Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally 24 September 2017 at 12:22PM edited 18 November 2017 at 9:49AM in Debt Free Diaries 14.6K replies 843.9K views

[Deleted User]

Onebrokelady wrote: »

Hi,my daughter watched a TED talk by a lady called Michelle McGagh,then read her book called My No Spend Year: How You Can Spend Less And Live More,it's inspired her to try it for herself, basically you can set it up with your own rules for how strict you want to be
DD is allowing spends for her essential bills and travel and food shopping ,she has to commute to different city for uni so needs to catch a train for this,the author of the book didn't allow any money for travel so she rode her bike everywhere but it's not practical for DD to do that,the author of the book saved £20,000 and paid it off her mortgage:eek:
My DD won't save that much because she is a student but she will save quite a bit,she wants to buy a house at some point so needs money for a deposit, she was going to buy one with her boyfriend but now they are no longer together she is having to do it on her own so it will cost more

Thanks, Onebrokelady, I really appreciate you taking the time to explain:T:A


I've read that book recently and already passed it back on to the charity shop where I bought it. I've read a lot of these sort of books and sadly they are totally irrelevant for me:(. I'm always interested in the writers' experiences though and they sow a seed of an idea but there's very little I can adopt in my own situation:(.


I live in a rural area on the edge of a hamlet rather than a village. The nearest PO/tiny village shop is over 4 miles away and there's no bus route nearer than 3 miles away. Even then there are only 2 each way a day and only go to our nearest small market town which is lovely but mainly full of 'posh' shops which I can't afford to shop in. I have a bus pass but there's nothing to use it on:rotfl:. I'm an OAP and starting cycling now for everything is out of the question (even if I forked out on a bike). A car is absolutely essential, sadly, with all the costs that incurs:(.


The writer of that book lives in London and has access to a myriad of free events and activities to make up her social life. I read another similar one where the writer lives in Bristol and had a whale of a time at free activities and events, many of which provided free nibbles and food. Sadly there are absolutely zilch free things to do anywhere near here, apart from going for walks (which we do) and visiting a tiny art gallery (open very occasionally) and the local tiny museum in our nearest small town and which I've been to so many times I could be the official guide:rotfl:. OH and I do drive to our next nearest town (16 miles away) and there are free galleries and such like there which we like to visit. Sadly, everything costs money otherwise:(


Her other ideas of spending only on absolute essentials I already do. To get rid of over £50,000 of debt in 5 and a half years I've already cut back on every single thing and can't see anything further I could do:(. What I want to do next year is start saving money now I don't have to throw every penny at debt repayment and hoped a challenge would make me accountable and really kick me into action. To be honest, I've scrimped for so long I'm suffering from scrimp fatigue:o.. I need a new tack. My car is 17 years old and although well-maintained and looks in excellent condition it can't go on forever. Once it starts letting me down and costing more to keep going than it's value I'll have to say goodbye to it and buy another. I'd probably only get scrap value for it by then and would be starting from scratch. I'd only be buying 2nd-hand as I always have but it would have to be reliable, economical to run and have plenty of life still in it. That's what my savings pot will mainly be for and I want to pull out all the stops to build it up as fast as I can.


I doubt I'm ever going to find that eureka idea by reading books about what young(ish) working city-dwellers do to save oodles of cash. I'll just have to carry on as I am for a bit longer.


I wish your daughter the very best of luck and success with her challenge:beer:. She has a brilliant goal in view and lots of energy and opportunities to reach it:j. I'm envious:o. Please keep us posted about how she gets on. I hope to start a diary of my own on here in January, initially to document progress through my own 'challenge' . Will have to see if it's a 'goer'.


Sorry to have rabbited on, HH. I got a bit carried away:o:o:o

Chrystal

I'm looking forward to your diary CBC... I'm sure you'll get lots of support. X

Brill news about your course HH. How long does it last?

Nicnak

Congratulations. That is amazing news. If you need any help with anything and I can then I am happy to help out. I work secondary, but might be able to help if you are wanting to ask about anything.

xx

Sallyforth

Just popping in to say many congratulations on the course with all the opportunities completing it will afford. Far better to take this route - even if it means scrimping around for a little longer - than taking on an unfulfilling paid role. Lovely news indeed.
SF

HairyHandofDartmoor

@Carboot I don't mind you rambling .

Chrystal wrote: »

I'm looking forward to your diary CBC... I'm sure you'll get lots of support. X

Brill news about your course HH. How long does it last?

Thanks Chrystal . It lasts a year as It's the equivalent of a GCSE and is only a few hours a week.

Nicnak wrote: »

Congratulations. That is amazing news. If you need any help with anything and I can then I am happy to help out. I work secondary, but might be able to help if you are wanting to ask about anything.

xx

Thank you Nicnak that could be helpful .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Sallyforth wrote: »

Just popping in to say many congratulations on the course with all the opportunities completing it will afford. Far better to take this route - even if it means scrimping around for a little longer - than taking on an unfulfilling paid role. Lovely news indeed.
SF

Thanks Sally . That was what I decided. This is the job I want to do as I love it, and if I got a shop job just for some quick money I could be stuck doing that for the rest of my working life and I would hate it.

in_need_of_direction

I was just thinking that the course tutor may also be able to act as a reference for future opportunities

HairyHandofDartmoor

More good news is that DS3 is coming home today for the holidays :j. I haven't seen him for eleven weeks and I've really missed him.

He messaged last night to say could I buy the coach ticket for him as he couldn't be bothered to make an account :mad: :rotfl:. As I just want to get him home I said yes . He was going to come home by train until he found out it would cost £100 for a return :rotfl:. So now he's taken our previous advice and decided to come by coach which is £11.50 for a single :money:.

After we'd booked his coach ticket he said could he have my paypal details again so he could do more laundry :mad: :eek: :eek:. Kids!!!

It's heavy rain and mist this morning :eek: (a bit like last Saturday) but I'm meeting stepdad for coffee in town. Then I'll probably just buy fruit and come home as I have no money to spend.

No one has paid us yet . We have £60 from my dad's cheque, £60 Christmas money from BIL (opened it now as need it ), about £60 left from DS2's keep and that's it. If my YG money comes before Christmas that will be another £50.

That's a total of £230. We want £70 to spend on DS2 and DS3's presents, we need to buy ordinary food next week and food for Christmas day and Boxing day.

I'd like to get some presents for other family but I'm not sure we're going to have £70 to spare before Christmas, so they may have to be late if no one pays us in time . DH is very stressed.

In other news DS2 had a PIP review in September and they've just him that he's losing his PIP because he seemed well enough in the assessment. DS2 is still a long way from normal and needs help with a lot of things, but luckily he is earning money so doesn't need the money.

DS1 has an ESA assessment this morning. He is far from well and desperately needs the money, so I hope he passes the assessment . He's very stressed about it .

HairyHandofDartmoor

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

I was just thinking that the course tutor may also be able to act as a reference for future opportunities

Yes maybe they could and also the teachers at school .

[Deleted User]

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

@Carboot I don't mind you rambling .



Thanks Chrystal . It lasts a year as It's the equivalent of a GCSE and is only a few hours a week.

If it's GCSE level it will be a doddle for you, HH:j. As it's only part time and I doubt there'll be all that much homework or coursework to do at home maybe you'll still be able to spend some time on your business and make some money whilst you are studying. As you don't want a full time job now maybe you could find some sort of part time work the odd evening or day each week to bring in a bit of extra cash until you are available for a TA job. Just a few ideas.


How lovely that DS is coming home this weekend, you must be over the moon:dance:. What a shame about DS2's PPI but at least it isn't his only income source. Fingers crossed that DS1 has better news.


Enjoy your coffee with Stepdad, you've certainly earned it this week:coffee:.