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  • Feeling very :money:

    My husband's ex-wife texted me to say their daughter wants to get him the new Roger Moore book for his (husband, not Roger Moore) birthday (we went to see An Audience with Roger Moore last week, so she's obviously picked up on that, savvy girl).

    I said I could pick it up but knew the books at the theatre last week were going for £25.

    Popped into The Works in Penzance... £6.99... Plus paid by Tesco CC so earned clubcard points... Plus submitted my receipt to Quidco for 10% cashback.

    *smug*
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • Well, the husband turns 40 in just over an hour. His present is pretty pricey when all parts are added together.

    But you know what? I haven't 'felt' the outlay very much.

    I've researched prices, used casback offers, collected points on my spends AND, most importantly, I've been budgeting and saving for it, buying it in parts since April, even before I had the PPI 'windfall'.

    So a lesson learned, and proved. Getting it together well in advance WORKS. Yes, I've known this in theory FOREVER, but I haven't had to find/ spend a few hundred pounds out of one pay packet and the knock on effects of that!

    Right, off to bed before the celebrations start. In all honesty, I think im more excited than husband. I am a birthday FREAK!!!
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • ShirePiskie
    ShirePiskie Posts: 380 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud! PPI Party Pooper
    edited 10 October 2014 at 3:26PM
    I have just been reading the 'I hate it when people are shocked' thread on the DFW board and, aside from rolling my eyes at people taking things personally, which is ALWAYS hard to tell in written form and frankly I think people should give the benefit of the doubt rather than bite when it's not really clear if they're having a go..... anyway I digress....

    People are talking about debt as a percentage of your annual income and it got me thinking.

    At my deepest in debt, around £20k, I was newly separated and earning £18k.... so my debt was over 100% of my annual income!
    (The OP in the other thread had a joint income of £70k and a debt of £40k.) So my original debt was 111% (I think) of my income.

    I have to tell you, I felt a bit retrospectively sick!

    So where am I now?

    When I started this diary in April I was down to my debt being about 35% of my annual income - bloody proud of myself about that actually.

    And now... drumroll please.... About 12%.

    I realise these figures don't mean an awful lot as it's about affordability and I've been fortunate enough not have been in a position where I've had to suddenly find all the money, it was just a different way of looking at it! What would be better..... typing as I think.... is to look out how much of my monthly income is servicing debt.

    This is just sad... mid-month budget updating lull, so I'm doing this instead!
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • t2rry
    t2rry Posts: 1,077 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I read that one yesterday too!!!

    I clearly didn't have the time to work my own out....

    although I was similar to you initially, fresh out of college with a £14,000 loan then went into my entry level job at £13,000 pa!

    Ours is currently 24% of our gross annual income. That seems huge :(
    Debt Free I FFEF I Building Savings I 2025 Plan:
    1. Regular Savings £8,200/£10,000
    2. Slush Fund £3,800/£10,000

    Save £12k in 2025 - #50 - £12,000/£20,000 (60%)
  • t2rry wrote: »
    I read that one yesterday too!!!

    I clearly didn't have the time to work my own out....

    although I was similar to you initially, fresh out of college with a £14,000 loan then went into my entry level job at £13,000 pa!

    Ours is currently 24% of our gross annual income. That seems huge :(

    But is SO much less than what it was.

    We're all making such headway I don't think it's a bad thing to ignore a negative slant on the figures.
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • A pleasantly inexpensive night last night.

    I'd arranged for the husband's family to meet us out for a surprise meal last night as part of birthday celebrations and it was lovely.

    I was having a bit of a twitch that by asking everyone along they might be expecting me to pay.... Which we hadn't talked about, but as it turned out, his Dad, very generously, paid for all the food. So, lovely night for us all, the husband was very happy and as a minor aside, it only cost me the taxi fare and a round of drinks.
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • :footie: So, the price of going to watch football has risen in a ridiculous fashion... It can now cost £97 to see a 'top flight' game' and season tickets are bonkers money.

    Now, I love a good game of football and managed TWO Premiership/ Championship games last season (one of which was free :money:), but what I want to know is why nobody is reporting the 33% price hike for Helston AFC this season.... £4 a game, up from £3. Outrageous.... Although is still amazing entertainment and a bit like panto on some Saturdays!! :footie:
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • Have gone off YNAB, had a look to see how many No Spend Days I'd manage, feeling fairly confident it would be at least half the month so far.

    One.

    ONE!!!!

    :eek:

    Yikes. Need to reign that in.

    The last two days have both been 50p in the vending machine, so not exactly bank breaking, and I've taken them out of my, still very health, spending money pot, but I am wary of starting to use YNAB as just a spending tracker rather than really thinking about it before I spend, can feel myself getting out of the habit.
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • It's beginning to look a lot like.... :xmastree:

    Don't hate me.

    Am already half way through my buying, all within budget. doing some savvy buying on CC for points (and then paying it straight off, that day) and using cashback sites, so my rough guestimation in hard £££ and rewards I will have made about £50 from spending, plus I should reach another payout from OnePoll.

    Why, oh why have I got to nearly four zero without doing all this sooner.

    Am so relaxed about the festive season this year because I know how much I've got, I know it will be there, I won't be waiting for my wages to go in on Christmas Eve and doing a last dash round the shops.

    Feeling very chuffed. Thank you DFWs and MSEs, you've all helped over the last six months and it really is all coming together.

    :D
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
  • The god-awful TalkTalk are putting up their line rental again with the promise of improved broadband speed (irrelavent) in Cornwall and a free mobile sim (irrelevant in the days of loads of free minutes on mobile contract). Still, this at least gives me a 30 get out clause from our contact (although due to end in December anyway).

    We get our phone (landline not used, just there for the Internet connection), broadband (unlimited - we stream a fair bit) and TV - freeview plus sky 1, 2, Living 1 & 2 and Arts 1 & 2 and Sky Sports News. To be honest we hardly use the Sky channels apart from Sports News, but husband can watch this on his pad as is linked up to a family member's Sky Go on it. Plus we can record on the NowTV box, we never pay for any of te extra channels on there.

    With the early payment discount (now being reduced) I pay just over £30 a month....

    So MSEs, any suggestions? Am in a position where I could pay line rental up front if needed for a year.

    Talktalk, when it works, are ok, no worse broadband than anything else we get where we are, but their customer service is shocking... When you get an engineer out, they're fab, it's just the absolute circus of speaking to anyone on the phone or getting something booked in, so would rather not give them any more of my hard earned.

    Any tips much appreciated.
    Debt 2008 - Approx £20k | April 2014 £6526 | 30 October 2015 DEBT FREE
    PPI claim success - £4338 & £764
    YNAB Convert
    Saving Goals - YNAB Buffer: £100/£850 | Emergency Fund: £0/£1000 | Maldives: £0/£10,000
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