How much do you live on per month?

kerri_gt

you could also suggest for the birthday thing that instead of all going to lunch and a present, that you all go out to lunch together and treat the person who's b'day it is to lunch?

Lucy1010

kerri_gt wrote: »

you could also suggest for the birthday thing that instead of all going to lunch and a present, that you all go out to lunch together and treat the person who's b'day it is to lunch?

Hi Kerri, I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your contributions!! Thank you xx

To the other lovely people thank you too x

Also to Catriona, thanks and great idea re: vouchers etc so will def do that for my birthday, start a precedence and all that

I am really excited about April budget... I know exactly where every single penny is going, I have read lots of other threads and have picked up so many good tips! I now have a BILLS pot which I will pay monthly into aswell as my EMERGENCY pot and my Monthly budget pot.... everything else is either a DD or snowballing towards my debt.

(All this is done online by the way, I don't keep cash in the house)

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi Lucy

Things sound like they are going great for you, I am really pleased. I have had a rubbish week money wise so havent been on here. The van OH uses for his business went in for its MOT on Monday. That was fine because I had saved up £300 which I thought would be enough for any work that needed doing.

Then the garage rang up and said that they had bad news. Apparently the van has rotted underneath near the back suspension and isnt worth repairing. It has only done 60k miles and hasnt a speck of rust anywhere else. We hadnt a clue.

Buying a van is totally different from buying a car, its really hard to find second hand ones that are decent. We went to look at one for £3k and it was a heap of junk so ended up spending nearly £5k on one. We know we can pay this back but its completely knocked my plans for paying off the debts.

Even worse the garage have advised OH not to drive the van - its that bad - so he cant work until the new one is ready.

Still trying to get my head around all this.:(

caledonian_princess

Lucy, it's good to see you sounding so positive, especially as I've been following this thread all along and can see how your mood has lifted. I too am relatively newly single with debts left from the relationship. As soon I was fully responsible for my own life and my finances again I just got down to sorting out the debts. It's not unmanageable (as long as I'm working obviously) and no doubt I could drift along as we were for a few more years but I took a good long look at myself after the break up and decided to get the debts cleared and stay single for a while while I got my act together. I'm perfectly content with my new life and looking forward to having nothing but the mortgage left to pay off, it would be fair to say that I'm now happier than I have been for years even though I'm both single and skint!

Lucy1010

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Hi Lucy

Things sound like they are going great for you, I am really pleased. I have had a rubbish week money wise so havent been on here. The van OH uses for his business went in for its MOT on Monday. That was fine because I had saved up £300 which I thought would be enough for any work that needed doing.

Then the garage rang up and said that they had bad news. Apparently the van has rotted underneath near the back suspension and isnt worth repairing. It has only done 60k miles and hasnt a speck of rust anywhere else. We hadnt a clue.

Buying a van is totally different from buying a car, its really hard to find second hand ones that are decent. We went to look at one for £3k and it was a heap of junk so ended up spending nearly £5k on one. We know we can pay this back but its completely knocked my plans for paying off the debts.

Even worse the garage have advised OH not to drive the van - its that bad - so he cant work until the new one is ready.

Still trying to get my head around all this.:(

Oh No! YL that's bad I am sorry this has happened... just goes to show we can plan, plan and plan but we cannot foresee the future. These things happen so don't get too upset about it. Thanks for sharing x

caledonian_princess wrote: »

Lucy, it's good to see you sounding so positive, especially as I've been following this thread all along and can see how your mood has lifted. I too am relatively newly single with debts left from the relationship. As soon I was fully responsible for my own life and my finances again I just got down to sorting out the debts. It's not unmanageable (as long as I'm working obviously) and no doubt I could drift along as we were for a few more years but I took a good long look at myself after the break up and decided to get the debts cleared and stay single for a while while I got my act together. I'm perfectly content with my new life and looking forward to having nothing but the mortgage left to pay off, it would be fair to say that I'm now happier than I have been for years even though I'm both single and skint!

Hi CP, your post makes me even more happy to be single and in control! Thanks princess, life does feel rather exciting at the moment... everyday is a new opportunity! x

kerri_gt

Thanks Lucy - sometimes after posting my whitterings I look out the front door to see if the men in white coats are coming to drag me off :rotfl::rotfl:

So sorry to hear about your carp week Yorkshirelass, things like that are always a pain in the ***, esp when you're debt-busting. However, sometimes you need to (try) to look at the silver lining, that the garage spotted the rot and OH wasn't driving when the suspension or something gave way. Its unfortunate that we tend to forget about under our cars/vans and the battering they get, esp with the harsh winters recently and all that salt on the roads. £5k is a lot but at least you are able to afford it, and it means that OH can work still.

Whooo! it's the weekend!! :j

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks all, yeah hubby was carrying quite a lot of gravel around for a job he was doing for a customer a couple of weeks ago. Doesnt bear thinking about!

We are hoping that we might get 4 years out of the new van. We are also hoping that our car lasts another 3 so this should give us a bit of breathing space before any more major expenditure.

Went into the newsagents to buy some stamps today and the lady in front was spending £15 on lottery tickets. OK she might have been buying them for a syndicate or something but it really made me think about how I have changed my attitude to money. It seemed such a lot of money to spend on lottery tickets.

On a totally different subject I am lucky to have my OH on board with the debt busting. I hate it when you hear stories on here about people in debt who cant tell their partner - or where one partner is trying to pay off the debts and the other isnt playing along. At least if you are single you have complete control over the finances!

Right, waffling done, off to make some curry for tea!

ani_26

Hi guys . Sorry to hear about the van YL x I had an unexpected bill on my car on monday,too, which has meant yet another no spend week, after the £10 i spent at the weekend, its just been 55p for a pint of milk, as ever Its just as well, i received some pay on monday, otherwise..........


Glad to hear you are feeling more positive, Lucy x

taj

Having gone from overspending £200-£400 per month wasting money, too actually saving £200 this month is such a sense of achievement and to record in my financial diary another NSD gives me a high too. This happened when i had a LBM and realised my saving had dwindled so badly i was in trouble and was going to be living on beans on toast, if i was lucky. This has only happened because of the posts i read on all of the threads on MSE that i've read gathering massive inspirations from people like you. Thank you for sharing.

poddle911

Hi Lucy
Great thread, it's been fascinating to follow and well done on making such progress in a short time
I love being a non-smoker too! Now if only I could cure my car from its petrol addiction...
Pod x