£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

Lucylocks

Do you check gumtree/eBay for bits rather than buy new? For things like roof rack and surfboard you could make considerable saving. I know sometimes it can be a pain with arranging collection etc but you may find a bargain

It does take a bit of a mindset change but reaps rewards - my favourite successes/savings include piecing together a complete bedroom furniture set for DS saving around £400 on new and a beautiful kitchenaid food processor which was still unused in box saving £150. If you sold bits you no longer use - and believe me people buy all sorts - I made £50 from selling off-cut of worktop - you could out this into a pot to fund future purchases, making them cost neutral

enthusiasticsaver

I think I am with armchair expert on the pin interest project in that you are browsing things on pin interest you want but are unable to buy them because you can't afford them. This seems to be putting temptation in your way in much the same way a gambler would by having gambling sites on her or his phones or an alcoholic by having bottles of booze in front of him of her. Would it not be worthwhile removing some of these tempting websites and finding other things to do which don't involve spending money? I can understand a wish list though so maybe restrict your internet browsing to avoid you becoming too despondent.

Treadingonplaymobil

mfmaybe wrote: »

I do think it's interesting. I also think, when everything is in negative figures, that it is much harder to notice that you have no money left. When all the numbers are positives, I think in some ways it is easier to curb the spending, because you can see that you just don't have the money.

(Or you might, but in which case that's fine )

This was definitely the case for us - when we were miles off meeting our monthly outgoings anyway (when we first moved a few years back and I wasn't earning anything), it seemed pointless budgeting at all, and we overspent by miles. Now we can sort of meet our outgoings there's much more incentive to stick within our budget.

armchairexpert wrote: »

I think having a Pinterest wish list of all the things I haven't bought would be like making a buffet of delicious food and then trying not to eat it!

Where do you find the things you want to buy? I mean do you see them in magazines, in shop windows, etc? I suddenly thought, if you work in fashion and journalism, you're probably bombarded with glossy adverts.

I very rarely shop, I don't look at magazines and I don't work in a city where I see display windows, and I think all of those things help the wanting - because they just don't occur to me. I mean of course sometimes I want a nice new nail polish or a soft throw blanket or something, but I want them in the abstract, rather than seeing a specific product and immediately desiring it. Can you try and cut off some of the sources of the marketing?

The wanting things usually comes from my life (i.e. I want a new surfboard through being at the beach and not enjoying the board I currently use, rather than because I've seen one online, I want new nail polish because the ones I've got aren't the colours I want) rather than coming across them online. Very occasionally I come across something randomly. And believe me, the tempting buffet is there regardless of the pinterest board! I'm not spending time trawling through my board and sobbing about what I can't buy or anything, it's just an ongoing record.

Treadingonplaymobil

Week 24: Day 1

I never feel like I've started my new MSE week unless I've posted here.

DH and I have been going round and round on the architect's quotes for work. We keep debating whether we should be paying off debt faster or getting the house sorted. Such a tricky decision. I have spent a couple of hours today pulling together our SOA, snowball calculators, my actual income this year (as opposed to bare minimum predicted), working through different financial scenarios, and we're going to talk it all through in depth this evening. The thing we are certain of is that we cannot continue as we are (bedroom-wise) for more than another two years, because of the ages/genders of the DC, so we have two years to implement whatever solution we decide on. However, there are lots of options, from the very-cheap-but-far-from-ideal to the insanely-expensive-but-infinitely-more-practical-and-appealing. Lots of discussion to come.

Took the sensible route and didn't go surfing this morning - trying to get ahead on work so I can earn some money instead. So grown up!

to do today
1. pull financial info together. Already done!
2. plan week's work.
3. email local young archeologists club for DC1.
4. scan school work that came home at end of term so I can ditch the paper copies and still have a record.
5. laundry.
6. ironing.
7. make quiche for dinner.
8. make tomorrow's dinner.
9. check DS1's packing list for cub camp.
10. food shopping. Already done.
11. weed front garden.

to do this week
1. charity shop run. Donations still cluttering up hallway.
2. take snacks and picnics for days out with the children - no unplanned cafe trips!
3. pack for camping.
4. buy walking boots.
5. make a decision on house extension and email architect.

Aims for July
1. Pay some extra off the MBNA card - I'd like this card gone asap. Well, a whopping £15 paid on top of the minimum payment so far, hoping to make another payment before end of month.
2. Pay for camping holiday commitments out of self employed income rather than adding to debt. So far so good, but there is one more camping trip to cover in August.
3. Stick to the budget even more closely than in June!

Weekly round up
Last week's debt total £55,773.59
This week's debt total £55,451.30
Total paid off last week £322.29
Grand total paid off £3,156.83

Look at that, we've crossed over the £3k paid off barrier! We're almost six months in, so that's an average of £500 a month off our debt. I think I had ambitions of it being more (no idea how, just my general financial optimism-in-the-face-of-evidence at work), but considering that pre-LBM we were accruing debt at a rate of at least £500 a month, we've officially managed a 100% about-face.

[Deleted User]

Test to see if I can post

Treadingonplaymobil

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

enthusiasticsaver

Glad you managed to find your thread. Strange it disappeared just like that.

How would you finance the extension should you decide to go ahead now?

Treadingonplaymobil

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Glad you managed to find your thread. Strange it disappeared just like that.

How would you finance the extension should you decide to go ahead now?

We'd finance the initial architect phase as originally planned - by saving month by month, with a view to getting the drawings done over the next 6 months (which is feasible, based on our sums with DH's recent pay rise).

We'd be looking at planning permission in summer '18, and actual building in early '19. The build would be financed partly by remortgaging and partly by reshuffling our remaining debt at that stage onto a longer term loan to reduce monthly outgoings and freeing up monthly budget for paying for things as we go. If we were still short at that stage it would be more debt. Hard to know as we don't know exact costs. Our debt will be down another £8k-ish by then, and obviously £20k of it isn't on paper, so we'd have more options available.

Basically it comes down to how important we think it is for our children to have a nice house and a nice space to grow up in, vs, us having an easier life. The easy answer is 'easy life, more time for the children etc', and there will be lots of judgement for us thinking of slowing/reversing debt repayment in order to do the extension. But, if we'd stretched ourselves more when we first bought and took on a bigger mortgage, no one would think that was remotely unreasonable, or if we had always said we 'had' to move to a bigger property and get a bigger mortgage, no one would bat an eyelid. Our mortgage is fairly reasonable for our combined income, we could have borrowed considerably more.

So do we put ourselves in the 'bigger mortgage' position for a better house (part mortgage, part consumer debt), or not? That's basically the question.

edited to add: I understand there are differences between mortgages and unsecured debt, I'm not suggesting one is better than the other, simply that one holds a greater value judgement. If we had a £225,000 mortgage it would be fine, but because we have a £170,000 mortgage and £55,000 of debt, it is seen differently.

System

Yay you're back. Well done on the 3k paid off.

enthusiasticsaver

I guess it comes down to affordability in the end and also how much the extension would add to the value of the property (putting the desirability for more space aside). On a purely practical side though having three children in a two bedroom house sounds as if it will not be doable for much longer.

Are you on a repayment mortgage or interest only? What rate do you pay at the moment and over what term? You could in the short term restructure over a longer repayment term to get the extension done sooner rather than later. Not ideal but it can be moved back once you are earning more and the debt is gone.