Debt free in ten years-my new, more realistic challenge.

beanielou

What a lovely family you have.

poohbear59

beanielou, Thank you. I am very lucky that they are all so helpful. Not so good that they gave me such a surprise when I was so ill

I was reading another diary today and saw that some peoples' debts were twice their income. It encouraged me to look at ours again. It is almost 7 times our regular income:eek:

Now that has really encouraged us to work harder at increasing our extra income. We do live very frugally and are paying off debts each month.

PinotGrigio41

How was the weekend away Pooh ? I have got the right havent I ? It was this weekend, or have I just made that up in my head ?!! :rotfl:Anyway hope it was lovely and did you the power of good if you did go, if you didnt , well I hope you are looking forward to it !

Your last post was interesting, looking at the level of debt compared to income ! Scary eh ?!

poohbear59

Hi Pinot,
We had a lovely time in sunny Scotland. The weather was gorgeous and we stayed in a cottage right on the beach. All the family were there plus the two dogs. We ate in a local pub the first night for which I paid but DSs have paid me back The second night we made a roast chicken and vegetables. Third day we had leftovers so we all felt very frugal. We had walks on the beach, in the forest and along the river. The only non frugal thing that happened was that we arrived to find no loo roll in the bathrooms so had to drive a 24 mile round trip to buy some. I didn't manage any 'no spend days' while we were away but had lovely treats like ice cream on the beach.

We came home to find that we have no available balance in our current account but DS1 has paid us some of the money he owes us back into our account today.

HappyNow

Ah that sounds lovely Pooh, you really deserved a good break after all your hard work. Hope the rest helped you shake off your virus too.

I was thinking the other day. We might not have much (or any!) money, but so many of us on here have got such lovely close families - we must have done something right .

poohbear59

Happy, you are right, we are all very lucky with our lovely close families. We may not have any spare money but in the grand scheme of things lack of spare cash is not at all important compared to our families.

The weekend away gave us all the chance to completely relax and enjoy each others company. When we are at home there is always something that needs to be done. And even if we have a meal together at home there is always something else on my mind. I am sure that we will do the same again when we have a free weekend. It may not be until the Autumn but we have found a lovely, cheap place to stay that accommodates all eight of us.

poohbear59

The latest saga in the pooh household.
DS3's car passed it's MOT first time. It had been in storage since last November and last Summer DS1 put an engine into it with the help and support of many people here on MSE. After a quote of over £400 people on here gave him the confidence and support to do it himself. he had help from his friend, brothers and Dad, and I made the tea and sarnies.

DH's car refused to start yesterday: it obviously didn't like us going away and leaving it. When DS3 managed to get it started it was very noisy and had no power. Normally DH phones the local garage who come and collect it, charging £40, and he leaves it with them until it has been repaired. We have had bills in excess of £1400 in the past. This time I persuaded DH to let me phone one of the breakdown companies to which we subscribe. (£40 saved )

DH and I also discussed finances before the car went away and we have decided not to go the whole hog and get the car repaired as it could be a waste of money.

DS3 and I are spending some time going through his folders he has to hand in when he goes back to college in April and interspersing it with searches for affordable 4wd pick ups. Not an easy task. 4wd, pick up and cheap don't go together.

DH missed work yesterday because of lack of transport but he was able to use my car once DS3's passed it's MOT. Mr Pooh has lots of work lined up now so doesn't want to miss it because of a lack of transport. He walked across the fields to work this morning. He only had to go 1.5 miles so not bad in good weather but he had to carry his tools on his back. All this exercise costs more in food!!

I had a phone call from my business bank account provider to tell me I had gone overdrawn. I was very surprised but when I checked my statement I had forgotten one of my business direct debits had been moved from our personal account to the business account. I thought we had some spare cash for extra marketing so I paid to join Cumbria Tourism and to go on the Go Lakes website. The manager was okay about it and offered me a £1000 overdraft. I really don't want to go down that route as it is too tempting to use. My excuse for forgetting about the direct debit is that I was so ill last week. We are awaiting a grant for marketing for leaflets for which we have already paid.

poohbear59

Brilliant news on Mr Pooh's car. DS3 was correct and it was a blockage in the exhaust so the local garage has unblocked it and welded it up. DS3 had been unable to undo the bolts lying on his back under the car yesterday. We still need to find a vehicle soon but have a short reprieve. Phew!

beanielou

Good news on car meantime :j

HappyNow

Just popped across to say that Chev and Fluffies have both recommended something called Turbolister to speed up Ebay listings, and you find it on the Ebay site. I can't comment on it personally because even though I keep talking about Ebaying I have yet to visit the website!

Good news about both the cars, and a reprieve on Mr Pooh's is always handy. We used to own a Toyota Hilux 4wd pickup about twenty years ago. It was bright red and looked like a fire engine. Mr Happy loved that pickup more than any other car he has ever owned .

Hope you didn't get charged for going overdrawn. That's the problem with complicated finances, it's so hard to keep track of everything, especially if illness makes you take your eye off the ball.