Pleased to see you back, and sorry to hear about your dad. Parents are such a worry to us all these days.

Great news with the continued debt busting. I can not believe your family haven't noticed ... how long can this continue for??

Hi WISHINGTHEMORTGAHEAWAY

Thanks for dropping by. As they say parents and kids! It is just one of those things and to be honest he is getting around great now. The problem was when he was not very mobile, it was awful and took up every minute of my time. But it is what it is and I just think if I cannot make it easy for him who can. We have had a good laugh over the last few weeks and I think he has enjoyed having me around.

I find it strange the family not noticing the amount of money that I am not spending any more. However, when I think about it some of the ways I am saving money they would not notice any way. For example re gifting when a birthday present is needed. That has saved me so much money over the last three months. Both my son and daughter are going to the gym a lot at the moment and have asked me not to buy junk as in biscuits, sweets and cakes which is such a gift at the moment.

My list of goals for August are:

1. Stay within the £60 budget for petrol
2. Stay within my £240 budget for food. I have been and taken this out of the bank this morning as I do like having it in a kitty in the kitchen.
3. Keep up with the annual bills tins
4. Do two car boot sales
5. Make extra income of £300 for the month from boot sales and ebay.
6. I have three birthdays in September, so I am going to try and regift presents again for these as it will save me £60 / £70.
7. Start to organise the dreaded Christmas gifts, I know I am really sorry but I want to be organised this year and not over spend or use a credit card.
8. DO NOT USE A CREDIT CARD. Since I started this diary I have not used a credit card once which is amazing.

Right I am going to go and do some jobs that I need to do so take care everybody.

Great to see you back SNTCC sorry to hear about your dad, but it sounds like he is on the mend.

You are doing a fantastic job! Glad to hear your Dad is on the mend.

Great to have you back, SNTCC! Hope your dad's recovery goes quickly and smoothly now! How lovely of you to help your dad out like that!

Poor you and your poor dad. It's awful when something like that happens. Truly happy for you both that he's mobile again and that he enjoyed your company. You're brilliant looking after him like that. As for that weeks food kitty are you using it for over payments or a buffer?

When the stuff goes it's so liberating and means you can enjoy the stuff you do have so much more. I'm trying to work out what works for our new house and it's such trial and error. And I'm sure you're going straight over the £1000 threshold. I'm thinking may be the £1200 threshold. Keep up the great work xxx

Sorry to hear about your Dad, all sounds successful otherwise!

Good morning everybody,

I had a really busy day yesterday. I cleaned my house from top to bottom to get it back to normal from not being around for a couple of weeks. So today I am going to catch up on the washing and ironing and food shopping.

So meal plan for the week all done and shopping list is all sorted. I just love being organised now, as I never was.

So I am feeling a little back to normal now. Don't get me wrong my dad is still taking a lot of my time helping him out but that is not a problem, it will come right soon.

I did not manage to get all the stuff together for a car boot sale this morning, but hopefully I night get to do one in a week or two when I have a little more time. I had my first ebay sale for August yesterday, so a profit of £6.42, let hope it is the first of many.

I went through my 4 credit card accounts this morning and calculated my new balance.

Credit Cards - At their highest the balances on all the cards was £39942 in April 2018.

At the end of July the balances was £367216.45, it really is going in the right direct. I would love this time next month to hit the £35,000.

Gemsy81 - Thank you for dropping by. My dad is on the mend now, and he is starting to do more himself. However, he still does need a lot of help which I really do not mind. It is just hard on my time but we will manage.

GlendaSugar - Thank you for dropping in on me. Your comments are really appreciated and it is so nice that people on this forum are concerned about each other. Thank you so much.

Moguline - Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to post such a lovely comment. I hope you are ok and life in your house is all good.

Kitten868 - Thank you for dropping in on me. I have decided to keep the money left over from last months food kitty as a little buffer this month. The only reason I am doing this is because I have been cooking extra meals and running them around to my dads as he still cannot stand for long to cook. So I will be using more food this month so it is nice to have the buffer. I don't mind as on Friday I went over to my dads and we went out for dinner just the two of us, it was really nice and it was his treat as well.

I would love to get over the £1200 marker this month, it would be great. I would love to take a week off work and just sort out the whole house in one go. Dump all the junk in the garage and then just chip a way at ebay and car boot sales.

jwil - Thank you so much for dropping in on me. Everything is going in the right direction and despite the lack of time in the past few weeks I really have not fell off the wagon as they say. I have stayed within all my budgets and have not used a credit card. The only budget that I may need to look at this month is my fuel one. The only reason I say this is I am going to my dad may twice a day at the moment so will be using a lot more petrol than normal. If I was not pushed for time I wold walk but I really do not have the time at the moment.

Right I am off to tackle the mountain of washing and ironing. In between I am going to try and catch up on all your diaries that I have not looked at for weeks.

Take care everybody and have a great day.

Hi Say No to Credit Cards great to see you back.
So sorry to hear about your dad and its great that he is recovering well.
You are doing brilliantly with you *bay sales so far this year lets hope you get over the 1200 mark for August.
I am still chipping away at PAD challenge and its addictive in a good way lol.
Keep going I am willing you along xx

SNTCC, what a great dent in those debts you are making! Well done you

Good Afternoon Folks,

I have got a well earned day off work today, which is great. So this morning I have done a quick tidy around the house so it looks like somebody lives in it. This afternoon is going to be catching up on the washing and ironing. I know living the dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So kind of getting a little back to normal now with the routine of my house and my dad. He has come on so much and is doing so much more himself now which is amazing. So I feel it is time now for me to start back on my debt free journey.

Yesterday I sold a few things on ebay and made a profit of £30.96 after fees and postage so a total of £38.38 extra income this month. I am hoping the weather is going to be nice on Sunday as I plan on doing a car boot sale, so hopefully that total will go up again.

Food budget going great and meal plan for this week all sorted.

I have paid all the payment for the four C/C for this month and have started making extra payments each day of various amounts. I really would love to get down to £35,000 for the end of this year.

Also once again I still have not used my credit cards which is great.

Has anybody sold stuff on facebook as an alternative to ebay? I have never done it and was just wondering if it was any good.

lindez - Thank you so much for dropping by. I think doing the PAD thing keeps you so focused as you are revisiting the debt each day but in a positive way as you can see it reducing. Keep going, I have been making a payment a day but have just not had time to post on the thread. Hopefully now I will have a little bit ore time. Take care

Gemsy81 - Thank you so much for stopping by. I am made up with the amount it has come down up to now. I am hoping as I am going to start having a little more time I can start it hit it hard again. I am going to go and catch up on your diary now, hope everything is going well with you.

Take care everybody and have a great day.

Hi Say No To Credit Cards, well done on your sales, and your plan for debt busting on the extra payments will be a huge boost for you to get below the 35000 target. You are doing so well on not using your credit cards x

Well done on the sales! I've sold the odd thing on FB, but I've found that on there people want something for nothing. The prices I achieve on eBay far outweigh the fees.

Hi Everybody

I dont think the weather knows what to do today. I am starting to feel like I have a little more time to my self now as my dad is doing so much for himself now which is fantastic. I did feel at one point that it just took over my life. But that is what daughters are for.

So onwards and upwards as they say. Time to gain control off everything once again. I have sorted out my house so that is nice and tidy, organised and clean again. Also up to date with all the washing and ironing.

So that leaves my clear to concentrate on the money side of things again. To be fair I have not done too bad. I still have money in the food budget to last till the end of the month. Petrol is doing good as well. All the minimum payments have been made on all four CC, plus I have been making additional payments.

So now that I have extra time I need to up my game on this extra income, it is starting to bother me now that it is not increasing very much. I was going to do a car boot sale on Sunday but I have checked the weather and it says it is going to rain. I am going to keep my eye on the weather and just hope it changes over the next few days.

I am thinking in September of trying to reduce my food and petrol budget so that I can pay a little more of the cards each month. At the end of this month I am going to have another look at the budgets and see if I can shave anything from them.

Vlindez - Thank you so much for dropping by. I am so happy with myself with regards to not using those horrid cards. I am just a little worried about Christmas as that will be the time that it will be so tempting to use it. My mum found a debenhams gift card that somebody must have got her for Christmas or her birthday. She gave it to me to use to treat myself , so today I went and ordered four christmas presents as they have the sale on, plus an extra 10% and a free gift that I will list on fleabay. I just want to chip away at Christmas so that I am not tempted to use the CC to buy anything.

jwil - Thanks for dropping by and letting me know about facebook. It was just a thought as I had never used it for selling anything and was wondering if it was any good or not.

Well I have gone on for way too long and need to go and start cooking. Everybody have a great night.
SNTCC

SNTCC great to see that things are ticking along for you and hope you had some car boot success!

Hi say no to credit cards, well done on your start to the Christmas shopping and the gift card from your mum came in really handy for you. Like you I am a little worried about putting things on the cc at Christmas time we will have to encourage one another to be mindful of not doing it, unless we can pay it off (what we may spend) in January. I am still doing the PAD which is keeping me accountable small steps but in the right direction x

Are you getting nowhere on the survey front too boost income???

Good morning,

Well, I have just checked my bank account and I have £16.67 left until pay day on 31st August , so not good. However on the bright side I have enough fuel in the car to last until next months budget, and I also have £73.88 left in the food money kitty which will last us, when I have looked at what we have in the fridge freezer and cupboards. This month feels like it has gone on and on and on for some reason.

So needs must and I sat last night and listed quite a lot on ebay to try and generate some cash as I really do not like being that low in my bank. All the monthly bills and credit cards have been paid together with some over payments but I feel I have left myself a little short.

My dad is doing great now and is on the road to recovery which is amazing given his age.

Gemsy81 - Thanks for dropping in on me. The car boot sale what can I say!. I looked at the weather and it said it was going to be nice so on Saturday I loaded all the stuff into the car. Got up at the crack on dawn on Sunday morning and the rain was horrendous so I got back in bed. Later on I emptied the car and put all the stuff back into the garage. To say it was a de-motivator was an understatement. I know this can happen, and all the stuff is now ready for next time. I keep looking at the weather as I really really need to go to generate some cash. So fingers crossed for this Sunday.

lindez - Thanks for visiting. I keep on making a PAD I think that is why my bank account has reduced so much this month. But, it also keeps me so focused on those balances as well. I have decided each month I am going to purchase a few presents and use anything that is in the unwanted gifts boxes in the loft this year. I am not going to use any credit cards at all because that is the reason I am in this mess. So we need to keep a close eye on each other and make sure those cards do not come out to buy gifts that people most probably do not want or need.

Scott-Weiland - Thanks for dropping in. If I am honest I have not looked at survey sites as yet as I am so busy with my dad and trying to declutter. However, this is something that I am going to look at next. Which sites do you recommend?

Take care everybody and have a great day

SNTCC

Hi SNTCC, glad to hear your dad is feeling better!

For surveys, I find Prolific Academic is the most interesting and pays the most too.
I'm also on mingle respondi, YouGov, Panel Opinion (these sometimes have panels that pay up to £20 in one go), Ipsos Isay, Opinion Outpost and Opinium Research.

I also find JobSpotter really good. I've made around £20 in amazon vouchers off it so far.

And Grassroots mystery shopping. Assignments are usually very simple and pay £5-£20 each.

I feel your pain with the car boot sale. We were going to do one on Saturday, the forecast was fine, then it suddenly started raining We've got so much to clear and the forecast is looking iffy again for this weekend.