Wanting to be debt free BEFORE retirement!

grandma247

Just a thought. If you put those savings in an account you could use them for debt payment after a certain time if you have not had any emergencies.

planning_ahead_2

grandma247 wrote: »

Just a thought. If you put those savings in an account you could use them for debt payment after a certain time if you have not had any emergencies.

Great idea - and to be honest we are going to put the difference between the £252 we are going to cut back and the £100 extra we will be paying off the debts into a savings account each month. So £152 pm going into savings hopefully:T

However, if we have months where things crop up then we can use the savings and if nothing crops up...then after a few months we can pay a small lump off a debt:T

elsie52

Hi PA.:wave:

Well it sounds as if you certainly have your MSE head on.!! It's amazing where you can find the extra money from when you need to. :T We are also saving a little every month, and we don't intend touching that. :A Our debt free date is February 2012, but towards the end of this year we are going to re do our SOA and somehow we intend to pay as much as we possibly can towards the debt, I have got it into my head that I want it all gone by OCT 2011.!!:eek: I feel that by August of this year, I will start my on diary, which will be a count down diary, and hopefully give me motivation to complete my task. It will be a big ask, but I feel the need to be debt free is getting even stronger as we get closer to our target.! I think at the beginning it seems such an uphill journey, and now we could be half way there......omg I am getting so excited. ( I wish I had been this excited at paying debts and saving money, years ago.!!!):rotfl:

I usually manage quite well on around £140 - £160 a month for groceries for 2 of us, it can get a bit tight when the grandchildren are here, but as with everything, careful planning and cooking from scratch make it possible.

I have done some ebaying this month and it gave me an extra £39, but I absolutely hate the packing up and posting, so I will be giving it a miss for another couple of months.:doh:

Bye for now, and I'll keep popping in for a chat.....have the kettle on.!!, but no cakes or biscuits.....I'm on a diet.:coffee:

planning_ahead_2

Debt Diary day 16

Good news - car passed it's MOT with no recommendations or anything:j:j:j Just £54 (covered by not having to pay Council Tax and Water Rates).

As we didn't have to spend any extra on car repairs I've paid the extra from the CT and Water off some debts today.

Also DH found two winning lottery tickets in a clearout - I only ever buy lottery tickets online (can't lose them, and they let you know if you have won). DH must have bought these but doesn't remeber doing it (dated before Xmas:mad:). Anyway, they added more the debt clearing fund. So total paid off today is £168:T

We have a lose change collection pot on the kitchen side - you know the sort of thing - DH comes in from work and chucks the lose change from his pockets into it. Well it's now full to the brim and I suppose we can change this up. We used to change this up in those Coinstar machines in the supermarket - you know the ones where you just tip it all in and it counts up and then takes about 7p in the £ to change it for you. The new DFW in me thinks I should just take the time and bag it up and take it to the bank, but the lazy me thinks I will, more likely, just take it to the Coinstar machine again:o I'll update on how much we have in the change pot later this week:T

I've had a thumping headache today, and so haven't yet sorted the ebay listings but will get there soon. Like Elsie - I hate the packing and posting of stuff but it's a means to an end:(

I've sent a pm to eagerlearner to see if I can find out what all this cash for clicks malarky is all about. No idea, but will read and learn and see if this could bring in extra.

Elsie - I am sooooo jealous that you could be debt free by October [STRIKE]THIS[/STRIKE] NEXT YEAR. Jealous, but really pleased for you:j:j:j:j I will be cheering you on and giving you those virtual shoves when you need them:T Kettle will always be on when you need a virtual cuppa and chat;)

I'm looking forward to next week when a lot of our DDs come out and the debts will go down a bit more.

Right then - off to update The Dragon's Olympic Challenge thread with today's payments:T

elsie52

Hi PA


I would also like to be debt free by Oct this year, but it will be 2011. August will see my 12 + month diary emerge. It will be hard going but worth it. I often read posts where people have become debt free and I can't even begin to imagine what it will feel like. !!:think: :j:beer::T Just been to Mr T for a little bit of shopping, well just wanted tomatoes really, but ended up buying a couple of things for the grandchildren so that's tightened the budget yet again.! Its the one thing that I really miss, I used to love to buy things for the kids but now have to really stop and think if I can afford it. Still.....eventually it wont always be like this.........*.elsie wanders off to dream.*:whistle:

dentonemma

It must so good to have your oh supporting you, that you both can see an end in sight. keep up the great work. think of all the payments you can make this week, getting closer to end.

planning_ahead_2

Debt diary day 18

Well it's February and the first of our DDs have flown out of the bank and reduced the debt by another £228:j The total is now under £46k - which is still huge, but I can see the progress and that's what's important:T

I still haven't sorted the stuff out for ebay - but aim to do that this afternoon:o

Also reported in to the Wibbly Bums challenge - first official day and I am the same weight I was when I joined over a week ago:o Concerted effort needed methinks;)

Did the weekly grocery shop today - a whopping £29.71:j:j:j:j:j

I honestly don't think we need anything else at all. I took the cash out of the bank for the week shopping because I am trying not to use the debit card because it's easy to walk round the supermarket and not worry about the total and whether I have sufficient in my purse or not. I've decided to keep the difference (£45.00 - £29.71= £15.79) in the grocery budget so that if we get weeks where we need extra or have visitors coming to stay then the money is 'in the pot' without me worrying about it.

Snowmoredebt

Hi Planning ahead

Thats good going with the shopping budget!! Do you grow your own veg? or is it simply excellent planning?

planning_ahead_2

Snowmoredebt wrote: »

Hi Planning ahead

Thats good going with the shopping budget!! Do you grow your own veg? or is it simply excellent planning?

We don't grow our own veg (yet;)). This is merely using up what we already have, and as we are only a couple of weeks into our debt free journey the cupboards and freezer are fairly heaving with stuff that normally just sits there.

We are looking into growing some veg this summer - never tried before. If we do grow veg it will be in pots and those grow bag things because the garden has been landscaped and DH would kill me if I dug it up for veg:rotfl: I know nothing about growing plants or veg from seed and any tips gratefully received.;)

yummymommy

elsie52 wrote: »

Hi Planning -ahead.:wave:

I have been reading your diary, and I can recognize the same things in me. I think I have OCD, where my debts are concerned. :eek: We are closer to retirement than you, we only have about 6 years to go, and we started 2 years ago with £74k of debt. After two years we are now down to £37k, and it has become an obsession.!!:rotfl: I am forever turning the gas down, on or off, same as the lights/lamps etc. I scour the supermarkets for BOGOF's, always check what is on offer before buying anything. I watch every penny, and yet we still have a life, (I think). :think: We budget for everything, we pay for everything cash, no cc.! We still go on holiday, not expensive ones but all the same a holiday. We SAVE......something we never did before, I check my online banking every day (sometimes twice) I ebay to raise extra money, whereas before I would have just thrown things away.

What I really want to know, is why did we wait this long to start this.?:question:

Anyway, I will subscribe to your thread, and watch you become obsessed too.:eek: Good luck

omg elsie that's brilliant. :T Feel free to pass all your tips on. I've only just started my diary and wish i'd done it years ago too !