The Ultimate Incentive Part 11 (or 10B) It's The Final Countdown

A question about : The Ultimate Incentive Part 11 (or 10B) It's The Final Countdown

I joked in my last diary it was the last one in debt, unless we nattered too much and then it was 10B. Well we didn't natter that much but I did have a surprise in the form of a second baby which took the wind out of the debt clearing sails somewhat. Finally, at 7 months old today, and 4 months home from hospital tomorrow I feel with it enough to work out where our debts stand.

January 2015 we owe Ј13,391.77. To clear it in 2015 is a big ask but I'd like to take a good shot. To break it down into more manageable chunks that means clearing Ј1116 a month (well Ј1115.98 but lets aim high!) so threadies, lurkers and anyone new who would like to come along for the ride, please cheer, check in and generally don't let me pootle anymore. It's time to clear this and let real life begin.

Best answers:

• Hello! I really hope you guys can get this debt cleared once and for all this year! It's a big challenge, but you've done so well in the past, I just know you can do it!
• I echo Birdie, you've had some big challenges in the past and you've come through them so there's no reason why you can't give this one a jolly good go (why have I gone all PG Woodhouse all of a sudden?)
• My dad taught Grace to use the word 'spiffing' in general conversation the other week. Cracks me up every time
• Just realised we actually owe an additional Ј1280. It's 0% and Ј160 comes out every month to cover it. 8 payments left.
• I'm wholeheartedly with you on this challenge. I want to get rid of my debt and let life really begin too. I know how hard it is with 2 smallies to get anything done. But I think this is my year, and yours too Dinah.
  We'll get there!!!!
• Aww Gracie saying things are spiffing sounds too cute!
  Just thinking about your lack of time etc, can you apply some FlyLady techniques to getting stuff done? Or set a timer for x amount of minutes to get as much of your ebay pile listed? Breaking things down into lots of little jobs that can be done throughout the day and (hopefully) worked around nap times and baby/toddler entertaining each other times might be helpful.
• Hi Dinah,
  Long-time reader, just delurking to say best of luck with everything - it is an ambitious target, but knowing how amazingly you've hit targets in the past you can do it!
• Birdie I WISH our kids would entertain each other. We kind of ruined Grace with huge amounts of constant attention when she was younger, now she wants mama and daddy to notice her ALL the time unless shes distracted by TV.
• Not strictly true. She amused herself for a good ten minutes in the playroom yesterday. She returned to us looking like this:
  Nice to meet you MagicCat
  Grace often doesn't nap anymore, so 7am until 8pm is 100% focussed, Ben goes down at about 8.30... by which point starting Ebaying feels like a herculean feat. Only hope I have is when she's at nursery, I currently clean, tidy, iron and try to get work done for dad in those hours and I still struggle to keep up, something magical needs to change. I guess I could ebay one handed on my phone while feeding Ben, make use of sitting down time. Supermum to the rescue!
• One thing my friend told me when I was pregnant was 'Don't ever be too fun for your kids or you'll never get anything done!'. So I'm not. Zach is quite happy playing on his own as long as someone is there in the room with him so he can sporadically crawl over, give us a toy, take it back, then crawl off again!
  Are there little jobs that you can give Gracie to do whilst you're working on something so she feels like part of the 'game'?
  The one-handed ebaying is definitely a possibility. I update my FB business page during milky time!
• Grace used to be, its definately the last year she wants to always play with people. When she was little she'd lie on her playmat for hours and keep herself amused. Ben is the opposite, he has never been happy on his own, he won't go on the playmat for longer than it takes to go to the loo or grab a sandwich, he's a real people person.
  Lol Grace currently helps me clean, we did all the kitchen doors together on Tuesday, and she'll help by sweeping while I hoover. She's also an excellent sock matcher and loves to load the washing machine with me.
  Been working on my spreadsheet this afternoon, so I know what's coming in and out. I'm also going to attempt, for the first time ever, to do a spending diary for the next few weeks, try to work out where it all goes. Glad we didn't start yesterday between Ј115.50 for her nursery lunches, Ј17.60 for a months ballerina class as she calls it, Ј55.85 on petrol, Ј19.10 on 12 new baby bottles, Ј69.98 on two new pairs of work shoes for NIM in the sale and Ј145.50 on the TV licence it wasn't a cheap day! So far today spends have been Ј22.08 at Tesco (NIM stuck to the list except for two half price cooked chickens which we'll strip and use for many meals), Ј10.05 on Amazon on some new baby presents for the pressie box that were very reduced, and Ј143.76 on contact lenses for me (but we can reclaim all of that from medicash once the receipt arrives). It's so much money pouring out all the time
• Hi Dinah! (and everyone else of course!)
  Lets hope this is the year for us all to finally get our debt shifted and be able to start living. I have high hopes for this year, I guess it would probably help by really knowing exactly what we owe and to who
• That was a scary moment for me too Flower, I thought we were around 16k so was amazed to find it lower.
• That does sound like an expensive day Dinah! It's awful when you feel like money is just pouring out. We get paid on Tuesday and have hand over money for a tax disc, a new carseat and Zach's passport as soon as it hits our account! There's a fair list of other things to buy, I'm sure.
  Good luck getting things worked out Flower. I guess it's like a plaster and you just have to pull it off in one quick, painful go! I'm sure it'll be better knowing everything though, it's the first step to getting it under control.
• Wow that certainly is a lot of expenses Dinah. OH gets paid next wk and it can't come quick enough for us. Not looking forward to being frugal the next few months but has to be done!
• New lurker following along
• So far today: Ј9.70 for tickets for Grace and her best friend to an art and craft kids session tomorrow, they paid for us at a cafe earlier in the week as the card machine wasn't working and I don't tend to carry cash so won't be getting the second ticket back. Also Ј41.99 on a dress on ebay I bid on a few days ago and didn't expect to win. Been watching this dress on Coast for over a year, but I was never going to spend Ј395 on it, the one on ebay was brand new with tags, but a size 6 (but coast so more like an 8) so I bought it thinking this is my diet goal dress - a year of lust finally fulfilled has to be some seriously strong motivation.
  Plan for today: Grace is at nursery this morning so tidy and clean our room and hers, and finish cleaning the kitchen cupboards as the bottom ones are done but not the top ones. Then a bit of batch cooking for the biggest losers. Will put the recipes up there if they're any good.
  Working hard to get Grace out of nappies at the moment, it's costing us about Ј20 a week and I'd love to half that. She's resistant but we're getting there.
  Was waiting for NIM to announce but he's a bit quiet at the moment so I'll do it as I've been holding off putting up our SOA - NIM got a promotion last week! He's now going to be deputy manager of another home, we think it'll be about Ј100 extra a month after tax due to the drop in tax credits, but it's great that they've promoted him so quickly after joining the company. They offered him Ј20k, he asked if there was any wiggle room and they put it up to Ј22k for him - always worth an ask! The new job is also 10 minutes closer to home so should save a bit on fuel too, and it's 40 hours where currently its 48 so one less day working/one day of overtime. We don't get know his shift pattern, whether they'll be fixed, any nights, how many weekends etc yet but I'm very proud of him.
• Good luck from another lurker.
  I seem to spend my whole life ebaying, luckily my boy will still nap. (He's almost 2).
  I keep back a box of toys (he has so many!), and when I'm with him and I want to do something, the box comes out, and he's got a 'new' toy to entertain him for a while. Either that or I'll bring a box of something through, give him a couple of empty reusable shopping bags and ask him to 'sort' it for me. He'll then divide the contents of the box between the bags.
  It doesn't always work, but it can help me get some time to do stuff.