Time to get sorted!

bugslet

Hi smitk

Probably saying things you have already considered. Is there any chance you could move the horses to a cheaper yard? Are you full livery or DIY?

I'm the same about my 5 dogs, I'd go without so they could have - but they are worth it.

I suppose on the car question it depends on how much you intend to compete. Without knowing what the vehicle is and the trailer, then it's difficult to say. Would the sale of the two take a chunk off your debt? Whilst the larger car may last longer, if it's considerably more expensive to run and cuts down the amount of interest you pay on your debt, then it may be worth getting rid of that. As someone that runs 25 vehicles, I find that no matter what, I can never predict if one will last longer or not, only give it a more reliable rating.

smitk12

Hello Lam2011 and Bugslet - thank you both for replying - it's lovely to hear from other posters.

It is wonderful having horses, but a huge committment and expense. Thanks for your suggestions buglset and already have the horses on the cheapest possible way of keeping them - basically just a field, DIY and no facilities. The actual field rent is not too bad at £12 a week per horse, it's all the other stuff - only one has shoes on but thats £55-£70 every six weeks and the old girl needs a lot of feed which have gone through the roof this year. But you are right, having animals is so wonderful and I wouldn't be without the horses or the cat.

The car thing is silly really. I only competed twice last year because we didn't have much rain down here and the ground was like concrete. Hoping to do more this year. Other than that I only use the big car (L reg Pajero 2.8 short wheel base) at the weekends although it was great in all the snow. Think I might struggle on this year and review next - see how often I use it.

It's always interesting LAM2011 to find other people in a similar situation to my own. I actually own a one-bed flat which, over the years I renewed everything until it was just right. My Mum and Brother owned a 3-bed house round the corner from me. It came to a head when Mum and Bro found themselves in a lot of debt (over £10,000 each), Mum was just about the retire and Bro is on min wage - they couldn't afford to keep up with the house bills. Also Mum needed more care which Bro didn't really want to do.

So, I remortgaged the flat to pay for the house to be altered so that Mum now has her own flat (with her own entrance), Bro moved into my flat and I moved into the house. Needless to say, I took on all the additional costs of the remortgage and house bills and also took over all Mum's finances. We've done really well and she only owes £500 now (gives me hope that it can be done!) Bro never has any money when bills come into the flat so I cover those as well!

On a positive note, Mum paid for drinks last night so another total NSD. Mum coming out for lunch today and my turn to pay so that'll be a tenner and will probably go dancing tonight in Bournemouth so that's be another £7 - but feel I'm keeping a tighter rein on things now.

Sorry for the long post, but there seems so much to explain.

xxx

LAM2011

Yeah I know what you mean so much to say and so little time

They are family though. My mum lives with us. The tenancy is coming to an end at the farm and we are thinking of moving back to the town which will mean horses will go back on DIY (but I will get a school to ride in again and hopefully decent hacking and I would like to get out to some riding club stuff too) but mum will be near doctors, OH son will be near school. Its 40 mins each way on a good day at the moment and on a busy A road. The landlord has access to the yard at the back and is cutting down our grazing to a ridiculous amount for the new lease and keeps changing his mind about what he originally said.

We have our cars on Pru and we only insure the 4x4 for the days we want to use it so if we are wanting to take horses anywhere we phone up day before and insure it for the day ( will have to check what it costs). We would never get rid of trailer or 4x4 as would never be able to replace them in the future like you say everything is so expensive.

Since Jan I have managed a big dent in my debt by selling some old and used tack and bits on ebay, went to a table top sale with rugs and bigger stuff that no longer have a use for, cut back and switched stuff through all the advice on here, joined some paid survey groups, joined Quidco and Cashback - all has made a huge difference which has motivated me to keep going.

At least you and mum are still getting out and having a life and you have each other for support which is great. I am close and get on well with my mum too.

have a good day.

smitk12

Hi LAM2011 - it sounds like the right decision to move back into town - looks like there are a lot of pluses. Will you have to move the horses far away from you?

I don't have access to a school (although I think there is one not too far away to hire) but am very lucky as we can ride straight out onto the New Forest and go for miles. The hacking is incredible.

That's a good idea with insuring the 4x4 - I hadn't thought of that - I might look into it to see if there are any savings to be made. I saw from your past diary that you managed to see alot of your old tack. It's something that I really must do and I also have a loft full of things that could be sold - guess it's finding the time (or procrastinating - one or the other!)

It works well with Mum as we technically don't live together as she has her own front door, bedroom, lounge, bathroom and kitchen. It just means that when she does need more support I'll be within easy reach. I do all her washing for her now and give her rooms a tidy every now again but she's still quite active and capable at the moment.

Not a bad day yesterday financially - lunch with Mum was £7.25 and spend £8.50 out dancing last night. Need to pop to Asda this evening for a few bits but not much as need to use up all the veg in the freezer from the allotment last year.

Bought my seed potatoes last week so need to get those chitting and am going to plant some tomato seed over the weekend.

Happy weekend everyone - good luck debt busting!!

xx

mummychicken

Hi Smitk,
Been noseying in your diary & have a quick question- How do you go about getting an alotment, is it just a case of contacting the local council? I would love one.

smitk12

Hi Mummychicken, if you go on your council's website, there should be a page for allotments which will give you all the info you need. Depends how much detail is on there but my council puts whether there are any plots free or how long the waiting list is, etc. If not then phone your local council office and they'll be able to direct you from there.

I was lucky and got mine 3 years ago before the recent boom in "growing your own". It's a wonderful thing to have, but such hard work. In the summer I was going up every day to keep on top of picking strawberries and raspberries, watering the plot and the weeds never stop growing!! But eating your own fruit and veg is the best.

Another thing it teaches you is how to store and preserve food because there is always so much. It's been interesting finding out what to do with all those courgettes (bought a book in the end with loads of recipes in!). I still have strawberries, raspberries, courgettes (!), runner beans, rhubarb and garlic in the freezer to use up from last year.

Good luck with getting an allotment!

Smitk12

bigloser

Morning Smitk12, just thought I'd pop round to say hello and wish you well with your debt-busting.

I absolutely agree with you that our animals are worth going without for. I'm just working out my budget (a very complicated affair!) and I made the mistake of calculating what they cost me over a year. You sitting down? £2580!! Obviously that's approximate as you can never plan for vet fees etc, but still a shock. And we have our own stables and land at home so there's no cost for that (though there's the purchase of an extra stable block hidden somewhere in my credit card debts.....!). That includes the running costs of ten animals, but only three of them are horses. On the plus side, they are very time-consuming, and while we're messing about with them we aren't spending money elsewhere.

Anyway, that was my break, back to the budget x

mummychicken

Thanks for your advice on my allotment question, will look into it, sounds a good way of saving money although i know initially will have to spend some to get it up & running.

Good luck with your money saving

smitk12

Hi Bigloser - I spend about £3,000 a year on the two horses, but I like your positive take on it that when we're with them we're not spending any money - I shall hold that thought and think of my 3 hour ride on Sunday as a freebie!!

Didn't have a very good debt-busting Friday - I don't know why I do it, but checked the spreadsheet, could see I didn't have any spare cash, but went out and spent £40 on clothes anyway (using the overdraft) - doh! Crazy behaviour. I was going out on Saturday night so bought a dress and bought another one for next Saturday's girl's night out - why - it's not like I don't have a wardrobe full of clothes. Feel very guilty now but it's good to get my sins written down!

Cheap night out Saturday (£8 entrance fee then £2.80 for drinks). Didn't spend anything on Sunday so slightly redeemed myself. Not spending anything today or tomorrow or possibly Wednesday as well although might need to get milk by then.

Popping up the allotment this evening to pull some weeds - very therapeutic and need to get the spare room painting finished. Have been working on it all Winter without much success. Got the gloss done on Friday evening and the main colour on Saturday but need to cut in now - the bit that takes the time - still almost there.

Happy debt-busting days everyone.... xx

smitk12

Total NSD yesterday :j Very pleased!

Managed to do some of the painting in the spare room, although looked this morning and think it might need a second coat That's the trouble with buying cheap paint I guess!

Popped up the allotment to pick up some egg boxes and finished putting the potatoes out for chitting. Put them on top of the kitchen cupboards as it's nice and warm up there.

Have got some Moneymaker toms to sow over the weekend and need to get some broad beans and purple sprouting seeds. It's great when you can start and do stuff in the garden - weather down here in the south is absolutely wonderful this morning.

Should be another NSD today, although have been invited to go dancing this evening so will see how I feel.....

Happy day everyone!! :T