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

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Comments

  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Thursday 2nd January, 2014.
    Day 127.

    Dear Diary,

    This afternoon has been busy, not sure if customer will order or not at the moment but things seem positive, so hopefully that will mean an order placed next week. Did not seem to be a waste of time, after all. I have also made progress towards the business grant I am applying for, much to the surprise of my wife.

    Onto debt busting, I've still not managed to do any eBay listings but did get a payment for an item I was expecting to have to relist, so that has gone towards clearing one of the remaining cards. Tomorrow I'm visiting the doctors but should have the time to deal with at least a couple of the eBay items.

    Following Granariesgirl's excellent idea to write down two things to be thankful for each day, I will be posting these in my diary, some may even amuse you. So, here goes for the first time today:

    Two things to be thankful for:
    My son said he missed me when I got home.
    The weather was sunny.

    Summary:
    +£100.00 Payment for item.
    -£12.00 Groceries.
    -£30.00 Petrol.

    Yours Faithfully,
    Alex.
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • AlexLK wrote: »
    Happy New Year and I presume you had a nice holiday. :)
    Ooh yes - too nice! VERY good cellar kept by French family... fond memories of a 1998 Faugeres that was an unexpected delight to the palate (a lone bottle discovered in the back of the cellar while clearing out those nice old wooden cases)! Oh & much better Bordeaux than we could afford! :cool:
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Why, thank you *smug*. ;)
    Smug is good - MUCH better than Eeyore! :rotfl: :rotfl:
    AlexLK wrote: »
    :rotfl: Nothing I could do would prevent him from thinking that I am "a prat".
    I think you were on your way to improving things but it's only a hiccup if you play your cards well! Think how happy it would make Mrs K...
    Your parents would still see you on 2 of the 3 days so it's not the end of the world & won't kill them. Think more of your wife & what SHE wants!
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Have you thought about getting a job in sales, Granariesgirl? Because, I better not show Mrs. K. this but I'm almost thinking about reconsidering somewhat and if we went that route we most certainly could afford to send him to a much better school at 13.

    :D Sales? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt & yes I was no slouch - sent in to the no-hope prospects & usually came out with a good order but that was just fun holiday stuff during Uni... :cool:
    AlexLK wrote: »
    What happened between the ages of 11-13?

    L IV in the secondary school - entrance at 11 just after primary. And remember that quality is not necessaily reflected in the price you pay - this school is quite a lot [STRIKE]cheaper[/STRIKE] less outrageously expensive than others in the region & much higher up the latest league tables! (now THAT'S almost MSE!:D)
    *Double smug*! :cool:

    AlexLK wrote: »
    Were you careful about who at the village school your child mixed with?
    We concentrate more on the moral quality than the social status. Kids who knew their Ps & Qs & are pleasant are invited again, others who don't are not (usually DC's choice). Good mix of friends (for us & them): I want them to be good judges of CHARACTER & look beyond the bling - so far I'm happy (OMG I hope the Bad Fairy won't jinx me now!:eek:). Any social snobbery is firmly squashed however as it is NOT our thing (along with racism, sexism, religious prejudice & pointless "PCness").
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Yes, Mrs. K. has her say too, rather difficult when you both want different things and are perhaps not getting on as well as you would like to be.

    One word - COMPROMISE!
    With us, OH was against public & I was against state so we looked for the best of both & applied. DC got offered a place at both & we shut up & left the final decision to the person most conceerned. Actually OH is now OK with DC's choice because of seeing his child really grow at the school. I think either school would have suited & I just hope that spending the price of a house on private education will really help DC1 achieve their full potential while making friends for life.
    AlexLK wrote: »
    I am as you rightly assumed a terrible procrastinator.
    No sh*t, Sherlock! It takes one to know one, that's how I spotted you! :rotfl: :rotfl:
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Two things to be thankful for:
    My son said he missed me when I got home.
    The weather was sunny.
    Good man! Proud of you. :D
  • maman
    maman Posts: 29,957 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Saw you'd spent £12 on groceries today Alex.

    Are you still determined on 'as and when' shopping? And if so, why???

    Saddo that I am I checked back through a month of your grocery shopping and saw that it didn't come to much more than MrsK's budget plan on the SOA. BUT do you do all the family food shopping? If MrsK buys as well then it'll not be as good as I thought. I think her planned weekly budget is very doable considering you have your Sunday beef out every week, MrsK (and possibly littleK?) eat lunch out several days and it's really not the law that you must have smoked salmon on Sunday evenings!

    It all helps.
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Ooh yes - too nice! VERY good cellar kept by French family... fond memories of a 1998 Faugeres that was an unexpected delight to the palate (a lone bottle discovered in the back of the cellar while clearing out those nice old wooden cases)! Oh & much better Bordeaux than we could afford! :cool:

    Stop it, stop it now! :rotfl:
    I think you were on your way to improving things but it's only a hiccup if you play your cards well! Think how happy it would make Mrs K...
    Your parents would still see you on 2 of the 3 days so it's not the end of the world & won't kill them. Think more of your wife & what SHE wants!

    I've improved things a little with my brother-in-law but the father-in-law and I have a terrible relationship. He and I manage civility, most of the time.

    I know this but would not like to try telling them. This has been brought up before, a few years back. My mother ended up getting rather upset and gave my wife "a piece of her mind".
    :D Sales? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt & yes I was no slouch - sent in to the no-hope prospects & usually came out with a good order but that was just fun holiday stuff during Uni... :cool:

    :rotfl: How did I guess? ;)
    L IV in the secondary school - entrance at 11 just after primary. And remember that quality is not necessaily reflected in the price you pay - this school is quite a lot [STRIKE]cheaper[/STRIKE] less outrageously expensive than others in the region & much higher up the latest league tables! (now THAT'S almost MSE!:D)
    *Double smug*! :cool:

    Thank you, I can't say I much like the idea of senior school being started at 11 as I think it's too young.
    We concentrate more on the moral quality than the social status. Kids who knew their Ps & Qs & are pleasant are invited again, others who don't are not (usually DC's choice). Good mix of friends (for us & them): I want them to be good judges of CHARACTER & look beyond the bling - so far I'm happy (OMG I hope the Bad Fairy won't jinx me now!:eek:). Any social snobbery is firmly squashed however as it is NOT our thing (along with racism, sexism, religious prejudice & pointless "PCness").

    We certainly agree on the pointless PCness and various "isms". I have tried to get out of the "are they good enough to talk to my son" mentality as of late. However, I must say it is difficult when I was very much subjected to it.

    When I got into cars, my eyes were opened quite a lot but I wasn't really ready for it and only talked to the same crowd. Apart from Mrs. K. ... we were loves young dream once. :rotfl:
    One word - COMPROMISE!
    With us, OH was against public & I was against state so we looked for the best of both & applied. DC got offered a place at both & we shut up & left the final decision to the person most conceerned. Actually OH is now OK with DC's choice because of seeing his child really grow at the school. I think either school would have suited & I just hope that spending the price of a house on private education will really help DC1 achieve their full potential while making friends for life.

    Mrs. K. is not 100% against, she just doesn't understand the benefits. To be honest, I do see where she is coming from in the "you haven't got far", seeing my education as somewhat of a waste of money. However, it wasn't to me.
    No sh*t, Sherlock! It takes one to know one, that's how I spotted you! :rotfl: :rotfl:

    Good man! Proud of you. :D

    :rotfl:

    I have to admit I was more curious to see if I could find two things in one day that I was thankful for, today's are a bit lame, I'll admit that much.
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    maman wrote: »
    Saw you'd spent £12 on groceries today Alex.

    Are you still determined on 'as and when' shopping? And if so, why???

    Honestly, I cannot really be bothered to write a list and go walking around all the shops for hours to get everything.
    maman wrote: »
    Saddo that I am I checked back through a month of your grocery shopping and saw that it didn't come to much more than MrsK's budget plan on the SOA. BUT do you do all the family food shopping? If MrsK buys as well then it'll not be as good as I thought. I think her planned weekly budget is very doable considering you have your Sunday beef out every week, MrsK (and possibly littleK?) eat lunch out several days and it's really not the law that you must have smoked salmon on Sunday evenings!

    It all helps.

    I don't do all the family food shopping. However, usually the amount I post for groceries counts what my wife has bought as well as I. Sometimes, I have to admit it doesn't though that is not very often.

    Son has dinner at nursery three times per week as of next week and lunch at my parents' probably 2-3 times per week. Mrs. K. has lunch at work twice per week.

    :rotfl: I suppose it isn't. However, I'm allowed some treats, surely?:A
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Not looking forward to visiting the doctors today but determined not to walk straight out of there and buy myself "a treat", so I'm not taking any cash. :)
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • 7roland8
    7roland8 Posts: 3,601 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Good luck - make a note of what you want to ask.
    Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day. -- Sally Koch
  • AlexLK wrote: »
    Not looking forward to visiting the doctors today but determined not to walk straight out of there and buy myself "a treat", so I'm not taking any cash. :)

    Don't take any plastic either ;)

    Good luck at the docs. As Roland says, have a little note sheet of what you want to ask.

    HBS x
    "I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another."

    "It's easy to know what you're against, quite another to know what you're for."

    #Bremainer
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Thank you both, looks like I should have booked a later appointment as I did not manage to remember everything. :o

    HBS: :rotfl: I've stopped paying for things on my card, even if I have to take money out - I find it helps me think before buying things.
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • As long as you remembered some of them, it wasn't a wasted appointment :)

    I'm the other way - if I have cash I'm very frivolous, but apparently I'm in the minority there.

    HBS x
    "I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another."

    "It's easy to know what you're against, quite another to know what you're for."

    #Bremainer
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