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

Treadingonplaymobil

Sea_Shell wrote: »

A naked flame in a nylon tent.....what could possibly go wrong!!!;);)

fraserbooks wrote: »

I think a Tea Light chandelier in a tent is peak TOPM!

Don't panic, it's canvas - a huge traditional bell tent (hence the room for a chandelier).

The chandelier is simultaneously our most-mocked and most-admired piece of camping equipment.

Busy_Mee1

I don't think you need to worry that your kids won't be aspirational when their childhood camping trips involved a chandelier :rotfl:

Verbatim

fraserbooks wrote: »

I think a Tea Light chandelier in a tent is peak TOPM!

Absolutely and WOW!

Treadingonplaymobil

Oh for goodness sake. Another warning light came on in the car, with an alarming burning smell to go with it, and it's another £310 to get it fixed. We're getting it sorted as we're doing so much camping this summer and a big hire car would be more than that, but the MOT is due in (I think) September and if it's going to be more than about £100 to get it through my plan is that we'll sell/scrap it and live without a car for 8-12 months to save up for a new one. I just absolutely refuse to take on a loan for one (have not discussed this with DH yet, I think he will be keen to replace sooner, with a loan if necessary) and he can hopefully make a temporary change to his working hours (30 minute later start/finish) to enable him to catch the train every day.

I'm perfectly happy without a car, but I'm not the one who will have to commute daily on the train, so it needs an in depth discussion with DH. Diesel is almost exactly the same price as the train fare, so ignoring commuting costs the car will have cost us £900 in repairs plus £350 in tax/insurance from Jan-July. Of course, feasibly it will fly through its MOT and run for twelve months without any problems after this, but I'm not holding my breath.

I am absolutely dead set that taking on any additional debt for a replacement car means abandoning the extension until we are back down below our current debt level - I absolutely will not compromise on this, as our current situation feels precarious enough as it is.

Thankfully the car pot plus emergency fund comes to £145, plus next month's money due in on Thursday which is another £145 (although will leave car and emergency pots empty) so only an extra £20 to find.

enthusiasticsaver

Cars!! From memory though yours is old so it will now be costing you money regularly. Doing without one for a year until the extension is sorted sounds sensible if you don't rely on it for work and school. Internet shopping or walking for local food shops and you could hire one for holidays.

Treadingonplaymobil

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Cars!! From memory though yours is old so it will now be costing you money regularly. Doing without one for a year until the extension is sorted sounds sensible if you don't rely on it for work and school. Internet shopping or walking for local food shops and you could hire one for holidays.

It's 14 years old, and has done 140,000, so it's definitely past its prime! I'd hoped we would get another year or two's good use out of it, but if it's going to continue to cost £150 a month just to keep on the road then I'm calling it quits in September.

I dont have a car day to day - maybe once a week at most, and usually for food shopping which we'd just shift to getting online/locally. I'd need to hire one for the odd work day (although am insured on my mum's so fine if she's down), but other than that it would affect me very minimally.

apple_muncher

Our car died 155 miles away from home on boxing day 2 years ago, on a bitterly cold day, as I was turning right. It was a baptism of fire to car-free life! I was the main user for work so had to get the bus and walk a lot more. We then spent the next 16 months without a car. Dh was the 'driving force' for getting another motor.

It'll mean that your camping trips will be curtailed -thus saving you even more money!

Good luck with whichever way it all goes.

Chrystal

Lack of a car would be a good excuse for not having to toddle down to places you don't really want to go ie relatives, and you can always hire a car for your main camping trips.

ellen_vannin

I totally agree you should not take on an additional car loan.

When you calculate just how much old cars cost to keep on the road , you have to know when to call it quits. Hope you can convince DH.


Keep on debt busting , don't let this stop your good work.

Summer is a less costly time of the year , heating etc. so time for your pots to recover hopefully.

Honeysucklelou2

Have you got decent public transport where you live? I can totally understand your position on not wanting to take on any more debt.

I had a couple of years without a car, when I had 3 children and found it hard, not impossible but everything had to be planned very carefully to fit in with bus times. I am in a very rural location and the choice of buses and destinations was limited to the nearest town. Is it worth jotting down the journeys that you do make to get a clear idea of the impact of no car?