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

poohbear59

Happy, I am feeling a lot more positive today, thank you. Yesterday was a bit grim here.

I have had another idea to save money, I asked DH to stop buying wine for me to drink as I am trying to lose weight. He just pours one out and I drink it. he wouldn't stop on financial grounds so maybe he will for my health. I need more will power too.

Have you tried the printable vouchers board? I use it quite a lot now. It is a help but only if you would normally buy the products. When I first started I did surveys, and competitions but haven't for a while because of concentrating on the business. I will have a look at them again.

I have never been very good on ebay. I can buy bargains but when I sell I never seem to make anything. Maybe I should relist some of the things I have here which are unwanted. Last month I sold some gold and used it to pay for food. It was rubbishy bits that were broken or odd like earings. I got £107.It might be worth looking for odd bits to sell.

The holiday let isn't fully booked but we already have 16 weeks booked for this coming year which is great as it is still January so I feel quite positive about it. We only started last May. I have 1000 leaflets to distribute to Tourist information offices. The problem with that id that it uses a lot of petrol. I will look into posting some and get family members to distribute some for me.

One of my problems ATM is I start something, get distracted and don't finish so I am going to make sure I list and stick to lists.

HappyNow

Yes, I agree about the wine. Lovely but expensive. I stocked up a few months ago when Tesco had their glitch and it worked out at about £2.30 a bottle, but we've come to the end of that now so I'm going to try to do without for a while. I really don't have a choice at least until payday!

I will check out the printable vouchers board and see if I have any old broken jewellry - thanks for the tip.

Yes, 16 weeks does sound good for January. And I would imagine the first year is the hardest, but that you might then start getting repeat bookings and word-of-mouth recommendations.

Well done on your first NSD by the way!

poohbear59

Happy, I have found the board for discounts in small hotels and guest houses. There are some self catering cottages listed too. Just to make sure I am not breaking any rules I have asked the board guide for help. I would never have known if you hadn't suggested it. As far as I knew there were strict rules about not promoting your own business. I have been a member a long time and have learnt something else new.

HappyNow

Fingers crossed the board guide approves it, but your situation looks like exactly the reason the thread was created.

I'm surprised it isn't used more, it looks like a great way for people such as yourself to promote their small business.

Good luck with it x

poohbear59

I have had 2NSDs and today went grocery shopping, with my list. I spent a bit more than expected as I had DS1 with me and he put some extras in the trolley.

The major change we have made is that I have given DH 'spends' for the week so that he doesn't overspend. It is no point me being really careful if he spends the same as usual. Hopefully we will have the garage bill paid off next. We paid £360 off it today I am sure I will sleep better at night.

HappyNow

Well done on making the payment. That's a massive garage bill, is it really over £63K or have you misplaced a decimal point? Anyway, it's coming down which is the main thing.

Good idea to give DH spending money. I can't complain really about Mr Happy's spending. He has a very expensive hobby, but day-to-day spending is virtually nil. I keep seeing the odd £1.89 iTunes spend appearing on our bank statement, but that's all.

Have a good weekend x

poohbear59

Garage bill was £482 It has somehow merged into the £63000 total. Ooops! The bill we are paying is from 2009/10. We haven't received last year’s yet. the garages around here are very slow in issuing invoices.

poohbear59

Having a set amount to spend has already made a big impact on DH. He is careful with his spending now, though I don't want to count my chickens before they are hatched.
We had a talk about living beyond our means and he agrees now to get back on track and pay off some debts before we spend on anything other than necessities and our 'allowance'.

Our debt free journey began in 2010. We then did without holidays, new clothes and going out. We lived on virtually nothing and had 6 adults in the house for almost two years. While we were spending on the cottage we continued to spend nothing on ourselves.

The day the cottage was finished was the day we breathed a sigh of relief and I think we both then went back to the way we were in 2004 when we were both working: we had a lot of debt, but it was manageable and we didn't need to count every penny. Since the cottage was complete, and let, we have been in a honeymoon state, spending with less care than before May. We have kept our heads above water financially but in reality we had less to live on than we were spending.

My new light bulb moment, last month, made me really sit down and look carefully at our situation. We had let our financial 'carefulness' slide and it meant that I was having sleepless nights worrying about how bills were going to be paid. I truly believe that by being careful with our money now, we can have a better quality of life in the future. The party and the celebrations are over for now.

We have the opportunity, God willing, to be comfortable in our retirement and as we have both worked hard for it I believe we deserve it. The next seven years are going to be interesting

HappyNow

poohbear59 wrote: »

Having a set amount to spend has already made a big impact on DH. He is careful with his spending now, though I don't want to count my chickens before they are hatched.
We had a talk about living beyond our means and he agrees now to get back on track and pay off some debts before we spend on anything other than necessities and our 'allowance'.

Our debt free journey began in 200. We then did without holidays, new clothes and going out. We lived on virtually nothing and had 6 adults in the house for almost two years. While we were spending on the cottage we continued to spend nothing on ourselves.

The day the cottage was finished was the day we breathed a sigh of relief and I think we both then went back to the way we were in 2004 when we were both working: we had a lot of debt, but it was manageable and we didn't need to count every penny. Since the cottage was complete, and let, we have been in a honeymoon state, spending with less care than before May. We have kept our heads above water financially but in reality we had less to live on than we were spending.

My new light bulb moment, last month, made me really sit down and look carefully at our situation. We had let our financial 'carefulness' slide and it meant that I was having sleepless nights worrying about how bills were going to be paid. I truly believe that by being careful with our money now, we can have a better quality of life in the future. The party and the celebrations are over for now.

We have the opportunity, God willing, to be comfortable in our retirement and as we have both worked hard for it I believe we deserve it. The next seven years are going to be interesting

That's a really interesting story, thanks for sharing. Similar to my own in lots of ways. Back-stories are interesting to read and quite 'cleansing' to write down I think. Does DH know about your diary on here? Mr Happy doesn't, obviously. I always make sure I log out when I leave this site.

I empathise with the sleepless nights - I had started to have lots of them. Actually I'd had them for years because I knew deep down we had a problem, but then I'd transfer debt to a 0% card, or get a new electricity supplier, and convince myself that I'd sorted it! I hadn't, of course, because we still continued to spend more than we earned. The sleeplessness and general worry are much less now that I've confronted the problems and have a plan! I hope yours are too.

I agree that the future is bright and you deserve it to be bright - you've worked for it and are still working for it And hopefully the next few years will be challenging but fun. I don't know about you, but I'm actually getting a lot of satisfaction from living frugally and trying to overcome all the many setbacks that keep flying up at me!

poohbear59

I think it has helped me to actually write it all down. Quite cleansing as you say. DH doesn't know about my diary and I am not going to tell him. Maybe some time but not just yet.

It has taken me years to share my worries with him. because he has suffered from depression, sometimes very badly, I have been afraid to share with him. Last night I told him exactly how much we owe. He hasn't said anything, just looked a bit shocked.

I am enjoying dealing with each challenge too and being frugal can be fun. DH seems to be enjoying planning his spending carefully too. He went to the pub for one pint yesterday.

Strangely enough I am sleeping a bit better. Despite having less money coming in now than my SOA shows, the fact that the worry has been shared, and I have a plan, of sorts, in mind has made life a lot easier.

I have done the same as you for years. Money has been moved from 0% card to card and I have been pleased with making savings on house insurance etc. but the big problem and the worry wasn't going away.