The 9 year plan...hold onto your hats and here we go!

Piquant_2

Morning!! waves....

I managed to negotiate Petplan down a little for the Captain, I know he's a horse and not a cat, and, therefore, considerably more expensive! They did take £25 off the £440 (:o) odd premium.

boredofbeingathome

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Hmmmm...hadn't thought of taking pics of them....mine aren't as interesting as Fays I'm afraid - just ankle ones!

Quite honestly Bob if I hadn't discovered this site & forum, had a good chat with a friend's husband about mortgage OP'ing, and then taken control of everything, we'd still be where we were just over a year ago with somewhere about 2.5k Loan and £800 overdraft. Scary thought. This year is the first time in our married life that we have come back from a fortnights holiday without being into the red as a result of it. I much prefer this way of living!

:beer:Well done to you on that. That's how i first came to this site, after the mortgage free in 2 years programme. I am aware of the irony:o but wasn't aware of the full situation with Mr.B,( he was away a lot too) then stuff hit the fan when he stopped being Self employed and it has escalated from there. Savings went overnight and have constantly treaded water, just when i thought i could climb on shore, his majesty dead legs me with something else..:o:eek:

Now i know what i am dealing with it is easier to make plans and sort out. I am using 2012 as a date. Thought that was a very good idea:D Thanks.:D

Pippilongstocking

EssexHebridean wrote: »

Hmmmm...hadn't thought of taking pics of them....mine aren't as interesting as Fays I'm afraid - just ankle ones!

:D:D:D:D:D:DFay hijacks in to say _ I also have frugalist stripey socks _ its the old style - ankle socks are just frugal stripeys - for one pair of normal stripeys you can get 4 pairs of ankle socks - its very OS and its very MSE :D:D:D:D:D

Quite honestly Bob and EH and others - if I hadn't discovered this site & forum, ...............I don't know where I would be either but I much prefer this way of living too! Although we have no house or anything firm yet - but life is becoming a bit more debt free.

And what on earth would i do without you all?

EssexHebridean

Stripey socks have worked again...:j...by fluke following the conversations re expensive animals above, the cat's insurance renewal turned up this morning.....so inspired by Piq I have just rung Petplan - 10% discount! It's not much, but does bring it down to just a little above the last years payments rather than the nearly £2 a month extra they wanted, so that's good.

For anyone else insured with Petplan - departmental supervisors there have the discretion to apply a 10% discount if you phone up. I went through to the "thinking of leaving" section and was bluntly honest - I had cheaper quotes for broadly similar cover from elsewhere, our claim history is good, and I genuinely wanted to stay with them as I do feel they are the best at what they do....she went away and came straight back with the 10% off.

Another couple of random notes which might help others...
Tesco have a "Buy 2 for £2" deal on certain fruit at the moment - includes are the polybags of "Jazz" apples which are delicious - like a cross between a pink lady and a braeburn - which normally cost £2.29 a bag...bargain-tastic!
Best value free range eggs from a supermarket that I've found recently are from Sainsburys - no good to Fay mind - 18 of them for £2.50

Pippilongstocking

Good old stripey socks

Lidls have secatuers for £1 in that are actually really really good.

And some car net bags - which are cheap and good for organising things like cars.

Well done on the insurance EH - go you!!

Fay has her own henny eggs so she doesnt mind others getting bargains!!

Barneysmom

EssexHebridean, waving down to you from Burslem, stoke on Trent :T

I've a bit of a plan too, we have £46,000 and 17 years left on our mortgage but I need to clear it in 9 years instead.

Just out of curiosity, have you made a change to the type of clothes you buy? I've started buying only good stuff for work as I have to dress quite smartly but at home stick to jeans and t-shirts that I pick up in the cheap shops or E-Bay etc.


I'm so interested in hearing what your plans are on the day-to-day things? I don't want to pry into your financial affairs as it's your business - just the normal stuff?
You know the next 9 years really will fly, look at the last 9 years and how they've flown :cool: I want to be living somewhere a bit isolated later on too, though it'll probably be in Wales somewhere.

Best of luck on your mission and I wish you every success xx
Keep an eye on the dream :beer:

EssexHebridean

Hey Barneysmom - thanks for posting and good luck on your 9 year plan too, there's a lot of it about!

Oddly enough I decided this morning that I had to buy some clothes. I was ill in December and managed to lose enough weight in a week that none of my jeans I had been wearing fitted....or my work trousers. I dashed out then and bought a pair of work trousers and a pair of jeans, and dug another old pair of ancient but favourite jeans out of the back of the wardrobe, and have been struggling along with those......! I can get away with jeans for about 50% of the time at work so long as they're reasonably smart ones, so that helps, and I tend to wear jeans and t shirts the rest of the time. I don't buy clothes on impulse now - that's one thing that has changed (well apart from stripey socks, but that's different!) - another thing that is different is that I have set myself a clear budget for spending on clothes and I will be sticking to that. The third thing I would say I have done differently is when I was trying stuff on today I ONLY bought stuff I was 100% certain about - none of the old "it'll do" which leads to things sitting in the wardrobe unworn.

One of the best tips I have ever had regarding buying clothes relates to quality - trousers, suits and skirts - buy the best you can afford, in classic styles rather than high fashion. Plain classic white t-shirts - buy cheap but well fitting, and replace often, as soon as they stop looking crisp and white (I bought £3.50 Sainsbury's ones today). Jeans - the most important thing is that they fit perfectly - they don't need to be designer labels as if they fit well enough they'll look like they are regardless.

**Shock Announcement** - I bought two SKIRTS today! Aargh! One of them even has flowers on it...and sequins. Double aargh!! Really pretty too!

boredofbeingathome

If they are pretty and make you feel good, then they are worth every penny.

I haunt charity shops..always have done as it was part of growing up really( sharp elbows from jumble sales)..my hubby is an M&S man or Burton's. I also like Retail Outlet places, good quality clothes at bargain basement prices.

EssexHebridean

I'm a bit of a charity shop junkie these days too Bob - my best bargain to date was a stunning red silk Austin Reed dress for our speedway end of season Dinner & Dance last year - for the princely sum of £6.95! :rotfl:

Right - time for bed I think! *waves goodnight to those mad enough to still be up!*

Pippilongstocking

Charity shop junkie here too as is DD and DS and now am converting OH!!!!

My kids always go and look there first before anything is ever bought - tis where 90% of our wardrobes have always come from. That and those wonderful black bags that you get from friends with slightly larger children - they are also awesome.

DD has her whole disney vhs collection from the shops here - she now proudly owns every single disney classic - I do admire her - she has taken over a year and a half to get them all by going down each week. I had to laugh as one time she came home seeing one she needed but didn't buy it - it was 50p - she said she'd rahter wait because the 'blue door' (a local charity shop which changes every two weeks to let a different local charity use it) anyway sorry the blue door would have the video at some point and they only charge 10p a video!!!!! Bless her little frugal stripey socks.- she's a keeper. She's now exfoliating using some special washing face cloths she was given and has cut them into 4's to make them go further