Single, six kids and going to be debt free!

Mumoffourkids · 29 December 2017 at 10:53PM

Evening Wish, yes that would be a good idea to get a month ahead. At the moment though I am nowhere near that stage. I do have a plan for my money though.

Weekly I get most of my income from tax credits so that pays for weekly shopping, petrol, pocket money, clubs for kids, direct debits, savings pots and general spending. Any left over goes towards rent.

Then the housing benefit goes towards rent.

My wages and the monthly maintenance is currently nursery fees and will be debt repayment as well.

But being a month ahead like you say would be amazing. When my debts are paid off, I reckon I could get to that stage in less than six months so that is something to aim for.

Honeysucklelou2 · 30 December 2017 at 4:31AM

I like your idea of £10 a day and anything not spent going to debt repayments. It is amazing, especially with a large family, how many odd things crop up that need to be paid for, that aren't always possible to budget for. That is where my budget has gone pear shaped on occasions this year.

camz2017 · 30 December 2017 at 4:41AM

So I love your £10 idea a day, £10 does not sound like a lot at all to me, it's sensible.

I love YNAB, so I am glad you are using it also! In my YNAB I name my categories along the lines of "EE 19th/£25". This means EE is due on the 19th every month at a cost of £25... This allows me to look down my YNAB quickly and see the EE Bill is due on the 19th, and also lets me know whats coming up later in the month.

I love YNAB because it stops me fearing Credit Cards, Bank Statements etc... I am in control, whether it's Credit Card or Debit Card, it's all in YNAB and expected, so the Credit Card can no longer be too much to pay, and the Debit Card being delayed isn't an issue (I used to spend, then it wouldn't show for like 10+ days on Natwest, and I'd spend money I don't have not accounting for the pending stuff).

My favourite feature of YNAB is statement import, check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99PhqqnNqC0

You can download in NATWEST, SANTANDER, AMEX (haven't tried any others).

Mumoffourkids · 30 December 2017 at 9:27AM

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

I like your idea of £10 a day and anything not spent going to debt repayments. It is amazing, especially with a large family, how many odd things crop up that need to be paid for, that aren't always possible to budget for. That is where my budget has gone pear shaped on occasions this year.

There is always someone on the family that needs something for school. I wish the school added it up at the start of the year and then split the cost monthly. That way I could budget for the cost. The £10 a day should cover this though.

In addition I have noticed that I haven't had to give my eldest money for a while. She always seems to have parties to go to where they need cards and a bit of money or small gift. Since she started her (very) part time job she has been using her wages for this. So that is a bonus and hopefully she will carry on working and paying for her own bits.

Mumoffourkids · 30 December 2017 at 9:30AM

camz2017 wrote: »

So I love your £10 idea a day, £10 does not sound like a lot at all to me, it's sensible.

I love YNAB, so I am glad you are using it also! In my YNAB I name my categories along the lines of "EE 19th/£25". This means EE is due on the 19th every month at a cost of £25... This allows me to look down my YNAB quickly and see the EE Bill is due on the 19th, and also lets me know whats coming up later in the month.

I love YNAB because it stops me fearing Credit Cards, Bank Statements etc... I am in control, whether it's Credit Card or Debit Card, it's all in YNAB and expected, so the Credit Card can no longer be too much to pay, and the Debit Card being delayed isn't an issue (I used to spend, then it wouldn't show for like 10+ days on Natwest, and I'd spend money I don't have not accounting for the pending stuff).

My favourite feature of YNAB is statement import, check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99PhqqnNqC0

You can download in NATWEST, SANTANDER, AMEX (haven't tried any others).

Thanks camz. The £10 a day should catch any unforeseen spends and I am lucky that my budget allows this.

I do like the way you have labelled your categories in ynab. That's the one thing I don't like about it, I can't see what is coming up and as my direct debits come out on different days, this would help. I am now going to spend the day renaming categories!

Also I didn't know you could import, I will definitely have a look at that this evening once the kids are in bed.

Mumoffourkids · 30 December 2017 at 9:35AM

Good news in the post this morning, my pin number arrived for my new current account. So the spending amount for petrol, food and daily spending will be transferred over later. Then when I get to the end of the week, whatever us left will be going off the debt.

In other good news I have had an offer from Tesco regarding ppi. I originally complained it was mis- sold but they didn't agree. I couldn't be bothered to chase at the time. But I got a letter before Christmas saying I could complain about the amount of commission they paid themselves. It told me how to complain which I did online and today I have had an offer from them of £1811.13 which will come straight off the balance I owe to them. All I have to do is sign the acceptance form and send it back to them which I will be doing today. I am so happy and it really didn't take me long to do the form online.

I'm off to update my spreadsheet now!

Honeysucklelou2 · 30 December 2017 at 9:44AM

Wow that's a fantastic start to the new year! Well done to your eldest for getting a pt job and using her wages as she has. When my DD1 has has summer jobs it makes a difference not having to chip in for social occasions and gifts as they start to become more independent.

How amazing to get your post before 9!

camz2017 · 30 December 2017 at 10:27AM

AMAZING news on the PPI refund! I am a serial complainer, I must have had so much back for complaining. At one stage my complaint was with BTs CEO team and my bills for like six months were all negative as they had been refunding things (although I must say I did not enjoy having no internet)!

YNAB Import is AMAZING! I do also log manually to keep on track.

This is exactly how I setup my YNAB, and I thought you would find it useful as she gets paid every 2 weeks, not monthly, but has a mix of monthly expenses and expenses every 2 weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aRjxzY84aU&list=PL-wxJkTfHtgSZSrvERG0OZ-db9ygsXFei&index=3

Mumoffourkids · 30 December 2017 at 10:32AM

I love to complain as well about almost anything and everything. My kids find it embarrassing, but it does result in refunds and money off so I will keep doing it.

Thanks for the YouTube link. That will be watched later on.

Mumoffourkids · 30 December 2017 at 9:47PM

So today has sort of been money saving and sort of not.

This morning I sold my daughter's old bed for £70 so half to debt paying and half to new furniture for kids rooms.

Then we had a sort out of kids toys, two bin bags later and we have a very small pile to keep, a small pile to take to the charity shop and some bits to sell.

I went to the local shop as we needed bread and got loads of ys chicken. So they have gone in the freezer for the next few weeks. I am hoping next week's food bill won't come anywhere near £100!

Then I went to IKEA! I had a list and I stuck to it. New desk and chair for dd2 along with a new bookcase for the girls bedroom and that was me done.

This evening I have updated ynab and changed the names on the categories as per Camz's suggestion. So now I know what is due to come out and when.

Tomorrow will be more sorting out of toys and books, doing a tip run and generally tidying the landing of the house.

Single, six kids and going to be debt free!

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