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

mmy

Hi, Alex, I'm a very occasional poster but a permanent lurker! Your original thread caught my eye and I've followed you over to your diary. I'm so impressed with how proactive you are being and how committed you both are. This bodes very well. I'm also interested in your furniture business; some years ago, I taught myself how to re-cane furniture, and had a small business doing this at home. There is often a call for this service from antique dealers who want to sell a cane chair, but someone had put their foot through the cane....Would there be any mileage in your considering this, given that you already have a foot in this world? It's remarkably easy to learn, albeit time consuming. I taught myself from a book, but that was 147 years ago. There should be lots of helpful advice online....It's a very nice thing to do, and very satisfying. Just stay away from any Bergere furniture, I nearly lost my eyesight re-caning a Bergere sofa once....
The other thing is about your insulation. There is something called the Green Deal, which I am looking into myself at the moment. There is a guide to it on this site. Basically, energy providers help with the cost of 'energy proofing' your home, in terms of insulation, new boiler, etc. The costs incurred by the work must be covered by the savings you would make on your energy bills in the future. I have not got my head around it properly yet, but it sounds as if a Victorian house like yours [i think you said it was Victorian?] would be a prime candidate. There is an upfront cost of £120, but after that it should cost us nothing. May be something to investigate? And let me know what you think, if you find out anything.
All the very best of luck to you both, I will keep reading your diary for inspiration as I keep chipping away at my own debt!

AlexLK

7roland8 wrote: »

Just a few quick points - I would think it is more important to buy cheaper food form the supermarkets than buy expensive things to support local shops - you need to support yourself first.
We tend to do a largish one with Tesco delivered once a fortnight - then just stock up with a bit of milk form local Spar.
Delivery in midweek with Tesco is only £2.50 which where I live is cheaper than driving there.

Please try and get your son some little friends - go to the local playgroup etc so he gets to know other children. Also I too think its good for him to have friends in the village - or he won't fit in at all - just be the posh boy who goes away to school - and will you have enough money to keep up with the rich friends he makes there? He may find then he won't fit in anywhere.

I was kept quite isolated as a youngster and had never played with other kids before starting school - was a nightmare - I was too shy and quiet for anything and it took decades to get over. Education is about the whole person - instilling confidence etc - not just exams.

We will have to have a think about our food shopping, we've already made an effort to cut this down a lot and I'm not sure I want to give more money to supermarkets at the expense of supporting our local economy. I am aware this most likely sounds stupid.

There are things going on in the village for children, my wife used to take him to a few things but could not get on with the other parents. Fortunately, he's not shy and will talk to people. However, we are increasingly aware that he does need to have some sort of interaction with children his own age - this will of course become easier when he gets a bit older and activities will not be focused around these same few mothers Mrs. K. cannot stand.

AlexLK

mmy wrote: »

Hi, Alex, I'm a very occasional poster but a permanent lurker! Your original thread caught my eye and I've followed you over to your diary. I'm so impressed with how proactive you are being and how committed you both are. This bodes very well. I'm also interested in your furniture business; some years ago, I taught myself how to re-cane furniture, and had a small business doing this at home. There is often a call for this service from antique dealers who want to sell a cane chair, but someone had put their foot through the cane....Would there be any mileage in your considering this, given that you already have a foot in this world? It's remarkably easy to learn, albeit time consuming. I taught myself from a book, but that was 147 years ago. There should be lots of helpful advice online....It's a very nice thing to do, and very satisfying. Just stay away from any Bergere furniture, I nearly lost my eyesight re-caning a Bergere sofa once....
The other thing is about your insulation. There is something called the Green Deal, which I am looking into myself at the moment. There is a guide to it on this site. Basically, energy providers help with the cost of 'energy proofing' your home, in terms of insulation, new boiler, etc. The costs incurred by the work must be covered by the savings you would make on your energy bills in the future. I have not got my head around it properly yet, but it sounds as if a Victorian house like yours [i think you said it was Victorian?] would be a prime candidate. There is an upfront cost of £120, but after that it should cost us nothing. May be something to investigate? And let me know what you think, if you find out anything.
All the very best of luck to you both, I will keep reading your diary for inspiration as I keep chipping away at my own debt!

Hello there,

Some things for me to explore in my spare time, the cane furniture sounds interesting. It's not something I had explored before due to having a lack of interest in it but I do have a fair number of contacts in the local antiques trade.

As for the house, yes it's Victorian and falling to pieces, no I don't suppose it is *quite* that bad but it certainly needs some remedial work doing before long. We have been saying that we'd get it sorted since we moved in.

Thank you

heartbreak_star

Regarding the other mums, could she just grit her teeth? I know my mum hated a few of the mums at my social activities but she took a book along to the sessions and read in the car if need be haha!

I think you've made really good inroads, well done for resisting the coat - if it helps keep in mind you'd have blown 7-8 months of my clothes budget in one go on that

Keep your chin up - I'll be checking back in to see how you're doing Good luck!

HBS x

AlexLK

heartbreak_star wrote: »

Regarding the other mums, could she just grit her teeth? I know my mum hated a few of the mums at my social activities but she took a book along to the sessions and read in the car if need be haha!

I think you've made really good inroads, well done for resisting the coat - if it helps keep in mind you'd have blown 7-8 months of my clothes budget in one go on that

Keep your chin up - I'll be checking back in to see how you're doing Good luck!

HBS x

To be honest Mrs. K. is at work when most of these things happen now, she will definitely be at work come 1st October when she goes back full time.

Thank you, we are trying, though I don't know how people managed these spend free days? I've not been buying things for me but already spent £26.18 today.

boo2410

Just thought I'd chip in in support of small village primary schools. When we moved my son moved from a 400+ child school with 2/3 classes to a year to a school of 85 children aged 4-11 with 2 years to a class. It was a fantastic move and all the children know each other and the older children look out for the younger ones. It's much more personal with all the teachers knowing all the children.

Could you perhaps take your son to some of the club's in your village? You see more Dad's now getting involved and you never know, you might be able to do a bit of networking as you are multi talented!!

7roland8

Well as a dad you can pop along to mums and toddlers or playgroups too. You don't have to be bosom pals with everyone - just pleasant - you always have the kids to chat about. When son gets older he'll be visiting families etc that you might also not get on with - you just do really have to get on with it.
Surely going your son a bit of a social life is more important than who you do or do not like - there will always be a few you cannot stand - only once did I stop my son going anywhere - to a birthday party at a filthy house - but I just made an excuse we were going somewhere else.
I find spend free days quite easy - we get shopping delivered - get a little petrol - then apart form the local papers don't buy much at all.

Orange_Ena

AlexLK wrote: »

Orange Ena: Thank you. Will how the cash back sites work become easily apparent or are there other things I need to know?

As far as the budgeting goes, that sounds a good idea, perhaps I will make my first (very small) payment today. However, I'm still not sure if I'd be better off letting the two CCs still with the respective banks go to collection agencies?

We are still unsure whether or not to borrow the money from our son to get the ball rolling?

I think the cashback websites are fairly straightforward. I prefer Topcashback now but that one and Quidco offer similiar cashback. You just basically register and search for a company (or merchant) then you see how much cashback they are offering and click through and order as though you had gone direct to the companies website. Sometimes you can get a flat rate cashback or sometimes its just on first orders or on a particular element.

You can get cashback on all sorts of things, like white goods and insurances, or betting shops. I had a horse racing tip not long ago so I went through Topcashback and registered with Paddy Power and they offered £20 cashback on placing a bet of £10. I couldn't lose really. The horse came 2nd but I was £10 up anyway thanks to the cashback. :T Its worth having a look although do remember that you might be able to get something cheaper elsewhere. You just have to weigh up whether getting the cashback makes it a good deal as cashback is not guaranteed. I've been quite lucky personally but I just see it as a bonus.

With the Tilly Tidies, you can just "sweep" the odd few pence (to round it down to the nearest £1) or however much into a separate account. Say for example you currently buy a daily newspaper, if you stopped buying it and read news online, you could "sweep" what you would have spent into a separate account. I personally pay mine off my CC but you could sweep into a savings account and let it mount up and then use it for an extra debt repayment or a family day out or whatever! Just no pens!! :rotfl::D

I wouldn't know what to suggest about your CC's or your sons money. Just do your research and have a good think!

gallygirl wrote: »

Onwards and downwards surely

Haha yes, you're quite right gallygirl

AlexLK

Perhaps the village school may be worth a look for a couple of years. Fortunately, no decisions need to be made *now*. It is not something I had even considered the possibility of before but Mrs. K. had as she couldn't see a problem with state education (she was state educated herself though).

Now is maybe the time to confess my wife "banned" me from getting involved with the clubs. There are a few Dads involved as we have a very lot of self employed people live in the area.

bess1234_2

I think there will be lots of choices, and financial tricks to learn, which is all good, but also overwhelming.
what is your target for this month? Something simple. Probably sticking to the budget you have set, and being answerable for anything that involved failing to stick to the budget. have you a way of keeping track of the money? From jam jars to spreadsheets there is a way to suit you. My first budget didn't work cos I didn't really know what I spent, so maybe a thorough analysis this month, might help you adjust next budget.

And do you have an income target? Is that what the first pen pictures are for? Write down your target and what it's going to be used for. Make it a fairly easy stretch from where you are now. You need some successes before your money saving muscles get strong enough to take the bad months.


It might take a few months of tinkering to get it running smoothly, and that is ok, and that is normal.Don't give up when you realise you've forgotten to budget something . It's all a learning curve. It's took me a couple of years of reading everything on this site and constantly changing my ways and my budget schemes, to get to the point where I don't need to constantly check myself, because I know where my money is. But this is a new thing, and I might just go and check in case I'm wrong lol:rotfl: but it is a weird feeling having money left at the end of the month. And knowing everything is paid and budgeted for including the next holiday. I actually couldn't spend it. It was that weird, just stood there with my mouth open staring at it. Then put it under the mattress just in case:rotfl::rotfl: I bet you could of spent it for me.

Ps last bit cos I know this is too long, your diary is a bit addictive, emptying your sons pot of gold could be your last option- when the roof literally or metaphorically caves in. Your a long way off that, because you are starting to deal with it early enough