Boarding the Bus of Positivity (for 24 months of travels!)

Chocforever

Hi DFSD

I hope you had a great weekend and that you were all well to enjoy it.

I'm finally on the move this week!!!!!!! It takes BT 2 weeks to transfer the phone and broadband - not sure why. So I probably won't be posting during that time.

But I will definitely be back because the place I am renting is very expensive and, if possible, I still want to save towards buying a house. So after a few months of not having to worry too much about money, I will need to be a lot more careful.

Exciting times though.

debtfreesomeday

Oh how exciting chocs! I'm so pleased that this is all happening for you, even though the rented place is expensive, it's not forever. Fingers crossed that you have an easy, stress free move xx

debtfreesomeday

Some money ups and downs since my last post...

I'll start with the negatives (so we can finish on a high!). Our bank balance is looking pretty low again, only around £100 left for shopping, petrol and a few low-ish bills. It's all about damage limitation on the overdraft this month.

2nd negative is that the credit card balance has gone up by over £200. It wasn't a frivolous item, but something we knew we were going to have to purchase sooner or later.

Now to the positives... We are selling another large item locally, for £150, so that will go some way towards either reducing the overdraft or a chunk off the credit card.

I have also had a major eBay drive and have made £141 so far, with 5 days to go on some auctions. I've parted with something I love, but don't really need and isn't very practical, as I know it will make well over £50. It's up to £31 with 5 days to go. It's the sensible thing to do!

Chocforever

Hello

I'm borrowing some Broadband access (the less said the better)...

Well the move went well and I really like the new flat so far. It's still full of boxes because some major renovations were being done to the flat and I needed to get in quickly so the compromise was that they finished but the place would not get the usual clean before I moved in. It isn't that the place is dirty, just that orange dust that seems to appear when there are builders around so, I need to clean everything before I put things away. I'm also deciding how best to arrange my furniture in the place. I think it's time for some of my cheap furniture to go - I must have about 5 different colours of wood just in the lounge. Also, there is nothing like moving to focus the mind on what I really need to keep and to stop being unecessarily sentimental about things.

Moneywise, I seem to have spent a lot recently on getting some jobs done around the old flat which really needed doing. Mainly things I had broken and not got around to fixing. There are also things I need and want for the new place. The old flat was modern and had been designed with lots of storage space and built in cupboards. The new flat is in a lovely old building and is full of character and space, but no built in cupboards. Anyway, the main thing is that I feel so much more positive in the new place and I think I will really enjoy it here.

Whilst I have spent quite a lot on house things, started to restock my food stores, paid the flat deposit etc, I have the money from selling my flat!!! The first thing I did when the sale completed was to go to the bank and get a statement balance from the ATM just to look at the balance! I know I need to save it for the next house move but a nice moment in any case.

Good luck with Ebay and I hope the bids go up in the last few hours of the auctions. Once you get into the swing of Ebay, I find it isn't that bad and the money coming in is an incentive. It is just the thought of it if you have a break.

debtfreesomeday

The new flat sounds lovely Chocs, I'm glad the move went pretty smoothly. I love the first few weeks of moving into a new place and deciding where everything is going to go, I find it so exciting! I would love to live in an older property, but just don't have the money or expertise for the upkeep unfortunately.

how long do you think you will be in this flat? Do you have a timescale in mind before buying somewhere new?

If I was you, I would frame that little mini statement slip and hang it on the wall somewhere - it would always make me smile!

debtfreesomeday

Ebay is going really well; I'm up to £198 at the moment with 4 days left to go. Some items have sold already, so I wrapped and labelled those last night. I'm still waiting for 2 people to pay for items and then I can get the first batch of parcels sent.

Ds is napping and hubby is preparing dinner, so I'm taking the chance to sit down with my feet up and catch up a bit with MSE. I feel like I've neglected it a bit lately and haven't been on here enough, that's when my frugal ways start to slip, so I'm back on for a dose of inspiration!

I have been feeling a bit low this past week, mostly about our future and how we're ever going to be able to move from here. We are lucky in that we have a lovely house which is relatively new and relatively low cost to run, but, as we were discussing only an hour ago in the car, there is absolutely nothing keeping us here except for lack of money and debt. I find it very lonely living here and I really want to move. I don't know how we're ever going to be able to though. We need to be in a position where we are able to save a large deposit to be able to buy somewhere else, but, with the astronomical costs of childcare, it's going to take us years to be able to do this. I guess we just have to keep plodding on.

I am on a major decluttering mission at the moment, trying to rid our house of anything we don't want/need/use or like! There is another bag of 'stuff' ready to go to the charity shop and a few more bits have been resigned to the ebay pile. We have sold quite a lot of garden/outdoor items that we didn't use or need anymore, so there is a lot more room in the shed. I just need to sort it out now and get some order in there as everything is just thrown in. I can't say it's a job I am particularly enthusiastic about though, so it's been put off time and time again!

Off to browse the diaries and old style boards now, they always raise my enthusiasm for money-saving.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. xx

debtfreesomeday

Just made another £20 by selling some more garden items and a little bundle of DS's 'baby' toys he no longer plays with. We're lucky there is a good notice board facility for selling/buying stuff at our place of work.

Have also spent £20ish this morning on Amazon, on the new takeaway secret book and an amimal backpack style reins system thing for DS now that he is getting more mobile - as it's fun, hopefully he'll be more inclined to wear it!

HM soup for lunch and naan bread bought from our latest approved foods delivery. DH being fed at work all day today and DS fed at nursery, so just myself to cater for tonight.

Chocforever

You are continuing the momentum going with the sales - well done. Very handy that you can sell stuff via the notice board and no hassles with wrapping and posting parcels!

debtfreesomeday

Chocforever wrote: »

You are continuing the momentum going with the sales - well done. Very handy that you can sell stuff via the notice board and no hassles with wrapping and posting parcels!

Yes, the 'no wrapping, no posting' thing is always great!

debtfreesomeday

Hubby worked late last night, so once DS was in bed and the house was reasonably tidy, I wrapped all the items I currently have on ebay which will be ending whilst we're away at my parents at the weekend. All I'll need to do when we get back is to address them and pop them in the post - simple.

I received an item I bought off ebay today - something we needed for DS's buggy. Unfortunately, it's completely the wrong item, and not as described at all, so I've emailed the seller. They seem very apologetic and have offered a refund, but have yet to reply to the case I've opened. Hopefully that will be a simple case of return and refund without any complications. A nuisance that I have to pay for return postage though. :mad:

I've gone ahead and ordered the item new from a website instead now, as they also had a few other bits I needed to buy at some point. I found a discount code too and there was also a free gift offer plus free delivery, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been! It has cost 3 times more than I paid on ebay, but they don't come up too often on ebay and there's none presently listed, so don't want to faff around waiting for one to appear and then hoping I win it. It's definitely money I could do with saving instead of spending, but we've made a lot extra this month through selling things, so I'm not beating myself up about it.

Today, I need to post one more ebay item which someone has now has paid for and also another item for a refund (which was bought online - again the same pushchair item, but again, they had described it incorrectly, so it didn't fit! They have accepted responsibility though, so should get a full refund).

Tonight I need to pack as we're going to my parents for a few days which will be a nice break. Just trying not to think about how much the petrol will cost us.

I need to get DH & my Dad a Father's Day pressie tomorrow, nothing huge, just 'a token gift'. I also need to transfer the credit card balance to the new balance transfer card we now have. I think I need to write a list of things I need to do before I forget!