Wishing for a Life Down Under

Crystalclear_2

Well, I'm taking a deep breath and here goes...

I'm not new to these forums but have been thinking about beginning a DFD for quite a while. I think that having an outlet for my thoughts and ideas will really help.
So a bit about me. I am a mum of 4 mostly grown up children, 26, 25, 22 and 16 and have been very happily married for 27 yrs. We are very lucky in love and not so lucky in money.
We initially emigrated to Australia in 2005 and lasted about 15 months. The reasons for returning to the UK were mainly that our middle boy then 15 just could not settle and begged and pleaded with us to come back. In hindsight we should have resisted and stuck to our guns but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Don't get me wrong settling in a new country is not easy and there were other issues including missing family and friends and our eldest daughter who opted to stay in the UK with her boyfriend.
Well fast forward 6 plus years and we want to go back. Our eldest boy lives and works in Australia for my brother and is very happily engaged to be married there at Christmas.
Our eldest daughter has her own place here and our DGD who is 3. The middle boy who was a big part of our decision to return is currently on a 12 mnth travelling holiday, guess where?? You got it Australia:cool:
So currently just our youngest is at home and is as excited as us to get back.
But it's never easy to up and move across the other side of the world and though the decision has been made finance and debt are making it very difficult.
We are very lucky in that we have a permanent residents visa that doesn't run out until 2016 but we really don't want to wait that long. At the grand old age of me 45 and DH 51 we want to get back and get established with jobs and housing. I am very lucky in having my DB and his family along with various friends and our son waiting for us:D
This diary is about our trials and tribulations trying to get rid of the debt and make our dream come true.
I can put it off no longer. We owe £38,500:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: made up of Credit Cards, a managed loan, a loan to my parents, overdraft and a car loan.
Now I know it's a lot but we do have a plan. The house is on the market and we should just have enough equity to pay off the debt, hopefully negotiate some full and final offers and have a few thousand left to get to Oz with.
But as you know selling a house is much easier said than done so in the mean time we need to save as much as possible, pay of anything we can, spend as little as possible and pray the house sells. I am currently working from home and DH is self employed and our income does vary a lot from month to month so not that easy to budget.
I currently sell on ebay and amazon,
Cook from scratch
Buy almost all my clothes from charity shops but am open to suggestions for saving as much as possible.
Anyway enough waffle, hope some of you enjoy my chatter, oops forgot to add am also trying to lose weight, 1 st gone just another 3 to go. Well done if you have made it to the end this massive first post, honestly they won't all be this long.

Crystalclear_2

It's probably sad that I am ridiculously excited about keeping this diary.

Ok so todays money saving plans.

Post ebay sales
Scrap the 2nd car that is literally falling to bits, cancel 2nd car insurance
find out more about how to enter as many competitions as possible every day
Good news today as well. Have paid the last £100 on DH outstanding tax bill so £100 better off than we were.
Cooking from scratch tonight, hm chicken curry and rice and naan bread, fruit and ice cream for dessert.
DS has gone out for the day with his friend and his family so will take advantage of this by getting into the loft and searching out more things to ebay.
Hope your all having a good day

40somethingmum

Hiya

Thanks for dropping in on my diary . You are right we have lots of similarities ! Good luck with everything and I look forward to getting to know you better.

love

40SMxx

Crystalclear_2

thanks fortysomething mum me too. x

So had a great morning. Have sold the car for scrap and sent the tax disc off for a refund.
Have spoken to Family Credit and hopefully they will sort our claim out.
Nobody told me how addictive these diaries can be, I can't stop reading.
Feel like my meanderings are a bit dull, but the main objective is to keep me on track and in this positive frame of mind.:D

40somethingmum

Well done on selling the car :T These diaries are certainly addictive unfortunately I should be doing some work Thats the problem with working from home ... its too easy to do anything else but work

bargainbetty

Hi Crystalclear,

Just a thought, but while you are sorting through the things you can sell, sort out the things you buy too. Do a full inventory of your stock cupboards, kitchen and bathroom. You might find you can reduce your purchases by working your way through your stores first. I found I had 36 loo rolls, seven bottles of bleach and enough toiletries to not buy shampoo or bodywash for six months. I still haven't bought moisturiser, and that was over a year ago!

It's effectively money in the bank - if you use one up rather than buying something, put the savings in the pot. Visit the old style board to see all the nifty ideas for alternative uses or cheaper alternatives.

Watered-down moisturiser instead of shaving cream, vinegar instead of fabric softener, watered hair conditioner instead of fabric softener too (using up stuff that doesn't suit your hair)....

Crystalclear_2

Hi Betty
Some great ideas. I will start an inventory. mm pretty sure I have a box under my bed with toiletries mainly gifts that have not been used.
I definitely need to do a store cupboard check as well. I dont have a clue whats at the back.
The other thing I am beginning to look at is reclaiming any ppi we have paid. It,s not going to be easy as I dont even have account numbers for some of them but I understand sending a SAR can often sort this out and am determined not to give 30% away to some company just for sending a letter.
Thanks so much for the suggestions Crystal

Crystalclear_2

Fortysomething, I know exactly what you mean. I am meant to be working but just keep having a quick look at my diary:D

Crystalclear_2

Ok I am totally stressed out with trying to find PPI information. I have a memory like a sieve:cool:
Some companies seem to be straight forward and others a nightmare. Oh well baby steps. That's it for today feel like I am going to make my eyes bleed.
Have some details but not a lot.
Off for tea and then a nice long hot bath. Tomorrows another day

40somethingmum

Have a nice evening crystal

Crystalclear_2

Still not managed my bath as visitors arrived and stayed and stayed. I don't mind really. Just seem to have one of those homes were everyone congregates. I'm thinking of adding a revolving door.
Forgot to say earlier got a great deal on our mobiles. Reduced to pay as u go now the contracts are ending and gone from £100 a month for both down to £30 for both.
Tomorrow will tackle Abbey first with the PPI. I think I can only cope with 1 of those a day.

Until later