"Simply not solvent!

Karmacat

Oof, Seaxwyn, I don't envy you the number of choices actually - tho it is *good* to have choices. Think I'm just a bit low on energy at the mo, thats all. Altho I don't follow it myself, I do think about Martin's advice on saving vs paying off debt - i.e., pay it off. The loan is 12.7%? No way will your savings net you that.... mine is a bit more of a balancing act, its 5.7%.... and of course, to pay a loan off early, you've got to pay some of the future interest (if that makes sense - a penalty for paying it off early, sort of thing).

What are your thoughts so far this weekend?

Seaxwyn

Morning Karma. Sorry that you are still ill and low in energy. Hope the long weekend and sea breezes bring back some of your strength.

I will definitely pay off the loan, but will probably use money from my ISA rather than borrow on the Sainsbury's card - even though 5.94% is good as cards go, it's still more than the ISA brings in.

I totally get Martin's advice on not saving whilst on debt. My future tax bills loom large in my mind, but I may as well pay off debt now and borrow more when the tax bills arrive.

OH still seems on message, this morning he cut his own hair rather than go to the barber.

Happy bank holiday weekend everyone.

Seaxwyn

I have now transferred £650 from Virgin into my current account. Our debt total as of today is £38,433.65 - but will drop to £34,368 when the loan is paid off. I hope I can start June with a total under £35k.

hypno06

It sounds positive, that OH is onside - at least for the moment - long may it continue!

I think it is a fact of life, that when you have BIG debt figures like we do, they WILL go up and down - it may seem like a big move up, but percentage wise it is probably quite small.

If you had only £5000 outstanding and it went up by £100 or £150 from time to time, you would not think too much of it.........

We will get there......honest!!

I hope you are having a good weekend!

mizmir

Well done on this - getting down to £35K for the start of June will be brilliant.

taxi73

Hi seaxwyn..I don't have anything I can add to hypnos and the others posts really.They all speak a great deal of sense and I think the best way is to pay it off out of money that you have got at the moment and then that will free the loan payment up.

Seaxwyn

Morning all. And what a rainy one.

I'm off to the Hoo Peninsula today (between the Thames and Medway estuaries in Kent). This is part of an effort to reinspire myself for work. I feel I've been just going through the motions recently, and want to get back to putting my heart into my work. Now I've got a commission to produce a leaflet on an environmental issue in that part of Kent, so I am going up there to get a sense of the place, meet a local photographer, get shown round by a RSPB warden, rather than sitting at my desk writing it all from research reports and Google.

With my MSE friends making big plans, I feel ashamed of the way I drift through life, never thinking more than a month or two ahead. I'm going to have a proper think about my work and my personal aspirations, and see if I can see a way forward marrying what I want to do with my responsibilities to my family.

Back to mundane moneysaving: OH had to pass a Tesco's yesterday so I asked him to do a week's shop there, thinking it would be cheaper than our usual Sainsbury's. He was armed with vouchers and got 10% off, even so, he spent..... £189 :rotfl:

This did include birthday presents for DS (7 on Friday, bless) and lots of party food - far more than will be consumed by 12 kids - so we can live on twiglets and jam tarts for the rest of the week.

Karmacat

That sounds a gorgeous day - and :eek: to the £189 tho!

I think if you set your mind towards getting your life more the way you want it to be, it will certainly happen - look at today; you're making good memories and a new lifestyle all in one. Have a great time.

hypno06

I was just thinking about you and your shopping when I came across your post!! How bizarre......

I did a tesco online shop yesterday - cost £99 which I reckon will do me a fortnight, with careful planning, and got £13 off voucher from the freebies thread on MSE.......which more than covers the £3.99 delivery fee!! Also because I was online I didn't get carried away with "extras" although the £99 does include more biscuits and crisps than normal because the children are on race camp and need constant snacking to keep their energy up.

Def worth a try.........

Have a good day today....despite the weather, I am sure you will have a good time!

Don't believe for a minute that I don't "drift from month to month" - I do plenty of "drifting", along with "finger crossing" and "heart in stomach when going to the cash machine-ing".......I just drop in a bit of "determination" and "re-assessment" every so often!!!!

(but I still can't do my housework - absolute absolute failure on that score!!!!)

Karmacat

:wave: Hiya!

I still can't really find those Tesco codes on mse that everyone talks about. The huge shop I did, I got £10 off a bill over £70, and just stocked up like crazy - I have enough peanut butter to open my own shop, for instance. And the delivery fee of £4 - well, the return bus fare is £3.20, and there's no way I could carry a tenth of what I bought, so in itself its a huge saving.

I like to plan too - and I also find myself drifting.... we need a conference! As to housework - I *had* to clean when I had the builders coming in, and now some of it looks so "normal" I can't bear to let it get dirty again. Its working for the moment!