My goals for this year are:
New bed for my daughter - done and under budget!
Buy a car - done!
Trip to Ireland to visit family - done!
Summer weekend break in this country - paid for this, just need to save money for lunch for 3 days
Holiday in October - saving not going too well for this - have £25 so far...
More days out with my daughter - not done
Do more exercising - not done
Pay off debts - not done (paying slowly but surely)
My goals are going ok so far this year I think. I've managed to get a new bed for my daughter, get a car, trip to Ireland to visit family, paid for weekend away in June.
We are determined to go on holiday in October to stay with my husbands best friend, so accommodation will be paid for but flights, food etc are very expensive there. My husband will get his tax rebate in June hopefully and he will be saving about £500 of it towards the holiday which will be a big help (the rest on his credit card debt).
I have borrowed the iPod off my mum and the cable has arrived today, so when I have put some music on it I hope this will help with my motivation to go running. My daughter made me do some sit ups today (she's only 4!), she can be my personal trainer, haha.
I really need to get some more money coming in to pay off my debts and go towards the holiday. I really want to go because we've never gone abroad together as a family, it will be lovely to visit our friends and I know my daughter will love it - she loves the beach, swimming, exploring new places, the sun! xx
**I'm going to change from Blogger to Wordpress after doing a lot of research as I want to control my blog, I'm just thinking of a new name, keep an eye out!**
I know it sounds mercenary, but wouldn't it be better to pay off debts than have a holiday? We seldom had holidays when our children were little, they never minded, they just loved to go to the park, or have a picnic somewhere close to home (I agree, living in Torbay, where people actually come on holiday was a help) but I'd sooner get rid of debt than have a holiday. Just a thought, please don't think I'm trying to tell you what to do, but getting rid of any debt would be my priority. But I think you're doing well with your list, a lot of things have been ticked off. As for going abroad, I've only been twice since we married 51 years ago, and I don't feel I've missed anything - a week in Brittany in the 1980s and a weekend in Bruges ten years ago.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
That's ok Margaret! I absolutely agree but he misses his best friend terribly and we've said for years that we will go so we've made the decision that this year we will go. Hopefully we will be able to go on holiday and get rid of the debt this year also...in my dreams anyway :-) xx
DeleteCongratulations on making a good start on your goals. You have done quite well. I agree with the previous comment about your holiday abroad. Could you put it off this year and as Margaret P suggests pay off debts. You mentioned that the plan is to put anything over £500 on your husbands credit card debt.
ReplyDeletePlease don't get discouraged. It takes time but things will get better and improve.
Sandy
Thank you, Sandy, for agreeing with me. Few people do, but I'm from a generation when debt was a really dirty word. The only way we could have something that we couldn't pay for outright was by Hire Purchase, and you didn't own something until the last payment was made. But we would never go into debt to have a holiday. People tend to think of holidays today as a right not a privilege. But times have changed, I acknowledge that, and not everyone lives in a lovely scenic area. We spent the morning going around Decoy Country Park near Newton Abbot and then went to House or Marbles at Bovey Tracey (free entry). All we spent was our petrol money and we had a £20 gift voucher for our meal in House of Marbles. We felt we'd had a lovely day out and it cost us next to nothing.
DeleteMargaret P
Thanks Sandy! It wouldn't let me click on your comment to reply only this one for some reason? I totally agree and would never advise someone to go on holiday whilst in debt! I hope to have my holiday and my debt gone though...watch this space :-) xx
DeleteI think you're doing really well and I suspect your reason for going away is to visit your husbands friend rather than a proper 'holiday'. I too budget in a similar way to you. Thankfully I have no debt other than my mortgage but have worked incredibly hard to keep it that way. There are three months left to our (incredibly small and frugal) wedding and the amount we need to cover the rest of the payments will be divided by those three months. Everything will be paid upfront. We have budgeted incredibly carefully. We could have done it much cheaper but for various reasons will be having the ceremony somewhere other than where we live so that has added to the cost.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing what you're doing. It will pay off. X
Thanks Jules, yes, well we wouldn't be going anywhere else if we didn't go visit them. But I am so hoping we save enough money to be able to go!
DeleteI look forward to seeing your wedding photos :-) I'm sure it will be lovely! xx