The long haul supporters thread...

sunfleur

climbintheladderouttadebt wrote: »

Have left all housework to OH now as I just cannot cope with moving/walking etc. - this pregnancy's wiped me out and yesterday I felt very ill! I could possibly lend him out if he gets bored at home and you need help?! Am gettin a bit bored, tbh. I'm not one for sitting watching films a lot or reading a tremendous amount, though I have just bought several books from the charity shop just in case! Find myself lurking on the forums for a large percentage of the day, learning, and hopefully helping!

I should start looking into recipes for using up fresh fruit & veg to be frozen in our new chest freezer (I can't imagine us wanting to keep cooking for a little while after this baby's born!). I suppose it's something constructive to do....!!!

I'm trying to make the most of DH being off for another week and a half. He has six weeks off in the Summer and we usually go on holiday - usually to London then somewhere else in this country - but not this year of course. We will try to get some money together to go somewhere at half term in October if we can.

I LOVE my freezer although I could do with a bigger one. We have an upright larder freezer about five foot high but could do with a higher one. I also use my larder fridge a lot putting fruit and veg in there to make it last longer.

Today I made tortilla wraps and then made a gorgeous Mexican beef/cheese/sour cream/enchilada chilli sauce in layers with the wraps and put this in the oven. The whole think probably cost £4.00 and it will feed 6. The most expensive bit was the cheese (1.95 for 200g) as the beef mince was under £1 (I buy a Kg from the butchers for about £4.75 a Kg and split it into five lots of 200g)! Also had lettuce from the garden and a small amount of rice - yummmyyyy. Another half left for tomorrow... Thinking of making this for the freezer as I watched a video of how to make it and freeze it today. We are still going with our list of favourite meals and working out a meal planner and batch cooking plans. I also love DH's chicken tikka masala curry that he makes in batches and freezes and we usually have this on Fridays so that neither of us have to cook on a Friday night. I use the internet to search for loads of ideas on recipes as well as the cookbooks I have and it is brilliant for coming up with something you want.

Also got in a couple of hours to just lay on my bed and read a book. I have to make the most of DH being here so I can get time-out. I'm glad he has been off this Summer so that we have had time to sort out all of this financial stuff - it's been a lot less stressful than I thought it would be as we have a joint goal and it's easier when there are two of you to take the strain.

Just take it easy climin as it will be all downhill once the baby gets here LOL Is this your first or do you have other little ones running around? How long to go? I only have one and she's quite enough for us.....

Hope everyone is having a lovely evening.

Happytogetdebtfree

Wow hello, mse can get addictive Reading lol iv promised a walk tomorrow with my dad. Yay :-) tired tonight happy debt busting people tomorrow is the egg loan payment it means I can deduct 320.40 off the numbers yay lo x

poorbabe

Hi everyone :wave:

Not posted in a while but have swung by on occasion, usually just before and after I've been paid.

The debts are going down slowly and I've received a payrise, first one in two years, so will be using some of it to reduce my debts leaving the remainder for the usual annual 'living' increases. Fortunately, after much pain, I'm getting better at living on a budget.

I've been thinking about my personal circumstances a lot recently and wanted to ask your opinions. I would have gone to the housebuying/renting board but they seem a little 'hard' and I'm a tad fragile where (lack of) money is concerned.

I'm single, 47, no children and live in HA property. I have no savings but have managed to pay into pensions for a long time, even though the pot is currently abysmal . I'm aiming to be debt-free by my 50th birthday (Feb) and am wondering if would be too late for me to attempt to save for/buy a property at that stage of my life or just continue to rent, save for my old age, keep as healthy as possible and enjoy life along the way? My salary is in the high 20s but, as we all know, there is no guarantee it will remain so til retirement (currently 66 unless the Government raises it).

I've (very generally) looked into the shared ownership schemes but have loosely calculated that even with an extra £400 per month when debt-free I'd still struggle to pay mortgage/rent, utilities and that's at today's costs. Wouldn't be able to add to my pension pot and I'm more worried about that than the ability to have a mortgage rather than rent.

Am I too late?

Happytogetdebtfree

Poor babe you are never too late for a house! ..... and dont worry about rising costs, you will have a rising wage to accomodate it.... research it now house prices the sort of house you would like ? see what the cost would be... at the end of the day do what you are happy with... not everybody owns an house and it certainly isnt always the best for some people.... do what feels right for you ..... i know people say renting is wasted cash but its not because again you are npt particulalry tied down are you if you want to move you can you dont have to sell up ... the risk however is that the person renting you the home would require it back etc etc .... if you feel like you want to put your stamp down on a place ... nows the best time to buy if you have the cash lol .... its so lovely to see you here anyway come back soon and more often xxx

poorbabe

Thanks for that Happy. I'd love a 2-bed, but would settle for 1 as I don't envisage my personal circumstances changing any time soon.

I'll research it properly over the next month or so and see what the outcome is. Just to add to my concerns, I've had another pension statement which is even worse than the first but that had less money in it at the beginning and Thames Water have decided to increase my monthly payments to £20 up from £14. Will have to have a few words with them in the morning :mad:

Maybe I'm worrying over nothing. I think I'm menopausal so that's not helping :cool::think: A large glass of wine might help :beer:

Happytogetdebtfree

Wine wine wine :-) ah I just pay into my work pension and will have savings for spends eventually :-) hehe must keep focused :-) quiet tonight. Just watched a glimpse of big bro dislike jon James feel sa for sam pepper dislike dislike dislike :-) lol. X

Soma

morning
may ask OH for help with money soon as I'm considering downgrading my job to be happier

sunfleur your posts make me hungry

poorbabe not sure what to advise. Would be good to save up for a rainy day either way.

happy hows you?

poorbabe

Morning all. Feeling much more positive. The day off work helps and that glass of wine might have also :T

I rang Thames Water re my increased payments and they explained it to me so I calmed down. Will adjust my September budget accordingly.

Soma - when I'm debt-free I'll save 2/3 and keep 1/3 of debt-repayment money. Right now I'm living from paycheck to paycheck with no emergency funds. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers I continue to be ok

Now off to compare prices between Lidl's £40 hoover and Argos as my current one is on the blink.

Have a good day everyone. It's almost the weekend, although mine has started early :rotfl::T:j

Happytogetdebtfree

Morning all, i have updated my sig just a mini payment for me today to the virgin cc, but every payment makes a difference.
Hi soma, good luck at discussing with oh, hi poor babe glad your feeling good about things..... keep up the positives and have a good day all xxx

poorbabe

Well I've had a good day. I didn't buy the vacuum cleaner in the end but I did buy a frying pan a glass measuring jug in Tesco and a windup radio instead To be fair, with the exception of the radio, the others had been on my 'need' list for a few months.

Wine and chocolate mini-rolls now :beer: