what do do?

[Scattymum]

Now I have a bit extra coming in from the childminding I am not sure what to do..what I really want to do it put it all towards paying off debt.

I have about 100Euro extra each week to play with.

The problem is we have a communion and 3 weddings in England this year all of which even if we do things frugally will still cost money with travel and for the communion we are paying for dinner for 20 of us ( about 400 euro which includes entertainment for the day) and all the other extras.

If I pay all over to debt each week then when the time comes to pay for this kind of thing then we wont really have the funds.

I was thinking of paying 50 euro a week into a fund to save for these things and 50 euro towards the debt. we are slowly building our EF fund up as well and id hate to dip into it for the weddings etc.

Does this seem like a good idea split the money or should i pay it all towards debt?

[Scattymum]

obviosly the title of this thread should be what to do but i couldnt edit it!

[FrugalMomof3]

Well if it were me I would use the money to pay down debt and build the EF but I have a few questions, why are you paying for dinner for 20 of you's? Is this the wedding part, if so, is this your child who is getting married? I would assume not since your only 36 but was curious about this.

If you didnt have this extra money coming in would you still be able to make it and save for the wedding/communion without dipping into this new money?

[crazyBMB]

You should put just a little bit extra to the debt. Maybe you could share costs with other family members for the wedding/communions

[Lorelei]

I like your idea of paying 1/2 towards the debt and saving 1/2 for these known expenses. You'll feel great having cash available for the trips plus you'll be less likely to spend extra. You'll have an automatic budget. Unfortunately, if you put all towards debt now then reach for the cards later you might be tempted to spend more since people do have a tendency to spend more when they're not paying cash.

[Scattymum]

the dinner for 20 is for Ciaras communion, its tradition here to celebrate you take family and close friends out, first communions in Ireland are a HUGE deal, however I have a bit of a problem with understanding it all since I am not catholic but DH and kids are.

If we didnt have this extra money then I am not sure how we would do it all - mortgage went up so our outgoings have increased - we would have really had to go bare bones to save up.

Unfortunatly I cant even forgo the weddings - they are close family and we really have to go - luckily accom should be ok as DH has enough points from all his travelling to get us free nights.

Id just really like the debt to go down!!, maybe i shouldput it all to debt and try to save money elsewhere

[PrairieRose]

Well, if it were me....I'd save the money first for the upcoming expenses and as soon as you get those funded then start putting the money towards debt. I mean it all comes out of the same pot anyway and you've obviously known for a while that you're going to have these expenses. Just don't let yourself get on the hamster wheel of thinking up new and improved ways to spend the money....after you fund these expenses it goes to debt...no exceptions. We've done that too.....sometimes life gets in the way of our best laid plans

[Hollyhandi]

I agree with PairieRose.
Put it towads the expenses you have comming and then afterwards clear up the debt.JMHO

[suzysaver]

Yes what Lisa said. You already know that this expense is coming and if it's not covered and you have payed on the debt...then were will that money come from???? I would save for those events and then see what left later for debts.

[cherrie79]

I agree with saving the money for the up coming weddings and Communion. Then attack the debt. You say you really have no option of not going to the weddings or having the Communion. So I would treat it as a monthly/weekly expense till its paid and then go after the debt and EF. Good luck

[Nemeweh]

Another vote for saving what you need for the communion/weddings, THEN working on paying down the debts.

Good luck with it all. =)

[Scattymum]

Thanks for everyones advice!, I think I will save up for these occasions first - i need to sit down and work out how much we will actually need for each event, thank again!

[mom2three]

I pretyy much agree with everyone else to save, save, save, but know how mentally draining having the debt can be. In your situation, I would figure out how much I needed for the occasions and add 10% for buffer, look at my timing and figure out what needs to be saved. If I then figured out there is some leftover, I would probably put $50 extra/month on your smallest debt - it may not seem like a lot, but at least it will be "retired" this year and will feel like a big accomplishment!