Freedom At 50!

sweetdaisy

Well done Southerndave :T. It sounds like you are on a roll.

OS_QS

Hi, I replied to you on my own thread, but probably best to put it on yours?!

I fully recommend taking the time and going through everything you pay for, I sat one day and reviewed the phone, sky, Internet, utilities, etc and researched/compared everything. and still saved a decent amount. I always compare and go for best option at the time, but things change throughout the year and I saved money on just switching to new packages with my same providers.

Having read your thread, You seem to be doing really well- keep at it!

southerndave

A mixed week this week. Managed some more overtime, got another job on tomorrow but had to buy a new iron as ours went pop! Ironically, my wife just got some extra work as well......ironing! The damn thing must have heard her talking about it and decided suicide was a better option.:D

Anyway, we spent out a LOT on a real top line generator iron which will help her a) iron quicker and b) earn some extra money, so hopefully it will pay for itself soon anyway. Got a good discount too, so a sensible purchase.

We also managed to do all the week's acitivites, fill the car up with petrol vouchers, did a big shop and still banked another £20 cash, so with budgeting even a week with expenses, we are still adding to the pot.

I also have eBay sales ending today and tomorrow should should be able to add in some more to this for next week's total. :T

southerndave

Right, that's the end of our first month and I think we have done well. We managed to bank £340 in cash saved from shopping and weekly activities which would have been frittered on newspapers, snacks, and groceries. I earned another £300+ in over time, another £300+ from eBay sales (although that's probably a one off) and another £200 was earned from my second very sporadic job. We had to spend out £350 on two household appliances which packed up, but still substantial savings and earning increase with a little effort and no major change in living standards - mainly be simply being aware of where the money is going and being conscious of spending.

Here's to month two....!

southerndave

You'll notice the mortgage hasn't dropped...this is because our holiday payments from end of August went out the first week of the month, the first week of our challenge so the extra gone in this month has recovered our previous month spending and over-spend. Just in case anyone is remotely interested!

gallygirl

southerndave wrote: »

Managed some more overtime, got another job on tomorrow but had to buy a new iron as ours went pop! Ironically, my wife just got some extra work as well......ironing! The damn thing must have heard her talking about it and decided suicide was a better option.:D

Anyway, we spent out a LOT on a real top line generator iron which will help her a) iron quicker and b) earn some extra money, so hopefully it will pay for itself soon anyway. Got a good discount too, so a sensible purchase.

How is your wife getting on with the iron? My cleaner has one - a ridiculous amount of money to pay for normal usage but it's amazing how quickly she gets through my screwed up balls of clothes :rotfl:. I hope it's making her workload easier .

southerndave

gallygirl wrote: »

How is your wife getting on with the iron? My cleaner has one - a ridiculous amount of money to pay for normal usage but it's amazing how quickly she gets through my screwed up balls of clothes :rotfl:. I hope it's making her workload easier .

Apparently it is the mutts nuts!:) Halved the time spent ironing, better results and easier to use. I know the investment is quite high, but if she can garner enough work, it will pay for itself quite soon. I have to say it seems well made and solid and the design seems good - I like the de-scaling feature which is what seems to kill most irons from experience. Fingers crossed it will last a few years!

Matt_The_Chippy

Good reading your thread. I'm liking the start made and I'm in the same position myself, just starting out on this journey. I need to be better with selling things on ebay.

Best of luck mate.

southerndave

No worries! It s taken me a VERY long time to grow up and wake up to reality financially and to start getting my stuff in order. I have dabbled around minimalism and living simply for a long while, but really made a concerted effort to adopt those principals this year and I have to say it has made me a lot happier in myself and makes life so much easier. Less is truly more.

gallygirl

southerndave wrote: »

Apparently it is the mutts nuts!:) Halved the time spent ironing, better results and easier to use. I know the investment is quite high, but if she can garner enough work, it will pay for itself quite soon.

And if it is that good she has time to source even more work .