5 year plan for debt and mortgage freedom

Deeperblue

Feb 4

Hey Naomi :wave:

Nice to hear from you. It makes me feel like I'm not just some weirdo talking to myself if I think this stuff is getting read by someone else at some point :rotfl:

It sounds like there are a few of us around who have pain-in-the-bum husbands who have yet to have their light bulb moment, and it definitely makes it a struggle!

Having 10 months maternity leave made it difficult for us too since all the bills at that point had to come out of OHs pay, which was never going to happen. Theres the little problem that I'm getting broody again now and we may have to see where we are with our debts in 4-6 months time and if we can afford another.

Wow, I do wonder how you manage to cook for your family! You must be mega organised or spend all day in your kitchen. Do you have to cook all separate meals or do you have 2 or 3 select meals that everyone will eat? I know what you mean about needing the stomach of a concrete elephant... I feel bad throwing any food away now, so I feel compelled to eat whatever LO leaves



Going shopping when LO wakes up from her nap so will post what I got on here tonight.

Spend:
£4.90 bus fair yesterday
£1.50 parking at the big park in town (I hate paying for parking).

~ D.B ~

Deeperblue

Feb 4 cont.

Food spend for week 1 (Jan 30th - Feb 5th): £33.66
£8.66 over budget but I do have 4 meals leftover in the freezer and I haven't used the chicken yet .

Have done my weekly shop today:

Rice Krispies 510g................£2.00
Frozen Brocolli ~500g...........£0.76p
2x Croissants.......................£0.50p (reduced from £1)
Elmlea 10fl oz......................£0.65p
Asda yoghurts x12................£1.88
5 x Bananas........................£0.83p (organic, reduced from £1 something)
Onions 2kg..........................£1.18
8x Tortillas..........................£1.00
7x Plums............................ £1.00
Chedder 400g.......................£2.00 (reduced from £3 something)
Beef roasting joint 1.865kg.....£8.35 (reduced from £11 something)
Potatoes 5kg........................£2.00
2x Jacket potatoes................£1.08
Bread.................................£1.05
Parsnips 500g......................£0.65p
Pearl Barley 500g.................£0.33p

Total after 10% discount - £23.18

In the larder:

1 to 2 tins of mixed beans
4 or 5 tins of tomatoes
1kg or so of spaghetti
500g or so of penne pasta
1kg odd of carrots
750g frozen peas
250g frozen leaks
4 tins of tuna
2 sweet peppers
1/2 a tub of marge.
Little wedge of cheese
Lots of herbs and spices
Stock cubes
500g of Pearl Barley
2.5kg of potatoes
Approx. 400g of Chicken legs
Loads of rice

Think I've got other bits and pieces in the freezer too.

So, on the menu this week will be:

2 x Mexican lasagne - 8 meals (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mexican_lasagne_15364)
Beef goulash - 5 meals (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beefgoulash_10656)
Rachelww1's curry made with beef - 5 meals (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2991258) post #47
Tuna fish cakes - 6 meals
Beef stew - 5 meals

~ D.B.~

Deeperblue

Feb 5

Made the beef curry last night in the slow cooker. I decided to add carrots and lentils to make it go further but I think I may have over done it since it's made about 10 meals :rotfl: I don't think I could really call it beef curry any more though, more like a veggie curry with beef. Left a few things out from rachelww1's recipe that I didn't have and made substitutions. Used cornflour to thicken as stuff doesn't seem to reduce in the slow cooker.

Diced Beef ~500g (from the joint I brought).........~£2.50
Red Lentils 110g.................................................£0.25p
2 veggie stock cubes...........................................£0.20p
2x tsp Turmeric..................................................£0.10p
2x tsp Fenugreek (sp?)........................................£0.10p
3x tbsp Curry powder..........................................£0.50p
10 fl oz Elmlea...................................................£0.65p
Onion ~80g........................................................£0.20p
3 Carrots...........................................................£0.20p
3 Potatoes.........................................................£0.20p
2x tinned tomatoes.............................................£0.62p
Some Cornflour to thicken....................................£0.10p

Total - ~£5.62 + 90p for rice with each meal = 65p/meal

I've had a little taste and it's fab.

Going to keep 4 meals out for today and tomorrow, freeze a 4 meal container for later in the week and a 2 meal container for week 4.

~ D.B. ~

rachelww1

Sounds yummy . I've never made a beef curry before, may have to try that one soon. We're having a roast beef in 2 weeks time, I presume I could use leftovers if I just put them in near the end ?

Going to have to do my cooking for the week tomorrow, been having a very lazy day today

Deeperblue

Feb 5 cont.

Hi Rachelww1, We had the curry for tea today and it was yummy! :T Husband complained he couldn't find any meat in his portion though :rotfl: Oh the joys of being poor.

I've listed most of the jewellery I dug out on ebay now (it took me ages!) and I've got a few items ending tonight which look to be bringing me in about £15. Waiting for a free listing day to put on my big items. I've got some jewellery with garnets in and a little bit of gold stuff that I'm not sure weather it'd be better to ask a jeweller what they think first. I just don't want to get laughed at for thinking a jeweller would be interested if it's just rubbish! I'm not working next Wednesday so I'll suck it up and go into town then to ask.

Can't wait till carboot season kicks off again in 3-4 months as I've got loads of toys I'd like to see the back of and don't think I'd get much on ebay.

It's my little girls birthday at the end of this month but I already brought her present back in October of last year (:eek:) and since we're only having a little party for family around mums house she's agreed to do the 'catering' (sausage rolls etc ). I've got to sort the cake out but I've got a great idea of how to make my own awesome cake I'll post a picture when I'm done.

I figure now is as good a time as any to post how all my bank accounts/CCs/Loans are looking:

Financial state as of.......01-01-11:...Current:
HSBC OD...........................1650.............705.69
Santandar OD.....................2000...........1796.96
Natwest Loan......................7900...........7661.88
Santandar CC......................4020...........3988.00
Virgin CC............................4230...........4210.11
Parents Loan.......................4000...........4000.00
HSBC CC............................140..................0....
Natwest OD........................0................1432.50

Totals...............................£23,940.00....£23,795.14

Well that pleasantly surprises me. The fact that OH landed £1200 of extra debt on me in the form of unpaid tax and I'm still doing better than I was last month. :T The figures take into account all predicted spending and direct debits for the rest of the month, so presumes I don't go a penny over budget or make any extra. I do still have LO's birthday cake to sort though and valentines day, but they could come out of ebay money.

Spends:
Milk £1.38
Packing stuff for ebay £4.20
Chomp bar for LO 17p

I hope anyone who takes the time to read my drivel is having a good weekend Carry on debt busting!

~ D.B. ~

never_too_old

Good morning
i have subscribed to your diary for a few weeks now and read your entries every time i get an email alert.Just wanted to say how brave you are for putting it all in writing for all to see.I have put a few things in my sig.
i find it reasuring that other people have made the same mistakes as we have (no disrespect meant) my dh isnt exactly helpful in paying of the debts,i dont mean in the sense of not earning, but he moans about all i do to try and cut back,and says whats the point so it can be disheartning.
but if things carrry on we would be even worse state than what we are .

good luck with your quest and i look forward to seeing those figures go down

debtfreewannabe321

Hi DB,

:wave: i found you again :j I think when i last popped by i didn't know how to subscribe to a thread :rotfl: have subscribed now

I am still in awe of you doing your food shop for so little! I have joined the grocery challenge this month, but i am ashamed to say before budgeting days i would easily spend £400 in a month on food my new budget is £250 and i am determined to get it down even more, but like you said you did, over the course of a few months.

I just wish i could cook as well as all of you! I am a terrible cook, I think i may have to make better use of my slow cooker, that way things won't burn :P i hope not anyway haha

I like your idea of putting 3 things a night onto ebay, it always seems such a task to me so perhaps i should take a leaf out of your book and just try a few items a night

Now that i have found you again i'll pop by and say hi :T and see how your debt busting is getting along

DFW x

Deeperblue

Feb 6

:wave: Hello I.m.hart.,
I pleased there are people who find this diary useful. I think there is so much stigma regarding debt that people often find it difficult to talk to friends and family about it, so hearing from people on here may be the only opportunity some get to find advice or just reassurance that it's 'not just me'. If anything I write here is useful to someone then I feel like I've given a bit back to this community that has really helped me get some perspective and control over my finances.

It doesn't sound like many of us have very supportive spouses :rotfl: My OH claims that 'it's like we're living in the 1800's' when I've got the wood burner on and the radio instead of the TV to save electricity . He sometimes has really moody times when he complains some people at work spend more in a day on their lunch/coffee/chocolate/drinks than he gets for pocket money in a week. Really makes me feel like the bad guy, and that I'm some how treating him badly because I'm a nasty evil woman who wont let him spend the money he works hard for. I just have to be thick skinned and think it's only for a year and then things will be better. :cool:

DFW,
Threads get lost so easily don't they, since there are so many people on here! I'm subscribed to yours, rachelww1's, walby1993's diaries and a couple of challenges and it takes me ages to read through them all but it's really motivating

I sometimes think £110 is too stringent, but having it low always keeps me looking for bargains and ways to save money .

I don't cook well! Like I've said before, I only do a recipe if it involves nothing more complicated than chopping things and sticking them all in a pot. I keep thinking I'll try pastry one day though.

I've not listed anything on ebay for a couple of days since everything is ending soon and I need time to pack everything up. I agree though, it takes flipping ages doesn't it?!




Today it's been like the great British cook-off in our kitchen OH and LO made cheese scones. I've made:

Fish Cakes: Made 20 fish cakes (10 meals)
2x tins of tuna - £1.50
~1.5kg Potatoes - 75p
~150g Sweetcorn - 20p
1/2 red sweet pepper - 20p
1 egg - 15p
Dill, pepper, salt - 30p
Flour to coat - 10p
Oil - 20p

Total - £3.40 + £1.00 for beans/rice/couscous/chips/veg with each meal = 44p/meal

I've also got the beef and bean goulash in the slow cooker which I'll leave on over tonight on the economy 7 and I'll let you know how many meals it makes (I'm hoping 6).

So all the cooking was in the morning so this afternoon OH needed to go for a work meeting so LO and I went into the back garden to do some weeding and sort out the raised beds ready for planting our herbs Was really pleased with myself! I NEVER garden, which is one of the reasons we bought somewhere with such a small one. Having said that it was actually really good fun teaching LO about worms and soil and snails and that none of those are edible :rotfl:. I'm actually debating growing some other stuff if I can find room, so I'll go and check out the 'green' board on here in a bit.

Need to pack up a few more ebay things before I go to bed.

Hope your all well.

By the way, I'm always looking for hints/tips/constructive criticism so if anyone wishes to comment on anything please feel free! :T

~ D.B. ~

skaps

Have subscribed to yr diary and today made the curry from rachelww1's diary. It was lovely and so easy to make.

Good luck and my OH is like that somedays he is all for the ms and other days he hates it. I have these days too but I guess Im better at hiding it and I get really excited when the debt goes down even by 1p!

Im not really a gardener too but last year the OH bought me lots of seeds for xmas and I grew spring onions, tomatoes, lettuce and some herbs. I too have a small garden and I'm waiting till the half term to sort out all the weeding and to get planting.

debtfreewannabe321

HI DB :waves:

You can grow potatoes from old ones that have started to sprout roots already in your cupboard lol. My MIL brought a load over to our garden the year before last and i thought she was bonkers, she planted them in really quite deep with the roots facing upwards and we watered them like crazy! AND we had tonnes and tonnes of potatoes that year!!! I might do it again this year! I too only have a small garden but i have a patio (albeit small too) and might get some big tubs!

I have a slow cooker so am going to have to use it for more than stews and soup! that way things will actually taste nice coming from my kitchen :rotfl: