Time to get organised and get on with it!

LAM2011

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Thanks LAM - it really does make sense and really huge well done! on saving the equivalent of 2 months salary so quickly :T:T:T I hope everything is ok too though x

My OH doesn't know about any of my debt - and it can be hard when i'm listing stuff and he then says 'ooh don't get rid of that' - especially hard the other month when i was selling stuff i wanted to keep but was so short of money that i had to just list everything i could

I was lucky in that my PPI reclaim was approved or I would have nothing but it is for this reason I dont want to blow it on the debt which I probably should do. I would never be able to save up that amount. I have put it in premium bonds so I cannot spend it.

My OH didnt know about how much debt I had until middle of last year - we have been together 8 years - he just thought I earned a low wage He still doesnt know the true figure of my loan and I keep it that way - it was mine before I met him and the sad thing is I have nothing to show for it and even less now that I am ebaying everything. BUT since joining this site for the first time in a long time I feel in control of my finances and I WILL get there. I just wish it was faster

Take care everyone x

LAM2011

Hugs Peaceandfreedom - it must be really hard - I was in a pool for redundancy last year and it was very scary. I hope things come right - would be awful to have to sell your home - awful to have to worry that you might have to sell your home. xx

peaceandfreedom

LAM2011 wrote: »

Hugs Peaceandfreedom - it must be really hard - I was in a pool for redundancy last year and it was very scary. I hope things come right - would be awful to have to sell your home - awful to have to worry that you might have to sell your home. xx

Thanks for the hugs, LAM. I'm feeling a bit better now. I've revamped the budget and if we are careful, we can survive for another 5 months. We can survive for longer if we are even more careful.

Up until now we haven't really tried hard enough to live austerely - it's time to do so. Main points of new plan of action:

• Budget is worse-case scenario but we must stick to it. It completely cuts things down (will be tough!).
• My earnings are only a guess but I've tried to underestimate - any excess will be saved to prolong survival time.
• Keep on repaying debt but don't go overboard - any spare cash should be saved for the moment.
• Withdraw cash for main non-Direct Debit spending - put into pots and spend only that. Write down what is spent where and by whom.
• Food shopping bill is far too high - will be planning our food better and not buying so much meat.
• Time to take another look at general stuff like insurance/utilities etc., there are savings to be made.
• If we want to spend over and above our personal monthly spending money, we must first earn it by selling stuff.

I must say I am more confident that I will stick to this than DH but it's certainly a step in the right direction. I can at least sleep at night for now and I'm sure DH will get work before the 5/6 months are up.

DedicatedDFW

Hey everyone

Peaceandfreedom - i am sorry to hear your OH has not found work yet - it is really hard - i know i have a job but i am looking for something new every day and all last week and up to today i have not managed to find anything to apply for - i am even applying for part-time positions which would drastically affect my finances should i be successful And i would then of course need to find another part-time job to make up my money

Your plan sounds good Meal Planning helped me cut down the food shopping bill - and also bulk buying when there was a really good offer on. I also dropped brands on quite a few things - clothes washing liquid, liquid soap (just dispense it into the dearer bottle ) and various other basics - biscuits, bread sticks, bread made in the store. Buying certain reduced price veg and chopping and blanching as necessary and freezing. Meat - buy nearly all of it reduced price - when its got the reduced sticker on and then i just freeze it

I also panic about my home - i can't get a new mortgage because my wage is a third (approx) of what i was earning when i got the house which is why i'm desperate to get the debt gone and the mortgage down

You work hard though peaceandfreedom and you have a plan - i would say not to worry but i know its impossible sometimes to switch the worry button off and its good to put a plan in place.

Do you collect vouchers to help with birthdays, xmas and even food / things for the home?

I have read somewhere on here about coupons for shopping - obviously only good if you are buying the item but i have been a lazy mare and not looked into it

i know you are very busy anyway so i won't swamp you with time consuming survey sites or anything - i do think *nepoll is good for how quick it is are you a member? - they pay out £40 when you hit target, ok it won't happen in a week but the surveys tend to be 10p each or so and are very quick And there is one for kids too

What about m**ains? Less than 5 minutes a week this is - i just encouraged my mum to do it and since then she has had £30 in vouchers already this year These can be for amaz*n or good high st. clothes shops and maybe some food places too ? You will get to cashout quite quickly so let me know if you want my guide for this

With you carbooty looty - do you make up boxes of stuff nearer the end of the day and ask for a £1 for the box - obviously if its just stuff you want rid of - we've done this at all of our carboots and made at least £10 before the end of the day because of this

Oh dear! just realised i may well be chirping away here and it might not be what you want to hear. I'm just trying to help hon and from what you've said you're doing all the right things.

And don't beat yourself up - its really hard to change spending / living habits - the gradual process is quite probably the one most of us go through. I find i get to a certain point and after a while think what more can i do ? x

Oh also if your hubby is not working is he getting all benefits available to him? are there any savings to be had on council tax? i've never been through this process so cannot suggest anything else x

((hugs)) peaceandfreedom - i am liking the sound of what jwil said that we'll all have our savings cushion x

Well done on the sale and *fingers crossed* for more x

DedicatedDFW

LAM2011 wrote: »

I was lucky in that my PPI reclaim was approved or I would have nothing but it is for this reason I dont want to blow it on the debt which I probably should do. I would never be able to save up that amount. I have put it in premium bonds so I cannot spend it.

My OH didnt know about how much debt I had until middle of last year - we have been together 8 years - he just thought I earned a low wage He still doesnt know the true figure of my loan and I keep it that way - it was mine before I met him and the sad thing is I have nothing to show for it and even less now that I am ebaying everything. BUT since joining this site for the first time in a long time I feel in control of my finances and I WILL get there. I just wish it was faster

Take care everyone x

Hey Lam - i want to call you Lammy for some reason ? I am the same with feeling that now that i have a plan of repayment then i feel better about the control i have and how long it will continue to run for - i could have been debt free definitely by my birthday if i used my savings for this but i really didn't want to I wanted to pay it off the mortgage but am now not doing that either - instead i'm increasing the value of my home - and therefore the amount i owe to the value of the house by having a room done that has desperately needed doing since we moved in - it really is vile! This will also make me feel better about the environment i live in and i won't be ashamed to have anyone round - providing of course OH shifts his carp

jwil

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Well done on the bid/sale and lets hope for more :T

erm i'm no gardening guru and am sure peaceandfreedom or brizzle will help out but my lovely little xmas tree got potted on when the roots were at the bottom of the plantpot it was in - wasn't so bad as i'd realised this quite quickly

Thanks for that

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Thank you for your honest reply hon - my emergency fund was the overdraft account i have now closed :eek: Kept my credit cards open mind in case of any need for 0% transfers i feel really silly about those savings i got through - it really shows how much the debt affected me that i couldn't stand back and think i've got £x here and am paying £x month by cancelling i'll be so much better off :o:o Mind you i had no idea how much i had because of the lack of statements :mad:

I don't think there's anything silly about that!

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

hey brizzle of course you can answer - thats just what i'm after input and advice

I think after clearing the debt and starting on the mortgage i'll aim for 6months salary savings :eek: - although i *think* if i just overpay on the mortgage anyway and anything did happen i can then request a payment holiday and as i need to reduce the mortgage in order to re-mortgage to a lower interest rate then i'm not sure :think:

Maybe the compromise is 2 small savings accounts - probably an isa as an accessible one and the other - the one i've got now which is like a life assurance ?? type thing - not accessible but reassuring in a morbid way :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: and at the end of the term i get the savings

Is a life assurance thing the right account really? I don't think they pay such good rates. You don't have any dependants, and if it was a normal savings account you could leave it to your OH or parents in a will if that's what you are worried about. If you want the money locked away you could get a fixed rate savings account, where you'd at least get your money back if you needed to cash it in.

DedicatedDFW

Hey jwil - hope all is well with you ? I have somewhat been chattering away on your thread

Hope its a nice weekend for carbooting but i've been told the weather here is supposed to be worse than last weekend :eek:

Right i need to eat at some point today! x

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

If you mean what time of year to repot it - then Springtime (i.e. now!).

If you mean when is the tree ready, then I think you do it as DDFW said - when the roots reaching the outside of the container.

Thank you

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

I've always been far too quick to 'spend now, earn it later' - spend money I don't have in other words. I still do it sometimes.

Me too

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

OK, so I have one bid so far on ebay. :j

Lots of watchers too on other stuff but at least now I know I've sold something. It's not worth very much but it's nice all the same.

Had a bit of a wobbly evening last night. Things are so worrying at the moment. OH still hasn't had a sniff of work, no interviews no nothing and the money won't last much longer. I have had lots of mornings of waking up early in a panic, wondering what we'll do. Get all breathless and panicky and weepy and feel we've let our kids down.

In my darkest moments I wonder if we'll end up having to sell the house, which would break my heart. The kids have lived here all their lives and even though it could do with updating, they love this place.

But then I tell myself to be more positive, that getting all down about stuff isn't going to help, that I need to be DOING more.

And then I get all annoyed and resentful of OH because all he does is sit on the computer all day doing F**k knows what, when there is so much he COULD be doing. We're not really communicating. He makes no attempt to economise and I reckon he spends more on drink in a month than I spend on the main food shopping.

Today I'm a bit more upbeat, no use moping about, it won't help. But it's hard to stave off the panic sometimes.

Sorry to hear you were feeling down peaceandfreedom, and sorry to hear your OH hasn't had any luck finding a job either.

I'm sure things will work out, and I think there's a lot of help available before you would need to sell the house.

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Thanks for the hugs, LAM. I'm feeling a bit better now. I've revamped the budget and if we are careful, we can survive for another 5 months. We can survive for longer if we are even more careful.

Up until now we haven't really tried hard enough to live austerely - it's time to do so. Main points of new plan of action:

• Budget is worse-case scenario but we must stick to it. It completely cuts things down (will be tough!).
• My earnings are only a guess but I've tried to underestimate - any excess will be saved to prolong survival time.
• Keep on repaying debt but don't go overboard - any spare cash should be saved for the moment.
• Withdraw cash for main non-Direct Debit spending - put into pots and spend only that. Write down what is spent where and by whom.
• Food shopping bill is far too high - will be planning our food better and not buying so much meat.
• Time to take another look at general stuff like insurance/utilities etc., there are savings to be made.
• If we want to spend over and above our personal monthly spending money, we must first earn it by selling stuff.

I must say I am more confident that I will stick to this than DH but it's certainly a step in the right direction. I can at least sleep at night for now and I'm sure DH will get work before the 5/6 months are up.

That all sounds good

jwil

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Hey jwil - hope all is well with you ? I have somewhat been chattering away on your thread

Hope its a nice weekend for carbooting but i've been told the weather here is supposed to be worse than last weekend :eek:

Right i need to eat at some point today! x

Hey DDFW and everyone

I'm loving all the chatter on here, there's some great ideas being thrown about

I'm feeling pretty exhausted today and don't have a lot of energy so sorry my replies are short everyone.

I'm not sure what the forecast is for the weekend, we are out Brizzle's way on Saturday so might try and catch some bootys there if they are on, and Sunday DH wants to go somewhere subject to weather so not much chance of booting there either.

Maybe Monday if things look up, though all the monday ones are on grass, so it will be hard going if we have any more rain.