You know MSE/DFW is taking over when...

rock_from_a_hard_place

Ummmm....if you don't go anywhere in the car 'cos you sold it to the scrap yard for £40 (huge saving on insurance, car tax, MOT, repairs AND parking - not that I ever paid for parking as that's what the road tax is for, innit?) and 'don't go anywhere' and get rid of the tv (but not the broadband internet and telephone thingy), don't use any shampoo and shower gel 'cos you don't WASH except over at a friend's place (huge savings on water and heating) you'll soon be 'STINKING' rich like me!

Joking aside, I did sell my car to the scrappy for £40 - got towed there by the AA (annual membership £46 so I 'lost' £6 on the sale after having renewed my membership only days before)..... then I got home, cancelled my car insurance and got told there was a £52.88 'mid-term cancellation fee' which really made my day - it was probably in the small print but they reduced it by £30 after I blubbed a lot on the telephone (freephone number so I spoke like forever at their expense!)......but since then I have found my savings have gone up and my debt down - I really believe that the only way to make any real progress is to reduce your expenditure if you can't increase your income in the short term.

It was really amazing. I missed my only real friend (the car) for a couple of days and then found I got a real kick out of walking (weather permitting) and planning my journeys instead of jumping in the car every time I felt the desire for a luxury like a loaf of bread or some milk. I was initially shocked at the cost of public transport (four/five times the marginal cost of the petrol in my now deceased car) so I'd walk into town and just get a bus back with a couple of shopping bags; when occasionally I did a 'big shop' (over £20) I treated myself to a taxi. It is actually far cheaper to get a taxi locally once every three weeks than run a car!

Reducing expenditure became addictive after giving up the 'necessity' of a car; in fact I got so mean after a week or so that I once only spent £1.48 in five days (I now think that was going a bit too far).

I'm still in debt, but I really believe I'll go from owing almost £20,000 to zero in less than a year - down to £6,700 already and it's looking good (Deo Volenti). My one rule is this - keep a note of everything you spend each day; and add it all up once per week under different headings. Don't cheat! I found that by listing 'wine' separately to 'food' I was actually spending more on wine than the stuff that's not a luxury but keeps you alive.

Mrs_Beatson

rock_from_a_hard_place wrote: »

Don't cheat! I found that by listing 'wine' separately to 'food' I was actually spending more on wine than the stuff that's not a luxury but keeps you alive.

sorry..
I've re read this several times but still cant make head nor tail of it

you seem to be saying that wine ISN'T a necessity?

... that it's a luxury?

Nope I'm still lost.... :rotfl:

are YOU absolutely SURE???

tealady

Alcohol is definately a necessity because as St Paul said "Take a little wine for thy stomachs sake"
I knew MSE was taking over when my PC crashed and when I got it rebooted MSE was the 1st site I went on.

2giraffes

When you are buying four children's books that are buy one get one free, but they are 2 different prices so you pay for the first 2 separately so as to save as much as possible (i.e. cheapest free so buy the 1.99 ones together and the 1.50 ones together, so saving 3.49 instead of 3.00)!!! And they are for presents for all the parties your dd is invited to now she's started nursery.....:p