Single and in Debt Part II

Lula-Hula

Ugh to paying for car stuff with 'own' money :mad:. I do love my car as it gets me around safely, less noisily & with much less steering effort than the previous one but ... it is a tool & I certainly dont relish having to spend money on it. I am currently seething that I will have to spend about £500 on a new cambelt & service in a couple of months. So seething that I will put it on my CC rather than use my money :rolleyes:. I really need to build up a spares & servicing fund. Insurance is fun as it means quidco cash . I think I have pickled my brain, it just doesnt work how it should :rotfl:

sarahb123_3

Just remembered I need car tax in the next couple of days :mad: Well it will have to come out od current account as I am not using cc again.

I am really going to have to get myself into gear in 2010 if I am to get everything sorted. I know the key is to not spend any money if humanly possible but I don't want to feel deprived. I am going to have to keep my eye on every penny. No more bargains unless I actually need it, soon I am going to be drowning in household stuff. I am going to spend the next year being a world class penny pincher. :rolleyes:

Fire_Fox

Have you ever read the book by Kath Kelly who bet her mates she could live on £1 a day for a year? Or Weezl74's threads on the Old Style board 'Eat healthily on 50p per day'? You might also want to start haunting the Freebies board and clothes swapping parties in a major way!

sarahb123_3

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Have you ever read the book by Kath Kelly who bet her mates she could live on £1 a day for a year? Or Weezl74's threads on the Old Style board 'Eat healthily on 50p per day'? You might also want to start haunting the Freebies board and clothes swapping parties in a major way!

I haven't read the book but I have heard of it, I think she had all her bills paid in advance, no rent and no car, so slightly easier for her:D However, it was reading about that that made me think I could do something similar, not a £1 a day but considerably less than I spend now.

I have seen Weezl's thread but I am a rubbish cook and hate spending time in the kitchen:o So I will have to find a way to eat cheaply without having to do too much work.

Lula-Hula

Hey Fire Fox

sarah, unless you are adventurous I would avoid the 50 p a day challenge. Weezl also has a blog which I came across the other day & there were some very graphic & equally unpleasant ( if you're squeamish like me) pics of things to do with a pigs head, should you ever find yourself in possession of one. I made a mental note to eat more quorn :rotfl:.

I am finding that DD & I are eating well on £35 a week, so well in fact that I have not lost a single pound :mad:. I do advocate saving up for things like car tax, mine works out at just £10 a month so, on the first day of every month I 'envelope' £10 & come May next year I will have the full amount . It's a small amount each month but large enough if you havent saved, to put it on a CC, yes, I have done this in the past .

sarahb123_3

Lula-Hula wrote: »

unless you are adventurous I would avoid the 50 p a day challenge. Weezl also has a blog which I came across the other day & there were some very graphic & equally unpleasant ( if you're squeamish like me) pics of things to do with a pigs head, should you ever find yourself in possession of one. I made a mental note to eat more quorn :rotfl:.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I am finding that DD & I are eating well on £35 a week, so well in fact that I have not lost a single pound :mad:. I do advocate saving up for things like car tax, mine works out at just £10 a month so, on the first day of every month I 'envelope' £10 & come May next year I will have the full amount . It's a small amount each month but large enough if you havent saved, to put it on a CC, yes, I have done this in the past .

I have a savings account with nothing in it:rolleyes: so I might start using it for a dentist/car fund as those have been my two biggest expenses over the last year or so.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

sarahb123 wrote: »

Just remembered I need car tax in the next couple of days :mad: Well it will have to come out od current account as I am not using cc again.

I am really going to have to get myself into gear in 2010 if I am to get everything sorted. I know the key is to not spend any money if humanly possible but I don't want to feel deprived. I am going to have to keep my eye on every penny. No more bargains unless I actually need it, soon I am going to be drowning in household stuff. I am going to spend the next year being a world class penny pincher. :rolleyes:

Too late for this time but someone told me recently that it's still possible to buy £5 stamps at the post office towards car tax. Once the new year arrives, I will start buying them towards next August's disc. Even if I only manage to get one a month, it will still be a bit less to fund when the payment is due.

sarahb123_3

Lula-Hula wrote: »

I am finding that DD & I are eating well on £35 a week, so well in fact that I have not lost a single pound :mad:.

That's another thing, I always buy too much and am probably going to end the year heavier that I started it:mad:. Am hoping that being frugal means that I will be able to just buy what I need and that not using the car means I can burn some of it off. :rolleyes:

I don't think there is one area of my life I am managing properly at the moment.:rolleyes:

Lula-Hula

Well, by not managing any areas well, perhaps you are ripe for doing everything brilliantly

You have also managed to put £800 into your ISA so that's pretty impressive too :A I have £20 in mine :rotfl:

Hi paulgonnabedebtfree, had no idea that post office still did those :T, I might convert my cash into them, as then all temptation to use them will be impossible.

sarah, you can do this, I know you're not fan of cooking either, but I do suggest that homemade (veg) soup is very very easy & satisfying & healthy & filling & nutritious etc etc etc & also a good way to use up all those bits of food that would otherwise get thrown out. all you need is saucepan, chopping knife & cheap blender. I am still using the cheapo £10 handheld one I bought for making babyfood for DD ( before I discovered Hipp Organic & credit card shopping:o)

makeup

Hi

Thanks for the kind posts about house.

I went to see it again today, my parents drove up from Wiltshire to see it as well.


Lula - next stage is that the Housing Assoc decide who gets it based on their allocations policy (which is very vague on website) but I don't think I'm gonna be a priority - I'm not a keyworker and I don't live or work in the same borough as the house.

Apparently should hear by next Friday :eek:

However have heard that other people have put in for it as well. Therefore I don't feel that positive about it and I have to keep stopping myself from mentally spending money on it (saw lovely rug on Habitat website) and planning all the parties I might have ......

If I do get the chapel then I will need to join in with the frugality challenge as I will have very little cash.

I became debt free around a year ago and have had a lovely year splashing out on stuff, saving a lot each month and pretty much doing what I wanted.

That really needs to stop now, one way or another - either cos I'm saving madly or else cos I've got massive mortgage/ rent payments.

SBC - good to know if all else fails can move to the North East. Is that house in a really dodgy area or something or is that typical prices for that part of the world?

Been out for the third week in a row with a good friend of mine who is really stressed about his living arrangements, long story but he needs to move out asap from his rented flat so every Saturday he texts me that he's really bored and I'm always free so we've been out for meals / drinks every weekend. It is getting into a nice routine.

We've found a really nice part of town with some funky bars / restaurants and cool people (much like ourselves.....:cool::rolleyes:) and some VERY good looking men. Next time I shall wear my glasses so I can see them properly....:rolleyes::D