The 300k debt-free diary!!!

taxi73

Hi there and welcome...well done on such a detailed SOA and for what you've done so far...I noticed BT is £14.50...the basic lline rental is £10.50 so a couple of pounds to be saved there...it's not much but will help...good luck

camstop

Welcome and what a great start PP


One thing is i'm sure HSA pay out a lump on the birth of a child so it may be best to keep it until after then.


Best of luck.

skysky69

:j Congrats on your news about your new baby!

I think a diary is a great way to go and I am sure there will be loads of people who will read it and give you a kick up the bum if and when needed!

Do you know how many weeks pregnant you are? You must be so excited!

se999

Hi,

On the storage costs, have you thought of getting a 'good quality' shed if you've got space in the garden. We did this when we had major building work, it worked out far cheaper than storage. As long as when it's put up you make sure they 'screw it together' rather than using nail guns, you should be able to take it with you when you move. It would also save time and fuel costs, compared to going to/from the store.

The other bit on storage is: "Also old furniture and general 'stuff' which we will get rid of after we have moved." You might be able to down size the store size and reduce your storage costs if you get rid of them now rather than later. Also just after a move people are normally so busy, they don't have time then.

For the housekeeping costs, try the Old Style section. The challenges there are very good.

pandapaws

Snaggles wrote: »

My tip would be to have a look through what you've still got from having your first baby (cot/highchair/car seat etc), and make a list of what you still NEED.

Thankfully we still have just about everything we need, plus a whole load of stuff from the first pregnancy that we didn't need! That's been the advantage of the storage unit for the past couple of years. Even if it's a girl, I've got a mountain of girly stuff in my Ebay stock. Just need to get up to storage and sort it all out! Thanks for the advice - I use Ebay all the time, but Freecycle might be worth a good look too, hadn't thought of that.

Snaggles wrote: »

Good luck and can't wait to read how you get on....oh, and you do know that you're expected to post whilst in labour*

Of course! Although someone will have to delete all the expletives, which probably won't leave much text!

pandapaws

taxi73 wrote: »

Hi there and welcome...well done on such a detailed SOA and for what you've done so far...I noticed BT is £14.50...the basic lline rental is £10.50 so a couple of pounds to be saved there...it's not much but will help...good luck

Thanks - you're quite right, so I've just looked out a bill, and it is the other stuff that's costing £4 a month - caller display, call waiting etc. Can't really do without those, so will have to keep the 14.50. Very well spotted though, thanks for trying!!!

pandapaws

se999 wrote: »

On the storage costs, have you thought of getting a 'good quality' shed if you've got space in the garden.

Our storage unit is actually bigger than our garden - it's about 50ft long, although narrow. If we didn't have our house up for sale then we'd definitely try to get rid of it but as it is, we'd never sell if we had all that junk lying around here! If/when we move, we're going to do our best to get either a double garage or a big attic (we have neither at the moment) so that we can move everything out of storage then.

se999 wrote: »

The other bit on storage is: "Also old furniture and general 'stuff' which we will get rid of after we have moved." You might be able to down size the store size and reduce your storage costs if you get rid of them now rather than later. Also just after a move people are normally so busy, they don't have time then.

The store unfortunately only have one size unit (it's a farm with converted buildings that look like aircraft hangars), and it is the only one within about 20 miles of us. The nearest 'proper' store about 30 miles away wanted just a few quid less for an 8 foot box! You're right about the furniture, but most of it is stuff that came from our old house and didn't fit here, so there's a good chance that if we move we can re-use a lot of that instead of buying new, and then sell our newer, bigger, more expensive credit card furniture! Also, all the baby stuff in there will be brought home at the appropriate time, so that'll clear a lot of it out.

You're absolutely right - this is one of our biggest non-essential expenses, but selling the house is so important at the moment that it would be very difficult to get rid of until that's done. Then please, please everybody get at me guns blazing to start sorting it out or I'll find an excuse not to!!!

pandapaws

camstop wrote: »

Welcome and what a great start PP


One thing is i'm sure HSA pay out a lump on the birth of a child so it may be best to keep it until after then.


Best of luck.

:T Thank you - I had completely forgotton about that!!! Will look out the stuff later and ring them to see how much it's worth, but probably well worth keeping!

pandapaws

skysky69 wrote: »

:j Congrats on your news about your new baby!

Do you know how many weeks pregnant you are? You must be so excited!

No idea yet. Not very good at dates & stuff, so waiting for an appointment for a dating scan. I've put on 6 pounds though, and my belly feels bigger, so possibly a bit further than I first though. Can't wait to find out though - I hate not being able to plan ahead!

Snaggles

pandapaws wrote: »

Of course! Although someone will have to delete all the expletives, which probably won't leave much text!

There's a swear filter on here, don't worry....LOL!

I was halfway to hospital, with contractions every 90 seconds when I gasped 'I haven't started a thread on MSE to tell them I'm in labour, they're gonna kill me...' to my bemused husband! :rolleyes: