Spend Nowt, Buy Nowt, Owe Nowt

Treadingonplaymobil

I so empathise with the huge to do list! I vacillate wildly between keeping mine down to a minimal level of three priority items then every now and again having to load the list up with 30 things in one day and just plough through them all. Hope you are getting things done and finding time for the odd sit down with a cup of tea!

XSpender

The To Do List of Doom is now at 12/57.

I spent too long with my friend yesterday which was lovely but meant I was behind with work and with to-do-list stuff and nothing on yesterday's list got crossed off I did have a lovely couple of hours with my friend yesterday and learnt some very interesting things about calculating value of pension pots I didn't know. My friend retired at 52 following a cancer diagnosis last year so has had a FI review her position. DH and I are still wildly away from where we need to be and will probably never achieve the income we want in retirement.

The conversation did refocus me on clearing the debt by the time I am 50 (nearly 48 now) and mortgage free by the time I am 60 although I am not sure whether I need to focus on retirement savings, MFW or a bit of both.

I received the cheque for the old, old energy supplier today and some TCB so that has put the CC OP pot up to £36.48. This is to go towards the final part of the Virgin card. I still need to find £200 to clear the first part by the end of May. I have £160 put aside for the home insurance renewal in June which I could use and repay with the bike money but best wait until the bikes are actually sold.

I've just been paid and I'm wishing my life away waiting for DH pay to come in on the 18th so I can pay the next lot of debt off!

I have made a decision to write off the debt to person 2 (which is basically me, long story) and bring our debt balance down. We will be just into the £46ks by the end of May.

XSpender

The first mortgage company has rejected our application and we are now trying a 2nd. I am disappointed as although the rate will be lower than we are paying now the monthly payment will stay the same. I am feeling pretty anxious that we won't be able to get a mortgage and will go on SVR and the payment will go up £300! Hopefully we will hear about the second application today so I don't spend all weekend worrying about it.

We have some lovely plans for the weekend, rugby on Saturday, friends over on Sunday for a little party tea for DS and decluttering of prosecco and cinema (free) or inflatapark (£36!) on Monday for DS birthday treat. The friends coming over also gives us more motivation to whip the house into shape but I will need to do another food shop as haven't enough party food to feed another 4 and forgot butter to make DS cake.

At least the work stress has gone down a bit as my meeting this morning has been cancelled so I have time to catch up on other stuff. DH has had a tough week at work with VIP visitors so is having this afternoon off and will pick up DS from school and take him to the park with his skateboard.


To do list of doom now 14/57.

XSpender

Panic over - application sailed through with the 2nd mortgage lender. Phewwww!

I have come up with a dastardly plan to clear the second loan and Lloyds CC by 31/01/19. It will require 6 months of laser focused frugality and little spending by me and DH. I'm not sure I will be able to convince him commit to it even though he said last night that when we talk about the finances he is more focussed on selling stuff and cutting back and needs to get more involved.

WannabeFree

Glad you got it sorted. Just think next time it should be even easier as the debt will be less

Hope you have a lovely weekend

x

enthusiasticsaver

Glad you got the mortgage application sorted. As Wannabe says next time it should be easier as debt figure lower.

When you are in a position to address retirement savings when the debt is gone my suggestion would be you use the money you were spending on debt clearing and do mortgage and pension overpayments. Of course by then you may need to help DS with University costs too. Never ending with financial demands on us.

XSpender

WannabeFree wrote: »

Glad you got it sorted. Just think next time it should be even easier as the debt will be less

Hope you have a lovely weekend

x

Hopefully it will be under £10K by then if not gone completely Have a lovely weekend too WF.

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Glad you got the mortgage application sorted. As Wannabe says next time it should be easier as debt figure lower.

When you are in a position to address retirement savings when the debt is gone my suggestion would be you use the money you were spending on debt clearing and do mortgage and pension overpayments. Of course by then you may need to help DS with University costs too. Never ending with financial demands on us.

I agree that splitting it is probably the best way to go. It will be no good sitting in a paid off house with no income and having to move before we want to. The plan is to be debt free by the end of 2021 at the latest, if DH never gets another bonus which is unlikely. DS will be 11 then so a few years to save up for Uni so I will need 3 pots; mortgage OP, retirement and Uni for DS!

XSpender

It's a beautiful day here and we have a fun filled weekend planned for DS birthday.

DH managed to get away early from work yesterday so surprised DS by picking him from school and taking him to the park with his skateboard as there is a small skateboard park and play area. When I had finished work we went in to the village and had a cheap meal in one of the pubs.

DH has gone to the gym and we will take the dog out for a walk when he gets back. I will have to go to Asda again as our friends are now coming over tomorrow and I need more party food. We also need to finish cleaning the house and bake DS birthday cakes (2 round ones to make into a number 8).

This afternoon we are going for a pizza and then to watch the rugby. The tickets are paid for and I have budgeted for transport and pizza costs. I will see if there is a discount voucher I can use too.

Sunday we may go for a bike ride as it is supposed to be a lovely day again before our friends and their children come over for DS mini party. I foresee lots of prosecco in the conservatory while the kids bounce about on the trampoline

Monday we are going to the cinema (free tickets with bank account) and DS has chosen KFC for a birthday treat.

Tuesday is DS birthday and he wants his presents in the morning before school and before I have a huge drive and an overnight stay with work

Somewhere amongst that I have to find DH payslips, print all the tickets, print bank statements and list the bikes for sale!

I haven't spoken to DH yet about my super frugal plan but have started to look at ways we can cut back.

I have booked a delivery through Asda, registered via TCB, for next week. I am attempting to keep a better control over the food budget and keeping us out of the store.

brizzlegirl

Hope this week hasnt been too stressful. Always good to have a plan. I need to up my game and that bullet journal is not being used nearly enough..

Have a good week next week x

XSpender

Lloyds Loan #1........£9227.36......£275.11......3.9% APR 36 payments left
Lloyds Loan #2.........£13,373.18.....£265.98....8230....3.9% APR.......55 payments left
Lloyds CC (Me) Part 2..........£2928.24.....£0.........0.0% APR until March 2019
LLoyds CC (Me) Part 1.........£231.02.........£35.........17.9%
Virgin (Me) Part 2 ........£995.00........0.0% APR until 30th Sept 2018
Virgin (DH) Part 2........£5553.12.......£100.........0.0% APR.......until July 2018
Virgin (DH) Part 3........£4372.97.......£0.00.........0.0% APR until Sept 2018
MBNA............£7960.25.........£79.60...........0.0% APR until Sept 2019
Hitachi........£1391.34...........£47.97...0.0% APR 22 payments left


TOTAL £53,315.15 @ 16.12.17 TOTAL NOW £46,093.11

Dear me, I haven't posted in nearly 2 weeks :eek: My new month starts today as DH has been paid so I have done my monthly update.

Good stuff

1. Virgin Part 1 has been SIF before 0% offer expires
2. I have cancelled the debt to me
3. Person 2 has cancelled the debt and asked us to set up a savings scheme for DS once we are debt free
4. Mortgage valuation came back at what we estimated which is £15k more than we paid for it 2 years ago
5. New mortgage application has been approved
6. The holiday is low cost and includes a week with relatives, a couple of hotel nights using loyalty points and a bargainous gite

No so good stuff

• We have added to the Lloyds CC to cover some extra costs this month
• The bike hasn't sold yet although we have had some interest
• We have wiped out the posts and small savings to cover costs and clear the Virgin card
• Didn't budget brilliantly for the first 2 weeks with DH new pay date and overspent
• Booked a holiday

DH received an unexpected bonus in his pay today as well as some expenses we had forgotten about which was a lovely surprise. It has already been allocated on YNAB

I will focus on clearing the Lloyds CC spending first and then the clear the balance on the Virgin card by September. This is going to be a stretch but I can always hope for another surprise bonus from DH

DH has lost so much weight that his suits look ridiculous so we may have to spend some of the bonus on a new suit and some shirts. He looks like Tom Hanks in Big! I have a 20% off coupon for M&S this weekend only.

My girls holiday is in 2 weeks but I spent so little last year I still have 200 euros left over which will be plenty but may need something to wear for 1 of the nights. I would wear exactly the same as last year but one night was fancy dress! I do have enough money in my personal spends and some birthday money due next month to cover it.

Looking forward to a quiet weekend