NSK;The Tortoise and The Mad MARCH Hare!!!

CEW

Interesting discussion today.

I'm probably in a very good position. I work full time and OH is currently out of work. He had a business until just recently - casualty of the recession. My salary covers all our outgoings, including debt repayments...just.

I suffer from a long term condition which if it decides to progress could result in me having to give up work. If this happened or OH and I split up I know I would cope as I decided a long time ago that I did not want to rely on a pension for my retirement so I stopped paying into a private pension and purchased a property as an investment.

All of our assets are in my name as I had accumulated them prior to meeting OH and his ex fleeced himwhen she left. If anyone is in a precarious situation it is my OH but thankfully he knows that I would never see him destitute even if we split.

When I split from my ex hubby I left with with my own personal items, 2 kitchen knives (don't ask) and a bank overdraft :eek:

I really am not materialistic and although I have debts, these were due to a very large vets bill, over £15K, due to puppy becoming seriously ill in the 2 week waiting period after taking out insurance just at the time OH's business was starting to struggle. Puppy died at 11 months old but I don't begrudge the money as she may of only had a short life but she was loved and happy

My net worth is actually in the positive but majority of the debt is interest free so I don't see the need to liquidate any assets to pay it although thinking maybe now is the time to sell my flat and maybe think of going part time.

Think I've gone a bit off track here.

Back to the challenge....SFD and LTW so I am currently on 8/20 SFD and 7/21 LTW and lunch for tomorrow is already in the fridge :T

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

Chez x

SiannieLaz

Evening All,


I think it is soooooo important to have something of your own to tide you over in times of need. When I left my ex due to his behaviour, he initially refused to sell the house. I already had about £13k of unsecured debt due to my own irresponsibility, and the only way he would agree to sell was if I took on some of his debts. As he was terrible at paying the mortgage, I needed to get my name off the deeds and he was unable to buy me out so I agreed to take on a large proportion of his debts. The way I looked at it was that I could pay of the debts in a few years, but I could be stuck having problems with the house for eons. So when we sold, I got £15k profit, all of which went on paying debts and was left with well over £20k more to pay. I was earning good money at the time, so it wasn't a problem to rent somewhere else for a few years, until I got made redundant and my ridiculous lifestyle caught up with me and it all went pear shaped.


Since my lightbulb moment about 5 years ago (with regards to my whole lifestyle not just finances) I have realised what a huge mistake I made, and how difficult I made life for myself by not being financially aware and putting money away regularly.


Now I'm a single mum, working 30 hrs a week in a low paid job, and desperately trying to squirrel away as much cash as possible as a buffer, as well as paying off my cc which has crept up over the past year. One of my priorities with my DD will be making sure she is fiscally aware when she gets older. I would consider myself a failure if she grows up to be a stupid as I was.


On a lighter note (!) Dolly84, I've emailed my SL several times but the only territory she has given me so far is the high street I live on. The only problem with that is all the front doors are on the high street, so there is a good chance of books going missing if they are left outside, and I can't call on people outside of working hours due to DD's early bedtime or my early work starts. I've sent her an email saying the roads I've done and am hoping she'll get back to me saying they're ok.


Anyhoo, SFD day yesterday as was at work, but had to get cat food today so some spends. I went for a run today as my mum popped round to see us and I asked/made her look after DD, but it was terrible! My legs felt like lead and ached so much, I only managed a slow 5 miles considering I've been training for 5 months, it's not looking hopeful for the half marathon. I thought I'd be fine as I did the London marathon 4 years ago, and only trained for 3 months but I guess those 4 years have aged me more than I thought :P


Totals so far:
6/15 SFD's
£48.11/£100 groceries incl cat food
6/18 LTW
0/£40 petrol
0/30 donations/declutter


Have a lovely eve all xxx

ikesmummy

Have really enjoyed reading today's discussions. I have been with my DH since I was 19, we have had a joint account since we moved in together when I was 20, to start with we both paid into it equally each month enough to cover our joint expenses (rent then mortgage, utility bills etc) but now nearly all of our money goes into, comes out of there. Since having my second son I have only worked 2.5 days a week and therefore earn about half as much as him but do most household chores/ looking after the boys etc. I am starting to build us a buffer alongside paying off our debts but it will be a long while before we have enough that we could cope if either one of us lost our jobs. I am relatively lucky that I have a longish notice period and good sick pay policy but DH is not so lucky. If one of us was going to be put of wooirk for long we could sell one car and reduce childcare costs and although I wouldn't want to do it unless really necessary our mortgage lender does do payment holidays.

I am lucky to know that my parents could and would help if we really needed them too. My four year old is going through a worrying phase at the moment (no idea why) and only yesterday was asking me what we do if our house got "burnt all the way to the ground so we couldn't live in it?" We discussed the fact we could live with Grandad and Nan nan for a bit and ended up talking about insurance (tried to simplify the idea for him but he kept asking more questions).

SiannieLaz when is your half marathon? I always find my runs really hard work about a week before my time of the month, or are they all feeling really hard? Hope you find your next run more enjoyable. The furthest I have raced is 10 miles but would like to do some longer ones.

And sticking to the running theme luckystarr is there a local club or a friend you could get out with? If I am going by myself I try to go as early as possible, get dressed in my running stuff when I get up, I don't then have time to make excuses to not go and feel good about it all day. Well done on your de-cluttering.

I spent quite a bit today but mainly on things I am using to make gifts (which will work out cheaper than if I had just gone out and brought presents). Need top update my signature but up in bed now and my spreadsheets are on the laptop donstits so will do that tomorrow.

Night all

Fmess

Evening all,

Very interesting topic. My house is in my dad's name as I was a post grad student at the time of buying so they didn't want to give me a mortgage. OH and I pay 50% of the mortgage (via dad) and bills, so if OH and I split he'd have to move out and we'd have to come to some deal about how much money I'd pay him. However i couldn't afford the mortgage, bills, dogs, car etc on my own I have always dreamed on having a nest egg in case of the need to escape so will be working on this in the near future.

SFD number 6 today and LTW number 7.

Night all

apple_muncher

ikesmummy, I also have a thinker in my dd. When she was 4 she worked out what to do should me and dh die and she was alone in the house (!). She'd go next door, having used one of our bodies to keep the door open so she didn't get locked out. Once she'd sorted out her plan, she stopped talking about it.

She won't/can't be fobbed off with insufficient info, otherwise the fretting starts. So it's a case of listen carefully, discuss and don't bring it up unnecessarily!

Your ds may have seen it happen on a programme.

MrsGSR

Ikesmummy and Apple Muncher, I was similar as a child. We lived in a wooden house where I grew up in NZ and I was worried about it burning down and wanted to move. Wooden houses are common place in NZ so most people lived in them. I didn't know where this came about for me, maybe it was something I watched or something I heard.

Interesting discussion here, I've always had my own account but DH and I have a joint account for household bills and mortgage. I organise all insurance and bills and know how much is in our account at any one time and how much all the DDs are. DH doesn't have a clue! That said I don't have much in the way of savings to set me up should we part ways. I have little savings accounts with different amounts in but that wouldn't keep me going long. I guess this is something I should think about really...

Today is designated spend day, have already ordered DD some new school polo shirts, they will last till next year I hope then hopefully DS can use them afterwards (got to get my money's worth) I suggested to the school last year about doing a second hand uniform stall of "official" school uniform and they told me to talk to the PTA (who are a snooty bunch) it baffles me as to why they haven't already thought of it!

Also need to go to hey diddle lidl for a few bits, I need to sort a few items out for sending for fleabay. This weeks sales were dire

Tomorrow I have a load of cloth nappy stuff to donate to the local cloth nappy group so that's some sort of decluttering I guess.

That's all for the day, a bit of washing to go on the line and a potter round doing bits and bobs.

PheoniX

Morrniin :wave:

Just sat down with me laptop and a fresh latte 6 SFD declared to date. I havent set myself a SFD target this month because I try and make every day a SFD but if I need to spend on something I really need then so be it!

Ive reviewed my figures this morning and realised that my fun spends have been very low this year, which has been brill from a money saving point of view but not so good in other ways and has reflected on my mood. I mean if a fat ball feeder and fat balls constitutes a fun/pleasure spend something has definitely gone wrong I definitely need to do more on the social front and learn to enjoy parting with money as Ive turned into a right unsociable Scrooge and spending money upsets me! And Ive also gone to worry about money which is a far cry from the Live for Today Rockerfeller of old! What is going on?

After muchus umming, arhhing and sleepless nights, I decided to knock the idea of moving into a pad of my own (from a shared setting) on the head after the landlord of suitable housing would not budge on his view of a good deal despite my bestest efforts at haggling! Even though I felt quite desperate to go solo, the thought of paying an extra £300 per month on accommodation, when it could go towards finances, could not be justified.. So for financial sake I will stay put for now and save with gusto. I have looked into downsizing as a way of saving more money but most places are furnished and while factoring in the cost of storing my stuff, no financial gains will be made.. So thats the end of that!

Now that saving has become more of a priority than moving I have been researching ISA accounts and its tax free saving benefits. Interest rates are really poor at present so instead, I have opened a current account with 1st Direct (not switched, so no £100 bonus) for the sole purpose of utilising their 6% savings rate for the year as this will give me the best return even though it is taxed. There will be a bit of switching of money to be done between my main Bank to make this work which I will need to keep on top of. I think the anxiety stems from the fact that I have committed myself to quite a lot financially what with my mortgage, overpayments and x2 6% savings accounts. I try and reason that putting money away while Im healthy and earning a decent wage (in line with the 7 P theory) is the way forward..

If only I knew those 6 elusive lottery numbers!

I bought more cards yesterday and grabbed my freebie card at Clinton$. So far I have spent £40 on cards alone up until June! I have a large family And I have contributed £40 cash towards special occasions. It seems a lot of money on cards but I dont see family as often as I would like, probably every 12 weeks, 4 times per year, so purchasing nice thoughtful cards is the least I can do to show Im thinking of them from across the miles :A

Everything else on the challenge front is ticketyboo and payday is in 14 days :j

Tick along Torties :wave:

ikesmummy

Thank you Apple muncher and MrsGSR (just realised I always read your name as MrsGSXR - thought you were into big sports bikes :rotfl:) for reassuring me my four year old is not alone in worrying about "big things" he is also very concerned about getting old t the moment - would like to be 8 like his brother but under no circumstances does he want to get "really old and white so he can't do thing anymore" he often says "Mummy in 90 years I will be 94 won't I"

Do you find Fleabay is normally quite good MrsGSR? I am trying to shift things on Facebay and Gumtree primarily but some stuff I expect to go quickly is hanging around

I want those six numbers as well PheoniX Don't actually buy a ticket at the moment mind.

Hoping today will be a SF one. have been for a run with mum this morning stright from the chool run, have washing blowing in the wind on the line and some beans soaking ready for tonight dinner, just have to fit in a two hour training course, ACE time at DS1's school before \i can come home and cook tea which I am looking forward to already :eek:

Oops running late, will be back later

thriftylass

Hello,

I'm on enforced SFD number 9, nearly halfway to my target. But that's only thanks to the H*lifax who blocked my account now since last Thursday!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

I opened the account at the start of Feb to get the £100 and everything went rather smoothly after some chasing. Set up my online banking, used it, used my card in the cash mashine and in the shops and then suddenly everything was blocked. Found out I needed to provide ID AGAIN in branch (why did they not inform me and how was I able to use the account before??:mad:). So popped (waddled) into branch on Friday and they faxed and posted more prove of ID. Phoned them today as still everything is blocked and they said it's in the in-tray for today and should be sorted by tomorrow morning latest. Furious, they left me without any money for a week (well I have my CC with another bank for emergencies), luckily no DD are due til Monday. Must find a way to complain.

Sorry rant over.

Sorted DS wardrobe today and got two big bags ready for charity who collect tomorrow and got all his handme downs for the next year and a half in boxes and labelled. Also rearranged the living room and decluttered his toys to make more play space. DS now got offered a nursery place at the uni for September which will cost a fraction. Now just hoping that baby will be able to go there too soon afterm but she might have to go to an expensive one for a while. Well if she ever turns up, lol.

Off to another walk in the glorious sunshine as I want to avoid going for a snooze as I otherwise just sleep even worse at night.

MrsGSR

ikesmummy wrote: »

Thank you Apple muncher and MrsGSR (just realised I always read your name as MrsGSXR - thought you were into big sports bikes :rotfl:)

Do you find Fleabay is normally quite good MrsGSR? I am trying to shift things on Facebay and Gumtree primarily but some stuff I expect to go quickly is hanging around

:rotfl:not quite, someone else on here thought it stood for German Shepard Rescue :rotfl:
The story behind the name is this, While I was signing up to this site I was watching an episode of CSI when they said GSR or gun shot residue I thought that'll do haha!

Well been to hey diddle lidl, and also £stretcher.

Doing some major ruthless decluttering today donating clothes that I just do not wear. Hehehehe!

!