Debs' debt-free dreams

mrsmoneybee

Last addition today... the big shop! £90.58!!! :eek: Now I know this seems a lot but I've spent worse (ok, this is probably the best I've done!) and it is a refill of the fridge and freezer after last week's stunt it pulled. Shopped well and got a lot, should be a couple of weeks apart from the odd fresh bits I think. There was a lot of swapping branded for Morrison's and offers in there and I think the only 'luxury' was 4 cans of Coors Light (on offer) but I think he deserves them! Anyway, it's a starting point so I can assess how we do with this.

Ooh, and I forgot the saving of the week... no more nappies!!!! :T Little man has got it sussed!

Hovel_lady

For your little man :T
We've really cut down on how much we spend foodwise etc but it's been done over a period of time not all at once. Like you say it's a starting point. All journey's begin with a single step. Oo, I don't think I made that up, am sure someone else said it
xx

MoneyMax

Well done little man, woohoo to the pennies saved :-)

mrsmoneybee

Hovel_lady wrote: »

For your little man :T
We've really cut down on how much we spend foodwise etc but it's been done over a period of time not all at once. Like you say it's a starting point. All journey's begin with a single step. Oo, I don't think I made that up, am sure someone else said it
xx

They might have done, but not on my diary so kudos goes to you for the wise words

mummychicken

Welcome to diaryland I hope you will gain lots of support,help & advice from this site, i know i have. Everyone is friendly and you will pick up so many money saving ideas............. Good Luck

mrsmoneybee

Had a fabulous day out today however, confession time... it cost money

After nearly turning round and going home after a fight over parking we ended up paying £5.50 for the day, annoying but worth not falling out over. Took our packed lunch down to the edge of Windermere and found a lovely spot on the grass for our picnic and laid back to watch the planes. Slowly dawned on us that 2 small children can't actually wait all afternoon to watch them, they want them all NOW! Big cow eyes from the 3 year old with lots of begging to go on the boat (along with a bit of manipulation 'if I go for wee wee, then I can go on the boat?' - darned toilet training!) meant T said we were going for a Windermere cruise. £17.50 spent of the holiday spends (looks like I'm definitely ebaying this week) but it was so worth it. The kids had their first boat trip with me spending most of it explaining to an inquisitive 6 year old the different types of boats and how the lake was made. Cue comment of the day from him 'was that in the olden days when people were in black and white?' Bless!

Total spend for the day with ice creams (Tesco, not the expensive parlour) came out at £27.20. Not bad for a really good day out but in the spirit of saving I will make up for it tomorrow!

mrsmoneybee

Ok, it's been a mixed day today. Firstly we got a snotty letter from T's old job telling us they'd overpaid him £119.22 and we have to pay it back, grr. I could say what I think of them but I'm trying to be nice. Reinforces why he left though! Useless bunch of turnips!

However, not only was today my first NSD, but it was also profitable! I had to go and pay some money in to Santander but I got paid by the nice mystery shopping people to do it! £10. Typical it's the first time in the 5 years I've banked there they had someone friendly, intelligent and competent on so I couldn't write all the horrid things I've been thinking about them as it wouldn't be fair on the nice lady!

Secondly, I misplaced my wedding ring this morning so had to root in the drawers in the bathroom to find it. I noticed pennies in there so decided when I got home to do a drawer penny round up and made £1.39 out of random drawers around the house! Popped it in the penny jar (T's 'airport fund' - brekkie and smellies at the airport - holiday was preplanned long before I decided to sort myself out!). Oh and popped a pound in the '£500 tin' that's been going about 5 years but probably only has £50 in! Anyway, once the jollies are out the way that will be reincarnated for debt-busting.

I finally have all my figures so here goes:

Natwest loan: £17,681.33
Natwest ODs: £3800
Barclaycard: £2717.50
Santander CC: £462.98
Car: £1217.56
Ex company: £119.22
Next: £339.17 (this is worse case scenario from the sale and is mostly clothes for the boys - a lot of this will go back though once received)

So, drumroll please for the lightbulb moment.... £26,337.76!!!

So this is it. Really horrid to see it written down like that but I'm relishing the challenge of redcuing it. Ex company is first now, snotty people, then Santander. I'm worried about them pulling the o/d so am going to look at the options of moving that somehow but not tonight. I've had enough for one day!

Hovel_lady

Well done on your NSD :T
Thats, emm, quite a big LBM. Like you I found it scary when first written down (we owe £21k) but now we're tackling it I feel much better.
This is for the useless bunch of turnips :mad:

patman99

OP, you do realize 'Santander' is Spanish for 'Incompetent'.

If you get through a lot of toilet rolls, try buying bulk from eBay, much cheaper than supermarkets.

I have a feeling that Santader have lowered your cc limit below what you owe so they can add-on charges for going over drawn. If they try that one, every time you get a charge, write a letter rejecting it on the grounds that it was they who lowered the maximum lending amount on the card, not you. If they argue the case, file a complaint to both the FSA and the FSO.

Also, did you have PPI on any of your loans/cc's ?. If so, time to use the template letter that resides somewhere in the Debt Free stickies. Stick a reclaim in, then use the refunds to clear as much of the Santander debt as you can.

I used to have 5 cc's, but by stoozing and clearing balances, I'm now down to 3.

mrsmoneybee

Hovel_lady wrote: »

Well done on your NSD :T
Thats, emm, quite a big LBM. Like you I found it scary when first written down (we owe £21k) but now we're tackling it I feel much better.
This is for the useless bunch of turnips :mad:

I figured big pink letters might shock me more! It worked, I'm half a bar of chocolate down now!

I'm trying to transfer my new PMA to ignoring the muppet next door who has just started mowing his lawn at 9pm with his noisy petrol mower. At least it's drowned out the sound of his continually yapping dog ('Buster', I'm not sure if it's meant to be ironic but our rabbit is bigger and scarier!).