The Money Makeover challenge.....

plymouthscubagirl

I'm envious you are nearly there - well done you :beer:

Yes I know its achievable. Like you say no spending really. I'm quite good in that I'll always use vouchers/points for cinema etc. We do pay for the girls school uniform/school trips etc so I guess things will always crop up like that. Luckily their mum is in IVA I think so we are singing from the same hymn sheet as they say! They don't generally want for much either.

The big decision for us is that we have a static caravan in Cornwall and the rent is due for next year. We LOVE it down there (went most weekends this year) BUT its £3500 rent :eek: My partner is adamant he wants to keep this going as it allows him to switch off the stress from his business. I would happily give it up knowing I'm not getting into more debt I guess. He thinks he may be able to gather at least half of the rent before March when it re-opens. I know its a 'want' rather than a 'need'. We are at logger heads over this so will see. I can't sell anything really as I'm pretty good in getting rid of things when I don't need it. Most definitely not a hoarder

NinjaSavingKat

Is the £3500 for you to be able to come and go as you please..? Can you not just rent a caravan for a few weeks as and when you need it?

plymouthscubagirl

Grrr he's just text to say he's lost £20 out of his pocket. Hope the person who finds it needs it more than him!!

His car is going into the car hospital at the tune of about £800 to fix :mad: Hate money pit cars.

M0ney

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Is the £3500 for you to be able to come and go as you please..? Can you not just rent a caravan for a few weeks as and when you need it?

That was my thought on the caravan, I'd also recommend looking at ways to save energy (electric, gas & petrol) if you get get to work on foot and shower at work fantastic.

Also my partner often makes soup, full of veg which isn't too expensive and is healthy, satisfies me without making me fat.

Keep up the good work, hope to see you having success paying off your debts, in the near future.

plymouthscubagirl

Its ground rent for the whole year. Next year will be our last guaranteed year at the site. They may grant us an extra 2 years depending on the state of the caravan. We virtually went down there every wekeend last year (its an hour drive) and its right on a beach, so cheap once there. To rent in summer it costs £600-800 a week! Ridiculous really. The first year we let all our friends/family stay for free, then last year we got a bit more savvy and charged £25 a night which we put towards future rent/gas bottles etc.

plymouthscubagirl

NSK unfortunately I can only really run on a Wednesday as thats the day my partner has our boy. Generally I'm doing the nursery drop off/pick up so can't really factor it in, as much as I'd like to. Would happily run every day really if it would save petrol!

Save_me

Evening! Just thought I'd let you know that last month (including the odd quick bite out) we spent £200 on food for the 2 of us (mainly Lidl). If I hadn't have bought a couple of maccy d's & coffee shop sarnies over the course of the month, it would have been a lot less. It sounds like you already shop at the budget shop so just try and forward plan your meals - it's saved me a fortune!

It might not be very money-saving, but I bought a chalk board with the days of the week on it. Each Sat, I take a look in the freezer and cupboards and work out some ideas for the upcoming week. Then we go shopping to get the bits we need. I find with Lidl & Aldi, you don't really get tempted to go overboard as they don't have as much choice as the large supermarkets (which is great).

As for the bad timing with the car. Been there, done that and that's why we've got 2 of the 3 credit cards! They are just awful!! When they go wrong, they go badly wrong but if you need to put it on a card for now, do it. Just re-calculate your plan and move on. Eventually, you'll have money in a savings pot ready for this kind of problem (hopefully I will be the same too)!

By the way I'm in favour of the caravan (as long as you can still be on target for being debt free at the end of next year)!

plymouthscubagirl

Thanks Save Me :j

Yes I think you're right. I made him use the caravan cash for his car. It went from failing the MOT (potential write off) to £174 for the part and £280 for labour. So he's managed to salvage his baby (his words not mine) Fingers crossed it passes the re-test tomorrow now.

I seem to spend my whole life waiting and wishing my life away until paydays, although they're actually not that exciting anymore either.......just one step closer I guess :cool:

On the plus side I've just remembered I'm due £70 refund for expenses so that will either go towards my living expenses for the month and if any left at the end this will pay off another chunk towards a card.

Now for the depressing news......I have put on a stone nearly since summer :eek: So I think I will add a signature to count down a stone and count down £11.5k debt. I do have a load of meal replacement shakes leftover from my last diet so I'm tempted to use these up. One because they're about to go out of date, and 2 it would be quite money saving too as wouldn't have to plan breakfast and lunch. Lazy I know. All too much for my head to cope with today

plymouthscubagirl

p.s how do you find your own thread to add more to it???? I had to search for my title to find this diary!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Click on your own name and it will bring you to your page - then use the tabs to locate your details... thats how I get mine...