Spend less now, work less later...

enthusiasticsaver

EscapingTheAlarm wrote: »

I agree on the car loan. I think we should aim to have it gone by the middle of next year so that we can move onto the next one. I don't actually know the percentage for DH's car but he isn't convinced about paying that off at the minute so I think that's a battle left for once the other two are cleared.
The £400 entertainment is pretty accurate. I give DH and I £50 a week each that we use for haircuts, meals out etc so the only time we tend to blow this is when we go clothes shopping about twice a year. At that point I tend to allocate money out of our monthly spare cash.
I think we've just been ticking along up until now but just not really bothering to make much headway with these loans as they haven't been our priority. I'm just hoping we can get rid of them now before new priorities sneak in...
I'm very envious that you are debt and mortgage free! Well done - you must have put in so much hard work! Do you have any tips that you stuck by to keep motivated?

We are older than you and never took out debt except for 0% furniture deals. We saved for my car and OH had a company car and all holidays were saved for too. Having a large disposable income which you could have if you only had your mortgage gives you choices. We chose always to remain debt free so saved for everything, we focused on overpaying mortgages and pensions and did holidays and cars, home improvements etc within budget. We were also lucky as my mum was constantly gifting money to us that she did not need and we now do that with our now adult children and grandchildren.

I would also say we never went mad at Christmas even when we could afford it, always a few nice presents for our daughters and a stocking and we weren't constantly moving to bigger and better houses like some of our acquaintances who took out larger and larger mortgages. We have been in the same house now for almost 30 years.

EscapingTheAlarm

Thanks for getting back to me! That all sounds like lots of careful planning and hard work, you definitely deserve your early retirement! Thank you for the advice!
I think we will definitely try to do similar once these loans are paid off. The loans were taken out when we had just left uni (with a much lower income) and paid for cars which we did need so although they're not ideal, I don't feel guilty about them as it was either take out the loans or not get to our jobs as we live in a rural area... the bit I do feel guilty about is not doing anything to pay them off any quicker than we are at the moment and that's where our problem lies! Or did lie...
I'm in my mid twenties now so old enough to start being a bit more sensible and get rid of them a bit quicker! I don't think I'll ever be completely perfect in this journey as since DH was poorly, I constantly feel guilty if he doesn't get what he wants as it makes me think of what I would have given to have him better at the time. However, he's not greedy so we should be able to pay them off quicker than we are!
We will get there!

enthusiasticsaver

Getting to grips with your finances in your 20s is a great start. You are both good earners so that helps but I always think people tend to spend up to their income so perhaps thinking about what you spend and whether you could economise a little to save for the future might be something to think about.

Having a health scare often makes us think of how vulnerable we would be if for any reason we could not work but at the same time realise that there is more to life than money. There has to be a balance but I have always found the benefits of being debt free are less stress and more freedom to choose less working hours or early retirement or unpaid sabbaticals if your jobs allow you to do other things for a few months. Only when you don't have a millstone of debt around your neck can these things be achieved. That also tends to lead to a happier healthier life.

I would certainly tackle the loans as soon as you are able. Neither DH nor I are that bothered about "stuff" so we certainly never bothered about the latest gadgets so I wonder if in a way this helped us keep on the straight and narrow. Time spent with family, health, as little stress as possible mean more to us than things.

I am sure you will achieve what you want to as you sound determined.

EscapingTheAlarm

I totally agree about a health scare making us feel vulnerable and think that you must be right about feeling much less so without debt. I also totally agree about spending what you earn! DH earns more now on his own than we did combined when we first started out and we managed fine then! We can definitely economise and we’re both up for the challenge! Fortunately we’re not overly fussed about ‘stuff’ either (except for DH and his love of cars!). I do like fancy stuff but only fancy stuff that will last. I have fancy bag for example but it has lasted me over 5 years already and I use it every day so it’s actually become good value!
I don’t think our house is our ‘forever home’ but it will certainly be our home for a good few years yet as house prices have got silly in our area recently and so we feel really lucky that we bought when we did! We just need to pay it down now!
Thank you for reconginising our determination. I do think that we may be slightly haphazard in this, but we will definitely get there!

EscapingTheAlarm

I've spent today tackling the work mountain which has meant that as predicted, there has been no time to spend any money- hooray! We went for a lovely dog walk to break up the work which is one of my favourite ways to spend a few hours and of course is free which is even better!
We're now back at home and I'm using debt free diary reading as a way to put off doing more work while DH is posting something he doesn't want online to sell.
Some friends messaged earlier to say that they would be making enough dinner for 4 tonight if we wanted to join them so of course we jumped at the offer of free food (they always make really good dinners as well which is even better!). I suggested we stopped off at the shop at the end of our walk to get some puff pastry which I could use to make sausage rolls to take with us but DH was very good and suggested that we look in our cupboards and decide what we can make rather than buying anything. He also phoned the supermarket who delivered our food last night and got a refund for some fish that had a short date on it. He's doing really well!
I will take the work mountain with me to our friends' house tonight so I can still get on with that while everyone else falls asleep in front of Sunday night telly!
I hope everyone else has had a great weekend!
9 days until pay day...

EscapingTheAlarm

I’m feeling busier than I’d like to today. I had to cancel plans after work tonight as I have too much work to do... I feel like I’m spending a lot of my own time working at the minute which isn’t ideal... it’s good motivation though! The quicker I can pay off these debts, the quicker I can work a bit less!
8 days until payday...

MMC87

I'm recycling a jumper from last Christmas (if I can still get my chubby body in it....) but now I've seen your OH has a light up one, I'm now extremely disatisfied with my own LOL.

EscapingTheAlarm

Hi MMC87! I feel the same - mine has a few sequins on it but no lights Maybe next year!
Today was a busy day and had its good bits and its not quite so good bits...

The good bits:
- My boss has a new boss and he came in to check on us. He was really pleased with what we do so I was VERY relieved as I always panic about these things!
- We went to the pub after work and I only spent £2.50 which I was happy with as one of the ladies who worked there brought out a free plate of fancy sausages on sticks for us to snack on!

The not so good bit:
- I came home from work to a new car parked on the driveway... I knew it was coming as DH had a day off work and has been like a kid at Christmas looking at cars for the last few weeks. It hasn't done much to our monthly budget as the payments are pretty much the same but he put the deposit on a credit card!! I'm so disappointed in him - he is literally my hero so when he does something selfish, I'm always gutted. I think it's partly my fault as I have always sorted him out financially (student overdraft, credit cards, house deposit etc...) so I suppose it's much easier to spend money on credit when you know that someone else is going to be the one worrying about paying it back!
So now we owe closer to £18,000 (gulp). I'm going to try not to stress about it as life is too short but I'm just really hoping this this is our only major set back for at least a while!

7 days until payday...

enthusiasticsaver

Goodness :eek::eek: to the car deposit on a credit card.

EscapingTheAlarm

I know! It’s making me squirm even thinking about it!! Sometimes there’s no talking to him in this sort of situation though which is frustrating as it would be much easier if he was on board too...
I can’t believe how much we have to pay back at the moment. Thank goodness I didn’t leave it any longer or we could have ended up in a right mess!!