"Simply not solvent!

chevalier

Seaxwyn wrote:

Hi Chevalier

Thanks for your several posts. I've only just seen the one about the holiday. I've booked it now - a cottage in Cornwall for £550 (which my sister sees as dirt cheap!) I would feel strange asking her to pay off debts as she is a prickly person with strong views and while she likes the idea of funding a holiday she might feel differently about bankrolling our !!!!less behaviour. No worries! And for 6 of you £550 for Cornwall is pretty cheap!


The 'teenagers' are in fact only 12, they just act like teenagers. They are good kids and very helpful, particularly with minding the younger ones, and one of them has a real work ethic. As soon as she's legally allowed she will be earning, no question. Okay no worries, I understand about teenagers before their time. Some mornings my 5 year old does NOT want to get out of bed and just grunts AT FIVE:eek: :eek: !

I know that online shopping would be better, I must get over my resistance to the idea. I never manage to plan more than two or three meals ahead, which is pathetic I know - I will set a target to write a proper list for two weeks or more. It is like everything else, once you get into the swing of it, it gets easier. The main thing with meal plans is the variety issue! I think I meal plan for about 3 months, and then lose inspiration! But the old style forum is a great place to get new ideas.

However my DFW priorities for the next week are to get better deals for our life insurance and car insurance - and to do the maximum possible amount of freelance work. Don't forget to sign up to https://www.mutualpoints.com, https://www.quidco.com and https://www.pigsback.co.uk. These all offer cash back or points (which are turned into cash back/vouchers) on all sorts of deals. Once you have found out who is your cheapest provider for each of these, have a look at each of these sites and see if any of them do cash back for that particular company. There was someone on here who got their house insurance for £150 odd pounds BUT got £130 cash back, so a years insurance for £20!!!!

Thanks again for your advice.

No worries we are here to help!
chev

Dumyat

I have friends who do online shopping not just to save money, as you do only buy what you need, but it gives them their saturday morning back. dont forget the time it can take to go shopping!

Seaxwyn

Yes that's an excellent reason to shop online. I'd love never to set foot in hateful Sainsbury's ever again! You've convinced me it's the thing to do, I just need to write a list.

chevalier

Of course the other thing you could do is try and save some money ready for your holiday in Cornwall.
BUT no not for holiday spends, but in case you go past the massive Asda on the M5! If you ran down all of your store cupboard items in the way down (and loo roll etc, ie things that keep), then you could stock up in there on the way back and save a bit that way:D :T
this is sort of a joke, but it may save you some money too!
chev

bandraoi

What are his skills, how could they be applied to today's job market.
I wouldn't write him off, he has at least 8 (13 if the gov gets its way) years of employable life left, a wealth of experience under his belt and there must be something he can do to earn a higher wage.
What about sales in a field linked to his old job, or an ebay business in whatever area he can think of.


If he was to be in a more house husband/supporting role for you could your income increase?
ie - suppose he assumes childcare/cooking/financial management and ensure that you go to a set space and can work undisturbed for periods of time as though in an office would you be likely to earn more money?

Seaxwyn

Thanks Bandraoi

He's an artist/illustrator but most of his working life was working as a background designer in animated films. It used to be a highly paid craft but now it's all done by people working for a dollar a day in the far east.

He's currently doing some teaching at an art school, which is going really well, and I want to encourage him to look for more work of this kind. He doesn't have any qualifications, not even a degree, which seems to be an insurmountable obstacle for the jobs he's applied for.

Any ideas very welcome.

We do share the housework/childcare pretty much equally, however my desk is in the front room of our tiny house where the telly also is and the children spend a lot of their time. One option is to move my desk to the shed where OH works but he is not keen on sharing 'his' space, and I worry about both of us working at the bottom of the garden at night, out of earshot of the children.

Seaxwyn

Today I wrote invoices for £1,000 and will be writing another one for £700 by the end of the week. I feel a bit better knowing that I've earned this despite having a part-time job til the 15th of this month and big motivation problems.

Even better, I overheard my OH take a phonecall from his bank. Usually he goes all submissive but today he was magnificent! He gave them an earful about the appalling service he's had and how he's going to reclaim all his charges. I don't know if that was a wise thing to say but I was mighty cheered to hear it.

As I walked up to pick up my son from school I realised that for the first time in months I was feeling quite optimistic. I can earn my way out of this mess.

The other day I was thinking about oakdale minx, as you do, and started wondering if I could be debt-free by 50 - seven years away.

My monster NatWest loan runs til just before my 49th birthday, and my twin daughters are likely to start university when I'm 49 too and if they do will need financial support. So 2012 seems like a good time to aim for to be debt free and I'll only be a mere 48. Other people here have paid off bigger debts in less time, so I will work out a strategy to do the same.

Seaxwyn

Brilliant day. It's payday for the job I just left and I got paid almost twice what I was expecting.

I got offered a job! Well not offered exactly, but encouraged to apply. I don't want it, it's not right for me now, but it's in a sector I haven't worked in much and it's very cheering to know I might be able to get that kind of work in future.

Next I got offered some work that I DO want - two days a week for two months at £200/day doing work I love - and luckily I can fit it in as one of my other freelance jobs at only £150/day is not taking as much time as I thought.

Hooray hooray hooray, a vote of confidence from the universe in my freelance career.

On top of that I have done 8 hours billable work today and am going to do two more now.

And I've joined CAFCGirl's Give Up Money for Lent challenge, which I hope will stop me spending £££ on coffees and sandwiches on my trips up to London this month.

dizzy_lizzie

Hi Seaxwyn...I'm really pleased for you. It's a great feeling when something comes together. Well done...you've put in all the hard work.

chevalier

I was wondering how you were doing!
Glad to see that some work is coming in:j And having a target is a great idea.

Now have you done that online shop yet? Hmm Hmm!!!:D
take care
chev