Dan's desperate dash towards solvency

lessonlearned · 11 March 2017 at 1:05PM

Second this.... .. get out into the big outdoors, take your family to a Park, have a go on the swings, kick a ball around. Have some fun, blow the cobwebs away.

If it's raining put your wellies on and go out anyway.....go puddle jumping.

There are lots of fun things that are free or cheap. Take a look at your local "What's On" guide.

Some ideas for you to think about.......

Cheap cinemas tickets, swimming, museums, art galleries, libraries, little farm/petting zoos, family Bike rides, walking in the country, maybe even cheap camping weekends now and again......in the summer of course. :rotfl: If it's only for one night you don't need a load of fancy equipment.

One thing you might consider.............

Maybe an annual membership to something like the National Trust or a zoo that is reasonably local to you. You can go as many times as you like then, take a picnic.

Dont put your life on hold whilst you debt bust, get inventive and have some inexpensive fun.

Do you have anything to sell........if you can do a couple of car boot sales over the summer the money you raise can go towards your "fun fund". Make it a family occasion, take a flask and some eats. Car boots are great fun and you can raise a surprising amount.

We used to do one about three or four times a year, averaging about £100. The kids came too and loved selling their unwanted stuff. Whatever money they made they could keep.

2 Bonuses from this ...it helped them stop hoarding and kept the house from getting overrun with their toys and general detritus plus they could buy new stuff with the money they "earned".

It made them feel very grown up and independent.

You will get there. It's good that you are feeling better.

PS Cheap seaside holiday breaks......look out for the Sun Newspaper deals. They do them about three times a year, usually either a three or four night break. Really good value.

worriedDan · 12 March 2017 at 8:01PM

So this weekend has actually been ok!!! Went out with my wife for a drink last night. It was nice to get out and just sit and chat about general stuff, without the weight of my finances on my mind.

I felt a bit blue this morning, but then I have always found Sunday's depressing! We popped out to get our food shopping for this week. We actually checked the fridge/freezer to SEE WHAT WE NEEDED!!! This is such a change of mindset for us!! We ended up spending just £28 in Aldi. We have enough food for meals for all of next week. I will just need to replenish milk and bread midweek.

I have just looked at where we are moneywise this month. We have £556 to last us until pay day. Out of this we just need to buy food the for the last week of the month, some diesel and after school clubs fod DS. This should leave us with about £400 'spare'. I have paid off £1600 so far this month so this extra money will be split with half going toward debts, and the other half being saved.

I am actually really pleased with how we have managed this month. We weren't really prepared for this change of life up until about 3 weeks ago so we started the month with our usual financial hangover from the previous one! We also had to have the car MOT''s and serviced last week, costing us £200. I have had to pay £67 bank charges out too - this will not happen again now that we are in our 'new life'. so next month should be even easier.

We have redone our budget for April. After all bills, 2K debt repayments, food, fuel and after school clubs we are left with about £900. We need to think carefully about what we do with this money. Do we pay loads more off the debts. Do we save it? Do we allow ourselves a couple of nights away camping over Easter??

Money_Rollercoaster · 12 March 2017 at 8:24PM

You shouldn't have any spare! ... Get it paid off the cards

Just think how awesome it would be to have a month when you've paid £3k off ... it'll totally mess with your spreadsheets and projections, average monthly debt repayments and so forth! Wunderbar!

motivated · 12 March 2017 at 10:03PM

worriedDan wrote: »

So this weekend has actually been ok!!! Went out with my wife for a drink last night. It was nice to get out and just sit and chat about general stuff, without the weight of my finances on my mind.

I have paid off £1600 so far this month

This is nice to hear, some quality time spent not talking or worrying about debts

£1600 :eek: This is an amazing amount, you should be proud :beer:

worriedDan · 12 March 2017 at 10:23PM

Money_Rollercoaster wrote: »

You shouldn't have any spare! ... Get it paid off the cards

Just think how awesome it would be to have a month when you've paid £3k off ... it'll totally mess with your spreadsheets and projections, average monthly debt repayments and so forth! Wunderbar!

Thanks M R

Not sure we will ever quite make 3k in a month but from March payday it will be 2k a month, every month. I take your point about not having any 'spare' money, I am going to do a few other things too, such as cancel our car breakdown cover, get a cheaper quote and pay the one off annual payment in order to free up the money that we are currently paying monthly, I want to do the same with house and car insurance too, so I need to build up a pot to facilitate this.

triple_choc_chip · 13 March 2017 at 1:51PM

worriedDan wrote: »

We have redone our budget for April. After all bills, 2K debt repayments, food, fuel and after school clubs we are left with about £900. We need to think carefully about what we do with this money. Do we pay loads more off the debts. Do we save it? Do we allow ourselves a couple of nights away camping over Easter??

Well, I would recommend you do all three. Don't forget to 'have a life' during this journey, it's not boom or bust, starve and binge. It's essential to have fun too and if you're not getting more into debt, putting cost of fun onto c.cards, it's affordable and you should do it for the well-being of the family unit. Well done so far :cool:

worriedDan · 14 March 2017 at 11:35AM

taking a trip to the docs this morning. I have realised that my anxiety and stress levels need to be dealt with properly. It's been nearly a month, and whilst I am feeling better overall, I am still struggling to deal with the emotional/stress aspect of my terrible debt.

I am hoping that the doc can either prescribe something to calm me down, or refer me to someone who can help me sort my head out.

There is nothing else I can do financially as I have already got a good debt busting plan in place. I just need to sort ME out.

enthusiasticsaver · 14 March 2017 at 11:40AM

triple_choc_chip wrote: »

Well, I would recommend you do all three. Don't forget to 'have a life' during this journey, it's not boom or bust, starve and binge. It's essential to have fun too and if you're not getting more into debt, putting cost of fun onto c.cards, it's affordable and you should do it for the well-being of the family unit. Well done so far :cool:

I think a balance can be struck. Why not £300 to each, save, debts and spend on days out? This is a long road and you need to learn how to live more frugally but that doesn't mean not spending anything.

enthusiasticsaver · 14 March 2017 at 11:46AM

worriedDan wrote: »

taking a trip to the docs this morning. I have realised that my anxiety and stress levels need to be dealt with properly. It's been nearly a month, and whilst I am feeling better overall, I am still struggling to deal with the emotional/stress aspect of my terrible debt.

I am hoping that the doc can either prescribe something to calm me down, or refer me to someone who can help me sort my head out.

There is nothing else I can do financially as I have already got a good debt busting plan in place. I just need to sort ME out.

You have a good plan in place Dan and a supportive wife and family so you have everything going for you. In time this will seem a distant memory but you are doing the right thing sorting this out now while your son is young. I think maybe this must have been preying on your mind for a while now and you are learning to live differently. Never easy but hopefully your doctor will help.

worriedDan · 14 March 2017 at 12:12PM

Thanks, I know I will get through it. It just feels so bloody scary at the moment.

Dan's desperate dash towards solvency

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