£16,000 debt, turning regret into positive action.

LadyP01

Iv been looking around to get motivated to get this debt gone and I came across a slogan that said ‘you will never feel richer than When you start to take serious control of your finances’ and it made me think. I live off £500 a month this includes rent, bills, food, social and money for savings for car repairs, Christmas and holidays etc. If I can continue to live the way i do happily then I will be able to save and have a great life where I won’t need credit or loans again.

Best start thinking about the penny’s and that will take care of the pounds.

LadyP01

Afternoon,

Iv been spending a lot of time looking on the internet for some motivation to give my debt busting that final push. I came across this article about having a good clear out and how that can help you to save money and live frugally. Now I don’t have anything that’s worth selling, everything I did I got rid of last year at the beginning of my debt free journey. But I thought screw it the house needs a tidy anyway and I got stuck in.

Well what a money pit I have. I feel like Iv just come back from the shops having spent hundreds of pounds!!!!!!!!
First up was the makeup table and the bathroom. I only went out yesterday and purchased shampoo and conditioner both at 89p to do my swapping and changing from high end to low end. A quick unpacking of my draws, travel cases and bathroom and I have unearthed loads of hotel bottles of shampoo and conditioner from all my trips away, atleast 15 bottles in total even if they are small ones. These will help me push my shampoo and conditioner an extra month of two as I’ll be able to swap the products around to keep my hair looking fresh.
Next up on the makeup table... samples! I have loads of samples of things. Even tho I’m on a budget and I live as frugally as possible I still use high end makeup this is more for medical reasons, I have a skin condition and this product makes that condition disapear so I don’t need medical help. I also receive atleast 90% of all of my makeup as gifts for my birthday and Christmas so it costs me less at the end of the day then someone purchasing from a high street retailer. Anyway back to the samples, I’m loyal to one counter in one store, I even make sure all my friends and family purchase my items from there which means the girls on the stand know myself and the people purchasing for me really well... this in turn gets me bags full of samples that they have available so today I have sorted and organised everything and locked away my usual products until the samples are finished. Today alone it has felt like Iv had a facial as my skin has had some different products on it. All from the same range but not my usual items.

Now I move on.... SHOESSSSSS

Make do and mend is my new motto. I grabbed all my work shoes that I have in the show box and I have fixed them all up. Polish, buffer, new insoles where needed... total of £2 and I now have 10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pairs of work shoes! That’s a different pair everyday for two weeks!
Another thing I’m keen on when living frugally is wearing more than one pair of shoes to work. It makes them last longer as they have time to breath between wears and I find I get an extra 3-4 months by using atleast two at the same time compared to just one. It’s also good for your posture if your footwear varies.
One pair I had used for painting a year ago. These were in the back of my wardrobe. A bit of nail polish remiver and some black polish and they are brand new again :money:

There will be more savings to come out the wood work as I carry on with my spring clean but for now I’m just amazed at how much I have gained just from a few hours deep cleaning and clearing out.
Feeling motivated, relaxed and fresh :j

LadyP01

Just winding down and reading some diaries, and feeling inspired

Is there possibly stuff that I could sell? Aim for the weekend is to set up an eBay account and upload books dvds etc to it and see what sells and what doesn’t. Worth it I guess.

Another thing people are having a lot of success with is sites like swag bucks... does anyone have any success on these sites? Iv tried and it seems to take forever to reach even £5 or seems to good to be true. Would love some
Feedback on them if anyone has any.

Also I think I might start listing my spends per day as I do spend a lot on little useless things so maybe that will reduce.

Working_Mum

Hello there,
I confess I keep a written journal of all of my spends and have done since 2010!! It's very mindful thing to do and keeps me focussed on know how much I have in my purse and what I am spending my money on!! Plus is a nice excuse to use my stash of beautiful stationery I have built up over the years!!

I was recommended to use Ziffit for selling books - I used them and there were great - I got a little bit more than other sites, clear some junk and earned a few quid - every penny helps!!

I have recently joined Swagbucks and have earned 2 x £5 Ama2on vouchers which are sitting on my account - I use Ama2on a lot so am happy with that!! I also joined Nectar Canvass as this runs up points on my Nectar card - have earned £3 this week on that - not much in one way but ti was time I was at work (self employed and in my office all day so can spare a bit of time!!)

You are doing really well, shifting your focus - it will reap rewards I am sure!

((hugs))

WMx

enthusiasticsaver

Paying off more than £10k in 2017 is brilliant. Hopefully this year you will be debt free and well on the way to your first property deposit. How are the OH finances? Don’t be sucked into lending him money. He is a grown adult and if he can’t handle money it is about time he learnt some self discipline. We have seen too many on here who have been dragged down by OHs who won’t sort out their finances and rely on their partner. All the tim you bail him out he has no incentive to change.

LadyP01

Hey working mum,

Im just like you in my folder I can go back years but I dont write the little things I just pop a heading and a total number for the month so I need to be more like you and put everything.
Thanks for the advice I downloaded nectar compass and Iv already earned 120 nectar points which would take me a month to gain so it just adds up at the end of the year.
I think I just need to be more committed to swagbucks it takes a while to get up to any money but maybe that can be something I dedicate to ... a survey a day or something.

Hey enthusiasticsaver, thanks I cant wait till the end of this month and I will have a whole years total of what I have paid off so Im really excited to see what Iv achieved in 12 months.

Finances with the oh are difficult. We have different goals and ideas of how we want to spend money but by doing this thread and sharing my experience with all of you Iv learned that I can guide him and I can put my foot down in some areas but hes an individual with his own rights to choose how he spends his money and I dont want to enter a marriage where he feels he has no say or no freedom with money so Im working on how I approach him and how I support as Im like a pit bull with everything I do Im very much like this is what were doing and were doing it now and that will eventually break us so Im slowly learning.
He has however had 3 months grace while Iv been trying my new step back let him be his own man approach and as to be expected he has had lots of fun and has lots of new things and gone out on lots of adventures but has revealed that hes only paid the minimum payments off.
*deep breaths*

4/5 months is what I think I need to become debt free so my focus is on myself and my finances and then when thats done and I feel positive about my finances I would like to sit down with him and have a frank discussion about what we want our futures to be like and how I dont want to enter a marriage in debt or become in debt except for a mortgage that I want paid ASAP. Debt is a big strain on relationships im just working hard to make sure I dont let it ruin mine.

enthusiasticsaver

Attitudes to money and debt are one of the top areas of disagreement in relationships and there is lots of evidence of that on this forum. It can cause lots of problems if this is not sorted early in a relationship once it is clear you see your futures together.

My DH and I have the same attitude to money (ie no debt) luckily but he is not as good in being disciplined with spending. We had many disagreements in the early years of our marriage when he would spend (usually on diy so to our benefit) but without discussing it first so I would constantly be juggling money to make sure direct debits were covered. Over the years we developed a system and I can honestly say we have not had one argument about money for as long as I can remember but we have been married 35 years!

I think you are right to focus on your finances and I presume you are not married or have kids and obviously no mortgage now? The time to really thrash this out is when his attitude to debt and money impacts on your hopes and dreams say to buy your own home or have a baby or get married. If he takes so long to clear his debt he cannot afford to save for any of those things what would your view be if he continues to spend a lot on entertainment etc rather than focussing on clearing the debt and saving for your future and cutting back a bit?

We went totally joint finances after marrying and had small amounts of spending cash each and we would talk through a joint budget monthly discussing priorities - like if the car needed servicing or something needed doing on the house or one of the children needed new shoes. Money was really tight but we both agreed no debt and we learnt to save. It has been the single most reason why we paid our mortgage off early, did some lovely holidays, helped our girls with house deposits and university costs and retired early. We still help with childcare costs for grandchildren etc etc. We both have the same amount of spending money now (although a lot more than it was in the early days)in our own personal accounts. Having joint finances ironed out the differences in income when we had children as I did the bulk of the childcare so only worked part time. If my partner was not on the same page and have the same attitude I think I would have thought twice though. Now he appreciates the reason I suggested he pay 10% into his pension from his 20s due to his high pressure and lots of travel job as he was able to retire early. It is difficult to think so far ahead but with money being so important to most peoples aspirations it is IMHO essential.

LadyP01

Thats amazing, I hope we can be like that one day and not argue about it.

I want us to discuss finances regularly and not bury our heads in the Sand. Also to allocate money in percentages so it’s fair and leave 10% or less of our individual incomes to spend on ourselves in any way we want whilst using the rest to pay for cars, holidays, mortgages, maternity pay etc I know I can keep us happy and make us feel rich by using a good system I just hope when it comes to it that he trusts and believes me.

Maybe I’llcross that bridge at christmas! And tackle that hurdle he has been given a stern word that the debt has to be gone ASAP so everyone cross your fingers for me.

LadyP01

Quick update.

Thursday - NSD
Friday - NSD
Saturday - NSD
Sunday- £2.40 on chocolate nibbles

To tired to feel motivated back on it tomorrow.

LadyP01

I thought I’d put my budget for the month up here so I can see what changes I can make.

Income - £1547.04

Bills

Rent - £250
Phone bill - £17

Cash bills

Petrol - £80
S/world- £40
Food - £40
Social - £50

Savings

Car- £60
Maintenance£40
Christmas- £40

Two birthday parties - £40
(Both my family so I pay for both of us to have a few drinks oh pays when it’s his friends or fam this Includes petrol as it’s not local £20 per party)

Credit card- £1013.60
One birthday present - £12

I think I can reduce some spending on areas like social and food which is why Iv put my budget up for all to see.