Debt free and buy a house by 35

Determined_2b_Debt_Free

Am loving the diary andymc - keep up the good work!

andymc29

The peaks were brilliant. Am really sad to be home now. Did nearly 20 miles of walking, visited some lovely places (including the caves at Castleton), and ate some georgeous cakes.
We stayed in a village called calver, just north of Baslow.

Had a great weekend (and managed not to spend too much). We're already planning the next trip away! Any suggestions?

Choc-addict

andymc29 wrote: »

The peaks were brilliant. Am really sad to be home now. Did nearly 20 miles of walking, visited some lovely places (including the caves at Castleton), and ate some georgeous cakes.
We stayed in a village called calver, just north of Baslow.

Had a great weekend (and managed not to spend too much). We're already planning the next trip away! Any suggestions?

Ooh, sounded fab! My OH is currently in the Lake District - it's beautiful up there and good place for walking. I'm a BIG fan of Snowdonia, it's my fav place and aim to go at least 2/3 times a year - camping obviously so cheaper

Glad you had a great time, there are some amazing and beautiful places in this country to visit that sadly some chose not too :(x

andymc29

I got my O2 pre-paid VISA card through the post.

I've set up a weekly payment of £60 to it, giving me around £250 pokcet money per month, this is to cover social expenses like going out for meals/drinks, personal expenses like buying magazine and clothing. All other costs, such as rent and petrol come out of my current account like normal.
I could've done a monthly payment to it, but a weekly one makes more sense. I remember getting monthly pocket money as a kid after getting it weekly for years before hand, it seemed like ages between getting pocket money and I found weekly payments muchy easier to handle and save for things. I'm hoping in my adult life this will still be the case. It basically means I can't spend all my pocket money at the start of the month and have to learn to wait to do big things, or do less expensive things more often. So really, it just makes me learn to be patient.

I have decided to save up to buy a new ipod touch, because I'm really missing my iphone which I lost months ago, the iphone's too expensive to replce, but I'll get 90% of what I miss by getting the ipod touch. I'll save for that with this "pocket money" it will take me maybe three or four months but will be worth it. And is training me to save for things.

Cloudy456

Have you thought about buying an iPod touch second hand from Ebay or something? I know its not quite the same as a shiny new one but if you get one in good condition you probably would forget the difference after a few days!

andymc29

I could do, but you don't seem to save that much really. Maybe 80 quid, besides the newer version is twice as fast and will be able to hold all my music, photos and software, whereas if I went for the 8gb version, I'd have to leave stuff out that I'd rather not.
It's an extra 4 weeks to save for the better version, that time will just fly by. First £20 get's drawn out and hidden in the savings drawer on Monday.

andymc29

Hope everyone's had a good bank holiday weekend.

Mine's gone well.

Visited the GF's mother for lunch, had lunch there and popped out to a garden centre. (spent £10)

Went out to Cambridge beer festival saturday night, got a pizza after at home (total spent £30)

Yesterday, went for a 20 mile walk with my dad, had some lunch and an ice cream while out (spent £5)

then today, have moved some more stuff to my parents prior to moving back in there next weekend, then out for lunch (treated by my parents) and come home to tiday up and get ready for work tomorrow.

So not a really expensive weekend, could have been cheaper, but still within my new £60 per week budget, assuming I don't spend much before next saturday, which is un likely.

andymc29

My O2 VISA pre-paid card got it's first balance today. So I'm now on my £60 per week budget for food, clothes, and social. petrol, rent and bills come out the current account. Until the credit card's paid off, then petrol goes on the credit card and is cleared monthly.

Have been thinking about the ipod touch thing, I may as well just wait the next year out, when my iphone contract will expire and I cna renew it for an iphone 4g. I'll survive the year, I'm sure.

Knocked another £200 off the credit card today, no doubt I'll knock some more off before the month's out.

Non MSE related note: my legs are killing me right now, and I have blisters from walking over 20 miles this Sunday. I'm training for a 46 mile walk in 3 weeks time. I'm also training for a 10k run where I'm trying to beat 50 minutes.

andymc29

Grrr! got stung by a £90 clamping fine this morning! Will be appealing as the signs aren't visible from where I parked.

I did pay my last months rent yesterday though, only £270 as I'm moving out half way through the month.

Non MSE related note: I managed to run 5km last night in a new best time of 23 minutes 21 seconds!!!! Woo-hoo!!! My untimate goal is to beat 20 minutes and beat my dad in a 10k race coming up in six weeks.

andymc29

Just paid another £200 off the credit card to make myself feel better. Sound weird, but anyone paying off large debts will know how good it feels to see those numbers going down.