Learning to Live on Less!

White_Iris

I've managed to use my 20 free ebay listings and one item got a bid almost straight away, fingers crossed for some good sales. I still need to sort out the cot-bed but that will have to wait until next month now.

Fairly good news from our buyers, insomuch as they do still want to proceed. Their mortgage application is taking longer to process than expected due to the new lending rules and so they haven't instructed their solicitor until their money is in place but in all other respects they are still happy to go ahead with the sale.

First of our frugal dinners tonight - mushroom omelette and baked beans, with the remains of the homemade bread toasted up for a few carbs. Fingers crossed it goes down well, as there are a few more basic meals like this in our future (at least until the next round of child benefit/grocery money arrives).

jwil

Well done on the listings.

Good news about your buyers, fingers crossed for a smooth transaction. I hate the way it all moves so slowly!

White_Iris

The eBay sales went fairly well - £65 before fees, most of which will probably be paid of the credit card :money:.

I had the childrens feet measured in Clarks at the weekend but decided to get them some summer sandals on ebay instead of paying £18 a pair for them. I managed to get both pairs for under £20 (inc. postage), so I'm quite pleased (although I'm not 100% certain of the quality of DDs - the picture was a bit blurry but not damage was mentioned in the listing so we shall see). That has already come out of my weekend profits so I still have £60 left in the shoe envelope, which I stashed away back at Christmas time. Hopefully, their current plimsolls and the new sandals will see them through the summer and I can save that to buy their school shoes in September.

I had a slightly less thrifty shopping trip on Monday, or rather a shopping delivery. DS was poorly and home from pre-school, so I couldn't get to the supermarket which I desperately needed to do. As a last resort I booked a Tesco delivery, and as I only had cash in the grocery budget (and not much of it!) I paid using the credit card. :eek: I'm aiming to get that paid off over the next few weeks, by being as frugal with the weekly grocery spends as possible (and not using grocery money for other things ).

debtfreewannabe321

Your month sounds like mine and I've used my new credit card for more than a couple non essentials I paid it all off today though with my rental income so not too bad I fear falling into the credit card cycle again so I'm hoping that fear will keep me on a short leash with using it I hope the house sale goes through quickly for you xx

White_Iris

Read our meters and submitted the readings online this morning - it doesn't change our monthly direct debit amount but it does show we are using significantly less than a few months ago. If we can keep it up, we can hopefully reduce our dd and build up some credit to see us through the winter.

I'm trying to crunch the numbers and see if there is anyway of rearranging the debt to either get it paid off sooner or reduce our monthly outgoings (without extending the term) or ideally, a combination of both. I'm also trying to work out the best thing to do with the house sale profits (when we finally get them!) - pay off debt or save the cash? I'm still working to my three year plan, in other words be as debt free as possible and have bought our forever house by the time we're forty. As long as I can get some kind of job once the children are at school full time I think we can manage it.

Matilda80

Hi Iris!

I have a 3 (and a half) year plan too! I never thought I would be grown up enough to have a life plan, but kids change all that eh?

Your amazing at Ebay1ng. I must get back into it.

Good luch with the house sale.

Matilda. x

White_Iris

I've switched tariffs with our gas and electricity supplier and it should bring our monthly direct debit down by about £50 a month but I'm going to keep an eye on that, to make sure we're paying enough.

I wasn't quite as successful with the debt re-shuffle. We could consolidate the loans and end up paying about £100 less a month but the term would be extended by an extra year and we'd also have to reduce the total debt by about £2k to be able to this. I have rearranged the direct debits for the credit cards though, so instead of paying a fixed amount off each I'm snowballing it and paying the minimum off the one with the highest interest rate and the remainder of the £100 I've earmarked for credit card payments, off the other.

debtfreewannabe321

Morning

You've just reminded me to check my gas/elec supplier they have emailed me about a cheaper tariff and I forgot to follow it up !

I think snowballing is a good idea, if I had found this site before I started the DMP I think that is the way I would have done things. Good luck with it xx

White_Iris

We had a great day out for the childrens birthdays and as we took a picnic and had paid for most of the entrance fee already via clubcard vouchers it was pretty cheap too! We saved more money by having tea at MILs instead of eating out/getting a take away as I had planned.

Also managed to claim £3 from a Pinecone survey and £5 from MySurvey! :money:

White_Iris

After several weeks of disappointing job searching, finally something exciting has come up - the right number of hours and the right location. It's the type of thing I've done before and I'd love to get back in - I'm feeling really excited about it! I did have a moment of panic at the thought of writing a CV though - haven't applied for a job in about 7 years! It's not a huge salary (but it's not a huge amount of hours) but it should mean that I can pay off the credit cards fairly quickly.

The house sale is still on hold while the tenants wait for their mortgage to be approved - hopefully things should be sorted by the end of the week but I'm not holding my breath.

Thankfully June is the end of our mammoth run of birthdays and celebrations. All I've got left to buy is a Fathers Day present for DH an then we have a little respite until Christmas prep starts in September. I've left it up to DH to budget for and buy his mums present this month, and his dads Fathers Day gift, and as usual, he's left it until the last minute - I foresee a frantic shopping trip at the weekend!