The impossible dream

Tahlullah · 2 June 2014 at 8:08PM

As Tilly most kindly informed those who are interested, there are only some 200ish sleeps to Christmas. So in true money saving styliee, I bought a much reduced because it's not yet Christmas present , yet to be allocated.

Only another 12 to go.

Tahlullah · 6 June 2014 at 3:06PM

Another £1k off the mortgage.

Wow, this process is slow! Hoping that by the end of the month, I will have Tilly Tidied and swept my spare change into a nice neat pile worth £50. I will hopefully then raid the 50p collection and so be able to contribute another £100 to the cause.

Must admit, I have not been very MSE lately and have been spending like its going out of fashion. The amount of tat I have purchased should make me ashamed. Unfortunately, I need to have another light bulb moment to get back on track.

But, I did list some shoes on eb@y, so hopefully they will sell. I have a feeling I have overpriced them, but I will see how it goes before I start reducing the price. I at least have a couple of watchers.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS · 6 June 2014 at 3:14PM

Hi, I may have a go at selling shoes on the bay of E - thanks for the suggestion

By the way, re Xmas gifts, please put them somewhere you won't forget - I found one the other day, for DS that I'd hidden in a new place. So secure I couldn't find it:o. Yep that was supposed to be for Xmas 2013:rotfl:

Tilly x x

icontinuetodream · 6 June 2014 at 4:13PM

Tahlullah wrote: »

Another £1k off the mortgage.

Wow, this process is slow! Hoping that by the end of the month, I will have Tilly Tidied and swept my spare change into a nice neat pile worth £50. I will hopefully then raid the 50p collection and so be able to contribute another £100 to the cause.

Must admit, I have not been very MSE lately and have been spending like its going out of fashion. The amount of tat I have purchased should make me ashamed. Unfortunately, I need to have another light bulb moment to get back on track.

QUOTE]

Another 1k is fab news!! I think we all have a fall off the wagon at times and personally, I've had enough lightbulb moments to put national grid to shame!:o;)

Frankly, if you have fallen off and still managed 1k, you should be incredibly pleased with yourself...I, for one, am seriously impressed!!

Tahlullah · 7 June 2014 at 9:13AM

Thank you for that vote of confidence ICTD. I seem to have no problems at all about making a payment once I have decided this is how much I will pay. It's the extra over and above bits I can't seem to do.

And when I am clearly spending loads of money on general tat, why am I not putting that into the mortgage? Which is why I do not see myself as successful at this, and why I need to have another light bulb go off to focus my resolve in one direction. That of reducing the mortgage quicker than I am doing at present.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS · 7 June 2014 at 9:19AM

Morning, no idea whether this will help but how about making a payment as soon as you are paid and then you can't be tempted. However, that depends on other emergency savings being available, or the possibility of pulling back money if needed.

I think it's GallyGirl's tag line which talks about saving first, then spending - good quote and one I think to myself when I'm paid.

It's a long journey we're on and to keep the motivation and focus just on that end goal is challenging - it's understandable our brains decide to have a blow out occasionally

.

More importantly though, you're doing it - maybe you're not happy today with your LBM and progress but how about if you hadn't had one - where would you be? Maybe that will help to show how far you've come?

Best wishes Tilly x

Tahlullah · 7 June 2014 at 10:15AM

Thanks Tilly, I do pay myself before spending. Its just that I obviously have the balance wrong if I can still afford to buy tat.

Anyway, just read my diary from the beginning. I started in August 2013 owing £36k. Now, it's June 14 and I owe £26k. So, I have managed to pay off £9 k in 10 months.

I really should be kinder to myself. It's not a bad achievement at all.

On the other hand, nothing ever came from the attempt to volunteer. Obviously they didn't need the extra pair of hands.

Oh well, perhaps something else will grab my attention and I will look to volunteering in that direction.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS · 7 June 2014 at 10:20AM

I'm now officially sitting on my b£tt doing nothing, it's torrential rain here.

Clearing 25% of your mortgage in 9 months is pretty phenomenal and I think you need to do a few of these :j:j:j

Good luck with cutting down on the tat buying - I've had to train myself not to go into kitchen shops. They're like a magnet :rotfl:

Tilly xx

icontinuetodream · 8 June 2014 at 5:07PM

Tahlullah wrote: »

Thanks Tilly, I do pay myself before spending. Its just that I obviously have the balance wrong if I can still afford to buy tat.

Anyway, just read my diary from the beginning. I started in August 2013 owing £36k. Now, it's June 14 and I owe £26k. So, I have managed to pay off £9 k in 10 months.

I really should be kinder to myself. It's not a bad achievement at all.

Not a bad achievement is the understatement of the decade!!

Personally, I need to have a certain amount of 'tat' money to spend otherwise I just end up feeling resentful and having a major blow-out....whichever way you look at it, what we are trying to do is pay off a huge amount of money as fast as possible - the reality is, it isn't something that will happen overnight and it is easy to start feeling disheartened if we don't have a bit of a life and a financial splurge now and again....

Why don't you set yourself a 'mini-target' every month? If your intention is to pay off a few hundred, pay that, but then add a challenge of another £50 and see where you can find that money from....sometimes the big figures just seem too excessive to find, yet the smaller ones, although challenging, become that much more satisfying and get you into the habit of saving a little bit more wherever possible!

Goldiegirl · 8 June 2014 at 8:10PM

Tahlullah wrote: »

Anyway, just read my diary from the beginning. I started in August 2013 owing £36k. Now, it's June 14 and I owe £26k. So, I have managed to pay off £9 k in 10 months.

Well, that sounds very good to me - I think you deserve a pat on the back for that!

The impossible dream

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