£80,000

Happytogetdebtfree

Try not to dwell on the numbers i know its hard but sometimes it can be very consuming and demoralising remember your trying your best ive just been doing some financial forecasting im looking forward to the next few months and updating numbers if it helps maybe try the secret focus upon the end result of finacial freedom and focus on the feeling it will give you it helps me think and breath positivity xx

chevalier

Don't worry about the length of your diary. When you get to 5000 posts then you can worry:D:D.

Well done on getting out of your comfort zone and exploring other shops. Sometimes I think part of the problem is what I call zombie food shopping. you go round the same shop, putting the same things in the trolley, never really questioning whether that item is the best deal, whether it ever actually gets used, or whether you are even in the right shop-.

I have also heard good things about approved foods online (and there is another one that I can't remember the name of ) as a way of saving on grocery shopping.

Bizarrely I have also heard that you can get some amazing bulk deals on Amazon of all places, and free delivery as well

Hope this helps
chev

Poosmate

Cass, this is your diary and you have your followers and supporters and they all know your diary's name, no need to make another one.

Great that you are having fun shopping for less, keep it up.

Have you popped all your debts into the snowball calculator yet? I love that thing although I don't believe the debt free date - it will be done quicker. If you have used it, don't be daunted by the debt free date (scared the bejesus out of me), it doesn't take into account that you will probably be offered 0% deals and be able to shift your debt around a bit and in certain months make over payments like using your Council Tax money in February and March (if you pay over 10 months) or your water rates money if you pay over 8 months.

Good luck anyway,

Poo

thejames

Poosmate wrote: »

Cass, this is your diary and you have your followers and supporters and they all know your diary's name, no need to make another one.

Great that you are having fun shopping for less, keep it up.

Have you popped all your debts into the snowball calculator yet? I love that thing although I don't believe the debt free date - it will be done quicker. If you have used it, don't be daunted by the debt free date (scared the bejesus out of me), it doesn't take into account that you will probably be offered 0% deals and be able to shift your debt around a bit and in certain months make over payments like using your Council Tax money in February and March (if you pay over 10 months) or your water rates money if you pay over 8 months.

Good luck anyway,

Poo

Thanks I actually received a parking ticket thorough the door on my first visit to lidl, for over staying my welcome, even though I didn't see any signs at all and also I only overstayed because lidl was closed due to unforeseen circumstances to which they didn't open for an hour and a half so I plodded along with the kids to take them for a bun which I might add cost me another £6 so all in all wish I'd just saved my money and gone to sainsburys that day.

Anyway on a lighter note, we have managed to cut our £600 has come to £190 we have all the food for the month, we've done a meal plan and we've budgeted another £50 for extras such as bread milk etc.. Can't believe we almost done it, no pat on the back till payday though!!

Cass

thejames

It also looks as if we may pay £400 off a credit card! Who'd have thought this time last week!

Happytogetdebtfree

Well done on the savings thats amazing, boo on the parking ticket i cant believe that its so damn rude ! can you contest it ? maybe someone with some know how can help ive seen people post about parking tickets and private companies and not paying them xx

thejames

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

Well done on the savings thats amazing, boo on the parking ticket i cant believe that its so damn rude ! can you contest it ? maybe someone with some know how can help ive seen people post about parking tickets and private companies and not paying them xx

I think I will, I've paid it, but who knows just felt it defeated the object of me going there. But I shan't dwell on it. X

Happytogetdebtfree

Just seen that you are paying 400 off a card thats great, i know your main aim is to clear an amount but it might be wise for firt few months to have some buffering available so 300 card 100 buffer if its not needed end of month pay it on the card .... i found that helped me first few months xx

getcontrolback

I couln'nt pass by your thread without posting. As you can see from my signature hubby and I have managed to get rid of all our debt (excluding mortgage) in 5 years; so this is very much doable. You have had amazing advice and you yourself have been doing amazing things and can see the difference it makes. As my granny used to say 'watch the pennies and the pounds look after themselves' - didn't realise how true this was until I started doing it. For us it was a hard road for the first year; Hubby (in particular) and kids all felt they 'deserved' treats for working hard at work and school. Hubby very keen on 'consolidation', which caused many an argument. Kids would get bored with food regime and so on and so. I realised after a year, it wasn't just me that need to be kept motivated. Every Friday night I would sit Hubby down and go through my summary spreadsheet (believe me I had many spreadsheets). I would start by showing him how much we'd saved in spending and how much the overall debt was reducing. The figure was still huge, but I would keep referring back to what it was, it helped him keep onboard, and as the list of debts got smaller as well he started to get excited. believe me these past five years has flown by and we are chuffed to bits. My menu planning became a bore with the kids and I soon got in a rut of eating the same old meals, I then decided to do a rotating 3 week menu (summer menu and a winter menu); 3 nights veggie, 2 nights fish, 2 nights meat - nobody gets bored, some meals they are not too keen on but my reply is you only have to eat it once every 3 weeks - stop moaning. We are all much healthier and don't spend very much on meat and the kids get more than their fair share of 5 a day. in year 2 I took total control of the finances as Hubby still couldn't be trusted with cash in his pocket and most definitely not a piece of plastic. I gave him 'pocket money' ( budget when speaking to him) and I wouldn't ask what he spent it on. if he wanted more I would go through my budget spreadsheet which I entered daily spend against the budget pots so we could see exactly where we were and would ask him to say which budget pot he was going to take it from - needless to say he would often or not say he didn't need to spend the money when he saw what would suffer if he did. He's still 'not allowed' a piece of plastic in his wallet as we have an interest only mortgage to tackle now which is due in 7 years time. I'm on here today to keep motivated to do this, and then I saw your post - you will do it, you are sounding determined. remember to make a big thing of the successes however small, it really does help. After 5 years the whole family's mindset has changed and to be honest I really don't know why we thought we needed all that 'stuff' before. We are much happier and not so precious. Wishing you well on your journey, it's a way of life that you will never look back from

MunniMuncha

Hi Cass -Well done on your paying off £400 to credit card and reducing your shopping down by 2/3rds - that's amazing :T:T:T

I definitely would contest the parking ticket as we were given one years ago when the signs were put up AFTER we got there (were at a festival so not usual parking area) and got off with it. If you go to Lidl's and ask them for a letter stating that on that day there were closed for 1 1/2 hours due to unforeseen circumstances that might also help your case. Good luck and let us know how you get on