3rd time lucky?

IWantToBeFree_2

I find its about finding the right balance, I want to be debt free to start a family, but I don't want to stop life in the meantime, I already feel bad when my husband asks if he is allowed to go for a drink with his friends.

If it wasn't for this site, I probably would be still making minimum payments, paying interest on credit cards and getting stuck in a rut, I see being able to potentially make overpayments in the region of £500 a month a positive thing, rather than a negative because if I didn't have Sky it would be £540 if you get my drift!

spartan59

I totally agree, also I think cold turkey doesn't last. the fact we are both on our 3rd time means we have tried cold turkey before and its not for everyone.

Its about having short term attainable goals and sticking to them, that way over time it will become part of your life.

My goal this august ( cheating abit becuse started on wed) is to make as much extra cash as possible from anywhere so far made around £160 with 3 items still selling on ebay!!! All going into my isa

I'll set myself a new challenge for sept, prob No Spend Days.

edinburgher

Cold turkey is useless unless you have the patience of a saint and the resilience of a boxer

Like you say, you've got a very healthy surplus - just make sure you use it to pay off your debts. As you know, it's easy to fall off the wagon and the forums are full of people (well, maybe a slight exaggeration) with good salaries yet no money.

Go figure

IWantToBeFree_2

Had a letter from Yorkshire Water today, our montly charge is falling to £17 a month from September and they are refunding £77.96 to our bank account which should be there within 7 days! Nice unexpected surprise, will be going straight into the debt busting fund!

Fire_Fox

IWantToBeFree wrote: »

We don't have drinks and popcorn at the cinema but I see your point! We don't go out a lot, so having the Sky and the Cinema passes is our way of treating ourselves, If we went out a couple of times a month we would spend more than £62 a month... I know a lot of people cut stuff like this back when they are debtbusting, but I want to try and do it without massively restricting us, I find that when you cut out everything that is in the slightest bit fun, you end up resenting what you are doing, and fall off the wagon spectaculary. I know if we didn't have the cinema passes, or the Sky, we would be debt free quicker, but we would also be bloody miserable.

To be honest, Sky isn't much of an option for us anyway, we live pretty much in a signal blackspot, we couldn't get freeview, and the normal TV reception is awful meaning it was Sky or nothing, I know we could have took a lower package but we are both sporting nuts, so took the Sports as well.

The telecomms is high due to me currently running 2 phone contracts, stupid I know... One of them is cancelled this month which will cut £20 off the monthly spend for mobiles. Not much in the grand scheme of things but it is something.

We are in a 'lucky' position whereby our debts are manageable compared to our salaries, we don't struggle to meet payments, we don't have baliffs knocking at our doors, it means we can have the little luxuaries in life such as Sky... I know its not so much common place on here, but I would have thought that people would still respect what I am trying to do rather than judging me on what I spend....

I'm sorry if you think I am judging, I was attempting to give constructive criticism or get you to look at the situation from another angle. If you read my diary you will see there is a ton of stuff that I shouldn't really be spending on, but I have found it really helpful to have others question that ...

Have you tried renegotiating with Sky? I have read quite a few cases where people have rung to cancel and been offered to stay on the same package for less money.

IWantToBeFree_2

No worries, I am just being grouchy, not well and been stuck in the house for nearly a week now, its doing nothing for my temprement!!

We did try getting some kind of discount out of Sky when we added the Sports but they were having none of it! May try again soon.

IWantToBeFree_2

Currently sat hitting refresh on Ebay every 2 minutes, I have 39 items for sale at the minute and the current total is £72.98 with just under 24 hours to go, most bids come in late so I am hoping to at least double that.

Fire_Fox

:beer: Brilliant news! See there you are soooo much more MSE than me: I have a room full of bits and bobs (including a £400 walk-in shower!) that need to be eBayed and do I charge up the digital camera? :rolleyes:

IWantToBeFree_2

I am an Ebay addict, if stuff isn't stuck down in our house, it will end up on there, I even threaten to put my hubby on at times!

Up to £83.72 now, hoping it will hit £100 soon, there is stuff on there that I really want to sell higher for what its at currently.

nicnacnoo

i tried ebaying once, got my account hacked and never sorted it out! you have motivated me to go and do something about it today, i reckon ive got loads lying round i could get rid of!
Glad to see yours is going well