Spend less now, work less later...

Regency1 · 17 January 2018 at 3:36PM

Hi ETA,

I've just read through your diary and you sound really focused and determined to get rid of the debt. I'm glad you feel like your husband is getting to where you are on this as it would be really tough if you were trying your hardest to change the future for you both as a couple if he wasn't at least trying!

I think that the incentive of having time more time off work if you have a baby is a good one. It's what has really made me think about the amount I'm spending.

I think our situations are also similar because food is what takes a lot of the money in our household too! My husband is a big guy and always hungry but he likes good food and is a really good cook. There are definite advantages to this as I get lovely meals made for me and I'm a terrible cook, however, he does spend a lot on ingredients that sometimes don't get used up, and I have to do the amazing amounts of washing up that he generates! Still, I wouldn't be without him and you must have got a terrible scare when your husband wasn't well.

I wish you all the best with paying down the debts - I'm sure with your determination you will get there in no time. I'll subscribe to keep up with your journey!

EscapingTheAlarm · 17 January 2018 at 8:22PM

Thanks Regency! I completely agree that the thought of starting a family as soon as possible is really motivating! I just need to stop myself from spending hours on Pinterest mentally spending money on baby stuff before I’ve even got any money put aside for maternity leave!!

My DH is a brilliant cook too! I justify the food spend at the minute by thinking about how much money we’re saving by eating his home cooked food rather than a restaurant’s food which I probably wouldn’t even prefer!

My payslip came up online today and all the backdated pay is there! I’m so pleased- I just can’t wait for Friday now! It will be a tough month for keeping in budget next month as it’s a five weeker but I’m determined that we’ll make it!

EscapingTheAlarm · 19 January 2018 at 6:44PM

It’s pay day!!! Yay! I’ve transferred the money across and am feeling really proud to have reached the £5000 mark! I know it’s cheating a bit with the backdated pay but I’m still really happy. My plan now is to start adding £1200 a month to the final settlements fund as my pay will be about £200 more a month from now on.

I need to make sure that I start saving for the growing list of events we’ve got planned for the rest of the year (hen dos, weekends away etc) which I don’t want to spoil by worrying about how much they’re costing me. I can’t decide whether to put money away of just sacrifice spending money during the months that they fall in... I’ll have to have a think!

This weekend will be fairly cheap- I’m seeing two sets of friends on Sunday but they should be at home meet ups which is fine and tomorrow I’m panning on getting out into the garden to start prepping it for the spring. I need (want) to spend some money on the garden this year as I love sitting outside on spring and summer evenings and it will be much cheaper to do it in my own garden than in a pub! I need to try and grow some green fingers...

Chrystal · 19 January 2018 at 10:11PM

Well done on the money ETA

Don't agree with you that it's cheating.... you could have spent the extra but you didn't :T

Spending money on your garden is well worth it. You get the pleasure of it every day, from watching the first bit of green on the bulbs appear, to the glory that is Summer and Autumn..... much better than sitting in a pub garden occasionally.

EscapingTheAlarm · 27 January 2018 at 7:46PM

Thanks Chrystal! I’m still feeling really pleased despite already feeling the pinch of a very tight month only a week after payday! We are determined to keep within budget again this month and have been making sure that we are doing lots of free stuff instead of tempting ourselves in spendy places.
The gardening got rained off last weekend so I’ve got my fingers crossed that tomorrow will be dry enough to get out and start making it look a bit more loved! I’ve got masses of seeds that I’m in charge of growing for work so I’m hoping that my boss will let me bring a few plants home if we have any spare! If not, I’ll have to have a look for garden centre sales...

EscapingTheAlarm · 4 February 2018 at 6:24PM

This month is sooo tight! DH had to go to London twice this week which has added to the pressure (although it was due to a family emergency so couldn!!!8217;t be helped) and we!!!8217;ve been out for lunch with friends this weekend so I!!!8217;m stressing slightly about how we!!!8217;re going to finish the month with any money left! On the up side, we went for coffee today with some friends and one of them insisted on paying for everyone so we had a slight win there!
Aside from money, DH has a check up at the hospital this week and they told him that he doesn!!!8217;t need to go back for 6 months! It!!!8217;s such a relief and really reminds me how lucky I am, debt or not! We really want to start trying for a baby soon so we can!!!8217;t afford to take our eyes off the ball and risk not lowering our monthly payments before I go on maternity leave. We had a bit of a pep talk this morning and we!!!8217;re going to do everything we can not to go over this month. Fingers crossed!

EscapingTheAlarm · 25 February 2018 at 11:50AM

So the last few weeks have been very expensive... we!!!8217;ve had to fork out £230 to the vets for one of my dogs, £150 on new front tyres on my car and £220 to fix a smashed wing mirror that no one stopped for... all in all a not too pleasant month when it comes to money!
I!!!8217;m trying to keep positive because I know that these things will always come up but it always knocks you when you!!!8217;re not expecting it!
Other than that, the last few weeks have been lovely and DH and I have started our garden project which still has a long way to go but is starting to look better!

EscapingTheAlarm · 28 April 2018 at 9:40AM

I!!!8217;m feeling really happy today as I currently have enough sitting in my account to clear my car finance! Hooray! I!!!8217;m not going to actually pay it just yet because I want to build up a few thousand pounds as a buffer for once it!!!8217;s paid out but it!!!8217;s a big relief to know it!!!8217;s there.
In other news, DH has started his new job and his first pay check has come in which has helped me feel a bit less bitter about his ridiculous car! I!!!8217;ve also managed to get a promotion at work (on a much smaller scale but enough to bring in an extra £150-£200 a month which is very welcome) and I!!!8217;m getting ready to start in June. I!!!8217;m really looking forward to it because it means that for one and a half days a week I get to do different things from my normal job and so I think my weeks will start to be a bit more interesting without me having to add too much to the workload which I bring home.
Last weekend was very spendy as it was one of those weekends where you have plans to see lots of different groups of friends so we!!!8217;re trying to make up for it this weekend by having a quieter one. We!!!8217;ll see how it goes...

EscapingTheAlarm · 1 June 2018 at 8:45AM

Yesterday we paid a £1000 overpayment towards our loan and are eagerly awaiting what this does to our settlement figure. I am convinced that it will wipe slightly more than £1000 off our figure but DH is convinced it will be slightly less. We are both hoping that I am right but need to wait until Monday to find out - fingers crossed!
We have still got the money to pay off my car sitting to one side and have decided to overpay our loan by £350 a month (we are both due a bit more pay as of June) so that hopefully we can pay both off in full in November and free up the extra money towards paying off something else. It will also just be lovely to have two creditors wiped off our list of who we owe so I!!!8217;m really hoping nothing disasterous comes our way and stops it from happening.
Work for both of us is a bit busier these days but this is a very good reminder of why we are bothering to do something about our debt and ultimately have a bit more freedom over how we spend our time.
I am seeing a real divide in our friends at the moment between the ones who are trying to do similar to us and put themselves in a stable position prior to starting a family etc and the ones who could not care less about money and enjoy spending it on nights out and pretty clothes (I do find myself feeling envious of these ones)! I find it really interesting actually and find myself wondering what our situations will be in 5 years time...

enthusiasticsaver · 1 June 2018 at 9:02AM

It looks like you are getting better at saving now. How much has the debt reduced since January? Do you keep track of it going down?

Spending more than your income and incurring debt will always come to a head at some point. Sometimes it is a key event like a lost job or sickness or a baby and sometimes it is a gradual increase until servicing the debt takes more and more of your pay leaving you with less and less to live off. When the credit card companies or banks deem you a bad risk and credit deals dry up this is when people are forced to deal with it. Ideally people would realise this when they are £2 or £3k in debt but often it is not until the debt is in the tens of thousands.

People who carry on spending when they cannot afford it will find clearing it much more difficult so your friends who don't care will certainly regret it either in one year or ten years time when they are facing a mountain of debt, have the expense of children or are facing retirement. Some will never be out of debt.

Spend less now, work less later...

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