only ONE credit card left + mortgage. current mood: content

fru-girl

PS. Forgot to say, my ex decided not to move overseas for now, he didn't get the offer he wanted, they offered much lower than his expectations. So for a while things will be normal (he's still planning to move overseas).

MistyMountainTop

Your goals sound well thought out and achievable, and with YNAB and your diary in place, I have no doubts that you will reach them. I didn't keep up with YNAB as I didn't understand it as well as I thought I had. I may sign up for another free trial and see if I get any further along.

It's good news too for your DD that her father is not leaving, at least not yet. :j

EssexHebridean

Glad to hear that things have worked out for the time being at least with the ex. The older DD is when it happens, the better equipped she'll be to cope, so any delay is a good thing I imagine.

FABULOUS to be starting the year with just the one card - I spotted the change as soon as I glanced at your thread title! :T

fru-girl

Thanks both! Essex - that is very true, the older she is the better. I'm hoping he'll stay at least until she gets to secondary school age, if not later...

2016 ended with a bang...

I won a (used) laptop at my work's Christmas raffle on the 20th of Dec, not sure I've already mentioned that on here. It's not much but it's good enough for our home browsing needs, and I can give my old laptop to my mum.

However, on the 31st, my DD smashed my smartphone screen and the touchscreen broke. Also, half the TV screen went dark... not completely, but it's a dark shade covering half the screen that's quite annoying. The smartphone screen fix is £30 (insurance claim), however the TV replacement is another story... checked online, cost of repair is quite high and it's not worth it, as it's a 7-yr old TV.

So now I have to buy a TV... the joy, I wish I knew that before I paid off so much debt (which was all sitting at £0). I don't watch TV much, but I do watch films, and DD likes her cartoons... so I'm now planning to buy a TV on next pay date, on the 25th, and pay less towards CC debt.

I hate doing research on which electronics to buy... so much marketing BS... and it's so bloody complicated to buy a TV these days!!

EssexHebridean

When we last bought we found that a small drop in screen size means a quite substantial drop in price - a bonus for us as neither of us like a huge TV dominating the room. Might be worth bearing in mind anyway - although I'm not sure how small the current smart-TV options go...all those I've seen are HUGE!

Nice one on the laptop though! :T

fru-girl

Thanks. I've done some browsing and it appears that - based on the distance between my sofa and my TV stand, the ideal TV size is 65". General advice is - if you can't afford the ideal size, buy the largest size you can afford.

65 inch ain't going to happen... I'd rather go on holiday than buy a 65 inch TV!

Our current (broken) TV is 32" - which is a tad too small - we bought it when we were living in a small rental place. Both my daughter and I are short-sighted so we'd benefit from a larger screen... we shall see.

EssexHebridean

65"?!!! Either you live in a mansion or that information was funded by the TV industry! :rotfl:

I seem to recall spotting a special offer on 42" Smart TV's in Tesco if that helps - they were at the front of the store in our local on on Sunday.

MistyMountainTop

I've got to agree on the tele sizing - ours is 42" and I almost wish we had something smaller. It dominates the room, there is no way I'd get anything larger.

Hub did the research but basically did a search on ama$on for 42" teles with the highest ratings, then chose the cheapest one that had a decent number of reviews. We've had it three years now and certainly have had our money's worth out of it. Previously we went with whatever was cheapest at the supermarket because it was so easy to exchange if something went wrong and they offered their own warranty as well as the manufacture's one.

MistyMountainTop

How are things going Fru-girl? x

EssexHebridean

Maybe she's buried under a GIANT telly?! :eek::rotfl: (hope all's well Fru-Girl!)