Sorry old chap, the money has run out!

tony_ack

dancingfairy wrote: »

Indeed it sounds like you are off to a fabulous start. I have to admit I was unconvinced at first as it seemed like you dismissed every suggestion but I am glad to have been proved wrong
Don't forget it is like a snowball effect - things will gradually take on a momentum of their own - in the past it was growing on it's own, now, hopefully the debt repayment will gradually speed up. It also becomes very addictive saving money.
Glad also to see the wife is more in the loop. You will need her on board in order to last the distance.
Let us know how you get on.
Best of Luck
df

I'm still worried about the missus to be honest. She keeps saying that she's down beacuse we're poor. I think part of it is because we both have different spending habits - before last week, my habit was to go days without spending and then splurge all at once, which is why my biggest challenge is to make sure I stay the course. Living without spending from day-to-day for me, however, is not difficult.

For my missus, she likes to spend a little each day on little luxuries, like a Starbuck before work, occasional pizza takeaway, new clothes (she never spent loads on clothes, but liked to be able to buy something she liked the look at), beauty products, etc. For her, cutting out the non-essentials is hard because it does affect her day-to-day life. What I am trying to make her see is that it's not necessarily a case that she can't have coffee, clothes or pizza occasionally, it's that she can't have coffee, clothes AND pizza. There will hopefully be a little bit (£20 or so) left in our budget at the end of the month to treat ourselves, but it will be a treat and not a regular thing.

Horace

Well done so far.

Suggest that your wife shops from her wardrobe because there are probably clothes in there that she hasnt worn yet? Another thing that you could suggest to her - if she buys a new item of clothing then an item must be ebayed from her wardrobe. Maybe she could organise a swishing party with her friends so that they each being along 5 clean items of clothing and they do a clothes swap - one way to get new clothes without the expense.

Pizzas - easy dealt with every Tuesday Dominos are Buy One Get One Free (that's the take out sorted) and elsewhere on this forum there are Restaurant Vouchers where you can get money off in restaurants such as Ask etc.

Every so often Pyne Kone (I dare not print their name correctly) will send an email to members saying that they are recruiting, so sometimes people on MSE will have links. Pyne Kone send surveys and sometimes you can test products - for each survey completed they can either pay you into paypal or luncheon vouchers..luncheon vouchers can be spent in Starbucks amongst other places so that's coffee, meals out and shopping sorted as the LVs can be used in the supermarkets too.

It isnt being poor, it is being sensible with your money.

I am not ashamed to say that I use my LVs in Starbucks - great for me because I work from home and when I want to meet prospective clients we usually head to Starbucks coffee tends to be on me so I pay with LVs.

poppy10_2

tony_ack wrote: »

For my missus, she likes to spend a little each day on little luxuries, like a Starbuck before work, occasional pizza takeaway, new clothes (she never spent loads on clothes, but liked to be able to buy something she liked the look at), beauty products, etc. For her, cutting out the non-essentials is hard because it does affect her day-to-day life. What I am trying to make her see is that it's not necessarily a case that she can't have coffee, clothes or pizza occasionally, it's that she can't have coffee, clothes AND pizza.

Get her to take a look at the Demotivator Tool:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/demotivator/

Elmo1985

i used to be a starbucks-aholic nd switched to greggs latte instead - much nicer and much cheaper

tony_ack

Righty-hoo, another week passed by.

The good news is that I'm sticking to my budget and can now cover all of my bills this month. I will have also got my cards back within the limit, I've got enough for food/fuel until payday, and I cleared my council tax arrears a couple of weeks back. The eBay items went for more than what was needed, but less than what was expected, so mixed feelings over those. I also sold a spare set of wheels from the project car to boost the finances a little.

The bad news is that we got a summons over the council tax, which probably crossed with the payment. My missus has been trying to contact the council for the last week, but they're proving very difficult to get hold of (promising 'ring-backs' that never happen). We're still hoping to get this sorted and sort out a monthly payment schedule for the remaining balance, but we're now getting worried and the court date is on Friday. With the new budget, we can make the future monthly payments, but we would not be able to pay the rest of the year's balance in one go without going into my over-overdraft buffer (which costs £22 per 5 days), which would mess up my budget for the next few months.

Workie_Ticket

If you've received a summons you will need to factor in an increased payment. Where I live, they charge you £85.00.

Lara44

Hope you manage to get the council tax straightened out. I don't know much about the process so can't offer advice, other than to say council tax is a priority debt, so not good to have any arrears on that if you can. Hopefully it's just a small blip on your otherwise very smooth road so far.

Don't worry about the ebay stuff, if it went for more than you need then that's enough right now. Think about all the money you'll have every month when you're debt free! You can buy those things for yourself all over again and more. At the end of the day it's just 'stuff'. (Although nice stuff I am sure )

loveGSDs

hi tony

quick tip about carbooting - no need to just take new/working/clean items

take everything and anything you dont need/use including old tv's, half used toilettries, broken items

as long as you're honest about things not working - some people pick things that are broken and fix them up or sell on for parts

it was a real eye opener the first bootsale i did, i only brought 'decent' items until i saw the 'tat' others were selling (and more importantly, people were buying)

also, there are some other ways to make a bit more money......survey sites - pine cone, valued opinions, gfk etc

mystery shopping is also a good way to pick up some extra cash

good luck

rockstar44

Wow! I've just read your thread, you are doing so well! It's amazing how quickly things can change when you get a grip on your finances!
Get the missus to check on here before she buys anything! If she checks the 'Grabbit while you can' thread or Martin's email she can still treat herself now & again but get the best deal! eg money off codes & free delivery from High Street stores on line & if she takes advantage of one of the cash back sites as well then even better!

I know it would be better if she didn't buy anything at all but that's a big ask for us girls!

Keep going & good luck!

tony_ack

Thanks for the advice and support again everyone!

The council tax issue is resolved - the pursuit of payment has been stopped, they have told us to keep paying monthly as normal (and will send us a standing order mandate), and as long as we don't miss any payments, the summons and admin fees will be written off after we make the last payment on this year's bill.

I spent a little bit of money yesterday on the car - my brakes are pretty bad so I wanted to get them sorted before the winter and before I lose the garage at the end of this month. If found myself pricing up the work I wanted to do, looking at the figures, and then crossing things off to leave only the work I NEEDED to do. It will still cost about £60 in parts though (!). Possibly a legitimate cost for the new 'Emergency repair fund'?

Thanks for the info on the car boots. I'm really running out of time for these now - there are very few all-year car boots in the local area, and I'm hoping desparately for a weekend of dry weather before the end of the month. Thanks for the tips on getting rid of broken stuff - I have a cupboard full of old electronics and computer parts in various states of repair, which I'd be happy to get rid of for next to nothing. Now that the eBay marathon and selling the car and parts is out of the way, I have a lot more time in the evenings to prepare for a car boot.

The missus was really down last weekend but seems to be better now. We know that we can't realistically go on for 5 years without some little treats here and there but we need to make sure we spend only what we can afford, and that we get the best value for our money - this means using vouchers and going for special offers and bargains. In the 'old' days we would grab a Dominos on a Thursday because we fancied it and easily spend £30, rather than waiting for the BOGOF offers on Tuesday.

This is the behaviour we have to change. We're cutting out the 'we can afford to buy it if we want it' mentality, as it simply isn't true, and never has been.