts to take shape (I’m thinking there should be a little spare money in it) and any other pots that are excessively full can be rounded down a bit. I need the motivation of regular little payments to keep me on track!

motivated · 11 March 2017 at 10:15PM

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

And here endeth the fourth week! With no fireworks or fanfare, I’m afraid, just steady progress, which I’m more than happy to settle for.

I need the motivation of regular little payments to keep me on track!

Steady progress is good. Any progress is progress

I agree about the motivation of little regular payments too. I need to find a way of doing this somehow. Even a couple of ££ make you feel like you are doing something.

Keep going you are doing great
M

mummytogirls · 11 March 2017 at 10:34PM

Tea and cake sound lovely TOPM

sometimes a treading water week is good IMO xx

Treadingonplaymobil · 12 March 2017 at 7:09AM

Week 5: Day 1

Last Sunday morning our debt stood at £66,237, and today it stands at £65,931.71. Most of that reduction is just standard DD payments rather than overpaying, which feels less 'special', somehow, but I'm still pleased to see such a noticeable reduction. It will probably only come down by a few quid here and there this week, as I have no particular expected income into my personal account, so it will only be if I shave a little off some budget pots.

My mission to walk 10,000 steps a day and eat more veg has been going for three whole days and I feel noticeably better for it, I'm surprised how much difference it's making, given that I am already fairly fit and not particularly overweight (could stand to lose a few lbs, am 10lb over my ideal weight, but not an overweight BMI). Going to try to keep it up all week.

To do today:
1. Feed sourdough starter.
2. Tidy up before DH and the children come home this evening.
3. Post on social media for work (especially the business I didn't do a post for yesterday).
4. knit socks (I managed about five minutes before dozing off last night!).
5. Clear ironing.
6. Put next week's menu plan into MySupermarket and see if I can wiggle the price down a little.
7. Plan working time for this week.
8. Check Valued Opinions for surveys.
9. Start my little challenge of putting a little bit into my 'overpayment envelope ' in YNAB every day by rounding down or moving things around. Minimum 10p!
10. Change sheets on our bed (will do the children's beds when I've got ours washed and dried - no tumble dryer so I try not to change them all on one day!).

To do this week:
1. List old unloved handbag on eb@y.
2. Order birthday presents for child 2 and child 3.
3. Order any party supplies needed.
4. Make more candles when oils arrive.
5. Finish current socks and start knitting a new pair for my dad's birthday.
6. Pay preschool bill (there should only be one more, smallish, bill after this one, then free hours kick in. Hurrah!).

sashybo · 12 March 2017 at 10:27AM

Congrats on getting the debt total down into the 65s, always a nice feeling to go into the next bracket (as it were). :j

Well done on the steps as well, it's actually really hard for me to get anywhere near 10,000 steps in a day as my job is mostly desk bound and I drive to & from work.

Will need to get out & about with the pram after the baby is born.

kindofagilr · 12 March 2017 at 11:05AM

You are doing awesome paying this down!!!

I find getting 10,000 steps on my work days hard to get as I am desk based, I usually do about 8500 on those days, on my days off when I have 3 school runs to do I do about 18,000, but come the weekend I am right down to 5000 lol I expect that will increase as the weather gets nice and we go out with the kids walking etc xx

Makalu · 12 March 2017 at 12:46PM

Hi there

Well done for even posting all this on here as it can be very daunting. We have been in a similar position in the past and I just wanted to tell you what I did to cut the grocery shop. Firstly I did a menu for the week and then wrote the list, so if I was going to be preparing meals that required two onions I would literally just buy the two. I also did an online shop to collect (for free) so I could see how much I was spending and therefore not getting to the checkout and having a huge bill. I also changed where I shopped so I would go to Aldi and Farm Foods for things like drinks and toiletries etc. It made a huge difference but takes time. Once you have done your first menu its easy. The best thing is when I get in from work and the school run I know exactly what I am making so super organised and pleased with myself. Good luck.

Treadingonplaymobil · 12 March 2017 at 3:00PM

sashybo wrote: »

Congrats on getting the debt total down into the 65s, always a nice feeling to go into the next bracket (as it were). :j

Well done on the steps as well, it's actually really hard for me to get anywhere near 10,000 steps in a day as my job is mostly desk bound and I drive to & from work. Will need to get out & about with the pram after the baby is born.

I walked LOADS when my eldest was born, as he would only really nap in the pram! I lost all the baby weight plus another stone inside six months, with daily cake.

kindofagilr wrote: »

You are doing awesome paying this down!!!

I find getting 10,000 steps on my work days hard to get as I am desk based, I usually do about 8500 on those days, on my days off when I have 3 school runs to do I do about 18,000, but come the weekend I am right down to 5000 lol I expect that will increase as the weather gets nice and we go out with the kids walking etc xx

I am not desk based, but I hadn't realised quite how sedentary I'd got since we moved closer to school a year ago - some days I literally just walk the couple of hundred yards to school and back. I feel like I'm on my feet all day doing chores, but I'm not actually doing proper stretches of walking.

Makalu wrote: »

Hi there

Well done for even posting all this on here as it can be very daunting. We have been in a similar position in the past and I just wanted to tell you what I did to cut the grocery shop. Firstly I did a menu for the week and then wrote the list, so if I was going to be preparing meals that required two onions I would literally just buy the two. I also did an online shop to collect (for free) so I could see how much I was spending and therefore not getting to the checkout and having a huge bill. I also changed where I shopped so I would go to Aldi and Farm Foods for things like drinks and toiletries etc. It made a huge difference but takes time. Once you have done your first menu its easy. The best thing is when I get in from work and the school run I know exactly what I am making so super organised and pleased with myself. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice! I'm still fine tuning my menu planning/food shopping skills, but i can't believe how much more on top of it I am than a couple of months ago.

dktreesea · 12 March 2017 at 3:15PM

Treadingonplaymobil wrote: »

DH secretly loves stopping at services, so I have to make it basically impossible by over-providing on the picnic front to such an extent that there is literally nothing he needs.

I always do a ham at Christmas, but somehow it has literally never occurred to me to do it at other times of year.

Aside from Gloucester Services (M5 southbound between junctions 11 and 12) or Tebay Services (North and South, M6, Cumbria, I prefer Tebay Services south) all of which, what a coincidence, are run by the same family, I wouldn't touch food at a motorway services. They are seriously dirty places. I have never seen so many people in a women's loo leave without washing their hands, so it seems some of the customers are no better. I've put drinks back at M&S, thinking their fridges aren't cold enough.

Far better to get off and visit somewhere like Waitrose, splitting up the basket, so you can both use your Waitrose cards for a free, very good as coffees go, coffee.

£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

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