Finally Debt Free After 34 Years, But Still Need to Live Frugally

HairyHandofDartmoor

arsenalbarnie wrote: »

Fabulous news Hairy :beer::j:j:j:j:T:T:T:T

Thanks Arsenalbarnie .

Magpie100

...more PPI?! I'm delurking again and shall continue to do so for every win you have! :rotfl:

Seriously though - I'm so glad you persisted. I always thought you would be a prime candidate for this type of mis-selling, given your history on this thread. It's astounding how much stress and anxiety this mis-selling has caused people over the years.

I'm also really glad about your job, which I think will do wonders to keep money-related anxiety at bay. That steady income plus having a solid emergency fund behind you will free up headspace for even more financial improvement, I'm sure.

I wouldn't want to overload you with things to think about now, but I suppose there is also the question of your husband's pension to consider, given that it was used to clear your debts. I am sure you can find a way forward now that you have some financial stability. Well done again!

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've already listed what we're going to buy with the PPI and we'll aim to save the rest. But this is my fantasy wish list if we win the lottery (we don't even do it :rotfl:) or money suddenly becomes no object!

- Another wardrobe (I hate having to share a wardrobe with DH and now I have work clothes it's getting crowded in there!)
- Fence around top of garden wall (the wall is really low so we have zero privacy, a strange man waved at me in the kitchen the other day )
- House re-rendered and painted (will cost about 10K I reckon :eek:)
- Plastic shed for the garden (we have no shed and no garage so nowhere to store gardening or decorating gear).

We're not going to buy these things yet, but it's nice to dream and it's something to aim for if we can have a stable, regular income and save up for things .

HairyHandofDartmoor

Magpie100 wrote: »

...more PPI?! I'm delurking again and shall continue to do so for every win you have! :rotfl:

Seriously though - I'm so glad you persisted. I always thought you would be a prime candidate for this type of mis-selling, given your history on this thread. It's astounding how much stress and anxiety this mis-selling has caused people over the years.

I'm also really glad about your job, which I think will do wonders to keep money-related anxiety at bay. That steady income plus having a solid emergency fund behind you will free up headspace for even more financial improvement, I'm sure.

I wouldn't want to overload you with things to think about now, but I suppose there is also the question of your husband's pension to consider, given that it was used to clear your debts. I am sure you can find a way forward now that you have some financial stability. Well done again!

Thank you Magpie I'm glad you've delurked again . We certainly have been fleeced over the years by the banks due to a combination of poverty and financial naivete, so I guess we were just the sort of people they would have missold to :mad:. Which is why it's so lovely to get money back from the banks .

I'm delighted about my job too, as although it's only £200 a month it's regular income which is really valuble to us . I just need to increase my hours now.

DH doesn't have a pension, but he's going to be 57 in the summer. We can't afford a private pension for him, plus I don't think ten years would be long enough to save anything worth having with no employer contributions. But we do need to think about our future. If we can increase our income and make it more regular then we could save more money.

I'm not sure what we could do apart from that . We may inherit money eventually from my stepdad, or my dad and stepmum, but it's by no means guaranteed, so I don't want to have that in the equation. Our mortgage will be paid off in nine years, so at least we won't have that expense when we retire .

Magpie100

Yes, that all makes sense. It's probably more important right now that you get yourselves on an even keel, get some savings established and take stock of what to do with maintaining your house so that you both feel more secure. Once you've done all that then you can consider if you can start saving more regularly. I know pensions can be a minefield, but all round future-planning will be worthwhile. Its good to hear your mortgage will be paid off before you retire.

I am sure plenty of people on these boards would be happy to offer advice on pensions and savings, but certainly for the next few weeks you should relax and enjoy having a cushion to fall back on. I am sure the uncertainty of self-employment wears away at you over time but at least now you know you have some slack to help when things are tough.

I think you said you had joined your work pension scheme, so if you can eventually increase your hours and yours and your employers contribution then that would be a great help. Either way you are in so much better a position than you were at the start of the year. Enjoy it!

HairyHandofDartmoor

Thank you Magpie . We are certainly in a much better situation than we were. Just eighteen months ago we had debts of £58,000, no savings and DH and I hadn't bought clothes for so long that we were looking really shabby and down at heel.

Now we are debt free, have savings behind us, and as we bought some clothes with part of the pension money we look much less shabby too :T.

It's thanks to DH's pension and the PPI refunds, but if it hadn't been for this forum and the fantastic advice I've had from people here, we wouldn't have been able to negotiate our full and final offers or get the PPI refunds :T.

I have joined my work pension so if I can get more hours eventually then that would be worth having. I have twelve years to earn money as I'm going to be fifty five soon :eek:.

Seasidegal58

Oh fantastic news Hairy! This year is working out so positively after the trials of the last. :j:j

I'd put as much as you can into the emergency fund after clearing away those other expenses - like the VAT and electricity bill - but of course do treat yourself and OH a little!:D

On the glasses - I always find that it's the frames where you can get rooked - but lots of good advice posted already.

Once the emergency fund and the other bits have been paid perhaps think of putting a lirrle bit of your salary into the workplace pension on a regular basis as it soon adds up with the tax breaks. I found the regulars on the Pensions board to be a mine of information and tend to be a friendly helpful bunch, unlike some other boards (why do these people have to be so condescending and rude!:mad:)

Enjoy your day today - have a cider to celebrate!:beer:
X

in_need_of_direction

i'm probably teaching my granny to suck eggs but i hope you get the new laptop while you're still VAT registered as i'm guessing it's needed for the business

HairyHandofDartmoor

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Oh fantastic news Hairy! This year is working out so positively after the trials of the last. :j:j

I'd put as much as you can into the emergency fund after clearing away those other expenses - like the VAT and electricity bill - but of course do treat yourself and OH a little!:D

On the glasses - I always find that it's the frames where you can get rooked - but lots of good advice posted already.

Once the emergency fund and the other bits have been paid perhaps think of putting a lirrle bit of your salary into the workplace pension on a regular basis as it soon adds up with the tax breaks. I found the regulars on the Pensions board to be a mine of information and tend to be a friendly helpful bunch, unlike some other boards (why do these people have to be so condescending and rude!:mad:)

Enjoy your day today - have a cider to celebrate!:beer:
X

Thank you SSG . Yes I definitely want to save most of it in the emergency fund :T. It's painful to see the balance go down to be honest :rotfl:. But DH does need glasses and a laptop, I did treat myself to a few clothes items for work .

I don't know if I'll be able to top up my pension with any of my salary yet as it may be needed for bills, but if I can get more hours then that's a possibilty I can definitely investigate .

HairyHandofDartmoor

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

i'm probably teaching my granny to suck eggs but i hope you get the new laptop while you're still VAT registered as i'm guessing it's needed for the business

Thanks for mentioning it INOD . It's always worth pointing out these things because it's very easy to overlook what should be obvious but isn't always .

Yes we will definitely buy DH's laptop before the end of March as it is for work (I wouldn't let him buy one for leisure :rotfl:). We're going to try and buy any work related bits before the end of March, but we don't tend to buy much as we provide business services.

I think we'll definitely be better off when we de-register as it will benefit our smaller customers, the accountants won't have to correct my mistakes in the VAT return and we won't keep getting fined for late payments . Also we'll avoid a way of building up debts! Plus I won't have to do the VAT returns because I've always hated doing them and if I get more hours at work I won't have the time or energy to do them. I can't wait to be de-registered in fact :T.