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Living life, loving life.......hypno's having a ball!

Chapter 14......I think.......

A brief synopsis of the previous 13.....
  • Had Shedloads of debt - over £100k plus a mortgage of about £185k.
  • Found MSE:money:
  • Paid off the debt:T
  • Joined the MFiT challenge to get the mortgage paid down
  • Got Divorced
  • Moved House
  • Sent my children skiing
  • Got a life :D
Why now? Well, I read over the first few pages of my last diary, and realised that I had actually come such a long way even since then, that I wanted to leave that remaining part of negativity behind me and move on. The background "stuff" has largely disappeared and no longer saps my energy in the same way as it did back then.

My situation now is that my budgets are very workable - I have no debt (although I use a 0% credit card that has been cleared each month) and I have started to set up savings.

Ex OH pays a small amount of maintenance, but due to the fact that he earns a low wage, I don't expect to see anything towards the upcoming larger expenses such as driving lessons and university costs that will present themselves over the next few years (DD is 16 and DS 15), so I need to be building up a pot to cover these as well as to cover the everyday emergencies such as car costs and the like.

I have spent the last few months discovering "me" and as a result there are things that I do regularly, that cost money, that I really wouldn't want to cut out. These are things like having my hair done, and going out with the guys, which I would never have done whilst on the DFW journey, but actually, they have become very important to me, and my priorities have changed. I need to be able to continue to afford these things in a cost effective way.

My new house is amazing - perfect for me and the children and what we need at this stage in our lives. It is relaxed, it is happy, and we love it. There are things that I want to do here, such as decorate and buy occasional bits of furniture, which again will cost money, but because it is essentially a newbuild, there is nothing that needs doing straight away, so I can work on this as and when the cash is spare.

I am lucky that I have a job that pays me enough to be able to do all these things. But it is hard work - it is stressful, and I need to keep my eye well and truly on the ball. I therefore need to ensure that I keep the balance right in all the above in order to be able to continue being able to earn the money to allow me to continue to do everything I want to do. It is a circle - not a vicious one, but a circle nevertheless, and I cannot and do not want to break it.

I am incredibly grateful to MSE and the contributors that make it what it is - from those who have stuck by me since the beginning, beanie, taxi, slowlyfading, seaxwyn, etc to those who have taught me over more recent months some valuable lessons, particularly Souk who I now use as my social role model. This site is only as good as those who use it, and I continue to take the benefit from that, albeit in a different way to the one that I did when I started.

So, this diary is more about me being able to sustain my new enjoyment of life, whilst being able to save for the bigger things in the future.......I hope you will continue to join in :D
Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)
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Comments

  • o2bfree
    o2bfree Posts: 429 Forumite
    WOW!
    That is an inspiring post.

    I feel better about my debt situation and I'm sure you will be the inspiration for many others.

    Thank you.
    Pay as much as you can in 2011- £3688.54/£6000
    Pay as much as you can in 2012 - £3190.96/£6000
    LBM - August 2010 - £19202.30
    Current - August 2012 - £11803.68
    Paid so far - £7398.62
  • urg123
    urg123 Posts: 1,997 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi Hypno!

    What a great post! So good to see how life can be after you became debt free!

    Am definitely subscribing!

    Can't wait to read more!

    Urg x x
  • hypno06
    hypno06 Posts: 32,296 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks! The hard part is now sustaining it and not sliding down that debt laden route again......I certainly can't afford to become complacent.....the envelopes are still there to be filled each month!!
    Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)
    Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)
  • lucielle
    lucielle Posts: 11,512 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Still here, still subscribing! Bring it on.
    L
    Total Debt Dec 07 £59875.83 Overdrafts £2900,New Debt Figure ZERO !!!!!!:j 08/06/2013
    Lucielle's Daring Debt Free Journey
    DFD Before we Die!!!! Long Haul Supporter #124
  • museumworker
    museumworker Posts: 2,240 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Happy new diary hypno! I mostly lurk, but love your attitude to money/life. Debt and the 'deep stuff' are all interlinked. Wishing you every happiness in your life adventures!
    Mortgage [STRIKE]16/03/2011: £190K 01/01/2017: £107,729.65 [/STRIKE] 01/07/2017: £95,979.89
    OPs 2011-2016 = £45K 2017 OPs = £9250.20
  • hypno06
    hypno06 Posts: 32,296 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Lucielle - Hiya!!

    museumworker, yes, it is all interlinked, and remains so.....the key is to try and keep it all in perspective, not to allow any one of those areas to dominate, and to allow yourself to take the bad times along with the good, accepting that they are part of life.

    I still have yuk days, of course I do, and they sometimes creep up on me when I least expect them, but I hope I am learning to take them more into my stride and keep them at a level that they should be at, rather than letting them overspill.

    And of course, we need reminders of the crappy stuff from time to time to keep our appreciation of the fabby stuff :cool:
    Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)
    Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)
  • benbenandme
    benbenandme Posts: 12,349 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker Photogenic
    Another chapter!! Enjoy it missus :D
    Mortgage Total: £51,549 / £75,000
    Mortgage Overpayments Pot £1079
  • MatyMoo
    MatyMoo Posts: 3,176 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    STOP PRESS

    Hypno the inspiration continues to inspire
    :D:money::T:j:beer::T:j:beer::T:j:beer::T:j:beer::T:j:beer::T:j:beer::D:money:

    *subscribes*
    :j Proud Member of Mike's Mob :j
  • hypno06
    hypno06 Posts: 32,296 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Another chapter!! Enjoy it missus :D

    I'll try :rotfl:
    Successful women can still have their feet on the ground. They just wear better shoes. (Maud Van de Venne)
    Life begins at the end of your comfort zone (Neale Donald Walsch)
  • Essex-girl_2
    Essex-girl_2 Posts: 3,503 Forumite
    :j:THappy New Diary Hypno:j:T

    x
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