My OH's has had his lightbulb moment - I am not on my own anymore!!!

reesla

Morning all!

I have been a lurker on this board for probably the last 18 months and I have been picking up lots of tips, however, whilst my lightbulb has been on my DH has never been switched on and we never seem to get anywhere!

But yesterday we had a breakthrough and his lightbulb is well and truly switched on!! Yesterday wasn't pleasant (involved me shouting and sobbing my heart out!) but he totally understands why I am so stressed out and why I have not been sleeping now!

Sitting down together yesterday, we have looked at our SOA/budget and after our debt repayments we should have £317 left over....we have never seen that money! Payday is on the 21st and we are on a mission to find it!

As a lurker on this board for so long, I have been using www.spendingdiary.com to log our spending and snowballing!

As part of my campaign to be a DFW this month I have:
a) cancelled gym membership (contract was up at the end of this month) :j
b)successfully challenged our council tax rebanding (hopefully saving about £35 a month & hopefully a nice rebate) :j
c) spent yesterday evening going over cc statements identifying fees and writing them a letter for reclaiming them (I can't believe that I have kept years and years worth of statements) The reclaim figure is about £70 but every little helps! I missed out on reclaiming the bank charges (I have sent in my letters but waiting for OFT case :mad: )
d) I have been finding all the old mobile phones and charging those either to send to envirofone (need to find some chargers though for one or two of them - no idea where they are )
e) placed an ad for a housemate - two of us in a 4 bed/2bathroom house? We can make some money from it! I have been advertising for 6 weeks but we seem to be in the wrong location - everyone wants to be near a train station or centre of town -but I am goingto keep trying!
f) joined PandaPaws on the stop eating out challenge!

Phew! Can't think of anything else at the moment...

immoral_angeluk

Awww that's great.. glad to hear things are looking up

catlover1_2

Hi,

Just wanted to say you seem to be doing really well at tackling everything.... good luck with everything ... so glad things are looking up.

xx

lindsaygalaxy

Just wondering if you own your home? i dont know how much debt you have, but could you downsize to pay off your debts?

I know this is always a really hard one for anyone, but you would save money on the cost of upkeep to, and the money you save paying of your debt, you and your OH could be really enjoying life. Ofcourse i dont know your circumstances.

Have you posted your SOA? Its amazing what people on here can find to cut down on.

Good tips for me was Quidco and Grocery challege.

System

You've grasped the nettle, well done. One question though where is this Panda Paws challenge?

System

Is the spending diary any good?

reesla

lennymfo wrote: »

Is the spending diary any good?

I find the spending diary useful. I have only started recently keeping a diary so I have never kept a paper copy so I can't compare. I find this electronic one useful - you can catgorise everything and run reports daily, weekly, monthly and compare with the previous month. I know personally that I wouldn't have the patience to do this with a paper diary - each to their own - this works for me! Its free to use and I am finding where that odd fiver/tenner is going...:eek:

cat4772

Reesla

Sounds like now you've both had lighbulb moments you're working together (much easier than when one still has their head in the sand).

I think there have been an epidemic of lit-up lightbulbs lately. Six months down the line from my lightbulb moment, DH knows where we stand financially but has begrudgingly followed the plan. However, on Friday he was watching an advert for crazy george and buying household things weekly and exclaimed that the interest rate was 30%:eek::eek:. Before Friday he'd only say wow, £2 a week for a plasma HD TV - that's good value!!

Persevere and before you know you'll be debt free!

Cat.x

beemuzed

So pleased for you, it's much easier if you both understand why spending on some things just isn't an option. Have never tried the online spending diary, but may give it a go - I try to do a paper version, but forget too often! Good luck with the joint effort!

wok_boy

I've just remembered something, won't the government give you a grant for renting out one of your rooms to a lodger?

reesla

wok_boy wrote: »

I've just remembered something, won't the government give you a grant for renting out one of your rooms to a lodger?

I don't know!? Can anyone give me any info on this?