Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th September 2015 - What small debt free things will you do to

determined_new_ms

Morning Bob I just checked out her blog and she made a comment that made me chuckle "Yes, my life is both exciting and gripping, I can see why you read this blog." Another online addiction?

JOJO fantastic news yesterday about being DF :j:T:j am so pleased for you x

Princess I echo what Bob said re the loan. I thought my loan was a set amount but by over paying I brought it down in both time and amount repaid. In fact so much so I became debt free a bit by accident and didn't realise how close I was until I called and spoke to someone and I had about £13 to pay to clear it - I think I paid it off maybe 6 months early. It's so long ago now it's hard to remember!

Ziggy am so sorry to hear about your day yesterday and really hope you are feeling better today. Might be an idea to go and see a doctor? x

My plans for the day:

* put load of washing in machine on line
* do another load & put it out
* all meals from stores
* going to a free festival today for a few hours - not sure if I'll drive or catch the train...
* carry on with working on presentation. Have now finished brainstorming/formulating ideas now to actually put it in some order
* possibly start wine making process today
* photo and list a few items on fleabay

Ok there was something else but can't think what!? Sun shining here so hope it is wherever you all are x

lego_mum

Good morning all, its a lovely sunny day here in south Wales
Today's list will include
* ys toasted teacakes with lemon curd for breakfast (waiting for Mr T delivery with butter!)
* DS2 has a swimming lesson later, will leave purse at home
* Lunch is going to be ys stuffed chicken breast joint that my sis picked up from her work for £1.50!
* When my dad comes over going to hold the ladders for him whilst he fixes some guttering at the tenants house, he's going to have a quick look at ours too as I think that we might have something growing in it. Money saving if we keep on top of these jobs. Not today, will do later in the week
* Ask dad to trim my fringe, will hang on getting it all chopped for a while longer.
* Tidy fridge before Mr T comes, make sure we've not missed anything Done, spinach going off so used most of that in a banana smoothie for my breakfast, kept the best looking of the spinach and will have another smoothie with it tomorrow
* Check luckyphone got 50 points today
* Check fpl
* swag$s
* Wash a load on a 30 degree quick wash
* Hang washing out on the line

That's enough from me to get started

Have a good day all.

princess_pea

Bob and Determined - I will definitely check now!! I thought I had read somewhere in the paperwork that I'd still have to pay the whole amount with interest if I repaid early but I may have dreamt that! I'll give them a ring tomorrow. If it turns out I'll save the interest then I'll definitely pay the loan off!!

Lego Mum - I love lemon curd! I just found 80p roadkill whilst walking poochy so I might treat myself to a jar with that.

Bit of a slow start to the day as I finish book I didn't finish last night with a cuppa. Then off to buy light bulbs and move the rest of the stuff. Also have some painting to touch up - thankfully the walls are a generic shade of magnolia and we have a tub for my partner's flat so I don't need to get more (he tells me off for not calling it "our" flat yet).

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with approx. 2 years worth of interiors/ foodie magazines? They've been a Christmas subscription from my mam and it seems such a shame to recycle them. Would a doctors surgery waiting room have them? Suggestions for benevolent uses please

Lovely and sunny/ autumnal feeling here this morning. Have a great day everyone.

YORKSHIRELASS

Just read the Kathy Wolk-Stanley blog and something struck me when she talks about being contented with her frugal lifestyle. I am struggling with this at the moment. I have always liked spending money, buying things, being able to go places and do things. Sorry if that makes me sound shallow. Since coming on here I have got my spending under control but the inner demons are still there. Any advice? Anyone else been through this?

OH and I both work part time so that we can be around for our son who has health problems. I gave up a well paid management job to do this and there are issues around this that have nothing to do with money but I worry all the time about our finances, even though I know that we have enough to pay our way. And of course things will be easier once the debts are cleared.

determined_new_ms

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Just read the Kathy Wolk-Stanley blog and something struck me when she talks about being contented with her frugal lifestyle. I am struggling with this at the moment. I have always liked spending money, buying things, being able to go places and do things. Sorry if that makes me sound shallow. Since coming on here I have got my spending under control but the inner demons are still there. Any advice? Anyone else been through this?

OH and I both work part time so that we can be around for our son who has health problems. I gave up a well paid management job to do this and there are issues around this that have nothing to do with money but I worry all the time about our finances, even though I know that we have enough to pay our way. And of course things will be easier once the debts are cleared.

I can so relate to this Yorkshirelass! Over my life I have been extremely poor and in very well paid jobs with a lot of responsibility & large teams to manage. In fact if I get the p/t job I have an interview for next week I will be getting a salary of just over a 1/4 of what I was earning 18 months ago :eek: I do wonder if I am making a bad decision but it is only a 6 month contract (with possibility of extension) which will give us a chance to see how the reduced salary will work for us and if it is manageable for a couple of years before dgd goes to school.

Learning to enjoy a frugal life/life with less has been a continual learning curve for me. But I do still do lots of things and and fact have been on a holiday at the beginning of August and am going away again end of September. I just do it really frugally and get the money together (ebay & selling sites) to pay for it.

I do now blanch at paying extortionate prices for things, and find the excesses people have a little obscene :eek: (like the 8 boxes of expensive toys dgd was given from someone who was having a clear out. Obviously what we got given was only the tip of the iceberg). I think in the end dgd will look back and remember the times we had rather than thinking she was deprived. She has everything she needs, we go out and do things as a family and spend qt together.

I wonder if I am making a huge mistake with my career and will I ever get back to the position I was in before, and the earning potential I have had. But the truth is there was a big part of me that wasn't as happy as I should have been under all that pressure. Sure at the end of the month when I had a hefty salary payment into my account it was nice but the long hours and pressure wasn't. I really didn't have as much time to enjoy the money as you would think as I was either working late/at weekends or when I wasn't I was often knackered. So I'm tipping my toe into whether having less money but more time will be more fulfilling.

I think the constant glare of a consumerist society does make you want things, and this is part of the human condition to continually desire things.

Anyway those are my ramblings for what they are worth!

allydowd

Bobarella wrote: »

Morning All

Princess - I hate to contradict you but are you 100% sure on the way the interest on your loan would work as in have you spoken to someone about it?
I managed to save a lot of money by early repayment, literally hundreds of £. My loan was with Mr T. Because they front load the interest based on a certain term, early repayment changes that picture.

A valid point Bob, you might save Princess some money there. However, the Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004 allow lenders to charge up to 58 days interest in the event that a customer decides to repay their loan in full early. If Princess is nearing the end of her loan term it may cost the same to pay it off now as in a few weeks! Any charges would be shown in the early settlement quote. Also some lenders charge a fee for early settlement which sometimes makes it not worth repaying early if you've only a wee bit left to pay.

allydowd

princess_pea wrote: »

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do with approx. 2 years worth of interiors/ foodie magazines? They've been a Christmas subscription from my mam and it seems such a shame to recycle them. Would a doctors surgery waiting room have them?

Our local doctor's surgery won't take magazines in case handling by multiple patients spreads bubonic plague/leprosy/Mad Mars Bar Disease etc. Our local nursing home accepts them, however.

I once eBayed a set of secondhand dog magazines and got a bucket-load of cash for them.

And there's always Freecycle or Freegle if you can bear the risk of people saying they'll come to collect and not showing up.

Some schools would take them for collage making or Art classes.

DawnW

Morning all (just about!)
Ziggy, I hope you are ok. Perhaps you should see a doctor?
Jojo, huge congratulations on becoming debt free :T I still remember how great it felt!!

Pup slept in the kitchen without any problems last night :T

Been to a couple of car boot sales this morning, bought a few items for my business, plus a child's bed safety rail for my second smallest GD who is coming to stay next weekend. She managed to fall out of bed and bump her head last time , and some vintage tupperware which I use in my larder. Also got 2 enamel plates for camping free Apart from business spends, I spent the grand total of £3.50.

Off to a local festival shortly - very local, so we can walk there Might buy bits for lunch in the foodie section, if not too expensive (there were lots of free samples yesterday!) Very few free samples today, but spent less than a tenner, sat in the sun for a while and listened to live music
Will remember to take a plastic box to pick some blackberries on the way home Forgot this :mad:
I have loads of tomatoes in the dehydrator Some are done now, waiting for the last ones to finish, then they will be popped into jars with Lidls olive oil
Finished off yesterday's Thai curry for dinner
Pulled some beetroot to cook for tomorrow's salad
Stripped off spare bed
Load of washing on ready to peg out in the morning - if dry :eek:
Watered pots in back garden - serious gardening needed soon as it all looks very messy Too much on this coming week though :eek:

Hope to get more done later - will come back and update

allydowd

Morning DFW-ers,

Began this morning with a long lie til 9:30am. Bliss. Then awake and ready to tick a few things off the list.


Nillionaire Month Three:

* Injured my leg at ParkRun yesterday so I'll be resting this week and not racing next Saturday. Will be a volunteer steward instead. Saves on shoe leather and still free entertainment. Then today I managed to bang my butt against a wooden chair back so I'm in a lot of pain one way and another. :rotfl:

* Free Physio from OH.

* We went to the second weekend of the local Viking Festival yesterday. Spent nothing. OH enjoyed photographing the aerobatic display. Used more fuel than usual as there was a temporary one-way system on the road between our home and the festival. Took a drink with us.

* Limit caffeinated drinks to three coffees today.

* Turn alarm clock off at the wall til tonight.

* Job-seeking tasks.

* Took Summer duvet off the bed, washed it and it's drying on the line. Winter duvet has been aired on the line and is now ready for tonight. No extra bedroom heating for us just yet.

* I cleaned and tidied Suitcase City, our walk-in storage cupboard. We've decided to sell an old portable tv. We don't need two spare ones. Treasure!

* OH has harvested the last of the beetroot.

* Won a £2 voucher! I never win anything. Not sure which shop it's for though. It'll be with me in ten days.

* Started using our homegrown savoy cabbage. We harvested it, shredded it and bagged it in portion-sized bags. We had some in a Chinese stir-fry and now I've slipped some in the roast dinner.


Thought for the day:

"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver." Ayn Rand.


Have a good day all.

Bobarella

Yorkshire - I don't know if you also read Frugal Queen? But her motto is 'some is plenty'. I think for some of us that is true. I do get a kick from making things stretch to the max. I like the challenge.
I don't feel I have ever personally been an out of control consumer, it's not in my nature.
But I felt it very keenly in the summer when so many of our friends went on wonderful breaks or had mum at home all summer, & I barely came up for air or could offer my son the luxury of a long lazy break without shuttling him around day care or with my husband or I in less than ideal situations. So I definately miss the freedom that being in a well paid 9 to 5 brings.

I'll be perfectly honest to. I miss the salary. And status. But I am also dammed proud of stepping off the corporate ladder and standing on my own two feet.
I don't miss expensive clothing. Drinks after work or eating out.
I do miss paid holiday. Sick leave. And the reassurance of knowing how much I will bring in each month.
But. If I can kick the debt in my current circumstances then I can move onto the next phase of FIRE (financial independence retire early) which is definately part of the game plan.
Long answer....I suppose all you can do is decide whether you want to go back to the ball and chain, & the money. Or keep pushing on learning to like a simpler life. Half of it is conditioning after all. We lean to love the consumer driven existence so we can learn not to.