Living for the moment

FatVonD

snowleopard61 wrote: »

you could include things that don't cost anything - like showering together sometimes (hey, that could actually save you money!:D)

:rotfl:

If DH and I tried to shower together we'd end up in A&E!

This Saturday we went into town to find DH's favourite magazine and then had KFC for lunch (mine was the £1.99 lunch box!) The highlight of our Sunday was buying the cat food from a different Tesco when we dropped my son at his girlfriend's house :rotfl:

We sometimes cash in some clubcard tokens for a meal but we're trying to save them at the moment as we have 3 big birthdays in the next 6 months (16, 18 and 21, how's that for bad birth planning!) We managed to swap something for gig tickets recently but DH would like to be at gigs every night and gets grumpy when he knows there's stuff on.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I'm going to earmark some money to spend on an eat as much as you [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] like Sunday buffet this weekend which is the thing that makes him happiest in the world :T

ska_lover

Idiophreak wrote: »

Sorry, but "conversate" really facilificated a goodified chuckle

Laugh away my friend, laugh away:j

snowleopard61

FatVonD wrote: »

:rotfl:

If DH and I tried to shower together we'd end up in A&E!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Gra76

From a personal point of view, I'd stick to paying the debts off. The sooner the debts are paid, the quicker you can forget about 'little treats' and start having 'big treats' such as the holiday you crave.

I did exactly this to clear my debts when I was in my mid 20's and while me friends were out partying all weekend and getting into further debt while destroying their credit profiles by missing payments on loans etc, I was staying in most weekends to stop myself getting to the end of the month and being short on cash again. I used to budget for one big night out a month, usually the weekend after payday, and I'd put the money in my pocket to spend at the beginning of the night, once it ran out I went home rather to the cash machine for more.

Even now, years and years down the line I now have virtually no debt and my friends are still deep in the mire complaining about how much they can't afford to go out anymore. I have total control over my finances now and my friends usually couldn't tell you how much they have in their account, infact my best friend still looks surprised everytime he sees his account balance as he hasn't the foggiest idea of his expenditure, and just hopes he has enough in the account when he needs it. He couldn't plan a session in a brewery!

Don't bank on the 0% transfers for ever though, I managed to transfer all my debts onto them and then paid them all off a set amount per month, making sure the entire balance was paid off 1 month before the 0% deal ran out. It took a lot of self control and planning but it was worth it. I have more financial planning sense now than all my friends added together.

Short term pain = long term gain. Go for it!

Goldiegirl

What I would ask Gra76 is, do you actually have those big holidays etc.

The reason I ask this is bacause I know people who have been very controlled with their money, squirelling every penny away for debt clearance and savings, actually get out of the habit of spending money.

I've got some friends who I know have hundreds of thousands of pounds of savings, but if presented with a reason for spending money, such as a big holiday or new car, the first thing they say is that they can't afford it.

Of course, it's their life, and their money, and their business, but I do wonder sometimes if they are getting the most out of their life.

Small treats ( or large treats when you can afford it) make life fun, and gives you something to look forward to in the short term, rather than wait for some unspecified date in the future, when you can afford 'everything'.

Gra76

We're booking a family holiday for August this year and I replaced my car last year, and the wife's a few weeks ago, so I'm going to say yes, we do!

My 'savings' consist of 6 months of wages should the worst happen, anything above that has 'spend me' written all over it!

Goldiegirl

Gra76 wrote: »

We're booking a family holiday for August this year and I replaced my car last year, and the wife's a few weeks ago, so I'm going to say yes, we do!

My 'savings' consist of 6 months of wages should the worst happen, anything above that has 'spend me' written all over it!

It's all about getting the balance right, and you seem to have a good balance there:beer: