Keeping myself on track and focused....

Karen_30 · 25 March 2009 at 4:52PM

Hello all,

I've been having a little think, number crunching and general overview this afternoon and can't see where I can cut back in sense of bills apart from the food shopping. So, from now on it's going to be shopping with a list and for what is necessary, no hidden extras.

Find it hard sometimes as OH tends to just pick up what he wants, which is fair enough but we then end up splitting the bill 50/50. I don't want to go down the route of shopping separetely as that would feel weird/wrong but I am going to cut back and maybe do the shopping myself (like today) more often. Means I will have more control, mind you saying that it is usually me that adds the total up by adding a choc bar, mag or paper or something too so that def has to stop now!

I'm going to work on a weekly spending allowance, or maybe monthly - haven't decided yet and try and budget for lifes big events such as christmas, bdays, haircuts etc.

Some months are better than others due to availability of overtime however not regular so can't rely on it :mad: I am working an extra two hours this evening so that's got to be good news

Right back to work and more thinking, planning etc.

K x

Sweetpeanut · 25 March 2009 at 5:10PM

well done you:D, for getting sorted, ive enjoyed what ive read so far, so i think i'll be subscribing!! by the way i was 31yrs old when i had my 1st baby and ive got 2 now, DD1 is 5 soon, DD2 nearly 3,plenty of mums are a lot older, i thought i'd be 1 of the oldest at the school gates, but theres mums 10yrs older than me!!! so no panic on that 1;)

savingholmes · 25 March 2009 at 9:42PM

HI - I've already posted this in a couple of places today but please excuse me

"On the DFW board there is also the make £10 a day challenge - that is where you use cashback sites, gambling loopholes, selling stuff etc to make extra cash and keep a record of it. We share ideas on what you can do to get started. Free daily scratchcards for example give me £30 every month, I also get an average of £15 from bingoport, since last July I have had hundreds of pounds from various cash back sites, I've also made the odd tenner from writing reviews... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1521467 "

I really recommend that if you are not already part of that that you give it a go - it made all the the difference to me paid for xmas, birthdays, treats, food etc so consider giving it a go...

I know some people may think you should wait until you are debt free before having children - however you do become less fertile with age and personally I wouldn't take the risk of waiting too much longer... I think if you are going to have children together you may want to take the opportunity to review your debt together too....

I got married to my OH before I ever lived with him and we have always had joint finances - sometimes he has supported me, sometimes I have supported him - we don't really have this concept of his and her money.... I know if your credit rating is poor and his is good it makes sense to have separate finances but personally I think if he could pay more of the bills, and you could pay off more of the debt - then that would be good for both of you.... If you are going to have children together this [the debt situation] is as good a test of commitment as any LOL!

Hope that helps... feel free to ignore me if it doesn't!

Karen_30 · 25 March 2009 at 10:02PM

Evening all,

Sweetpeanut - thanks for posting, it's nice to know that I won't be the oldest one in the playground....hopefully

savingholmes - thanks for the tips, I will most def be popping over to the make £10 a day thread. This site is amazing for all it's helpful tips and challenges. I agree with you in not waiting to be debt free before little ones but I still have quite a large amount of debt and it's a bit of a dodgy area in that the debt stems from old relationship (long long....oh and did I mention long....story) so I kind of feel bad asking him for help etc as not his mess. He is however great in so many other ways, but when we do sit down to discuss the serious stuff I will be mentioning that this debt is part of 'our lives' not just mine and you are right come buying place (in his name) and little ones etc then we have to pull together. Gosh sorry i've yapped away there....sorry! It's a hard area as it's the only thing that ever causes problems in our relationship and arguements. All the more reason for me to be a regular and commited member here I say

I'm still finding my way about and getting to grips with things but I WILL do this and will be regularly posting to keep myself on track.

Thanks again guys, it's lovely to know people are about, if that makes sense

K x

mrscmr · 25 March 2009 at 10:07PM

nothing wrong with older mums - i had my first at 32 and then another at 38 and another at 42 yikes!

savingholmes · 25 March 2009 at 10:32PM

mrscmr wrote: »

nothing wrong with older mums - i had my first at 32 and then another at 38 and another at 42 yikes!

I understand what you are saying but I got "caught" straightaway with my DS in my 20s but in my early 30s it took me 8 months to get pregnant.... I'm just saying that your fertility in general drops with age and not to leave it too long - I'm not however saying there is a magic age!

Karen_30 · 25 March 2009 at 10:42PM

I would like two, so hoping to get my debt down lots over the next two years then will feel better money wise and then see what happens.....OH better pop the question before then

....mind you he has already commented on the world cup being 2010 so no wedding then eh.....men :mad:

Unfortunately, personally for me I am selfish with my time. I love love love just chilling out by myself, reading a book, tv etc and now popping on here....I like being able to say 'yes' at the drop of a hat to things....not quite ready for little one just yet....neither is OH but do look forward to it in a couple of years time

I see friends with their first babies this past year and it's def worth it.

So, I guess I have just started off my master plan......clear those debts to be financially stable for when the serious stuff comes along. Ooh, i'm excited about this little challenge. I've been in debt and it's vicious cycle for as long as I can remember and change in job resulted in me opting for dmp.

Lots of little steps for me, baby steps into positive and permanant lifestyle changes - I need to do it this way as mrscmr understands (procrastination

) or I will never do it :rolleyes:

savingholmes - can you point me in right direction for scratch cards??

K x

savingholmes · 26 March 2009 at 1:01AM

Karen_30 wrote: »

Lots of little steps for me, baby steps into positive and permanant lifestyle changes - I need to do it this way as mrscmr understands (procrastination ) or I will never do it :rolleyes:

savingholmes - can you point me in right direction for scratch cards??

K x

I will send you a pm! (private message)

Karen_30 · 26 March 2009 at 2:49PM

Hi guys, me again. I'm sure anyone reading this will probably get fed up with my wafflings about nothing!

Just got back from lunch with friend, she is due fist baby any day now so we wanted to catch up before run out of time. Upon catching up she said that friends of ours are looking at houses

....now don't get me wrong I am really happy for them and also my friends expecting first little one but it just brought home what I am putting off i.e house because of debts, obviously little one a couple of years away but.......

.....I am only going to use this feeling to make me more determined rather than the usual, pop to the shop, spend money (chocolate) and then feel fat process

So, now the hard work starts!!!

I worked 2 hours overtime last night so that is already £37.86 (less tax and ni) towards my goal

Hopefully do some more during the month for a prettier pay day in May :T

Question is now what do I do with any exta money, as on a dmp I can't just pay off debts as that would mess up the whole process. Unfortunately my overtime is not regular enough, in that some weeks its on and then I can go a month without any, so not able to include it in figure for dmp.

Decisions decision......

Karen_30 · 26 March 2009 at 4:44PM

Ok, been having a little think about what I want to do, achieve and gain by joining this site and writing a diary. Obvious one first is wanting to be debt free (aim number 1), however I have a substantial amount of debt and on dmp through payplan so options are limited as to what I can do here. Payplan have already advised that it is not beneficial for me to make lump sum payments or creditors will wonder where I am getting the extra money, nor can I pay off one creditor as this will be deemed favourable to one creditor and idea of a dmp is to treat them fairly. = one savings pot toward debt to pay off lump sum at some pont.

So, where does that leave me???

Well ultimately I would like to own my own house with OH as this would be the next step in our future. OH is happy to take out a mortgage in own name but this would mean having to have a bigger deposit (aim number 2) so I guess this is going to be one of my goals, saving towards deposit on house. We (i'm) lucky in that OH has a substantial amount already waiting through parents and grandparents so we are well on our way, but I would like to do my bit = one savings pot towards future house.

Personal savings - I don't have any and would like something put by for a rainy day situation (aim number 3). I would just like a buffer for if and when something did happen and also it would be a great achievement in that I have never ever had any. = one saving pot toward rainy day fund.

Well, I guess I have answered my own questions in what I want to achieve, it'll take a long while but hopefully not as long as it would do if I wasn't on this site

Ultimately I guess I just want to plan properly for the rest of my life as lets face it I haven't done it so far so now is as good as time as any to start :j

Question now is how am I to do this......????

Thinking cap on again.

K x

Keeping myself on track and focused....

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