What have you learnt?

Paying in cold hard cash hurts!
If I never went out with the intent to buy something, the desire to buy it will probably pass when I go home.
Cash you find in the street adds up!
Helping others is more rewarding than helping myself

MB

I spend more wisely, my own money that I have already earned, than I ever did the banks money that I was yet to earn.

What I have learnt since becoming debt free makes no sense to anybody except me...
Everything I buy these days seems free.

In the past, I have bought stuff using loans and credit cards. Now, if I want something I save my penny's and pounds in a separate account until I have enough money to buy it. Then I buy it. With no monthly payments!!! Its free!!!

(Makes sense to me!)

The biggest thing that I have learned so far is that a more frugal life is no less enjoyable or rewarding than a spendy one. Genuinely.

Oh, and that seeing debt figures come down £ by £ on my spreadsheet is highly addictive, and a big part of my motivation!

Use the right tool for the job. Dont just wing it. You wouldnt expect a business to stick it's finger in the air and estimate how much cash it had to buy something, you would expect proper accounts. You handle a budget of tens of thousands every year and most of us used to do this by guestimation and hope.

Turn off the TV. Most adverts are specifically and diabolically designed to keep you in a perpetual state of unhappiness and unrequited desire for things you didnt know you wanted or needed.

Plan in advance. MOT's are not surprises. You know they are coming, so suck it up and get a plan in place.

Stop paying monthly for anything you can unless where it profits you nothing to pay annually like council tax. All the others like insurances should be paid annually and that deals with the 34% interest on the premium just for paying monthly.

Negotiate hard and never be afraid to haggle. Never settle for the headline price. Demand better or take your custom elsewhere. As an example, my annual line rental was up for renewal (as I had paid line rental in advance last year). Normal line rental from our provider is £15.99 a month (extortionate). I shopped around before I rang them to see what else was available and found that annual line rental direct from BT worked out at £12.50 a month and PlusNet were doing line rental for slightly less with much reduced broadband. Armed with this information, I rang the provider and was told (I knew they were going to say it having researched earlier in the month) that they no-longer allowed 'annual' line rental payments and that you were forced to pay monthly at £15.99. I told them I was not happy and that BT themselves were not so greedy. After a shorter discussion with the retentions department, I was allowed to pay line rental at last year's price (if I paid it now) and broadband was 'free'. This means I pay only for the calls that are made. We dont make outgoing calls except in unusual circumstances, so my communications bill going forward should be under £2 per month. That is for broadband and telephone. We dont have TV.

You dont need a phone contract, or a smart phone. You just need to make calls and receive texts. There are plenty of mobile phones that do just that for under £15 all told including the SIM. If you do have a smart phone, last year's model wont just stop working because the new model is out. You dont need a new one until the old one dies.

In most cases, clothes that you bought last year will fit this year. Shoes wear out, so have a plan to replace them.

Soap works just as well as expensive shower gel.

Try not to be penny wise and pound stupid. Buy the best quality to do the job and that you can afford, not the cheapest.