Trying to Save

I just went and applied for the credit card. They said I will hear in 10 working days. I'm not getting my hopes us though.

I worked five hours extra this week, and two last week.

My spending has been all over the place. I've done two little shops this week. Yesterday I did buy a lot of reduced items, which I've put in the freezer. I thought I would be shopping less due to my two big orders this month, but apparently not.

I don't seem to be having much luck with surveys these days. There's still a few more weeks left of the month so I'm trying not to give up hope. I checked and I've accumulated 128.24 worth of snowflakes.

I was thinking last night that I would ideally like to get rid of cc1 before the 0% promotion period is up. That works out about 72 a month though. Part of me also thinks I should focus on BoS, which is being charged interest. If I do get accepted for the new credit card I will transfer half the balance, I think that will be manageable. I can only wait now.

I will update better tomorrow when I've got more time - bed time for J is looming. But, for now:

I just opened my mail and Nationwide are offering me a credit card with 0% on balance transfers for 26 months. Loyal readers might remember I applied for a card a while ago, but I was declined. This time they've sent me a special code to quote. I'm thinking I should apply for it. Is there any reason that anyone can think of, why I shouldn't apply? Of course, I might get declined again because that other application was a while ago.

Oh, in case I didn't make it clear, I would transfer as much as possible from Bank of Scotland.

I spent way more than I planned to today...

We went to Tesco this morning, with the intention of getting some milk, bread/wraps and some other things. We were later leaving this morning so I ended up buying a sandwich, fruit and juice for lunch. And something for SG too. In the end, that was almost fifty pounds (we stocked up on much-needed toiletries, found a few hair accessories for SG, socks for J, t-shirt for dh plus fresh fruit) I saved 3.50 using a coupon so that will be counted as a snowflake.

We also went to the Costa that is inside Tesco. Spent 7.10

Before we left I paid two weeks worth of rent and 30 to Tesco credit card.

I'm working four hours extra tomorrow. My manager persuaded me. She's good at her job.

Oh I just received a ton of email notifications from other blogs, one of them was from when Crreditcardfree gave away a book. Did this happen to anyone else?

214.20 Beginning Balance
+_2.00 Weekly deposit

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216.20 New Balance

I know I need to increase this next year. I can't forever put 18 Pounds in every four weeks, but I don't want to upset debt payoff either. I'll figure something out.

On payday I automatically paid my debt: two credit cards and the catalogue. The statement for Tesco credit card came through the other day and I've made two payments within the statement period, so I've got another payment to make before the middle of the month. I don't know how I managed to mess that up, although I shouldn't complain that I've paid extra to debt.

I made my debt snowball public on What's The Cost. The link is now been added to my sidebar.

Yesterday was a NSD, but I did get some stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday:

Groceries: 6.43

Wednesday:

Groceries: 2.60 (hayfever tablets, milk)

I meant to start an ASDA savings card for Christmas but I completely forgot.

Scfr's post the other day really hit home how bad my emergency fund is. I decided I should try and add more to it.

One of our deliveries came yesterday, this was all food for the pantry. I had used a discount code that I found on Facebook when ordering, but I didn't give it much thought. I checked my receipt and I saved 8.25. I've added it all to the emergency fund, breaking the norm of only adding 30%.

So, it now looks like this:

205.95 Beginning Balance
+_8.25 Delivery savings

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214.20 New Balance

It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but I'm getting there.

15.00 Mumsurvey rewards
2.50 Opinion Outpost rewards

17.50 worth of survey rewards accumulated. It was divided 70/30 between debt and the EF.

I went clothes shopping with my mum this morning. Well, I say clothes shopping, it was a few tops and mostly underwear and socks. I can't remember the last time I went shopping for clothes for me... maternity wear maybe?

We then went to Asda where I spent almost 20, but I'm going to have to replace some food I bought because I stupidly put cleaning products next to it, and they leaked. ugh. It was less than 2.00 I need to replace. Still...

My mum treated us to a coffee and a muffin. She also offered to pay for my taxi home. I was going to get the bus, but I bought more than I planned.

So, today's spending (roughly, I don't have receipts next to me):

Clothes: 32.xx
Asda: 20.xx (mostly baby snacks, diluting juice, bread,milk,yogurts,enchilidas)
Taxi: 1.80 OOP
Bus ticket and utilities: 93.20

I'm expecting my meat order to arrive on 1/7 and the other order to arrive quite soon too.

I might have to increase my grocery budget. I ordered from two places online, one specifically for meat. That was 75 GBP, the other was 52 GBP. That's 127. I'm hoping the meat will last us for a few months (over 5kg of chicken plus other meat), so if I keep this up, I might have to increase it quarterly. I still have fresh fruit. veg, yogurts, bread and milk to buy.

After work yesterday I bought two tubs of ice cream (2 GBP each). I gave one to dh. Mine was my reward for reaching 200. It will be near the end of the year by the time I reach 300 I think, that's ages away. Unless of course, I have a good run of snowflakes or put extra to it myself. The money would be better off put towards debt though.

I'm considering putting some money on an ASDA savings card to help my grocery budget/decorations/gifts at Christmas. I don't want anything to derail my progress. Between 5-10GBP a month I think will help.

192.45 Beginning Balance
+_1.50 Survey rewards
+10.00 Four-weekly deposit
+_2.00 Weekly deposit

------------------------

205.95 New Balance

Finally, a number I like!

I like the idea of posting what I'm budgeting for payday tomorrow. (Thanks for the idea HouseHappy!)

Aside from bills - rent, utilities and council tax - I will be budgeting:

-150 Groceries
-50 for baby/toddler items (nappies,wipes,new cutlery for J)
-200 to catalogue
-70 to cc#2
-30 to cc#1
-18 to emergency fund
-30 to Christmas savings
-15 to bnpl item (cot & mattress, payoff April 2016)
-44.40 for council overpayment

Debt and more debt seems to be the theme here.

I need to keep track of my catalogue debt too, so I will get that added to the page currently titled Credit Card Debt.

It's so hard to choose what I want to buy when I'm paying cash for it.

Last week we received an extra tax credits payment. I researched whether we had enough to go to York in September, and we don't. We then decided to replace our vacuum cleaner. Let's get a Dyson. Done some searching to find that they start at 199 Gbp - no thank you. We agreed that we definetly want an upright bag less vacuum cleaner.

So I searched, and kept the tab open. I'm choosing which one we're getting and I can't decide. All of this for a vacuum cleaner. It's not life or death.

In the interest of full disclosure we also got a couple of takeaways. I can throw money away on that but not on a household item.

I must be crazy. It shouldn't take this long to purchase an item.

188.70 Beginning Balance
+_3.75 Survey rewards

---------------------

192.45 New Balance

I finally got around to redeeming a few snowflakes and applying them to debt and savings. My new debit card works.

It was J 's first birthday on Friday. I made a cake made from fruit puree with wholemeal flour, topped with raspberries and cream. The kids loved it, dh not so much. I'm going to make it again, this time in a loaf tin for them.

SG had her nursery induction on Friday too. She starts in August. So far it looks as though we need to add nursery snacks, soft shoes /slippers and extra casual clothes to the budget between now and then. It's not a private nursery.

Dh 's mum and brother dropped off presents today. His mum basically brought us the stuff she couldn't sell at her last baby and kids market. His brother actually bought some pyjamas for him. I don't mean to sound ungrateful but doesn't he deserve more than her junk for his first birthday? They're getting donated or recycled.

J was easy to please on his birthday. A balloon and a bit of cake and he was happy.

186.70 Beginning Balance
+_2.00 Weekly deposit

-----------------

188.70 New Balance

184.70 Beginning Balance
+_2.00 Weekly deposit

--------------------

186.70 New Balance

ETA: I just checked my old Emergency Fund entries, and I've been posting my balance weekly since I had 48 GBP back in January. Slowly getting there. Slow and steady wins the race, right? (I hope)

My new debit card arrived the other day. I was impressed, it didn't take long. Yesterday after work I went to use it to pay for some shopping. It was declined. I tried again and it wouldn't even let me enter my pin again in the machine. The checkout operator asked if I had activated the card; I told her it was a debit card not a credit card.

I decided to take the cash out for the shopping instead. When I put my card into the ATM it refused it. That's never happened to me.

I went back to the checkout and told them I would have to leave it. I didn't even have dh's debit card on me.

I decided to get in touch with my bank this morning. I checked the website and they're undergoing maintenance until 3pm so I can't do anything until then.

I am still doing my best to meal plan. I'm sometimes finding they're not going exactly to plan because we have more leftovers than I thought. I've been waiting until we actually run out of an item before buying another, so this is helping to stop us having to throw out food because we haven't managed to eat it in time.

I'm still tracking spending too. Next pay, or in the near future, I need to set up an entertainment and misc category. They're both not in the budget yet I've bought things that can count as misc and when we go bowling next week that will be entertainment.

Dh phoned me when he was on his way home from work yesterday. He told me he had the letter from the council with him that said we had overpaid, and that he was going to go into the office to speak to someone about it. I didn't think there was any point but he wanted to try.

When he came home, he told me the person he'd spoken to had phoned someone to discuss the debt. She told him we can repay it back at 11.10/wk. I will probably still use snowflakes for it - when they are redeemed and in my account - because it wasn't in the budget. I now need to add a column in my spreadsheet for this. I don't want to drag this out too long, but at least it is kinder to the budget.

I think I need to do save for birthdays too. I save for Christmas each pay, so birthdays should be saved for too. I think my problem is that I don't want to try to save for too much and then fail.

I'm not sure that I'll meet my emergency fund goal this year, especially as I'm diverting snowflakes. But I will try my best.

I requested a payment for some survey rewards. It should take 8-10 days.

I phoned HMRC to renew our tax credits. We have until the end of July to renew but I wanted to get it out of the way. I spent forty minutes on the phone.

I am still tracking spending.

One of my co-worker's, who is only twenty-something, lost his dad at the start of the week. I picked up a bereavement card for him, even though I've only known him about eight weeks. I'll hand it in the next time I'm at work.

I bid on an item on a charity page that I like. It was only 3.00. I think I was the highest bidder. That will be the start of SG's Christmas.

I told dh that I want to pay off the debt with cash flow. He doesn't think we can do it without messing things up financially. To be honest, I checked the budget and we are minus -156.xx roughly by paying it, but that is with full variable spending and extra to debt.

Right now, I'm thinking that if we sell anything on Fb the money can go towards it, plus snowflakes too. I've got a cheque to cash once I get my bank card sorted (4.99) it's not much but every penny counts.

ETA: The aim is to not touch the EF in case we have an actual emergency. Unless this is one? I don't think it is.

That's how much we owe the council for an overpayment. Due 5/7. I'm hoping to cash flow it. Wish me luck.

My mum came over today. She told me that her fridge broke after I seen her a few weeks ago. Her friend ordered her one online for 160. My mum said she would get the money transferred from savings, which her friend was surprised to hear. I asked her what would she have done if she didn't have any savings, she said she would have put off food shopping for a couple of weeks to pay her back. After I transferred the money, my mum told me to still put money in. I told her I was anyway.

Dh thinks our washing machine may be on its way out soon. I hope not.

Dh and I came up with almost a full week's meal plan just by looking at the family planner and deciding what to use. I need to buy chicken tomorrow.

My bank has gotten in touch again. My current card and new one has been blocked and cancelled due to fradulent activity. I should get a new one in 3-5 working days.

That's

I just get the same gibberish message that I got earlier.

It's official; Dh is sick of me talking about debt and how much I hate it. I told him I'd love to be debt free by the time J starts school - so four years from now - he think we'll still owe double figures to the catalogues. Ideally, I would personally love for all of my debt to be gone in two years.

I complained to my bank about not being able to use my card online. They passed me on to the card care department, who told me that they had noticed fradulent activity on my account (a charge to my mobile phone) I told them that I didn't carry out that transaction. They also told me that a new card was sent out to me on 21/4 but I never got it. I'm waiting on them sorting that out now.

I checked out prices for bowling. Dh and I have agreed that we'll go next Monday for their 50% off deal.

I'm still tracking spending. I forgot how eye-opening it is. It's clear that I don't budget for everything, so I need to fix that. I'm also still meal planning. Today I'm going to make up some soup using some not so pretty vegetables that are in the fridge.

I can't read any of the posts when I click on them. I can read the summaries, but not the actual entry.

182.70 Beginning Balance
+_2.00 Weekly deposit

------------------

184.70 New Balance

Well, I haven't managed to have a proper conversation with dh yet about the catalogue. I will do it soon (I know, it needs to be done). The only thing I did mention is that any facebook sales should be split 50/50 between our catalogues, and dh agreed. I'd better get listing some items then.

I'm still working on decluttering and organising our flat. I feel like we're getting there, bit by bit. I sorted some of the shredding pile (mountain!) yesterday and found some of dh's statements. I think he might have about 6k debt, although the statements weren't recent. Add that to mine and we're looking at 14k. Ugh. The good news is that I found a cheque and a coupon.

SG starts nursery in August. We've got an induction to go to, actually on J's birthday. We were maybe going to have people over that day but they can come over the next day, if they want to.

I need to buy in some ingredients for J's cake, and a packet of balloons for J's birthday. I can't decide what cake to make, not that it'll be fancy. I did find a healthy recipe for a small cake using fruit puree.

My manager explained about the hours in the department. Her boss only wanted her to have three colleagues, but to get the job done you need four, so she is allowed to overspend by a certain amount each week. He let her have more colleagues under the condition that she doesn't go over the agreed amount. Therefore, some weeks we are asked to leave earlier than normal.

I need to decide what meals we're having next week.

I think that's all.

So, I tried to talk to dh again last night about the catalogue. I explained that the interest rates are high (39%) and that I thought that we agreed that we hated the company? He likes the fact that he can pay his items up when he doesn't have the cash. I'm tired so I'm trying to think of the phrase, but it's one of those things: if he didn't order from the catalogue he would probably have the cash. A paradox?

He told me that he has over seventy pounds worth of rewards to use! Why didn't he use them to get himself a game? Well, a while ago, we were talking about getting the kids something from the catalogue with the rewards. I ordered J's birthday present using my rewards (so it was essentially free) and I was happy so I never mentioned it to him again. He told me that I could pick what I wanted to get him with his rewards.

It's dh's birthday in a few months. I brought up the subject last night too. I asked him what he wanted. He still wants to go to York. What's your back-up? A game. I told him to pick a game he would like if we can't get to York.

As for the catalogue, he said he would still want to order so he can keep his reward status (10% back on his minimum payment, excluding BNPL) I don't know how I'm going to change his way of thinking. Hey, dh, set up a blog on SA and see what everyone thinks of your debt? No?

I asked him to give me a list of his minimum payments, debt and interest rates so I can put the details on What's the Cost. He didn't seem that enthusiastic about it, but said he would do it. I guess I could find the details myself since he gets paper statements but I'd like him to do it himself.

The only thing that has changed about dh's attitude is that we're still in agreement that we're going to buy a new hoover (vacuum cleaner) next pay, I'm pretty sure our one is going to stop working soon. Although, dh also said he would have a look at it. I found one in Tesco and Asda that was about 40 GBP, that was their cheapest. It's probably not a good idea to get the basic one but I think it might be the start of a good habit: paying for things with CASH when they stop working/need replaced.

I forgot to add that dh noticed my BOS statement last week. He read the interest charge, and noticed one month was higher than the other. He wasn't happy, you should phone and get this sorted. If only the catalogue listed how much interest was being charged on each statement, but they don't.

We're using up some leftovers for dinner tonight, possibly tomorrow too.I underestimated how much leftover we would have.

I came home from work and dh told me had ordered two games from the catalogue (because he didn't have the cash to buy them) and he picked BNPL. I said he should start paying it off before it gets added and I offered to help; he said if I wanted to help him I could help him with his credit card. I said that the catalogue needs help too, he thinks his credit card is worse. He asked what one I would want help with, I said the catalogue.

Still tracking spending - I will update soon.