The long haul supporters thread...

poorbabe

ISOM I have two SAD clock/lights: one old that I use as a table lamp in my living room and the newer one in my bedroom. I also bought two SAD lightbulbs but will buy a few more in September.

Woo hoo :j:j:j

I've just been going through my budget for June and decided to update my signature as it's been a while. I rang my bank to find out my outstanding balance. Armed with that information, I've calculated that I'll clear the loan by July 2011 :eek:, so I'm using that date as my goal to clear my credit cards too.

Now that makes my longhaul trip sacrifice so much easier to bear (chocolates, cakes and alcohol during the winter permitting ).

In_Search_Of_Me

did ya know that tesco are doing double money back for vouchers on wine...ie get 20 of wine for 10 vouchers....and clothes but guess which I gleefully went for!!

TEK_2

Hi all, not been on for ages & have changed username. I was having trouble logging back on under old name but I think a new username is needed anyway as I want to make a fresh start at this debt busting. I was previously known as ltm07. Well decided to cut myself off from here a few months back so I could take a long hard look at myself & decide what is best for my family & myself without taking on other opinions from you good people. Most opinions are excellent & really helpful but one or two can be a bit judgemental(not on this thread but on the forum as a whole). Also don't want to get too wrapped up in the DFW thing & go back to the days when I'd shout like a maniac at DD when she got the giggles while having her passport photo taken or have a face like a wet weekend when OH got the short bus journey home from her 12 hour nightshift rather than walk. Also not going to carry on with diary as it was taking up too much time & I was getting a bit paranoid as to whether I would be sussed at work & would rather stay anonymous IYKWIM. Well the debts have been going down slightly & organising the wedding is just about complete so all in all I am quite pleased with that! OH's parents & aunty have helped massively towards the finances & we have managed to save quite a bit towards it & we think that we will just about manage to keep within our £5000 budget that we set & that's with honeymoon included. OK people on here have said that we could do it much cheaper but we are only going to do it once(hopefully)! and we would like the wedding to be our day rather than do it all cheaper & not be 100% happy(hope that doesn't sound snobby, it isn't meant to)! As I said before the debts are going down slowly but the main reasons for that are because the mortgage is still low & I have been working my day off 99% of the time. However got the kick up the aris I needed yesterday to get back into debtbusting when the gaffer said that he didn't need me to work my day off today as we are overstaffed. This is the first time in about 3 years that I haven't been needed to work my day off & I think that it is going to be more regular as work try & cut costs more & more. So done a brand new SOA that OH & I know we must stick to & we have based it on the least we take home each week/month. We will have our slippages from time to time like most of us do but if we can stick to our SOA the best we can & make sure we hunt for bargains more often, then I think that we can start getting back on our feet sooner rather than later. Will do a new sig on Sunday & update at the end of every month. Thanks for reading & sorry for the long post and will pop back in over the next day or so, all the best!!

black_taxi_2

yeah TEK----i found--you cant predict future earnings----always something happens--sickness(4 weeks off--injured shoulder)--that happened to me wrong time--when a tax bill was do--im self-employed --never put money away---so i had to get quick bank loan--at bad rate for tax bill.it put me back.lesson learnt.i now put tax away daily and putting money away for a SHF--sh^t happens fund or EF as we call it.

Happytogetdebtfree

yay tek welcome back I get married in august my wedding is same budget I though a wedding less than 10k was reasonable so take no worry about people judging I'm proud we have paid wedding without increasing debt... I look forward to your updates x x

TEK_2

Thanks folks! Taxi well done on keeping a couple of funds, I was doing this too & am torn between having an emergency fund or putting every spare penny into paying off debts. Our roof been leaking water into DD's bedroom when it rains heavily& saved £200 towards getting fixed,as it isn't covered by insurance(wear & tear). Been waiting for my mate to fix it as it is only a small job so have to get onto him again & hope for no more big downpours in the meantime! I have transferred the £200 back into paying some of our OD off but I do tend to find that we lose track of the money when we do this IYKWIM. On the other hand the £200 is better off going towards 19.5% OD rather than the measly interest rates in the savings account.
HTBDF we get married August too, don't want to really give exact date away but I will keep you posted. Saved quite a bit of money by shopping around & friends & family helping out so as with yourselves we shouldn't add too much debt, if any to our total. Thanks again folks & be back soon!!

Happytogetdebtfree

None of our wedidng adds to our debt yay , mine is 15th august :P yay..... my brother is djing for me foc and our friend is a photographer again foc yaaaay so ive made some goood savings i think its ridicuolous to spend 1000s on photos when you get them out once a blue moon so we are creating our own album with either apple or kodak i think its more unique so lets say yay i wish you all teh best and look forward to catching up xxx

In_Search_Of_Me

Tek would you like a brand new number in view of brand new resolve?!! Can change your user name in the original but suspect you may like to start afresh! Welcome back...think we all have blips...I went off the rails (for about 7000!) but came back with head between my tail...problem with long haul is its sooooo long!! hugs for you ad well done for getting back on!

TEK_2

Hi ISOM! Yes a brand new number would be great if that's ok with you, whatever is easiest. I have been lurking for the last few months but needed to have a break from coming on here for a while, thankfully not much damage done. Have had some great news. Applied for an MBNA card & been accepted £4900 credit limit @0% for 13 months & have money transferred £3500 into bank account to clear some of our OD! It has paid off not applying for credit for a while!! Take care all & as you say tiny steps & small targets are the way to go!! All the best!!

TEK_2

Sorry HTBDF I have only just read your post, a friend of ours got a very nice car & he is chauffering OH to the venue, a relative of mine is a florist so got a good deal there & been to see an excellent photographer who was £300-£400 cheaper than the cheapest quotes we got off other photographers. He has his own business but does it as a sideline to his main job so can charge alot less than others. Take care chat soon!!