22 months to work, dig, tidy and declutter my way to debt freedom

peaceandfreedom

So - a hard day's work today and didn't get as much done this evening as I would have liked.

• Spent some time in the greenhouse topping up all the pots with the contents of the half-price gro-bag. Also fed everything.
• Harvested some tomatoes.
• Ate some of my own blueberries for breakfast.
• Discovered that OH spent a mind-blowing sum of money on the lamb for the Sunday roast - someone needs to start reading Mr Money Moustache! :mad:
• Am enjoying receiving regular interest on my savings accounts .
• Have eaten far too many Rich Tea biscuits today .
• Some lovely courgette crisps are baking in the oven - they will be a nice snack for work tomorrow.

How I'm doing on the whole declutter / ebay thing:

• Kondo-status: Did nothing.
• Declutter-status: Did nothing.
• Ebay-status: Did nothing.

A big fat 0/3 there!

Must go, early start in the morning. Have a lovely Tuesday everyone .

peaceandfreedom

Yesterday evening, I got back to reading more of Mr Money Moustache again. I posted this link on a thread on the DFW board:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/04/18/news-flash-your-debt-is-an-emergency/

It had no impact whatsoever on the person I posted it for but it did have rather an impact on me. I stayed up quite late re-doing my budget so that I can increase my debt repayments. I have realised that it is ridiculous to be treating myself to unnecessary luxuries when I owe money to people. Some of my debt is to a family member as well (although in fairness, they are loaded). So I have revamped my budget and come up with some new rules until my debt is paid off.

Off now to watch Great Ormond Street, cry my eyes out (always do watching these emotional programmes) and do some ironing - more later on my new plans .

judi24

Hi Peaceandfreedom - just wanted to say hello - I am enjoying reading your diary. I see many similarities in our struggles to get debt free and achieve peace and freedom in our lives!


You are doing great and your garden sounds amazing! had great intentions this year to grow more but so far the only thing I have managed is a few blackcurrants and a shed load of garlic!


I totally understand the envy! Not as in envying others ability to live in luxury and not have to work but just to be able to not be constantly under pressure to budget and plan - but you will get there under your own steam and will be proud of your achievements as well as showing your kids a great example of determination and hard work! Keep going!

peaceandfreedom

judi24 wrote: »

Hi Peaceandfreedom - just wanted to say hello - I am enjoying reading your diary. I see many similarities in our struggles to get debt free and achieve peace and freedom in our lives!


You are doing great and your garden sounds amazing! had great intentions this year to grow more but so far the only thing I have managed is a few blackcurrants and a shed load of garlic!

I love gardening but it really does take up a lot of time. And you have to plan ahead, like get started in January. Love blackcurrants and garlic though, you've chosen well .

On a related note, I notice that the blackberries on the pathway I walk to/from my car going to work are already heavy with ripe fruit. If it weren't for the fact that they are probably 90% diesel fumes, I would have had a quick taste . No, I'll be sticking to our nice rural blackberries but they just seem to be very early to me.

judi24 wrote: »

I totally understand the envy! Not as in envying others ability to live in luxury and not have to work but just to be able to not be constantly under pressure to budget and plan - but you will get there under your own steam and will be proud of your achievements as well as showing your kids a great example of determination and hard work! Keep going!

Aww, thanks for the support Judi, it really helps . And yes, that's exactly it. For example, we've got a leaky tap that will need a plumber. So I will have to factor that cost into the budget and factor something else out. I do have some small savings for contingency but strangely enough, I don't want to spend any of it. I find I like the feeling of having savings (however modest) and don't want to part with them .

peaceandfreedom

Soooo, I DID watch Great Ormond Street, I did cry but I DIDN'T do any ironing .

And now it's late and I'm knackered, so I will leave writing about my new plans until tomorrow.

Have a splendiferous Wednesday everyone .

floella80

Hey peaceandfreedom - great diary, I've just spent time reading this and will be coming back again!

I'm also trying to de litter albeit failing miserably. It's the notion of putting it all up for sale and sending it all off that I think makes me not do it!

I was also having a conversation with my partner about some friends who just seem to be 'lucky' whereas we both work hard and just seem to get by. I also envy them not having to worry about finances so much and also being able to buy a beautiful house when we can only afford to buy a house lower down in the market. I'm happy though with my family life so in effect I am lucky that way.

I also started reading mmm (I think I clicked on your post on the other thread where you recommended it) and it gave me insight into how to pay things off and get things done so I will be budgeting to pay my loan off quicker! I've already been better this month in that I haven't just put things on the card when I have run out of money and so saved myself a good £200 this month. Next month I'm hoping to stay out of my overdraft.

Keep up the great work!

peaceandfreedom

floella80 wrote: »

Hey peaceandfreedom - great diary, I've just spent time reading this and will be coming back again!

I'm also trying to de litter albeit failing miserably. It's the notion of putting it all up for sale and sending it all off that I think makes me not do it!

Hi Floella, thanks for dropping in . I'm with you on the whole selling thing which is why there's been a massive pile of junk in the garage for yonks. I made a vow to myself though - either I car boot it by the end of September or it all goes to the charity shop / freecycle / whatever.

floella80 wrote: »

I was also having a conversation with my partner about some friends who just seem to be 'lucky' whereas we both work hard and just seem to get by. I also envy them not having to worry about finances so much and also being able to buy a beautiful house when we can only afford to buy a house lower down in the market. I'm happy though with my family life so in effect I am lucky that way.

You are lucky that way. Mind you, we used to be very happy years ago, had great fun together. Things have just turned sour over the past few years . On the plus side, we have a fairly big detached house in a lovely village with about 350K of equity, so we did some things right .

floella80 wrote: »

I also started reading mmm (I think I clicked on your post on the other thread where you recommended it) and it gave me insight into how to pay things off and get things done so I will be budgeting to pay my loan off quicker! I've already been better this month in that I haven't just put things on the card when I have run out of money and so saved myself a good £200 this month. Next month I'm hoping to stay out of my overdraft.

Keep up the great work!

And you :T. MMM is amazing because he makes you think about things in a more radical way. I have vowed to read the 'debt is emergency' post every day, just to remind myself. The people on the MMM forums are pretty hard-core as well, probably much more extreme than I would be prepared to go. But I've already long since blown any possibility of retiring early (I'm already too old for that :rotfl:) but reading their advice does make me more determined. And less jealous of the Merc-driving, cruise-going brigade .

peaceandfreedom

Another evening goes by and I still haven't sorted out my revised plans. I've been out shopping after work and been a bit spendy - there are two family birthdays this month and one is going to be VERY expensive. Should be the last of the major spending until Christmas though. (Arrggghhs, forgive me, I said the C word .)

Saw a couple of beautifully painted Gromits while out shopping .

Be back tomorrow, hopefully with some proper details, have an awesome Thursday .

Digging_2

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

As well as budgeting, I have learned that:

• Putting aside an amount every month toward irregular outgoings helps enormously with smoothing out expenditure

I do this but feel guilty. I put away £50 a month for car insurance, mot, tax etc. Over the year it covers it all. I do think I should be chucking that £50 at a credit card but then when my insurance is due I would just be adding debt on again. This way I have the money available when needed and my debt total doesn't increase again. But as I said... I do feel guilty about saving when I have debt.

Igamogam

Just read your diary. Gardner ,de clutterer and debt buster here too:D I can relate to other bits you write about also..........

Looking forward to reading more:)