I have a lot to debt to clear... and no idea how to begin!

TeaForOne

Regarding iPhones, I have the TMobile "Full Monty" with unlimited internet on an iPhone 4 (not S) for £36 per month.

I don't have a landline or broadband and just tether my netbook through my phone. I'm in a good 3G area and don't often download stuff, just browse and watch iPlayer. If anyone wants to talk to me from a land line they text and I ring them back so they don't run up a huge bill.

I don't know whether this would work for you or whether Orange have an unlimited tariff, but it may be worth thinking about.

My budget app is My Weekly Budget - I "give" myself a proportion of the month's "left over" money after all bills etc. for variable expenses like food, petrol & entertainment and log every spend in the app. Really simple to use.

Bublin1

To answer your question about saving vs. paying off debt.

I highly recommend you follow Dave Ramsey and his Baby Steps to Financial Freedom.

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/
Also check out his Youtube videos and radio broadcasts, so inspirational to hear members of the public call in and scream out, 'I'm debt free'. If a couple with 6 kids can clear a $120,000 debt in 2 years then you can too.

Basically.......

BS1 - save £1000 for an emergency fund then stop and never touch it unless you have a REAL emergency. If you spend some of it then you temporarily stop BS2 and make up the short fall as quickly as possible.

BS2 - pay off your debt with 'gazelle like' speed. Do not save any more money, just pay off debt using the snowball method. His mantra is 'live on beans and rice OR rice and beans' if you have to but get rid of that debt. Draw up a budget.

BS3 - Debt Free!!!!! Now with 'gazelle like' speed you top-up the Emergency Fund and bring it up to 3-6 months wages.

BS4 - If you're not already contributing to a pension or decided to opt-out whilst on BS2, now is the time to start.

BS5 - Start saving for uni fees for children (if you have or intend to have any)

BS6 - Start making overpayment on your mortgage.

BS7 - Build up your wealth and give to charity.


Personally I have completed Step 1 and chose not to optout of BS4 which is a 13% contribution, so those two are sorted. I made my first ever overpayment on my loan last week - yeah me!!!!!

andy1886

mr2jay wrote: »

This is the one I am drinking this very second - TOFFEE APPLE CIDER :beer: (Taken from the Homebrewforum)

Yeast: Montrachet
Batch Size (Gallons): 1
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.000
Color: Caramel
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ room temp
Tasting Notes: Slightly sweet and intense flavour, rich apple/pear taste with Caramel/Biscuit/Toffee aftertaste

This is a cider based on the Brother's Toffee Apple that I've grown to love so much.
It's especially suited to the autumn, particularly during halloween or round a bonfire, but goes well in the summer too.
You can also heat it gently on the hob to warm the cockles after a hard day in the winter. Add a little lemon, orange and ginger, and you've got a great cold cure.
It's easy and inexpensive to make, so give it a go!

The reason this is brewed so strong is that I add appleade/lemonade in the glass to make the yield go further, make it sweeter and a little fizzier - if you're scaling up and don't want to do this, cut the honey a little!

4L 100% Organic Apple Juice
500g Honey
1 pack yeast of your choice. Popular choices are Montrachet, Champagne, Safale S-04 and Nottingham.
1 14oz tin Pear Halves
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 Vanilla Pod or Vanilla Extract

First, collect empty bottles, preferably green pints - enough for the entire batch.

Heat the honey in a relatively large saucepan, just on the edge of boiling (but not boiling) until it's dark in colour, and the smell resembles candy floss/marshmallows - around 20 mins.

Don't be afraid here - it won't burn the pan and stays very liquid, but it will froth up quite a lot.

Blend the pears using a food processer. If the pears come in flavored water or syrup, just chuck it all in, providing there's no preservatives. If they come in plain water, drain them first.

When Honey is successfully "burnt," take off the heat and allow to cool. Add 1 carton of Apple Juice and the pears, and stir thoroughly until all honey is dissolved and mixture is consistent. Blending in the Apple Juice and Pears while the honey is still hot will result in a cloudy "Scrumpy" type cider that will never settle. The choice is yours!

Add this mixture to a sterilized demi-john, top up with water or apple juice if need be, check gravity, and when cool enough add yeast and nutrient, and seal with airlock.

Add corn sugar/glucose or honey if you want it stronger. Allow to ferment completely.

When fermentation is complete, check FG. The honey is likely to have created some non-fermentables so it might be slightly sweeter than your usual fully fermented cider.

Rack into an identical secondary vessel passing through a muslin bag. The ingredients create a lot of gunk, so doing this increases your yield.

Wrap Vanilla in a small muslin bag, and suspend in the cider using fishing line. Check taste every few days until you're happy - the cider should be close to settled by the time it has taken the taste. Alternatively, skip this stage and add vanilla extract when priming.

When taste is to your liking and cider has settled, bottle into pint bottles, adding 1/2tsp priming sugar per bottle.

Bottle condition for 3 weeks before drinking. Store in the fridge and drink cool without ice - prepare second trip to the supermarket to make more. Just don't drive, whatever you do.

WOW Thank you very much , will seriously look into doing this when I have the time .:T

mr2jay

No problem...Although I do believe we have cause a thread takeover

Started a thread to show the benefits of having a cheap drink while you are debt besting - shows you don't have to give it up when you fancy a drink

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3971419

Anyhow, we can leave this poor young lady to sort out her finances without all this talk of booze

FinanciallyUnsavvy

Haha, I don't mind the thread takeover. Actually, the homebrew cider sounds rather awesome, and when I get the time I'm definitely going to give it a go - thanks!