Moving south for winter

FlacosFloozie

Hi all,

I've been lurking around the forums for a bit now picking up tips and thought I should start my own diary to try to keep me on track.

So, I'm in my 30s and married to DH. We have 2 cats A and B and no kids. I work full time DH is finishing his studies.

I do feel guilty reading some of the diaries on here. There are so many folk who have had it tough through no fault of their own whereas I really don't have an excuse. Although we've had a good income our debt has gradually built up over the last few years. The frustrating thing is we don't have a lot to show for it. We don't splash out on fancy holidays etc but we spend it on little things... just a bit more than I bring in every month. As a result we now owe £14065.74 and i feel so ashamed.

As the title implies, we've moved South. I've taken a job with fewer hours and a slightly higher salary but we're going to be paying a lot more in rent. I did my calculations and worked out we'd be ok if we tightened our belts a bit so we made the jump. That was when I got a letter from the tax office telling me that I've underpaid for 3 years and will be paying it all back this year, so we're now around £200 per month less well off than I had planned for. Hey ho...

I still think it's the right choice. I was working myself into the ground and was miserable in my last job. I'd leave work and get a takeaway or eat out because I didn't have the energy to cook. I was spending money to try to make up for being unhappy and it didn't.

Anyway, we're here now and I like the new job. I have more free time so can hopefully be more organised with cooking etc and save money that way. I'm not posting an soa yet as I'm still getting all my bills etc sorted here. The plan is to keep a spending diary for the month and work out where all the cash actually goes and then produce one next month.

At my current payments I can be debt free in 24 months. If I can manage it in 18 then that would be before a major birthday so that's my aim. Wish me luck

[Deleted User]

Welcome to the DFW diary section :wave:

I have just started a diary over the last week or so & feel that it is helping so much.

I have done exactly the same as you - nothing really to show for the debt that we are in just useless spending tbh.

You'll find that may be the same for a lot of us on here - doesnt matter either way.

I have found this site to be so helpful so far - everyone has been so nice & so helpful to me.

Its great to be surrounded virtually at least by people who are all in the same kinda situation & all have the same goals.

Good luck & I am gonna keep an eye on your diary I'm excited about your journey to a debt free life.

Dxxxx

CuppyCake

Hi and welcome!

Sorry to hear about the tax man hitting you like that- very uncool!

I hope you find lots of advice in and around the forum and that by keeping this diary you will stay on track -that's why I made one. When I'm left to my own devices, H&M can count on a profitable day!

Good luck in the new job and enjoy living down south. As a born and bred Londoner, I am biased (but it is better than the north!) :P

twinmum07

Don't feel guilty - our debts were just over £32,000 and I can more or less pointpoint that we spent all that on 'stuff'!!! We earn well but spend much better!

claire16c

At least now youre in the South you can save a bit on heating bills! And your new job sounds good. The cost of take aways can add up to crazy amounts so at least you wont be doing that anymore either.

FlacosFloozie

Thanks for the kind words and support guys. Not managed a NSD today as we ran out of cat litter but on the plus side did a lot of batch cooking so now have a freezer full of stew in handy microwave sized containers. It a start...

FlacosFloozie

Well, bit of a mixed week so far. On the plus side I did a whole pile of batch cooking at the weekend and now have a freezer stuffed with handy microwave sized portions of beef stew and goulash. I also got some baking done so OH has been munching on home baked cookies and cakes which are nicer and cheaper than the shop bought ones. We've stretched last night's chilli slightly to do two nights instead of one.

On the downside, I forgot to take the bread out of the freezer last night so had to pop to the shop for lunch instead of taking sanwiches £2.79 :eek:

Just annoyed at my own lack of organisation but tomorrow is another day....

debt.free.dani

I batch cooked today too with my day off work - veggie chilli, lentil stew and chickpea curry. Yum.

CuppyCake

I often find that life gets in the way and that can be really problematic when trying to plan meals etc!

I'm going to defrost my freezer tomorrow, make some room for more batched cooked food and the like

FlacosFloozie

Well, bit of a better day today. Phoned my car insurance to let them know I've moved and got a refund of £49.84! Also managed to bank £13 in change when I went in to change my address. Quite surprising as my old branch was really akward about paying in coins but they were happy to take them... even though some were in (clean) dog poo bags since I didn't have the proper coin ones

Anyway, that makes a grand total of £62.84. Once its cleared in I'm going to round it up to £65.75 then I'll start 2012 owing less than £14000. Ok, so less by 1p but still less

Also did xmas shop in Tesco and spent £61.56. I know this is a lot more than many folks here will have spent but its less than usual for us and included a few seasonal luxuries so I'm still counting it as a win.

FlacosFloozie

Well I just tried putting in my details to Tesco Price check so we'll see what comes of that...