This Duo's debt free journey

HairyHandofDartmoor · 19 October 2017 at 7:38PM

Sorry to hear your landlord is selling your house DFD, that must make you feel very insecure and is one of the big disadvantages of renting

I really hope that the new owner is keen to have a lovely tenant like yourself stay in the house. Try not to worry until you know that you have something to worry about.

Focusing on your work is a very good idea to distract yourself along with Pauline's suggestion of lots of cups of tea

In my house we always say that tea makes everything better

DebtFreeDuo · 19 October 2017 at 10:02PM

Thank you Hairy, theres not much I can do until I hear more from them so I'm going to try not to think about it for now.

ladymay · 19 October 2017 at 11:43PM

Sorry to hear about the house DFD, I hope it goes the way you want.

DebtFreeDuo · 20 October 2017 at 5:22PM

Trying to post here each day to keep me focused so I apologise for waffling on about things that have nothing to do with my finances.

I have mixed emotions today, I'm finally feeling motivated with regards to my studies and have got a lot done in the past few days however, I feel down about other things, I have no control over these other things and yet they still affect me.

Bring on January and I will have far too much to think about to let other things bother me!

DebtFreeDuo · 21 October 2017 at 11:28AM

Had a successful cash out with PA the other day of my £30 and now I'm already back up to £7.70 although I did just complete the most boring survey I have ever completed in my life. Also almost up to £5 for SB which will add to the Christmas fund to get DS a little extra. I think any extra from PA will go over to the grocery pot, I would love to send it over to the CC but I have to be realistic in that I am going to need more than £100 over the next 2 months for groceries.

Going to see some family this evening which means I don't have to find anything for dinner. I think I am going to achieve my target of £100 for food for this month, I think I may even be able to keep it a fair bit below this which is a real achievement for me, groceries have always been the number one area for me where I spend too much. I have achieved this without having to change where I shop so I know if I need to then I can still cut back further.

117pauline · 21 October 2017 at 2:20PM

Hi DFD

Hope you are having a good weekend. It's good to see family but even better if they feed you as well.

You know me by now so what I am going to say won't surprise you. It's always hard to cut back on groceries in November and December so giving yourself a little bit of leeway isn't a bad idea and will reduce one area of stress. There are so many temptations around.

What I do sounds a bit weird but I know how easily I can break into the Christmas goodies, I buy groceries for my January menu plan. I then buy the goodies as near to the holiday as I can otherwise I have to keep replacing them.

Take care
Pauline

HairyHandofDartmoor · 21 October 2017 at 5:17PM

It is hard to keep the spends down at this time of year.

You are doing really well moneywise and once you finish your course and have paid off your debt, you can get a good job and save up for a mortgage on a home of your own

DebtFreeDuo · 21 October 2017 at 8:16PM

I'm not really sure what goodies I buy at Christmas, we generally have to do the driving over to other peoples houses so we usually get goodies whilst out and about. This year I'm considering staying at my dads Christmas night so that its not just me and DS. I know I am going to really struggle with a £50 budget for food each month though but I will try my best.

Hairy I'm really hoping that I will already have a deposit when I complete my degree so then 6 months in a good job should be all I need to buy my own house to show the mortgage lender that I am capable of repayment.

I'm now up to £10 on PA, had a couple of surveys today which is great as I haven't had any for a while. I also still have 3/4s of a tank of fuel, I filled this up 2 weeks ago tomorrow and previously a full tank would have lasted me 3/4 weeks, this time around its looking likely that I could stretch it to 6/8 weeks provided I don't travel much over half term. Also can I just add that I haven't spent a penny since last Sunday's top up food shop (£20)! Will have to pop out tomorrow for another top up but one spend day a week, if I could keep that up then this will be easy!

DebtFreeDuo · 22 October 2017 at 9:00AM

Right then todays goal is to stick to my shopping list, I want to get this weeks top up shop below £15. I already have my list and I have no reason not to stick to it. Will report back later!

DebtFreeDuo · 22 October 2017 at 2:06PM

Right so I've decided its impossible to keep my shop below £15, I'm not going to beat myself up about it because I did (mostly) stick to my list and if I look back even just a few weeks I would have been over the moon at cutting my shop down the amount that I have done, came in at £22.48 which included a little treat for me (bottle of tonic water), I can now enjoy a couple of nice G&Ts this evening as I have had a lovely bottle of gin hidden in the cupboard for a little while. 117pauline I hope this pleases you!

This does raise a concern for me, after this shop my food budget for the next 10 weeks stands just below £90 if I include my PA earnings, if I spend £20 each week on food then this means I will need to find an additional £110. I am going to try and earn as much extra income as possible but its looking likely that I will have to go into my overdraft slightly. This won't incur any fees or interest as its a student account but I did want to avoid adding any more debt. However, I have to be realistic if I am going to succeed and by learning from this now it will prevent me making the same mistake next term and leaving myself short.

This Duo's debt free journey

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