Yet another DFW!! 21 months and counting!!

savingholmes

Hi - I am glad my few words helped. My view is life is too short to put everything on hold while you pay off debt - so I think it is important to have some balance. We have kids and I want to maintain a relationsip with my husband. Have some treats, date nights, some holiday spends is for me part of that. I had quite a financially deprived childhood and I think that fueled my journey into debt. I want my children to have a balanced approach to money, I don't want them to blow their first pay packets because there is such a long list of things they want that they feel deprived over. So for me it is I want to pay off debt at a reasonable pace while still having a life.

We have been naughty for the last 3 months and relaxed the purse strings too much so now I am with my OH's agreement and kids understanding putting in place a stricter budget - it still has some treats, holidays etc in it and the strictest budget weeks are planned for when the kids are away at grandparents so hopefully they won't notice.

When I first joined I used the Make £10 a day challenge to fund treats and gifts and to an extent I still do. Others use every penny to pay off debt. That wouldn't work for me but I respect those who make that choice it just isn't mine. What you tend to find on these boards Imho is that initially some people are very gung ho and frugal but that after a while they either drift away completely as they can't keep it up or they relax it a bit as you can't keep on at that pace all the time.

Find a pace you are happy with. We've had 2 years of frugal followed by 3 months of treats (it is our 40th birthdays this year and we splashed out). We are now happy to tighten our belts again for a while...

psychopathbabble

Hi KPR

Glad to see you are taking things at your own pace. Totally agree with your sentiments on frugal life being a religion. I certainly can't live like that, but I do believe sometimes we do have to make a few sacrifices in order to keep the debt reducing. Although, I've fallen by the wayside a bit recently with moving and stuff. Am just having a look on the internet for some cds for bands I saw over the weekend..... but I'm definitely getting back on the wagon this week.

WELL DONE!!!! on the exams, and don't feel guilty about enjoying yourself for a bit xx

KPR11

I guess it's that time of the month when another update is due.

Not much has been happening in my social life as work seems to have taken over my life.

Financial, though I am spending a fair bit of money – more than I ought to, I am pleased to say that I am doing rather well. I have repaid my OD in full – unbelievable isn’t it? Not just that I actually have savings – which is another remarkable thing – it’s not a lot of it but I guess every little helps. I have also crossed the £3k mark. If I continue at the rate at which I am going, I will be on course to exceed my target for 2010 (and if I curb my spending, exceed it by a country mile)! On a slightly disappointing note two things have happened which really shouldn’t have, 1 is that I have not been keeping my spending diary as religiously as I did and I should have done. Secondly, I went back to my habit of withdrawing the £20 here and there, I am having real difficulties recollecting what I have been spending it on.

And for whoever cares, I finally bought a pair of work shoes!

psychopathbabble

Well done on the new shoes... you finally gave up the old ones then!

You are doing really well even if you are still spending abit more than you should... Mine has got back up over 10k and I'm unimpressed with myself. Keep all your receipts if you really want to know where the £20's are going!

Well done though KPR, you are doing so well!

KPR11

Good morning!

I really didn't want to give up on them, just had to go to a big meeting and thought old worn out shoes will not really impress them...

We are all doing well... I think you are being very harsh on yourself, the idea is to manage our debt effectively such that overall we are left with "good debt"... so what if there are some months where your debt is up a bit, the most important thing you need to remember is that the first and foremost thing that is important is your health... there is no point compromising your health due to debt busting...

To be fair the only reason why I am doing half as well as I is because I have moved back home (not paying rent at the moment) and got a small pay rise (a London wage)....

Keep strong Psycho and certainly don't beat yourself up!

psychopathbabble

Awww poor old shoes, they probably feel very neglected now!!

I know, I know. I'm just a little bit annoyed, as I used moving house as an excuse to spend money, and the cc I paid off a few months ago is back up to 900! Not all of this is general spending, but about £500 is!

KPR11

I guess they do, my new shoes though they look nice turned out to be vicious creatures.. left me with a massive cut / wound first day i walked in them:mad:... i have got two padded plasters on the back of my heels and still painful when i wear them ... guess will have to endure till they properly open up ...

you will be more than back on track before you know it, just try not to beat yourself up...

hope you have a good weekend...:)

savingholmes

hi kpr - well done on the repayments. A spending diary may be the way to go for you. I think there is a website called myspendingdiary which is free - you could give it a go altho I have to admit I have never been disciplined enough to do it beyond about 8 days! Some people swear by it tho

KPR11

savingholmes wrote: »

hi kpr - well done on the repayments. A spending diary may be the way to go for you. I think there is a website called myspendingdiary which is free - you could give it a go altho I have to admit I have never been disciplined enough to do it beyond about 8 days! Some people swear by it tho

Hi SH,

It is a good website and I did use it, just not been disciplined lately so have not updated it for a month or so - i have also been spoilt by the fact that barclaycard (which i use for everything that I can and clear the balance in full at the end of the month) allocate the payments in different categories and have a great system - does pretty much the same as spending diary.

I have found it difficult to keep track of the things that i can't pay by card with if it makes sense? the vast majority of the cash that i withdraw ends up in my savings pot but the little that doesn't (c£30 - £35pm) is what i forget to track....

I am already looking forward to the next pay day lol... just means by debts will go down that bit more and if the month ends tomorrow i would not have spent that much... otherwise time to tighten my belt a bit!! :rotfl::rotfl:

How are things going with you?

savingholmes

hi kpr - we are doing okay. We fell off the wagon for a few months around my 40th birthday but hopefully are now back on track! Our mortgage rate drops over 4.5% from August onwards so that is going to free up more cash for debt repayment so I feel the light in our debt tunnel just got switched back on. Really going to try to be debt free by May 2011 which will be hard but could be achieveable with effort and will power - and with the help of the mortgage cut above.

I am currently in a temp job - but my boss is trying to get it made perm for me - if she succeeds that would be fab for us and make next May debt free date far more possible. We are really lucky as all our debt is on 0% so we pay the odd transfer fee but no other interest. We are hoping not to need any more transfers! Last year I was in and out of work and was a nightmare so it feels like we have finally turned a corner and being debt free is possible again!