Please please please let this not just be a faze...

Itsadogslife_2

Glad to hear you have set your DFD and are working towards it.

I have to ask though, what was the car Some of my debt was car too

CW2

Hi there, Just found your diary and wanted to say good luck with your plan. It will be fantastic to be debt free by next Christmas eve, imagine the Christmas Day celebrations!

I'm a similar age to you and also want to save to buy a house but agree its very difficult when you're single and just have your own wage for everything. I think of it as a challenge though and would love to buy a house just for me before I think about settling down with someone.

Couple of things you mentioned which I thought I could help with; here's a recipe for Leek and Potato soup which is really tasty and doesn't involve cream:

Chop and gently fry off 1 large onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a little oil
Add 2 large chopped leeks (and a bit of butter if you want) and soften for 5 mins
Add 2 pints of vegetable stock and season to taste
Add 1/2 pack of new potatoes chopped and cook until potatoes are soft
Cool and then blitz in a blender/with a hand whisk until its at a smooth consistency

I make this all the time and it freezes really well. I'm also a bit like you in that I like fresh food and don't like it if its too near its use by date. The way I deal with this is by batch cooking. On payday I plan what meals I'm having for the month, do a big shop and then spend a day cooking all the meals and freezing them in portions (e.g. lasagne, chilli, curries, vegetable pie, fish pie). Then each morning I select something from freezer for that night's dinner. Lovely home cooked food every evening with no chance of ingrediants deteriorating.

Also, I do lots of surveys and they really help in bringing in a little bit extra money/vouchers to cut the cost of shopping. You might want to have a look at:

UK my survey
Toluna UK
Valued Opinions
One Poll
Just the Answer

They can be a bit of a pain to be honest as you do have to spend time in the evenings doing them, but I regularly earn £5, £10 and £15 vouchers for Amazon or Boots and some payouts as well - might be worth a go. You'll need to register with each one and answer some profile questions and then they just send you emails everytime surveys are available.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now - hope that was helpful.

Wll subscribe and follow your progress

CW2

mf0u1098

Itsadogslife wrote: »

Glad to hear you have set your DFD and are working towards it.

I have to ask though, what was the car Some of my debt was car too

In 2006 I started working with my best friends family. They were multimillionaires but I'd been best friends with their son for over 5 years and way before they'd amounted their wealth so they knew that I was genuine and not out for a meal ticket. They offered me a position with promise of a good return within the next few years. Since I'd been so close for so many years I had no reason to doubt them. They implied that I would need a "nice" car if I was to represent them but in my naivity I didn't think it odd that they did not offer me a company car and instead I had to get my own.

Myself and my best friend looked around and I chose a Mercedes CLK270CDI at £25k, took out a loan and bought it the same day. Months later, needless to say, I was right royally sh*t on and I've never spoken to that family or my friend since.

I was left with a huge debt, no job, huge student debts and worse still, felt utterly betrayed. I've never made the same mistake trusting anyone again I can assure you. I sold my car after only 9 months but for obviously less than the value that I bought it. Since I would have to pay the loan off in full to cancel then I had no choice but to use the money to pay off my other debts and get an old banger.

I've been left reeling and have paid for my foolish mistake ever since. The shame and stupidity has hurt me every day and the day that that loan is paid off will be the best day of my life and will finally close that chapter of my life.

Sorry if this has been more than what you asked but I felt I needed to explain the circumstances and It wasn't just vanity that made me buy that ridiculous car at such a young age. Hindsight is a wonderful thing xxx

mf0u1098

CW2 wrote: »

Couple of things you mentioned which I thought I could help with; here's a recipe for Leek and Potato soup which is really tasty and doesn't involve cream:

Chop and gently fry off 1 large onion and 3 cloves of garlic in a little oil
Add 2 large chopped leeks (and a bit of butter if you want) and soften for 5 mins
Add 2 pints of vegetable stock and season to taste
Add 1/2 pack of new potatoes chopped and cook until potatoes are soft
Cool and then blitz in a blender/with a hand whisk until its at a smooth consistency


CW2

CW2 you are a GODSEND!!! My favourite soup is Leek and Potato but since becoming lactose intolerant I obviously thought I could not have it anymore. I'm so happy :j:j:j!!!

What vegetable stock do you use? Is it homemade and if so, how do you make it. If not, which brand as I've struggled to find one that's nice.

I'll definitely give the surveys a go, I don't mind putting in the hours if it gets me that bit closer to reaching that DFD on Christmas Eve next year.

Thank you for your ideas and advice xxx

CW2

Ha, ha, glad to be of assistance; its also my favourite, and perfect for Autumn and Winter. I would love to say that I make my own stock, but unfortunately I'm not that good! I usually use the Knorr vegetable stock cubes or their stock pots. They can be a little on the expensive side but I stock up on them (no pun intended ) when they're on offer and so usually have plenty in the cupboard. I'm sure other stock cubes would be fine though and you can adjust the taste by experimenting with more or less garlic and pepper, etc... Hope that helps!

mf0u1098

CW2 - what made you have your light bulb moment and how are you planning to hit your DFD? xxx

CW2

Mmmm not sure what finally made me have my LBM really; it was a lot of things together, but I've pretty much been in debt my entire adult life (mixure of necessity (uni and studying) and completely indulgent spending (I'm a big believer that life is for living so thought this meant buying what ever I wanted) and one day I thought "am I ever going to have my wages just for me and not have a ridiculous amount going out on debt?" I spend about 700 a month on repayments - imagine if I had that just for me? I'd started to have these thoughts, along with seeing those around me buy houses and other things I can't afford and then I found this site. So, I said enough is enough and have been reducing the debt since May this year. My plan is basically to stop unnecessary spending and throw every spare penny at the debts. So far its working quite well although I do find it hard because my budget is very strict. I have a written plan of how much I need to pay every month and the plan takes me to 0 debt by October next year which is when I turn 30! I really hope I can stick to it. The way I try to think now is "Can I live without XYZ?" And if the answer is yes, I don't buy it. If you think about it, that cuts out lots of unnecessary spending. It sounds harsh, but I reckon just under 2 years of this rather than a lifetime in debt is a small price to pay. Does that make sense?

beanielou

So you have less than a year to go~thats great.

CW2

Thanks for reminding me Beanielou - that made me smile!

Itsadogslife_2

Hindsight is such a wonderful thing isn't it

I had an older car that was a fuel guzzler and so when a VW dealer offered me £5k for it as a part exchange on a car that was £15k I jumped at the chance :mad: I am very similar with compulsions and feel I NEED it NOW and think about nothing but until I get it (and then realisation sinks in and the "oh deary what have I done that for?" sinks in or the novelty just wears off, don't have enough time etc.

How did you manage your debt reduction so far? How much do you plan on paying per month towards your debts? Sorry if you don't want to answer these, just tell me to keep my beak out

Moving back in with your folks must be tough, I did it after splitting up with my ex partner when I was 25 and that was hard enough. I had tried to live on my own, renting, house sharing etc. But just couldn't afford to do it and live at the same time. In fact I can't remember a time in my life since the age of about 18 before i had any credit that I haven't been in any debt at all. I am 33 now and hope that by the time i am 36 I will be debt free (apart from mortgage) and would like to think I have learnt enough lessons to make sure I don't get into this situation again