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

HairyHandofDartmoor

beanielou wrote: »

You are amazing

Thanks Beanie . I'm tired but I'm pleased to have got so much done. There is still a lot more to do, but that will have to be left for another day.

Onebrokelady

Well done Hairy, having everything organised is bound to lessen mental clutter,I bought large lidded plastic boxes for me Xmas decorations a few years ago and they are the best,I now know exactly what's in the boxes so I'm not rooting through cardboard to try and find things,it's so much easier
I also store my shoes in clear plastic shoe boxes in the bottom of my wardrobe,this keeps them clean and dust free but I can still see what's in the box

HairyHandofDartmoor

Onebrokelady wrote: »

Well done Hairy, having everything organised is bound to lessen mental clutter,I bought large lidded plastic boxes for me Xmas decorations a few years ago and they are the best,I now know exactly what's in the boxes so I'm not rooting through cardboard to try and find things,it's so much easier
I also store my shoes in clear plastic shoe boxes in the bottom of my wardrobe,this keeps them clean and dust free but I can still see what's in the box

Thanks OBL . I do think it makes people stressed when they're surrounded by clutter and can't find anything. I still feel like we're keeping too much but a lot of the stuff isn't mine so it's not my decision. The stuff we have left is much more organised and easier to find .

I need to tackle the Christmas decorations next holiday, along with the other voids and the office!

HairyHandofDartmoor

I've been helping DH get ready for his customer visit this morning. DH is quite stressed as despite working hard he feels unprepared . Hopefully the meeting will go better than he thinks.

I've also fitted in two loads of laundry which are drying in the garden now. Mostly clothes for DS3 to take back to uni .

I need to make lots of trips to the charity shop this afternoon so I'd better get going!

mummytogirls

Hope DH's meeting went ok HHOD xx

HairyHandofDartmoor

Thanks MTG .

HairyHandofDartmoor

DH's customer visit actually went very well so that was a relief .

I bought an all day bus ticket and made three trips to the charity shop, taking a rucksack and two carrier bags full of clutter each trip :T. I rewarded myself with a quick latte before coming home from my final trip, using my gift card so costing nothing :money:.

When I got home DH was back from the customer so we made a trip to the tip with some electrical clutter. All the clutter I sorted out for disposal is officially disposed of now. Our bedroom looks much clearer and under the attic stairs is a bit better :T :T.

Then we bought some Epsom printer ink from PC Ripoff which cost £69 for a full set of colours :eek: :mad:. It makes me want to cry as I know we could have got it much cheaper on the internet if we had only planned ahead . So we must do better next time.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I get paid on 25th :T and my plans for my wages are as follows:

- Buy £50 worth of Premium Bonds
- Put £100 into my B@rclays savings account (to top up DH's glasses fund)
- Keep £30 for my treats fund

After April I want my wages to be spent every single month on £50 of Premium Bonds, £100 in my T3sco Saver and £30 for my treats fund.

DH needs to invoice the new customer and should get paid on 28th :T so I want this money to be spent as follows:

- £500 in his T3sco Saver account
- £1,500 towards May's living expenses

Apart from that we'll need to bring in another £500 to cover the rest of May's living expenses and £300 to cover a year of car road tax, and then anything else DH earns after that can top up savings in theory .

Now that I've finished de-cluttering (for now) I feel obsessed with growing our savings. In order to do this we need to earn more and spend less.

I'm thinking I may need to keep a spending diary to keep track of my spending as it does tend to keep me focused on spending less.

Unfortunately we have a spendy weekend coming up as we have to take DS3 back to uni on Friday . I'm going to really miss him . There is a family do on Saturday, so we're going to spend Friday night with DH's sister and drive back after the do on Saturday. That will give us Sunday to recover before we're back at work on Monday.

Only DH and I are going (once we've dropped off DS3 obviously) so that will keep the spendiness down a bit. I'll make sandwiches for the journey and take cokes and bottles of water with us, but we'll need to buy coffees so we have a proper break and DH will probably want a M@cdonalds.

We'll eat at SIL's house I'm presuming on Friday night and have breakfast there, then we'll eat lunch at the family do. But we'll need to have an evening meal on Saturday either before or during our drive back. Sandwiches just don't give enough energy for a six hour drive .

So it's hard to estimate how much the weekend will cost us, but we'll try and keep spending to a minimum. After next weekend we can go into full on frugal mode, especially since our food and electricity bill will go down with DS3 back at uni (despite that I'd still rather have him home ).

beanielou

So chuffed for you that you have achieved so much over the holidays.
Be proud
How many voids do you have?

Willowtree222

Sounds like everything is planned out and you have sorted in your head your plan of action.

You have decluttered so much as well. Amazing! xx