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

poohbear59

turfy6 wrote: »

Just read your diary mrs pooh sounds very familiar to my own life atm. Vehicle problems and just surviving with no treats. Youre doing brilliantly and sounds like your home will be so cosy this winter. We have managed two years with no oil boiler and just the woodburner but this year hopefully we will afford some oil! Keep plodding I have subscribed to your diary.

Hi turfy, thanks for joining me on my long journey.
We have definitely decided to do without the oil as the boiler doesn't work. I had the oil tank emptied last week expecting to have around 300litres and the guy said it was empty except a small mixture of oil and water. Seems someone has had the top off. I was really hoping for some cashback on the oil. If it was stolen it was too small a quantity to bother with. Now we will have to pay to dispose of the oil water mix :mad:
The wood store will go where the oil tank is at present. Thinking that I could maybe sell the tank on ebay. maybe after the holiday.

I am in the office/store room today and have my heated airer on to dry the washing but it is keeping me toasty warm.

poohbear59

Yesterday I tracked down two old loans where I paid PPI so have written the letters asking for a refund. They were both around 1999-2000 so it is probably a long shot. Just need to get Mr Pooh to sign them and post when I am out today.

Our holiday is courtesy of a very generous friend who has booked a cottage and invited us to join him. He loves to cook for us too and we need to take nothing with us. What I have done is order a box of wine from Virgin.
I discovered that I was still paing £10 a month to Wine bank and had £120 in wine bank account. It can't be used for anything else so I ordered a box of 15 bottles. We will take some with us as our contribution to the holiday and then some more to my cousin who we are also going to stay with.

I must cancel the £10 but I don't know how it is being paid. It isn't a DD or SO but is coming out of our current account. If I cancel today then I will have saved £110 coming out of our account monthly.

turfy6

Thats a good saving re the wine account. You could probably store some up for crimbo too. Think you would be able to sell the oil tank there is always plenty of call for them around this time of year too. Good luck with the PPI too wish I had some to claim back but looking at it I think we claimed it back at the start of the loan. Off to do some more shredding in the office then put DS1's clean bedding on for when he gets back, no doubt the only thing he'll want is his bed :rotfl:

poohbear59

We were home from our holiday on Sunday but DS3 has comandeered my laptop.

Mr P has been paid at last! And he has one day at work this week. Even one day is good and we are thankful for it.

I have left the wine account running turfy. We would like help towards wine at Chms.

Today I am going to get out all the Winter curtains and ask DS3 to hang them for me. I have a steam cleaner which I can run over them once they are hanging to save ironing them. we used to change them in the October week holiday but we feel the need for them now.

Mr P shocked me yesterday as he had put the two storage heaters we have on the day before. We are paying off an electricity debt at £120 a month and can't afford to acrue more costs. The last bill was estimated and we had used more then the estimate again! I am annoying DSs as I go around turning everything off that isn't being used.
Mr P says my health is more important than money. AND he had them both on highest setting as he says they need to be on high for two nights as they haven't been used for years.

I have also lost the accounts from my laptop. I know they were saved as I opened them up to look at them before we went away. All I can find is accounts that had been added to up to July but we added a lot to them in August

poohbear59

Yesterday I had a bit of a meltdown. I started the day so positive but DS3 had a major wobbly and at 22 that can be quite disturbing. he has apologised but I am still a bit shaky. Adding that experience to losing all the recent data that I had added to our accounts for last year just about finished me off.

DSIL came round and managed to calm down DS3 and enable him to think more positively about himself. Still suffering from the actions of one man who he worked with for 4 1/2 months. It is terrible what one person can do. He is a lot more positive today and we will startt his revision for his oral on Monday.
DSIL also found my missing accounts which I had searched my laptop for night and day for two days. I have a business data back up for which I pay £3.30 a month. In my panic I forgot about it. DSIL found it and retrieved the data.
He made me promise to buy a data stick so I ordered one from Viking last night.

Today I have spent a little time going through the accounts to make sure it is all there and ready for the accountant. And I am going to have a rest this afternoon at DD and DSILs with my GDD. More big grins from me.

DH has no work today so he is working with DS3: they are still insulating the hall and will need to do the odd shaped loft too.

I put bubble wrap on the bathroom window and could feel the difference straight away. I highly recommend it. DS3 said that if I hadn't mentioned it he wouldn't have noticed as the window has a bubble pattern on it already.

beanielou

Sorry that your DS had a meltdown.
We worry about them just as much as young people than we did as children dont we?
Glad he seems more like himself now.
Please take care of you.

poohbear59

I think I overdid things last week. Now I have a stinking cold and chesty cough

A bonus is that I have been given my laptop back and can do a bit of research about the new Green deal. It may be a way for us to heat our house on a low budget.

I spent almost £100 with approved foods this weekend and DS3 went and bought some tins from Aldi so we have a well stocked store for the Winter. I just need to do a freezer inventory and stock up on frozen vegetables and fruit then we should be okay if we are snowed in again.
Just had another email from the bank to say not enough in the personal account to pay a dd. ******!!! I just forgot to transfer the money over.

turfy6

Hope you are feeling better now P horrible colds at this time of the year.

poohbear59

I think I am back to strength turfy, whatever that is, and today will be writing the new menu plan. We didn't have one last week but seem to have survived without spending too much.

On Friday we went to the cash and carry and bought huge bags of frozen vegetables. I checked the prices against A1di and Mr T's and they were cheaper. We do need to stock up on meat and fish and veggie things to be ready for being snowed in. I am going to try negotiating a discount with our local butcher and if he still won't budge on prices for large orders I will go elsewhere.

At the moment we are managing to pay all our loan and credit card payments again. Some of the credit cards are getting a bit more than the minimum payment but the loans are staying at the initial agreed rate. When I phoned to pay the mortgage by debit card they asked me how much I wanted to pay. I was tempted to pay less to give us a bit of a breather but after an initial fleeting thought paid up the normal monthly amount.

I think the credit cards now owe more than my signature says as we put car repair bills and other necessities on them.

This month I am going to rejoin the grocery challenge and also get back on track with NSDs.

Today's dinner will be Irish stew. It is one of my favourite meals. I will need to get some carrots and swede. Will see what my neighbours have in their gardens to give away.

turfy6

Im the same with the loan, i do try to make even a small overpayment but sometimes you just cant manage it. I think as long as were not adding to the debt then at least were going in the right direction, Im holding on to that thought.:T