Lightbulb Moment

chevalier

hi and well done to you.
I was curious, how have you done with saving the money from not paying a mortgage? Have you been using it to pay the debt off? Or has some of it gone in savings?
chev

coxj2901

chevalier wrote: »

hi and well done to you.
I was curious, how have you done with saving the money from not paying a mortgage? Have you been using it to pay the debt off? Or has some of it gone in savings?
chev

Hi chevalier,

I am using the extra to reduce my debt. My rent is £625 per month which has replaced the majority of my mortgage payment. I am also leasing a car which has taken up another £240 per month.

I currently don't have any savings or assets to my name at all. The plan is to get rid of the debt as soon as possible and then save up for a deposit for a house and also leave some money in the bank for emergencies.

Once we have done that we plan to pay extra off the mortgage and maybe take a holiday or two each year :T

Rgds, John




Rgds, John

coxj2901

I hate this time of the month when you are waiting for payday before you can make another dent in the debts :mad:

Anyway, we sold another 8 items on ebay over the weekend which has raised just over £100. I have just transferred this to my bank and will reduce the overdraft further once it has cleared.

We went through all our old stuff over the weekend and we've got loads more to sell on ebay so we're going to start listing quite a few items over the next couple of weeks.

I have also received £20 worth of boots vouchers from pigsback and have just requested another £30 :T I also have 500 points left towards my next voucher and I'm expecting some more points to be tracked shortly :rotfl:

How good is pigsback :beer:

The only bad news I've received is that my rent is going up by £10 per month starting next month

Rgds, John

piglet6

Hi John

Just wanted to say well done and keep going :T - I know what you mean about Payday (its been a bit of a heavy month chez Piglet , and things are going to be a little tight until the 25th - there's going to be a fair bit of store cupboard/freezer raiding for the next two weeks...;) the dinners can only get "weirder" - still, we've discovered some firm favourites this way in the past :rolleyes:, so who knows what future gems we might uncover this month through necessity!! :rotfl:).

Pigsback is brill - we save our vouchers for Christmas and they really took the pressure off last year (we save JL vouchers and spent them on "special" food in Waitrose and some pressies for family in John Lewis - you've gotta love that "free money"!!! :j).

Sorry to hear about the rent increase, but well done on the ebay sales - just keep focussing on how much you've slashed off your overall debt and keep planning for the future when you are debt-free. With the dedication you are showing at the moment, you'll be back on the housing ladder and stomping towards "financial happiness and security" in no time!! :beer:

Piglet

brainfreeze

Hi John

As a new DFW I just want to say that your debt free diary makes inspirational reading. Well done to you and your family. I hope my lot are even half as supportive and that we can achieve what you have.

Take care and keep up the excellent work.

coxj2901

Me and my wife have decided to step up the quest to be debt free so that we can clear the overdraft in the next 5 months. That means we need to start paying off £700 per month :eek:

We are going to sit down tonight and try and work out a masterplan, but here are some initial ideas. Can anyone think of anymore to add?

1. Central heating is now being turned off until next winter. If it gets cold then wrapping up warm will have to suffice.

2. Carry on with Pigsback but get boots vouchers to buy stuff like babywipes, toiletries etc... so that we can cut down on our shopping bill.

3. Give up alchohol for the next few months so that we don't waste £60 a month on a big night out.

4. Descale kettle and only fill as much as required when making a cuppa to optimize the electricity usage.

5. Defrost the freezers so that again we optimise electricity usage.

6. Only wash loads on 40c to save on electricity (we currently wash on 50c).

7. Hang out washing and keep tumble dryer usage to a minimum.

8. Ebay like mad and totally de-clutter the house.

9. Swap dog food from Pedigree to own brand to cut down on shopping.

10. My Wife to get part time job.

11. Start doing more online surveys as we haven't done that many in a while.

12. Resurrect mystery shopping as that was a nice little earner when we were doing it.

13. Be frugal with money as much as we can. Clothes shopping and luxury spending needs to be cut out completely.

14. Walk to places when feasible to save on petrol consumption

15. Turn off all lighting in rooms that are not being used

16. Increase activity for our online business and start selling more items on ebay.

Rgds, John

Crown

Hi John,

Although I havent posted in your thread I just wanted to say that I have been following your progress with interest. I really like some of your ideas especially giving up on Alcohol as this will of course have health benefits as well as financial. Just wanted to ask if you have gone right back to basics and checked your SOA/Budget to make sure that you are on the cheapest Tarriffs for Gas/Elec and Insurance ect?

The reason I mention this is that although I have been plodding along on my own DFW journey I recently started looking at my SOA and have realised that further savings are to be had since its been 6 months since I last had a proper look at it.

I managed to save around an extra £25 a month by renegiotiating my Phone/Broadband package since NTL changed to Virgin and will be moving away from Powergen now the prices are tumbling as soon as I clear the balance of my account.

The only thing on your list that I do wonder if you will have problems with is number 9. If you dog is anything like mine she turns her nose up at the cheaper food and will not eat. I sometimes think she eats better than myself lol

jobbingmusician

A few comments on your excellent suggestions so far.

coxj2901 wrote: »

1. Central heating is now being turned off until next winter. If it gets cold then wrapping up warm will have to suffice. Brill idea - I wish you good weather for it! Make sure your utility suppliers aren't holding on to any overpayments in the mean time.

2. Carry on with Pigsback but get boots vouchers to buy stuff like babywipes, toiletries etc... so that we can cut down on our shopping bill.

3. Give up alchohol for the next few months so that we don't waste £60 a month on a big night out. Learn to make your own wine maybe? Costs peanuts and is less painful than abstinence!

4. Descale kettle and only fill as much as required when making a cuppa to optimize the electricity usage.

5. Defrost the freezers so that again we optimise electricity usage.

6. Only wash loads on 40c to save on electricity (we currently wash on 50c). Absolutely! 40c is plenty for most things.

7. Hang out washing and keep tumble dryer usage to a minimum.

8. Ebay like mad and totally de-clutter the house.

9. Swap dog food from Pedigree to own brand to cut down on shopping. Look for petfood online for extra savings. My cat is on a special diet, as is our dogshare (don't ask!) and we've found Nutrecare to be the cheapest - free postage over £60.

10. My Wife to get part time job. Good luck - hope she enjoys it.

11. Start doing more online surveys as we haven't done that many in a while.

12. Resurrect mystery shopping as that was a nice little earner when we were doing it. One of 2 answers here. Either yes! brilliant idea and you could cut back on your weekly 'treat' if you had a nice MS outing instead. Or, (if you are in my area for Mystery Shopping) no! there are already far too many MS around... :rotfl:

13. Be frugal with money as much as we can. Clothes shopping and luxury spending needs to be cut out completely.

14. Walk to places when feasible to save on petrol consumption good for your health as well

15. Turn off all lighting in rooms that are not being used and good for the planet.....

16. Increase activity for our online business and start selling more items on ebay.

Well done you! Sounds an excellent list!

Angelic_Annie

Hi there,

To add to the list of replies you already have. Is there anything you could do about all your loans? Surely it would becheaper to have one large one rather than several. Thus paying interest on each.

Angelic Annie

coxj2901

Here's an update on how we're doing with the list at the moment!

[STRIKE]1. Central heating is now being turned off until next winter. If it gets cold then wrapping up warm will have to suffice.[/STRIKE] Done :j

2. Carry on with Pigsback but get boots vouchers to buy stuff like babywipes, toiletries etc... so that we can cut down on our shopping bill.

3. Give up alchohol for the next few months so that we don't waste £60 a month on a big night out.

4. Descale kettle and only fill as much as required when making a cuppa to optimize the electricity usage.

5. Defrost the freezers so that again we optimise electricity usage.

[STRIKE]6. Only wash loads on 40c to save on electricity (we currently wash on 50c).[/STRIKE] Done :j

[STRIKE]7. Hang out washing and keep tumble dryer usage to a minimum.[/STRIKE] First load on washing line today :j

[STRIKE]8. Ebay like mad and totally de-clutter the house.[/STRIKE] We have 20 items selling on ebay and loads more to put on :j

9. Swap dog food from Pedigree to own brand to cut down on shopping.

10. My Wife to get part time job. (My wife has sent her cv to some online agencies)

11. Start doing more online surveys as we haven't done that many in a while.

12. Resurrect mystery shopping as that was a nice little earner when we were doing it.

13. Be frugal with money as much as we can. Clothes shopping and luxury spending needs to be cut out completely.

[STRIKE]14. Walk to places when feasible to save on petrol consumption[/STRIKE] My wife walked to school today with the kids :j

15. Turn off all lighting in rooms that are not being used

[STRIKE]16. Increase activity for our online business and start selling more items on ebay.[/STRIKE] I've listed 15 items on our
business ebay account aswell and plan to add 5-10 per night :j

New items added to list

17. We've cancelled the payment to our daughters savings accounts of £20 each per month. This will be paid back (with interest) once we are debt free. It was quite hard to make this decision but it is correct from a purely financial point of view.

18. Cancel sky. I tried to cancel sky today but I'm tied into a 12 month contract which ends on 14th Sep 2007. We are already on the minimum package but I'll cancel it as soon as my contract expires.

19. We've also reduced our eldest daughters wraparound care by 1 day per week saving us £50 per month :T

Any more ideas! :T

Rgds, John