5 year plan for debt and mortgage freedom

Deeperblue

Mar 8

Thanks Rachel, I'm really chuffed to bits we're doing so well.


The problem is going to be next month I think. The first week in April OH, LO and I are going on holiday with my parents down to Devon for a week. Parents pay for the house we're staying in and in return we pay for the food for the week. Overall it'll probably cost £80 in petrol, £150 in food and drink (like to eat well while we're away!) and £100 for entertainment, so £230 total. I guess not bad for a week away but it'll have to come out of our overpayments..... unless we get paid for the computer by then, and then that way the money can go towards the holiday

Going to be an interesting few days for us over the next week... hubby should hear either today or tomorrow if the new company he's set up with some friends have won a big contract that would bring them in £21K +. Plus, I've got a meeting with the big bosses tomorrow to decide if I can move up in my training and get a pay raise along with it. I'm a bit nervous! _pale_ If they are happy though it'll mean an extra £200 or so a month, maybe more, so fingers crossed.

Knitting is helping me relax and the cardigan is going pretty well Thanks to Soarsie I now have the little set of holes for the ribbon tie and I'm half way through knitting the arms :T It's actually starting to look like something that may be wearable one day :rotfl:


Things I really must do this week:
1) Ask about London expenses!
2) List some more things on Ebay... got to make £50 this month if possible.
3) Find cheap coal: We've about burnt through all the wood we bought in Jan and I want to try burning coal instead to see if it works out any cheaper.
4) Buy nappies. Pretty much all out and running out of nappies IS NOT AN OPTION.

Speak to you soon.
X

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Mar 9

Well, good news and bad news.

Bad news is the bosses at my meeting today have said they need a written reference from my immediate boss (I think I mentioned before that he balls-ed up organising our meeting to get it done) :mad: But that I can start my new job in April and they'll just review the reference when it's ready :j

Good news is OH got that company contract :T So we should get some money in from that in the next 3-4 months time. Plus I got paid for my over time today, £146 which will help me get out of my over draft.

Yesterday we had a little 'celebration' take-away of fish and chips, beers and chocolate But I figured it was a special occasion and worth the £15.

Going to go buy nappies this afternoon before I pick LO up from nursery but still got to work on the other things from my list.

Hope your all doing well.

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Mar 9 cont.

I'm going to have a little rant... as is my prerogative

So, I'm watching 'Location, Location, Location' and I'm wondering "what the hell job do these people do that they can afford a £400K house when they look younger than me?!"

I like to think OH and I bring in a pretty good income between us, over £3K a month, and yet we had to stretch to get a £150K house (a little 2 bed terrace) even during the housing boom when I was working full time!

Even if I saved every penny I've earned since starting work I couldn't afford a £400K house. They must be the ULTIMATE MSEs!

Bitterly yours,

~ D.B. ~

rachelww1

I was watching the end of escape to the country, and they were looking at £750k houses :eek:. And don't worry, we bring home about the same as you, and we could only afford to part rent, part buy.

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Hi DB, new to your diary, have one myself. Just wanted to say how inspiring your food cooking is and thank you for highlighting the fact that Asda do cheap phones. Have been in desparate need of one having relied on my mob for the last few weeks and just been waiting to have the dosh to pay for it. However, got one yesterday at Asda for a fiver. BT website to get one you need at least £20/30 and I just hadn't thought to check the supermarkets. Can be a bit dense at times!!!!. My kettle and iron are from tescos , again really cheap, the iron was less than a fiver and they both are just as good as my more expensive models before. So, thanks and well done with everything so far. Take care P&F

debtfreewannabe321

HI DB, congrats on your new job :j:T:j
And to Hubby on his contract :j:T:j

All sounds like everything is going to plan ..as for location location location, i think they must be either in credit up to their eyeballs, have super rich parents or drug dealers ( I always see them driving round on the t.v in BMW's suped up lol) :cool:

DFW

Deeperblue

Mar 12

Hi Positive :wave: I'm glad I've helped! I hadn't thought about ASDA either until I glimpsed the electrical isle and thought....'hmmm... I wonder...'

Thanks DFW! :dance: I'm well chuffed! I just need to start seeing some of this extra money actually coming in now, but hubby assures me he'll get some pay from his second job this month.

To be fair to him he is working very hard at the moment to bring in extra cash and I do feel a bit bad that he's not allowed to splash out on a few new things as a reward (he wants a new telly). I think what I'll do is set a goal of... say... halving our original debt... and if we can do this by Christmas then we can treat ourselves to a new telly. I know I'll have a hard time parting with the money though as there is -nothing- wrong with our current one other than it's smaller than his friends *rolls eyes*.

In the mean time I've let him go out with some friends tonight to get a pizza, so hopefully that'll pacify him for a bit


We went food shopping today and somehow I managed to spend £32 on not really very much :doh:Have you ever had one of those moments when you've got your shopping through the till and checkout lady says 'That'll be xxx pounds please' and you think 'What the...?!... there's no way that lot could add up to that!'.

I went to Tesco's for a change as mum couldn't come with me to steal her discount and Tesco's is nearer... so I'm not sure if it's just generally more expensive there for the things I buy :think: I didn't think so but I'll do their comparison thing later.

One thing that I've decided to 'up-a-brand' on is tuna. I use quite a lot in pasta bakes and fish cakes and it's generally on offer, so not too expensive, but after watching that series of fish programs that was on recently I've decided I'm only going to buy pole or line caught stuff. Sadly... more expensive, but makes me feel better

Other spends this week include some vests for LO from Tescos for £5 and a childrens toilet seat for £4.50 off Amazon :T I don't think she's ready to come out of nappies yet but I want to be ready for when she is. Can't wait. It'll save me a fortune in nappies :rotfl: Oh, speaking of which, I had to get some more yesterday but the Co-op down the road has Pampers at half price :T

Knitting: Not done much these past couple of days but since OH is out tonight I'm going to crack-on and try to finish the back.

Baby making: No AF yet this month :undecided My cycles are usually pretty long and vary from 31-38 days so I guess it's not due quite yet (with Feb being a short month) but I need it to hurry up so we can properly get down to baby making business!

Take care everyone! Happy money saving!
xxx

~ D.B. ~

katali_d

Hi DB,

I just decided I didn't care when I might be fertile and get on with the baby making just in case makes us both feel better at least

I only shop at T3sco, but I try and do my shop online at mysuperm4rk3t to check whether I am actually getting prices. So far, I always have been. I think it depends what you buy tho, 4sd4 nearly managed to be cheaper last week, until a couple of items put them over!

Did you ever consider using non-disposable nappies for your LO? I hear they're supposed to be cheaper over the long term, but more expensive to start with.

Hope your knitting goes well this evening.:)

Deeperblue

Mar 13

Hey Katali, Yeah, I used reusable nappies for LO for the first 3 months or so but once she grew out of the first size we just couldn't afford to get another set in the next size up. If we do re-useables with next LO I'll get a type that you can adjust as LO gets older... or I'll just suck it up and use flannel squares which are much more fiddly but much cheaper.

AF came today :T So we can get on with proper baby making now


Other good news is OH sold a book on Amazon today for £24

Have a good weekend everyone.
X

~ D.B. ~

Deeperblue

Mar 13

Been playing with the snowball calculator today :j This thing is sooooo much fun to sad-o's like me

I've decided it makes sense to pay off the overdrafts and credit cards first, then concentrate on the mortgage (as that will be the highest interest at 4.5% odd) and just pay minimum payments to my NatWest loan as it's only 0.5% above the base rate and will more than likely always be at a lower rate than the mortgage.

When the credit cards are paid off all our regular spare income will go towards the mortgage and any extra from overtime will go towards the parents loan.

Snowball tells me that with how my debts stand now and over paying by £1000 every month I have a debt free date (for over drafts and cards) of March 2012.

Pfft.... not good enough I'm afraid...

If I up it to £1300 it's December this year.

Much better... but it does mean I'm going to have to start working harder to be free of the main debts by christmas :cool:

Here's to finally seeing some of hubbies overtime money coming in :beer:

X

~ D.B. ~