I wanna move to the country

Julie67

Good morning,

I'm no Newbie to this site and post on the Old style board daily. I always have lots to waffle on about so thought I would start a diary.
Ok so a little about myself, I'm married to a wonderful man and have four grown up or nearly, youngest is almost 17, kids.
We started a DMP with SC at the beginning if March. Owing just over £34,000 is awful. A series of bad decisions and bad luck.
There are many reasons why we have this amount of debt. Stretching ourselves to the limit on our current property and then me having to give up work due to ill health is probably the major one.
I'm currently waiting on an operation for my knee so can't go out to work at the moment.
Dh is self employed and manages to bring in a good wage most weeks although there are times when we really struggle.
I currently see my job as managing the home and food budget, sticking to the budget set out in our DMP and making savings and any extra money wherever I can.
As the title of my post says, we both want to move from the North West down to Devon or Cornwall so that is our ultimate aim, somewhere with a bit more countryside and some land so we can be as self sufficient as possible. My fella is a fantastic gardener and can grow anything, so we do our best with our current garden, which is a decent size.
Ok so our goals for the next few years

Pay off the debt as quickly as possible and try and make F&F offers wherever we can
Keep the house in good repair, ready for selling as soon as the market begins to move in the other direction.
Get me well so I can work and add a substantial amount to our income, every if that's working from home.
Get our youngest settled in University(he is hoping to become a paramedic)
I've got other personal goals like getting fit and losing a couple of stones but this diary is really about us achieving our ultimate goal of escaping to the country.
Maybe someone will be interested in my ramblings. If you are that's wonderful, and if not that's ok. This is ultimately for me to keep my thoughts straight and my goals clear. I shall post shortly with today's tasks. Happy Monday:)

turfy6

Good luck Julie my eldest is 20 next month DS1 17 and DS2 11, my Oh is self employed too and im in charge of the home so quite similar. Will subscribe to your thread. :wave:

Julie67

Thanks for the reply Turfy, yes very similar, spooky. Thanks for subscribing.
Ok plans for today
Check bank account on line
Check my noddle report ( been meaning to do this for ages)
Cook tea from scratch. I have some sausages that need using today so thinking sausage and pork mince meatballs, with tomato sauce and pasta with garlic bread.
List some more eBay stuff, although to be honest I'm getting really fed up of people pretending they haven't received stuff or saying its damaged. I would love to get into selling new stuff so am going to spend some time looking for suppliers. I have a good idea, its just sourcing the stuff.
Otherwise a general potter round. I am waiting for a call from the hospital about my knee any day.
I'm also waiting for a call re our new boiler that we have managed to get from a government scheme looking to reduce people's carbon footprint. Very strict rules for qualifying and you have to earn under a certain amount and be in receipt of working tax credits. Hopefully they will come and fit it soon as ours is on its last legs:(
Well best get on, will pop back later J

Julie67

Good news, just picked up a local Market Research group adding £30 to the coffers this week. Inspired by the Secret Saver Thread I'm going to put this in a savings account. It's not much, but its a start and money I wasn't expecting

Julie67

Morning all,

Hope your Tuesday is going well so far.

In agony this morning, my leg is so bad having to use my stick which I only do if I'm desperate. Think I've overdone it this week, so had a telling off from dh and will be mostly resting today. Fingers crossed I get a call soon about my cartlidge op.
I will be going over to Yorkshire this afternoon to visit mum and dad and collect a little table I've bought for pennies on eBay.
It's one of those with a paper rack underneath which I know sounds old fashioned but will be perfect for the side of my settee. You won't be able to see the bottom and I can hide all our papers etc. I'm hoping to put a lamp on the top and get rid of the old tall lamp in the corner. It's just a cheap old ikea one and looking a bit tatty. You never know though, someone might want it, so that will be either eBay or charity shop.
Going to try and manage without a food shop tis week. I'm trying to cut back wherever we can and the cupboards and freezers are full. The budget allocation is £80 per week for food and we can really manage quite well without this week. Maybe just a couple of fresh bits like milk and bread.
Tea last night was delish. We had mince pork and sausage meatballs just made with a few mixed herbs and salt and pepper. I roasted them for twenty minutes and whilst they were in the oven made a sauce of sliced onions, just gently saut!ed added tomato pur!e and a spoonful of flour and then beef stock and red wine. I added seasoning to taste, added the meatballs then simmer for 20 hours. I served it with rice and some garlic bread. Clean plates all round.
Pudding was Devonshire apple cake, which was just like it sounds all cinnamony and gooey, lovely.
Dh and I need to sit down and revisit the budget. We know what goes into the bank each week, he gets paid weekly as self employed, but I think we have kind of lost sight of exactly were everything goes.

I've also in the last couple of months taken out life insurance.
At the grand old ages of 46 me and 52 him we realised that if one of us was to pop off the other would really be in a mess, not to mention nothing left for the kids, so we've bitten the bullet. It's £71 a month but gives me such peace of mind that its worth it. I've also filled out trust forms so that the kids will have the money in trust, it wouldn't go to probate should anything happen to us. We had a close friend who dropped dead literally at the age of 48 with undetected heart disease. It really brings things home to you.

We really need to work on an emergency fund. The problem is if dh has a quiet week, then we sometimes have to lose some of the emergency fund to ensure everything is paid. It makes it really difficult to budget. The secret is to make sure the better weeks mean adding to the fund and not spending.

We are currently revamping our downstairs loo. Dh has completely ripped everything out and is filling and preparing ready to decorate. I've bought a new sink and tap from eBay, both a fraction of the cost and the toilet will come from b and q. Flooring wise we will use left over vinyl wooden effect tiles from the kitchen and the pint we already had. All I've had to buy is a roll of wallpaper. It truly has been done on a budget but I think it's going to look fab:D I couldn't bare the mustard toilet and sink a moment longer.

Off to limp around the kitchen, have a good day whatever your doing.

[Deleted User]

Hi Julie,

I read the daily every day but do not post.

We are paying back a rather large Bank loan just now, but we can manage it fine and I look forward to the day when I can say officially we are debt free.

I do have various 'savings' pots for things like car insurance, service and mechanical warrenty. Holidays, OH puts money in his for his bowls fees.

I have often thought about splitting our account so I pay a set amount each month to cover the bills and whats left I can decide what to do with.

We recently moved back from Scotland to be closer to family, and for the first time ever I did not have to put any part of the move or rental costs on the CC. Gave myself a pat on the back for that.

Julie67

Hi Csarina,

Thanks for dropping by. Yesa set amount seems to be the only way for us to budget.
As we are on a DMP with Step Change we kinda had no choice really but it's worked well for the last three months. I think for us at this time it's the way to go.
Well done on not having to put stuff on the credit card. Don't have one anymore which is why an emergency fund is essential. You never know what's around the corner.

never_too_old

Hope the leg feels better soon

[Deleted User]

Julie67 wrote: »

Hi Csarina,


Well done on not having to put stuff on the credit card. Don't have one anymore which is why an emergency fund is essential. You never know what's around the corner.

I did keep one credit card, its a Tesco one I have had for years and does come in useful at times. I no longer carry it about with me, I have to take it out of its hidy hole if I know its something I need to put on the card especially as in this day and age of internet shopping if things go wrong you can get your dosh back from the CC company if its over £100 for the item, then they have to chase the debt.

I do religiously pay the debt off each month though.

Julie67

Afternoon all,

Csarina I agree they are great as a back up. Unfortunately we have never been disciplined enought to pay back in full, hence part of the mess we are in.
Never too old, thanks for the good wishes, I have just had a call to say my op is 5th June:j hurray at least I can count down the days.
I was a keen jogger until this problem with my knee and I can feel the weight slowly creeping on, fingers crossed I can get back to running after the operation. The consultant said no reason why not as long as they don't find anything else, like arthritis, my mum has it really bad and has already had a knee replacement at a relatively young age. Fingers crossed its the cartlidge they have diagnosed.🙅

Julie67

So this is what I have in mind. You've gotta have a dream:D