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Drowning, not waving :-(
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Woop! Good (hopeful) news on the consolidating front - saving that much would make SUCH a difference to you wouldn't it. I'll keep the fingers crossed for you still then. Have you had any progress on the "make £10 a day" side of things?🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
I've made a start on the £10 a day. Joined Toluna and racking up the points :j And I went back to Lightspeed after reading about them on here. Had given up as I'd got a bit fed up - but found my account was still active, logged on and had enough points to order a £10 PayPal voucher :T
Had a hell of a month last month - hence my username! Oven stopped working, printer broke and my glasses blew off and away in gale force winds one day I was out working ( work wouldn't pay cos I'm an agency temp :mad: ) Then to cap it all, my car is very sick and in the garage and you of all people, EssexH, know how dependent you get on wheels here.
I paid £55 in bank charges cos I went over my overdraft limits ( had to get parts for the car, can't work without it. ), so following Martin's advice, I applied for and have been approved for a Tesco 0% balance card to avoid slipping into overdraft again.
Not quite making money, but avoiding giving it to the banks :rotfl:
Little steps, but they feel good and there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.New CC starting balances for 2014: BC: £2780.00 (2717.45) MBNA: £2185.72 (2160.72)
Repayment a/c: £112.50
Weekly grocery spend:0 -
Ugh, yes, car definately a necessity where you are - I can identify with those gale force winds too - I make sure I've always got contact lenses when I'm up as I find the wind tugging at glasses just too uncomfortable!
We ate the last of the Stornoway black pudding we brought back from holiday with us earlier on - counting down four and a half months now until we can go back, in person, to get some more! :-D🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Mmmmmm, Stornoway black pudding.........yum. The guy that runs the B & B I stay at in Stornoway when I'm working there always makes me a cooked breakfast, black pud included. My other love here is machair potatoes!
Yeah, I can laugh now - just about :rolleyes: - about the glasses. Amazing the number of people it's happened to! My brother used to live here - that's how I ended up here - and he used to call it 'the land of the flying wheelie bins!! '
P.S. If you want some pudding posted down to you, I'd be happy to oblige!New CC starting balances for 2014: BC: £2780.00 (2717.45) MBNA: £2185.72 (2160.72)
Repayment a/c: £112.50
Weekly grocery spend:0 -
Living in the remoter areas of Scotalnd can be very hard financially. I hope you job and mortgage applications go ok. Have you considered comping to give yourself and your son a few nice extras? I am a single mum too and have really improved out quality of life through comping. My dd has been on loads of lovely (and sometimes very luxury) breaks with me and has a constant trail of cds dvds, books etc. Its lovely for me too.0
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Got car back from friend who was servicing it and he told me I need to order a couple of parts. Local garage has quoted me £275 for one and - get this - £700 for the other :eek:
Sheesh - maybe I'd be better getting another car! Right, off to surf for second hand sump and throttle body...........New CC starting balances for 2014: BC: £2780.00 (2717.45) MBNA: £2185.72 (2160.72)
Repayment a/c: £112.50
Weekly grocery spend:0 -
That's a lot of money! Hope you find the parts. Have you got a local scrappie?0
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No, not on the island. My local garage was sourcing the parts for me and gave me the number for a place in Aberdeen, but they don't have Micra parts.
But I found a site on the Net where you put in what you want and they send the request off to loadsa scrappies. Got about 7 quotes and they are around £200 for the two parts used. Even with the hefty postage charges to the Highlands and Islands, that's just a tad more affordable :rolleyes:New CC starting balances for 2014: BC: £2780.00 (2717.45) MBNA: £2185.72 (2160.72)
Repayment a/c: £112.50
Weekly grocery spend:0 -
Does the waste transfer station on Benbecula scrap cars at all? I know they have the mobile crusher working out of there, but whether they ever dismantle for breaking I don't know. At least you've managed to get the price down a bit which is something I guess. I live in fear of my car breaking down when we're up - best case scenario being under warranty is it would have to go to the Renault dealership in Stornoway, but the logisitics would be a nightmare if we were on N.Uist at the time!
Depending on whether you shop at Tesco or Co-op remember that clubcard vouchers can be turned into deals for magazine subscriptions etc - might be something worth looking at to help out with DS's christmas pressies etc?
Thanks for the offer on the pudding - I might well take you up on that at some stage! Gorgeous stuff. Always bring back that, Salar Salmon (got one piece still to use and am hoarding it to do something special with!) and kippers and smoked cheese from the Stornoway smokehouse!🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
Balance as at 01/09/23 = £115,000.00 Balance as at 31/12/23 = £112,000.00
Balance as at 31/08/24 = £105,400.00 Balance as at 31/12/24 = £102,500.00
£100k barrier broken 1/4/25
Balance as at 31/08/25 = £ 95,450.00. Balance as at 31/12/25 = £ 91,100.00
SOA CALCULATOR (for DFW newbies): SOA Calculatorshe/her0 -
Hello,
It sounds like there's already been progress! Odd how that often happens when someone starts a diary, suddenly more things start going right. Maybe it's because you're less stressed about it? Anyway, it's good to read.
I was going to just lurk and then I saw the word "sump" - what's wrong with it? When mine rusted through and I had no money (after 6 months unemployment, booo) I took it off cleaned it up and used a load of quicksteel over the rusty bits. It's almost as good as welding and only cost about £6. Alternatively the 99p shop (if you have one nearby) normally has an unbranded chemical metal.
Good luck with it all, and will be following.
Do you need it? Yep. Really? Yes! How have you managed for the last 28 years without it? Erm....
NO NAUGHTY SHOPPING Bex.0
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