The long haul supporters thread...

fedupandskint

Wish I had some spare money to use to pay off. Will really try to use up what is in the cupboards, stop buying cheap and reduced items (my new habit) until they are needed and then see if I can use some grocery money to pay off some evil CC or SC debt

Can't think of another way around things as hardly any spare money at the moment. Plus if I get a new job it is another 24 extra miles a day to commute in the car increasing fuel costs.

dubgirl

Hi everyone, havent been around for a while, been busy. Its seems that we are all feeling a bit fed up at the moment, I will include myself in this as well. Fed and skint, know how you feel, we have very little spare cash at the moment and are not able to pay off any extra from the debt, aside from what are our regular payments. We have been spending our weekends at home due to a lack of money and have been concentrating on the garden. We have been able to do a lot of remodelling due to bits and bobs we already had and also as beloved can get a lot of free stuff from work including a circular patio and edging stones. Otherwise, we would not be able to do the garden. ISOM I know what you mean about buying food at work, always seems so tempting. We have talked about ways in which to earn extra cash, but to be honest, by the time you consider the extra travelling, time and childcare arrangements we would have make, it doesnt seem worth it. I'm off for the next 3 days and hope to be able to sort some bits for ebay or maybe a car boot. The thing about debt that makes me cross is that we seem to end up sacrificing everything including the hobbies and interest. Beloved is currently selling his drum kit, very reluctantly, as he loves the drums, but is selling for the simple reason that we need the money, it doesnt seem fair, particularly as they werent something that was an impulsive buy, used a couple of time and then forgotten about. There seems no end in sight, particularly at this rate I will be paying off my debt for the next 30 years!! If there are any mistakes in this post, I apologise, I blew the budget today as feeling fed up and bought a bottle of wine and now beginning to feel the effects!! (I am a bit of a lightweight).

Happytogetdebtfree

Evening things will work out fedup x it's not the greatest time fir people at the moment so keep chin up x x

sashanut

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

ok I'm gonna be a bit firm with us all.. Loans are not the answer...how many of us started like that - spend too much, take out a loan and spend too much. Its a bit like loosing weight - the ony way to do it is less spending and more paying off. Simples! Not painles but definately simple! I for one am really going to make an effort. I've been rubbish lately - buying breakfast and lunch at work, bits and bobs mostly but quite a few of them so time to stopp faffing and start paying. Anyone want to join me?!!

Hi all - Yes I definitely will ISOM - as I need a kick up the harris to stay on track:eek: I agree that it is hard ATM to find the motivation but we really do need to do it - don't know about you guys but it is so e-a-s-y to slip back into the old ways, especially when you feel resentful that you can't go out for a drink/buy what you want/go on holiday etc etc. My worst thing that I do is because I am bored & on the computer, I end up surfing the net or on eBay looking for stuff to buy - I DON'T NEED ANY MORE STUFF:mad:

One thread I have found very useful is the payment a day (PAD) one; because I have been doing it awhile, I feel twitchy if I haven't made a payment each day. Can be pounds, can be pence, it all counts in the fight to be debt-free. I feel that I was suckered into buying the stuff I did on the ccards - I'm not blaming anyone else, but I was stupid & now I have to take the consequences, but I can't wait to be free of this money monkey on my back & OH how smug I will feel when my DFD eventually gets here:j- I'm in ISOM, what are the new rules???

I will kick off with one:

- I WILL NOT buy anything more from eBAY for July/August /Sep (3 mths at least)

Look forward to seeing all your suggestions folks - go for it!!:D

fedupandskint

Morning everyone.

Re: buying food during the day for lunch at work.

We have a microwave at work which gets hammered by us! I also work next to a humungous Mr T's, plus 2 sandwich chain shops

I managed really well to take in my lunch and stop buying lunchm meal deal etc by making soup. Anything that looks like it is going off in the fridge or potatoes etc. Chuck in a made up stock cube and then blitz. Makes about 4-5 portions.

Yes it might sounds boring but it is mega cheap. I usually make up a couple of batches of some bottom of the fridge soup and then leave a couple of portions in the fridge and feeze the rest. Take it out before bed and let it defrost overnight and then reheat at work.

If you don't have cooking facilities at work I think a flask would work if you heated it up first with hot water.

Other things I do are take leftovers from the night before, cook packs of basics savory rice around 24p and can last 2 days.

It's worked for me and I only caved in once this year to buy a sandwich when I decided I was too busy to heat my soup up. Which I wasn't. My mind playing tricks on me!

Doing this also makes me have abreak for lunch rather than stuffing a sarnie down.

It can make a big difference if you work out how much you spend on food at work and soup is mega cheap to make.

If you don't want to make it cheap tins would work too.

A friend of mine who was mega skint ate tinned tomatoes on toast for months at lunch as it was the only thing she could afford to eat.

Feel a bit more positive today! I've been reading on the thread and the support means a lot!

Thanks!

In_Search_Of_Me

Just a quickie as need to shower and dress to be at weezles by 9.30 for car boot rummage! We'll get there! Summe is harder I think cos out and about more, temptation etc. I have soup in the freezer but havent used it!!!So for me this month I will not buy breakfast or lunch at work...will make a good dent in the slippage!
Re rules there arent any - we just set our own and support each other in the ups and downs!
hugs for you dubgirl...maybe do a review of everything and see if theres any wriggle room/way of cutting down?
I know its hard...only yesterday I was thinking if I hadnt been so stupid I could have paid my mortgage off, be having lovely hols and 700+ a month for me! I try not to do this too much though cos whats done is done. I only have myself to blame so just got to get on with it and know that one day I WILL be debt free!
have a good day all....

TEK_2

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

Hi guys just at work, hope all is well, loans are not the answer as my big bro said its when you are coming to the final hurdle that it all seems alot more tidier to have one amount leaving the bank each month i like to think its fun spotting when the dd has gone out otherwise id cry.. its 3 weeks to my wedding tek when is yours i think il be doing cartwheels each month when i am chucking what i put on wedding on debts yipeeeee xxx

Hi all again! Without giving too much away our wedding not too far behind yours HTGDF! Pay the balance to the venue off this week so just a case of paying the photographer, florist & suit hire after that & spending money for honeymoon(doesn't sound much more to pay does it:rolleyes:). We're glad we have done it now rather than wait so many years til our debts are cleared & it will be the best day of our lives. At the very worst we will probably be back to square 1 after paying out everything for wedding & honeymoon so as you say, the money we have paid towards the wedding will be able to be thrown at debts from September onwards. The budget for the wedding was £5,000,£2,000 of it given to us from relatives & we have gone over that by about £1,000 but the main thing is we have managed to keep our debts under control & not add to them. A loan would be a last resort but I think we will be starting to clear debts much quicker once we get back from honeymoon! Good luck with your wedding HTBDF & all the best to everyone else & thanks for all your support!!

In_Search_Of_Me

hope you both have great weddings!! Look forward to getting the news after the events! Hope that the rain stays away too...so much to summer! Chucking it down here!

Happytogetdebtfree

Thank you me too this weather is not great is it. I've just been to church this morning for Reading of bands it sounded rather offensive when he said spinster and my name haha. Off to bed for a sleep before night shift yay my life is all work work work. All I want is to aim tonpay debt not take on any other loans or credit cards yay. I'm feeling low and want to demolish the flat and start again lol

ramblingtree

Hello!
I haven't been on for a while either, I've missed a lot! I agree with all the latest posts, this time of year does seem hard. We have been really good at food budgets, not spending, being thifty lately, but we've also had car problems, and then a weekend away to visit friends, which sent the budget completely off.
I've been doing quite well selling cds, ebaying, etc so maybe it'll even out. But probably not!!!
I need to push with finding a second job this week, its been slow going as there's not much around but I shall persevere!!! I've decided an extra job is definitely the way forward, will really get busting those debts!!!
Good luck to everyone, especially those with weddings coming up!
OK, back to work
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