Silveryew's steady stride.

TheSilverYew

Hi there^^

Long time lurker here!

I thought I would start a diary to keep myself motivated and to see that yes, I do lots of things to be thrifty and to get our debts down. XD

A bit about me:

Laydee, 29 years old.
I came from overseas to do my BA and then MA and have stayed since, met my OH here and we became an item in 2006, got married in 2010. I work two part time jobs, one 27 hrs and one 13 hrs a week, and I do two free lance jobs on the side. (What is this 'free time' you speak of?'). We have no children but we have a little cat who is our pride and joy.

OH, 28, has been underemployed or had longs periods of unemployment since leaving college. He was diagnosed with ASD last year and he is very fortunate to have an employer which understands that.
He is on a casual contract atm and works part time but enjoys the work and to be honest, he has been so low because of his unemployment that at the moment, his happiness and having is self confidence restored is much much more important than the money. Yes money is nice but it's not everything. Not sure he could cope with full time work as the ASD means social interaction for him is exhausting and his respite is to be able to go home during the day for some quiet time (we live within walking distance of his workplace).

He currently is in a bit of a dip as he feels lonely when I am not around (he finds it hard to make friends and engage in conversations and small talk, knowing when to dip into conversations etc.) but we are working on that. He used to do fencing in his youth which is something he is considering to get a bit of exercise and for the social aspect of it.

We have always been very careful with money so we don't have anything on credit cards, no payday loans, nothing like that.

I have my student loan for my university education with the student loan company in my home country. Unlike here in England where you only pay once you have a certain income, the loan has to be paid off immediately upon graduating, so I am paying this off from my account back home (when I'm home I add money to is, plus anything I receive in gifts from my family goes into that account to pay it off).

We bought our own home in February and we now have mortgage.
Because of fees etc. we owe our family money for this as well.

It feels amazing to own our own home and that with every mortgage payment it becomes more ours.
I want to get rid of the debt for the family, mortgage and student debt sooner rather than later, so this will be a record of my journey

I take little steps every day and OH is on board with me, thank goodness and neither of us are very materialistic. Bar the sofa bed, everything in the house has been gifted, hand me downs or bought with vouchers I get with surveys.

Yesterday I hung the washing out before going to work and set up an overpayment with the bank, even as little as £125 a month will slice off a lot of time and interest! Everything helps XD:money:

Things this year could be interesting however as my Mum is very ill, cancer has come back for the second time:mad: because of this I also need to find the money to travel home and see her. I have been for five days at Easter and we are hoping to both go in July.

So it's all about going at it steady and to keep chipping away at it in this household ^_^

TheSilverYew

:mad:Grrrrrr. One of the perils of fleabaying; OHs sister has given us stuff to fleabay in return for a cut, one of which is a cooker hood. They clearly have had mice in the loft where they stored everything because when I took it out to photograph it a cloud of styrofoam, plastic and cardboard just erupted from the box! So have just spent 45 mins hoovering the parts to it, the floor, the box and myself (!):mad::mad::mad:

milasavesmoney

A lovely new diary! Good for you.

My son has ASD. He lives with us as he is not able to work. Your OH is certainly a blessed man to have
an employer who is understanding. That's wonderful!

No CC debt is major! That will help you reach your goals if you continue to be so financially responsible. You have such a solid start.

It's sad to hear about your mom. I'm thinking it must be really hard for you to not be able to see her more. Wonderful that you have plans to try and go in July. Hopefully fuel costs will stay low and you can book cheap tickets to get there.

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BEAT_THE_DEBT

Hello and welcome

TheSilverYew

Aww thank you both^_^

Yes he is fortunate; he works in an after school/holiday club and I do think they see him as an asset, I mean males in primary school settings are like gold dust! Plus the children really like him. I think he also has lots of empathy for them as he is dyslexic as well so he knows that it can be hard to be 'different'.

Maybe I need to clarify: The shifts he works are quite short, this is what helps as he can go home and have some quiet time before the next one, so he works mornings and afternoons.

I think he also likes the children as well as they will for the most part just say what is on their mind without any prejudice or without giving mixed messages or saying something with double meanings, something he struggles to pick up in conversation. His boss knows this and they all try hard to just tell him very specifically what needs doing etc.

Right, going to be productive and actually list the infernal things now XD

TheSilverYew

Good morning^_^

Spent last night listing, I listed 17 items on Fleabay and have had an email to say they've increased my selling limit, so need to get more stuff on there now!
It is easy to do but at the same time it does take time as you have to enter the product, write a meaningful description and take pics of it. I'll try to do a few more drafts today if I have the will to live by the end of the day XD

OH got a text last night at 10pm asking if he could come in to work, so he's gone in at 8am for the morning shift. He was very tired last night and this morning so I made sure he had a big breakfast before he left. He wasn't overly keen but he knows we need the money so off he went.

Must wash the kitchen floor when I get in tonight if I have the energy.

milasavesmoney

That's a lot of listed items! Good job!

My DH has gone to work omany times sick as a dog. As an adult, you just suck it up and get on with your responsibilities don't you? You have got a good guy. I have read a few diaries where that's certainly not the case.

I'm hoping for a NSD. Things are tight right now. I'm making Mongolian beef with some soon to be over the hill broccoli and leftover roast beef. I'm on a serious mission to not waste food, or resort to TAs. I read about how much food is thrown away by our households yearly and was ashamed that I was a part of that wastefulness. No more! Commitment made!

TheSilverYew

Ooooh Mongolian beef, that sounds nice, how do you make that?

Yes food waste is criminal in my view. I followed a blog where two uni students set themselves a challenge of only eating what they could get from the food bins behind supermarkets for a month and they lived like kings, so well, in fact, that they carried on with it after the challenge ended.

Things have been sad in the Silver household. My mother who is fighting cancer for the third time was due to have keyhole surgery on Monday to have it removed. However during the preoperative appointment on Friday it was discovered that the cancer has spread too much and has now become too advanced for them to treat. She has been waiting for this since January. So looking at flights to go home this Wednesday for a week.

Bobarella

So sorry to hear that about your mum

milasavesmoney

Oh no! That's absolutely devastating! What a overwhelming thing you all must face. My heart goes out to you all, especially you mother. I hope you have a precious visit with her and that you are able to say everything you need to say. I'm just so sad that you have to bear this now. Prayers for you all.

TheSilverYew

Oh thank you - just feeling a bit flat and numb at the moment. The thing is, when I visited her at Easter, she talked about dying a lot, and even pointed out stuff around the house she wanted me to have. Maybe she had an idea this would happen, who knows?

It just feels so so unfair. She's beaten it twice and it's come back for the third time now. Makes you wonder if there is any justice in the world.

Ryanair flies there and back for £9.99 each way (need a suitcase) so it shan't be too expensive to do. Not that it matters now.