Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

lhead123

Well done phoning them Steph, if it cost you £800 in interest last year, then you've effectively just saved yourself £400 in one phone call

I have finally posted those books to you I remembered to grab them on my way out for the school run - a thing I'd forgotten for about a month straight!

I have just had an email from the MSE cheap energy club telling me I can save money....Time to switch I think!

xx

StressedSteph

Hi all

Thanks for your encouraging words. So glad I have tackled those two issues.

It will certainly take the pressure off while I try to get the emergency fund up and running and the mortgage back on direct debit.

In fact the mortgage company rang up yesterday (yes I answered the phone again :T). They wanted a chat about the absence of my direct debit being set up. After a chat they agreed that as long as I pay within the same month the payment is due then there would be no charges or impact. The only negative is that they are unable to offer me a better deal than the 4.75% that I am on until my direct debit is set up again. So even though it isn't costing me anything, I REALLY do need to get that sorted.

I have been trying my hardest to have lots of NSD's. I was tempted to pop out and buy some herbs for my new herb bed today but I resisted.

Just a little note again (sorry) about the Agnus Castus I have been taking. Aunt flo has visited this week and I have felt positively normal, which for me is a major miracle. Think i will go back to just 1 tablet a day now, but know that I can up it back to 2 if I begin to struggle or feel unbalanced. Can't believe that little tablet is enough to make me feel better than any anti-depressant I have ever taken. Amazing.

Hope you are all well. xx

tootallulah

\Good to hear that things generally are better, well done on the no-spending days. It feels like time to get the mortgage sorted is once you have got this difficult six months sorted. Once you have got through your husband's operation and have been able to get back to paying debts things will look different. Maybe when you get your debt below £5k you can get the mortgage back on a direct debit and a better rate?

StressedSteph

tootallulah wrote: »

\Good to hear that things generally are better, well done on the no-spending days. It feels like time to get the mortgage sorted is once you have got this difficult six months sorted. Once you have got through your husband's operation and have been able to get back to paying debts things will look different. Maybe when you get your debt below £5k you can get the mortgage back on a direct debit and a better rate?

Hi Toot


Yes I think you are right. I was kind of hoping to put away lots of spare cash and then any that hubby doesn't use to cover his recovery time can go towards the mortgage payment. In all likelihood the debt will be around 5k by the time we get that sorted.


I can't understand at the moment how we are so broke. Last year I was paying a good 1k per month towards the debt and I seem to be struggling to pay half of that at the moment. I don't think I have loosened up the budget to any major degree so don't know why we are struggling. Unless its still us getting over hubbys two week Christmas break. I know it can take a long time to get the finances back on track after that.


On a positive note - I rang up Littlewoods and asked them to close my credit account :T. Soooo pleased that temptation is gone now, the catalogue was a big weakness for me, especially when the children needed clothes or a toy. The prices are so sky high that it is super easy to get in a mess again.


Not much else to report today. Over and out xxx

abba1772

Well done on closing the little woods account I never ordered out of mine unless it was in the sale and never went over £100 as it can be very addictive and I got in such a mess with catalogues when I was 18 xx

Eager_Elephant

StressedSteph wrote: »

Just a little note again (sorry) about the Agnus Castus I have been taking. Aunt flo has visited this week and I have felt positively normal, which for me is a major miracle. Think i will go back to just 1 tablet a day now, but know that I can up it back to 2 if I begin to struggle or feel unbalanced. Can't believe that little tablet is enough to make me feel better than any anti-depressant I have ever taken. Amazing.

Hope you are all well. xx

This made me
I should be on commission for AC - I recommend it to everyone:rotfl:


And well done on answering the telephone:T

StressedSteph

Eager_Elephant wrote: »

This made me
I should be on commission for AC - I recommend it to everyone:rotfl:


And well done on answering the telephone:T

I owe you big time EE xxxx

StressedSteph

Morning all.


Life isn't too bad at the moment in the Stressed household just the usual financial worries .

Money is beyond tight, I am currently juggling who is shouting loudest for what little bit of money we have. It isn't helped by the fact that hubby is currently working for our village pub, he is good friends with the landlord and has somehow managed to vastly underprice the quotes for the jobs he is doing :mad:.

I think we have sorted it now, so that at least all the materials are covered and I think he will just work out to have worked 1 day for free :eek:.

Tricky situation as hubby explains that "some" work is better than NO work, so at least we are getting enough coming in to pay the bills etc. Been abit stressful though.

Doesn't help that I still have the following to pay for

£70 Ds's school trip next week
£285 Heating oil
£358 HMRC
£200 School Sports wear.

I got paid £70 for two treatments this week so I have earmarked that to pay for Ds's school trip. The Heating oil company are shouting now so I think I can manage to pay that at the end of this week after hubby gets paid.

That leaves HMRC and the school sportswear. I think I will pay half of the HMRC money this month and half next month and that just leaves squeezing £200 from nowhere to pay the school. I am sure the school will not jump up and down in a hurry for the money so not stressing too much about that.

I haven't a hope in hell of saving any money until these additional bills have been dealt with. Hopefully April will see a quieter month with no additional big bills to pay. All will be well as long as hubby has some work :eek:.

I feel sooo close to finishing these debts I just need us to get on an even keel with hubbys work. Super scary. It could all very easily get in a mess again if he goes a few weeks without any work. Such a horrible unsecure position to be in. Makes me more and more determined to get this sorted and some decent 2-3 month emergency savings to cover periods of no work.

Been working hard with extra learning with the children, been doing lots of times tables and spelling etc with them after school. Ds and Dd are not fluent enough in their tables so need to rectify that asap.

Not a lot else to report. I have another treatment tonight at 5.30pm and am home attempting to clean the bombsite that is our home.
Does anyone follow Flylady? I wondered if after a while it really does work? I can't seem to keep on top of the mess in the house and also get gardening done and the veg plot and the million other things going on atm.

Anyway, hope you are all well. Sorry I have been terrible at keeping up with peoples diaries. I promise to find time soon to catch up xxx

sweetpea26

Keep going Steph..I find it difficult to keep up with everything too. I do the garden and the house etc. as I am home full time. My utility room is heaving with clothes, mountains of socks etc..hot press is untidy so towels that I dried the day before yesterday are on the kitchen table..neatly folded lol So I need to make the space for them in the press before I can put them away !!!!!!!! never ending.

I do have someone in this last couple days to powerhouse everywhere. It is good sum of money but it is worth it. It would take me weeks to get the time to do it. It hasnt been properly done in 3 years so its very dirty. Outside looks wonderful now to keep it that way.

Take a room at a time...that is what I do then you feel as if you made a bit of progress.

I think you will probably see your treatments being more frequent as mams will be getting vouchers for mothers day I am sure.

take care and keep going. God bless

abba1772

I'm the same with keeping up with everything you sometimes wonder why we bother lol it's never ending xx