A Thread for After Debt?

JulieGeorgiana

No I didn't, because I NEEDED it! My car was off the road constantly at the time, I had trouble getting to work as I kept breaking down and it was putting my job in jepordy. And once it went so bad I ended up putting her in a ditch to get her to stop, while my 3 year old son was in the back. I was desperate for a reliable car.

I had some money, but not enough. Without a car I could have lost my job and I was a single parent. So I researched a LOT and got my car. I got a good finance deal on her, and I made sure if I couldn't make payments, that selling my car would pay the loan off in full.

She ended up being exactly what I needed and I paid her off 2 years ago and sold her last month as having a 2nd child meant she was too small, and we only needed to run 1 car and a 2nd was an extravgance once I gave up work to be a SAHM.

Our current car is 10 years old but as a deisel with 80k on the clock (they are normally reliable up to 200k - a petrol 100k) we know we may have to buy and upgrade one day. But we are saving now, and if a new car is NEEDED we will buy then a second hand one (3 years old) and bite the bullet if needed.

I would say right now yours is a want... save the money you could afford on finance now... when you NEED a car you have a larger deposit and would save a bunch on interest.

Also, I considered myself in debt while I had my car loan... I wouldn't consider myself in debt when I get a mortgage (although I would try and pay it off as fast as possible).

HTH x

rising_from_the_ashes

backinbusiness wrote: »

Rising - I got gadget envy reading your posts about your phone, and so it is your fault that I went out this afternoon and bought a new sat nav!! (I don't need a new 'phone!). My old one was about 10 yrs old so I am using this trip to justify a new one. I sold DD2's bike at lunchtime, so the sat nav only really (kind of!) cost me £10 - bargain! Once again I know this off-setting is lying to myself really, but it makes me feel better

Ohhhhh (sorry:o) have to say if you were only "down" £10 tho that's a pretty good deal:)

Have a lovely trip!:D

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

Rising I used to do that... put the cashback into savings, figured it was easy cash

:j:j You've no idea how happy that makes me feel .... I feel like I'm finally learning!:j:j

LianneH wrote: »

JG - when you got your loan to pay for your car - you didn't see that as a "bad" debt then??

Welcome Li & huge congrats on being DF:j:j

Car ... good or bad debt ..... I know Martin says there is good & bad and if I thought of my own car that way then it would probably come out as "good" - mainly as it costs me £2 / day in fuel & 1/2 hour travelling to get to/from work, compared to £7.80 & 2 + hours on the bus:eek:. Also getting to DM's costs around £10 in fuel & takes 50 mins, compared to £45+ & 6 hours on public transport:eek::eek:.

However, I've personally always counted debt as debt whatever it's been for..... and I think it would take a lot for me to want to buy one I couldn't afford to purchase outright as I'd be in debt again

If you are thinking about it, I'd 2nd JGs suggestion of a fairly newish (not brand spanking as I usually do:o) small car that's cheap to run.

I recently did a cost / mile on mine and it's come out at 31p/mile (depreciation, fuel, servicing, tax, breakdown cover, insurance and parts for 2 years) which is not too bad.

I don't do a huge mileage anymore - I used to do over 50k / year - so the "fixed" costs (depreciation, servicing, tax, insurance, breakdown cover etc) now take up a lot more of that figure (hope that makes sense eg if they came to £1k / 7,500 miles = 13p but they would still be £1k / 25,000 miles = 0.04p)

For me, I usually change (trying to hold off longer on this one) when it gets to the point of having to spend a fair bit on them - last time the 1st MOT was due, as well as a service & I needed tyres which was going to come to around £1k.

I'd much rather put that money to a new one as you certainly don't get it back (say you spend that, the car is still worth the same in a couple of months time as it would've been had you not done any of it).

If you cars are running OK & not costing a lot to maintain, personally I'd try to stick some money aside each month to go towards a new one - if they start costing a lot, then that's when I'd be changing them.

QueenB.

Welcome Lianne, am sure you will enjoy this wonderful thread.

DS2 heard about his secondary place today, he got his third choice:eek: Its still a good school but it is really far away from where we live so travel is going to be a major issue. No idea why he got that place when we have 6 schools much closer (mind you most of them are rubbish and i would never have excepted a place from them) So it basically looks like I will have to learn to drive by September:( which means, yes you all guessed it, REBUDGETING:cool:. Talking of cars we may have to get a new car if I am driving it so lots to think about. Right now my biggest problem is that DS2 is really upset (crying) about the fact that his best friend got accepted at a different school, they have been best friends since nursery so its a big change for him and he is a very sensitive soul.

rising_from_the_ashes

Ohhhh QueenB that's awful ........ do they not have to provide transport over a certain distance? (our's is if the kids are more than 2 miles from school they are entitled to free home - school transport ... only exceptions are when people have moved and want their kids to still go to the "old" school rather than transferring to the closest one).

QueenB.

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Ohhhh QueenB that's awful ........ do they not have to provide transport over a certain distance? (our's is if the kids are more than 2 miles from school they are entitled to free home - school transport ... only exceptions are when people have moved and want their kids to still go to the "old" school rather than transferring to the closest one).

They do sometimes provide transport but the problem is that we are so out of catchment (about 30 mins by car) that there are no school buses/transport for that school around our area, unless they pay for a taxi. But to be honest I want to be there with him for the first few weeks/months until he settles. People keep telling me that maybe a mistake has been made due to the distance but I hope they are wrong because we could end up with such a bad school that I just wouldn't send him. My head is a bit of a whirl at the moment:(

samtoby

I love my car and its the only decent thing I have from my debt. And its exactky that DEBT, in what ever form.

I would say if you have just paid off your debt and you don't NEED it wait, you have just got debt free. Enjoy before another financial commitment. x

JulieGeorgiana

((hugs)) QueenB - It's one of those catch-22 situations... you're happy it's not a worse school, sad because it's a hassle and so far away x

And more ((hugs)) for DS2, poor lad x

QueenB.

JulieGeorgiana wrote: »

((hugs)) QueenB - It's one of those catch-22 situations... you're happy it's not a worse school, sad because it's a hassle and so far away x

And more ((hugs)) for DS2, poor lad x

Exactly JulieG, The secondary school I used to work at is within walking distance from us and the best in the area (and one of the top in the country) but its a small secondary and very oversubscribed so even though it was our first choice we didn't get it:( but we may still appeal and go on the waiting list.

DS2 is just a jumble of emotions, like most kids off to secondary but he really is sensitive (and my youngest) and got badly bullied in year 2 at primary that knocked him badly so his friendships are very important to him. He is very bright and should do well as long as he settles quickly and makes friends. my DD had a horrendous time at her secondary so I am a little on edge plus DS1 specialist secondary is not near it so I will have to deal with that issue of who goes where and when so that everyone is happy. I hate seeing DS2 crying but as a parent we just have to put a brave face on and try and make it all ok no matter how we feel.

its going to be an interesting couple of months.

rising_from_the_ashes

I'm bored Off work as the phone ended up missing the time for NND on Weds so it wasn't done until yest - meaning it's coming today:j

Had a day left to use by end March so decided to take today off (not so bad on a Fri but def not on a Thurs:)) and save myself the Sat delivery charge :j

BUT .... have been up since 4.50 am :eek::o (I just can't lie in bed these days - have to get up) and ... it's beautiful outside and I really want to go to the beach for a walk ..... but I'm stuck in waiting for the delivery mmmmm

I've checked the courier's site and it says PM delivery but don't want to risk going out in case it turns up earlier and I miss it (not sure how accurate these times are...).

Typically, I have NO washing to get done as it would be going out for the 1st time this year .....

I've played with my spreadsheets until I can do no more already - money transferred to bills account and all pots have had their feed for the month - with money transferred back to my main account to pay the cc bill next week.

Bit p#d off with B*T as they've put my DD up from £15 to £23.50:( obviously to cover increased line rental and I did have a few more calls to pay than normal (due to being in the house for 9 weeks after surgery) which has meant there's a bit of a debit balance .... but not worth justifying that big an increase as far as I can see. Battle for later on

Have finally phoned & registered the new fridge freezer for the extended warranty cover I get with my bank account "perks" :j - phew, was pretty close to the date but really hard to do things like this when you're at work all day and they're only open during office hours .

Anyway ... rambling now - and will have to think of something to fill in the time until it arrives!:o Have a great day everyone:)

samtoby

I think 7:00 is early.... oh were the days when I was up every two hours feeding DS.....

I am feeling all groggy. I am now on my monthlys......boo.....x