Mr and Mrs K's New Journey to a Debt Free Life.

AlexLK

Well despite being rather ill and spending quite a bit of money for an evening out (you won't approve of that ....) Mrs. K. and I had a great evening at the recital. It was great to catch up with an old school friend who I've no doubt we shall meet up with again and after we went to say hello to Mrs. K.'s parents which is usually a no go area for me. However, for once, it was quite enjoyable. Things may be looking up.

7roland8

Great news Alex - was thinking of you last night.
Cheers

AlexLK

Roland: Thank you.

I must admit I am somewhat starting to lose motivation for the whole frugal living crusade and have been this week a complete failure with saving the wine for the weekend. Really do need to try and cut back on the drinking again as I am aware it is not doing me a whole lot of good.

Mrs. K. and I do need to think about our son's present for his birthday which is next month, neither of us has ever been any good at this and having seen what my parents have bought for him, I know we cannot compare.

HOK3Y

Hello Alex,

Don't beat yourself up too much - every one of us goes through that blah feeling when motivation starts to slide and good habits are swept aside in favour of behaviors we know aren't helpful. It's okay. You know there is only one way forward if you want to live a happy life where you are in control and look at how much money you have raised in a very short space of time! There are people here who are looking at 8 years or more to clear their debts. At your pace, you could have rid of the vast majority by Christmas. That is nothing short of AMAZING! And it is down to you. You can do it and you can do it quickly. You are incredibly lucky.

Keep going. Hold on. X

7roland8

Well don't be too hard on yourself for being demotivated while feeling ill - its understandable.

Regarding your son - you don't have to compete with grandparents.

Often the most fun presents are the cheap ones - like water pistols or glow in the dark balls that you throw around with the lights off - great fun. also you know what he likes - like a pile more Lego or lots of paints and glue. Some of the expensive stuff we got - like big Power Ranger figures years ago - did not have much play value as if you just bought jigsaws.

Mara_uk7

Alex, little K is going to be three. He will enjoy playing with empty cardboard boxes. You dont have to spend £100 on a gift for him. Especially if his grandparents are doing so !
Dont spend the cash because you worry about what others are thinking. Your son will enjoy £10 worth of bricks as much as any expensive electronic gizmo, as long as daddy has the time to play with him.
Stop worrying about what other people think. They dont matter !

Granariesgirl

Mara_uk7 wrote: »

Alex, little K is going to be three. He will enjoy playing with empty cardboard boxes. You dont have to spend £100 on a gift for him. Especially if his grandparents are doing so !
Dont spend the cash because you worry about what others are thinking. Your son will enjoy £10 worth of bricks as much as any expensive electronic gizmo, as long as daddy has the time to play with him.
Stop worrying about what other people think. They dont matter !

Hear, hear! :T

The expensive toys or battery-fuelled gadgets were the ones that lasted the shortest time & had no resale value (DC's resell to buy new stuff).

One of the best things was a job lot of Brio & compatible trains & tracks off Ebay for about 1/4 of the new price: they lasted AGES & we all loved them (I didn't have a train set as a kid as it wasn't the "done" thing to give trains to girls in those days!). We had HOURS of fun running train lines around our living room then playing - I even set up tracks when they were asleep & [STRIKE]played[/STRIKE] errr... I mean TESTED THE VIABILITY - with the OH!

LannieDuck

Just had DD's 2nd birthday. Both the grandparents bought her big, relatively expensive toys. We bought her a cuddly toy and some toy cars. She had a lovely time. She doesn't know which presents come from whom, and frankly if we'd got her any more presents, she would have been too overwhelmed.

AlexLK

HOK3Y wrote: »

Hello Alex,

Don't beat yourself up too much - every one of us goes through that blah feeling when motivation starts to slide and good habits are swept aside in favour of behaviors we know aren't helpful. It's okay. You know there is only one way forward if you want to live a happy life where you are in control and look at how much money you have raised in a very short space of time! There are people here who are looking at 8 years or more to clear their debts. At your pace, you could have rid of the vast majority by Christmas. That is nothing short of AMAZING! And it is down to you. You can do it and you can do it quickly. You are incredibly lucky.

Keep going. Hold on. X

Thank you. I am trying but things are getting more and more difficult as many of my potential items to sell on eBay have a lot of sentimental value.

7roland8 wrote: »

Well don't be too hard on yourself for being demotivated while feeling ill - its understandable.

Regarding your son - you don't have to compete with grandparents.

Often the most fun presents are the cheap ones - like water pistols or glow in the dark balls that you throw around with the lights off - great fun. also you know what he likes - like a pile more Lego or lots of paints and glue. Some of the expensive stuff we got - like big Power Ranger figures years ago - did not have much play value as if you just bought jigsaws.

Currently very fed up of feeling ill. I've done a little music teaching this morning to make up for yesterday evening but feel very tired now.

Thank you regarding son's birthday. It is very true that he enjoys playing with simple toys or just simply going out for a walk. Mrs. K. and I were thinking of making our own "Explorers kit" :rotfl:. Her parents have got him some lovely thoughtful gifts all wrapped and put in a massive cardboard box they've decorated with a "Tremendous Three" script with a matching card (her Mum is a bit "crafty").

Mara_uk7 wrote: »

Alex, little K is going to be three. He will enjoy playing with empty cardboard boxes. You dont have to spend £100 on a gift for him. Especially if his grandparents are doing so !
Dont spend the cash because you worry about what others are thinking. Your son will enjoy £10 worth of bricks as much as any expensive electronic gizmo, as long as daddy has the time to play with him.
Stop worrying about what other people think. They dont matter !

Luckily we don't like electric gizmos much in this house.

7roland8

The explorers kit sounds fun - you could get a little 'I Spy' book of things to search for - and have little jars to collect things in - plus some binoculars.
One thing he'd love would be a treasure hunt laid out - we did one once on our garden for a kids party. Gifts don't have to be expensive.

Also one thing my boys loved to death was their cars and a Fisher Price garage.