Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

Buffythedebtslayer

StressedSteph wrote: »

hi Buffy,


Must admit customer service is pretty dire at Barclays. It has cost me a fortune in phone calls to deal with them and very often they hang up as soon as you get connected :mad:.


I guess they have a right to be difficult as I do owe them £2600, but I just found it hard that in January they seemed to happily accept my £130 payments and come July its like I have never paid them a thing and I am starting all over again.


Just bureaucracy I suppose.


I sometimes wish we could go back to just hiding our wages under the mattress. It would be a lot less stressful.

They don't have a right to be difficult, it is a choice and they did make a profit of 1.69 billion pounds (and yes it is a drop of 5% on the last quarter but am struggling to feel bad for them) so your two and half grand which is going down by 130 each month is all good.


But yes, the mattress idea would be a plan!


xx

StressedSteph

Morning all


Well first day of the school holidays :T.


Children are bored already :rotfl:. I decided today would be a quiet day, I didn't want to be dashing off straight away as its meant to be a time to relax isn't it??. Children have a different idea. Going to have to be super creative to prevent totally over-spending during the holidays.


Think next year when I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I will start up a holidays entertainment fund. Even £5 per week would be £260, which is more than enough for some trips out and to cover extra fuel costs. No way I could have saved any since January, I have been lucky to put anything away, only just sorted cars out with my savings.


A nearby farmer has bought some lambs to our field because he is running low on grass. One of them has had fly strike and the farmer said it may well die and not to worry if we find it dead one morning :eek:. We checked on it this morning as its so small and skinny, all bones and sunken stomach, I wouldn't take any lamb pellets so we brought it in and bottle fed it. Will keep doing that morning and night to see if it fattens up.


I can't bear to watch it waste away Children will enjoy helping. Might put the dog lead on it tomorrow to save me carrying it. :rotfl:


Off to make some more Family Trees xxx

lhead123

Hey Steph!

Just been catching up on your diary. Haven't checked in for a while as we've been really busy!

Hope you start getting bookings soon for your head massages. If i had any spare money i'd come to you for one However I'm hoping to take the kids up to sussex to see all the grandparents and cousins who live up there at some point during the summer holidays, so trying to save some money at the mo!

Barclays are a pain aren't they! so glad i don't bank with them!

Hope the kids don't bother you too much while you're trying to make your craft bits!

I'm trying to clean the house with a bored 4 year old! luckily spongebob is keeping her entertained for a bit! and S is getting old enough that hes happy to lay on the playmat for an hour or so just looking around which makes life easier

L xx

dawnybabes

We are in day 3 of the holidays - we can't go anywhere yet as I can't drive till next week, luckily the weather is helping and he's been outside most kf the day :-)

StressedSteph

lhead123 wrote: »

Hey Steph!

Just been catching up on your diary. Haven't checked in for a while as we've been really busy!

Hope you start getting bookings soon for your head massages. If i had any spare money i'd come to you for one However I'm hoping to take the kids up to sussex to see all the grandparents and cousins who live up there at some point during the summer holidays, so trying to save some money at the mo!

Barclays are a pain aren't they! so glad i don't bank with them!

Hope the kids don't bother you too much while you're trying to make your craft bits!

I'm trying to clean the house with a bored 4 year old! luckily spongebob is keeping her entertained for a bit! and S is getting old enough that hes happy to lay on the playmat for an hour or so just looking around which makes life easier

L xx

Hi lhead


Nice to head from you. Been busy here too, don't get as much time to catch up with peoples diaries as I would like.


I selfishly prioritise mine as I know that posting on here is a BIG thing to keep me motivated. In the past as soon as I stop doing a daily post then I fall off the wagon.


Hope you have a lovely trip to Sussex, nice for the family to catch up with how the kiddies are growing.


Hope you are enjoying the weather, although I remember the heat being a real challenge with a young baby. So hard to keep them cool and without heat rashes.


xxx

dawnybabes wrote: »

We are in day 3 of the holidays - we can't go anywhere yet as I can't drive till next week, luckily the weather is helping and he's been outside most kf the day :-)

Hi Dawn,


Of course, I didn't think about you not being able to drive, quite restricting. Do you live in a town with good bus services etc?.
Not being able to drive out here would be very isolating. Nearest entertainment of ANY sort is at least 15 miles away.


Do hope you are on the mend. I saw your staples on FB :eek:. I seriously hope you have been given amazing painkillers xxxx

dawnybabes

I'm on the mend, no I live in a big village on a huge hill so whichever way you want to get out of the village you have it to,face. We always laugh and say if it ever flooded again we'd be safe. Very rural, 15 yes from my door are woods. it's lovely to live here but very boring when yiu can't get out :-(. We do have a garden centre and an ice cream parlour but too far for me to walk.

StressedSteph

Afternoon all,


Thought I would use this coffee break to post a little update.


Been a hectic day.


Started off quietly with kids watching a movie and playing with their Furby's while I concentrated on getting my Family Tree orders progressing.


Hubby came home for lunch at 1pm, as he is only working in the village, after after that the kiddo's were getting abit stir crazy.


I needed to pop to a shop for a few picnic supplies, so we decided to do a few GeoCache searches in the nearby village where the shops are. We managed to find three, but it was far too hot to be trudging up country lanes and dodging nettles to find tiny sandwich boxes filled with loot .


So we are just home and I have filled up last years large paddling pool and the kiddoes are currently sitting fully clothed in the pool, cooling off. I am very tempted to join them, except for the fact that I really need to get on with my sewing.


I went up to a friends house last night and did a Reflexology and Indian Head Massage on her. She said she enjoyed both, but REALLY enjoyed the Head Massage. I got a text from her this morning with her reporting a strange side effect of her having to side on the toilet for 20 minutes. It certainly cleared all the nasties out. :rotfl:


Hope you are all sitting somewhere cool. Speak soon xx

Ciaerda

Hi Steph never heard of geocaching just googled it looks really fun might have to give it ago. Hope Barclays sorts themselves out you thing they would be happy with just getting some money maybe times are hard for those director's only having one cruise this year instead of several xx

StressedSteph

Ciaerda wrote: »

Hi Steph never heard of geocaching just googled it looks really fun might have to give it ago. Hope Barclays sorts themselves out you thing they would be happy with just getting some money maybe times are hard for those director's only having one cruise this year instead of several xx

Hi Ciaerda


Geocaching is great fun and can be used anywhere in the country. I keep the app on my phone because if we end up with some spare time or on the way back from a day out. I can just "Find Local Geocaches" and we can have abit of an adventure.


We make a habit of keeping a little bag of small toys in the car, as if you are going to keep any of the loot you find, you have to replace it with your toy donation.


Hope you enjoy it.

StressedSteph

Just a little update.


Been feeling recently that my Debt Busting is grinding to a halt.


I have only been able to pay around £700-£800 per month the last month or so and its really frustrating me. I have hopes for my earning capabilities to get better pretty soon, but until then I felt I needed to up my game abit.


So today I listed on Ebay, two of my favourite items I have yet to sell.


1) A Small Bronze Hare ornament which in my more frivolous days cost me well over £80


2) My Steiff Limited Edition Teddy Bear, another one is on Ebay for £250. Although I only paid £120 for it (Also from my crazy, money is no object days).


I have done Buy it now / Best Offer listings as I am not prepared to just give them away.


Unlikely they will sell but I thought It was a good idea to at least try.