Moving south for winter

FlacosFloozie

This weeks ebay sales have netted me near £21 before fees and without P+P :j and 3 out of 4 buyers have already paid! Must get things wrapped and posted tomorrow.... and must keep up wih this ebay lark

FlacosFloozie

Another payday and another chunk paid off the CCs. It's less than I'm aiming for but we had a huge electric bill... nearly £200 :eek: and I'm going to have to order oil at some point this month. In some ways I'm looking forward to moving. Our country cottage is lovely but I'm paying nearly £300 a month keeping the lights on and us warm. Our old boring barett box cost around £100 a month for gas and electric, just a small difference in budget but you live and learn

Should be able to pay a bit more as i think we're council tax free this month. Need to get more stuff on ebay too. Both CCs are going to start charging interest on parts of the balance at the end of this month which is going to slow things doen a bit. I could try for another 0% card but something in me is rebelling at the thought of having acess to more credit. I've only kept cc3 as its easier if I need to do balance transfers but I'm going to get rid of it later this year I think.

FlacosFloozie

10 things listed on ebay tonight and debt now sub 6k.

HappyNow

Hi FF, congratulations on getting below £6K, that's brilliant. Then it will be time to start on £X ! Whatever the X is, I'm sure you will knock it on the head in no time, and you really deserved that holiday with the effort you've put in this last year.

I hope you manage to find a lovely new home and you are absolutely right about old country properties costing a fortune to run x

FlacosFloozie

Its a long time since I've posted but mostly I've just been plodding on with the regular payments and a bit extra where I can. The debt is coming down and I'm happy with my progress.
However, I something unexpected happened this week. Anyone who's followed this may remember my ongoing battle with the tax office last year. It did result in a refund but less than I'd expected. Yesterday I got a letter telling me they'd miscalculated and owed me some money. Today I got a cheque for...
£2315.36 :j:j:j I can't quite take it in. This is going to knock at least 3 months off my DFD. I'm thinking I might splurge a little though and get my hair cut... don't tell Martin

FlacosFloozie

Long time no post but life has been plodding along lately. We have a new house lined up and will be moving soon. I'm really looking forward to a change. Rent is a bit more per month but the heating is gas not oil. When we cisited last week it was warm inside even though the heatings off. Our current cottage was cold even with it running, so I'm hoping we'll save a fair bit.

Debt is standing at a little over 2k now (plus X) so its coming down and I should have all the original debt gone before my birthday which was my target. Now its time to not slack off and keep the momentum going.

Went to Ikea last week to nose around as we'll need a new wardrobe.... suddenly found ourselves thinking about all the things that could do with replacing.... managed to leave having bought only meatballs and some lingonberry jam. I think we did well to resist temptation :rotfl:

FlacosFloozie

So we have now moved and settled in to the new house. I do really like it. Its so nice coming home to somewhere warm We've spent a bit of money moving. There are a few new rugs and bookcases from a certain scandinavian emporium but I think we've managed to keep it at a reasonable level.
I'm back on the PAW thread again. This week a refund from the water people got payed which means I've paid back more than 12k since I started this diary.

FlacosFloozie

Is it a bad sign I can now recognise an HMRC envelope before its made its way fully through the letterbox?

I had a day off today and spotted one as the postie delivered it. This did spark off the inevitable feeling of dread as I though my tax was finnaly sorted... however, I've been recalculated (again) and they owed me £12.60 so it was a cheque instead of a demand. I don't know why but I'm not complaining :rotfl:

I was very MSE and walked into town to pay it in... exercise, no burning petrol and no 60p parking. I did spend £3 on a father's day card but do already have the stamp so not too bad.

FlacosFloozie

So I'm enjoying a weekend alone as Mr F is visiting friends. What have I decided to do with my free weekend... go through old financial doccuments and use up leftovers from the freezer :rotfl:

I now have a shiny spreadsheet going back for the last 10 years with our debts, savings and my pension on it. Really quite scary to realise that we first got into debt in 2004! Before that all cards were cleared within 2 months at the outside but then things began to gradually build up. At one point I had no debts and 6k in savings :eek:

There were some big expenses that contributed- Mr F developed a love of classic cars and for a number of years had MGs as daily drivers. On the plus side they were cheap to buy and insure but every few months would need more work doing. Then there were the two weddings in the states- one for a very close friend and one for a family member, unfortunately both within 12 months of one another and no time to save up first. Then we got married and, although my parents were very generous, all those little extras added up and took us well over budget. However, the biggest culprit was just all those little unnecessary expenses- a meal out, a new dress, a weekend away

My original target was to clear my debt by my birthday next month. That isn't going to happen. I've just got my car inurance quote through, we've had to spend money on a spare bed for my parents visiting, and seem to have overspent on everything this month, so I'll be short by a few hundred pounds

There is also debtX to go as well so my new target is to clear ALL debt by the following birthday and have at least 1 months wages saved up.

I do find it fun to think of savings plans for once the debt is gone but I get impatient and annoyed with myself for being here but hey ho.... maybe a job will turn up soon for Mr F and then it can all be gone by Christmas... that would be lovely... pretty please job fairy

FlacosFloozie

Payday today so more paid off. I might get a bit more before my birthday as I've held some money back in my current account to cover extra bills but they might total a bit less than I think.