Crunchy's Final Debt Free Diary!

crunch_time

ohshithowdidthathappen wrote: »

As you know, we ended up putting (big) house renovations on the mortgage in the end.... as far as we were concerned the work on the house had increased the value of the house and we weren't decreasing our equity. We're now overpaying so our term stayed them same. I'm not saying to do the same, but sometimes I think renovations are so expensive, they're very hard to save up for in the same way you would a holiday.
We are not perfect and still finding a balance between paying off debt, doing up house and having a life and I think everyone's balance is slightly different

You are so right about renovations being hard to save up for. My parents were property developers and my dad did it all himself. (They bought a barn for £80k, Dad spent £50k splitting it in 2 and doing it himself and then they sold both sides combined for well over £800k in total). We constantly lived in a state of 'when the barn is finished' we can 'do fun things.' I don't want that for my kids. We have bought a new build - it just needs finishing off - bathroom floors, retiling due to installation issues and then some landscaping. I would much rather pay £200 a month for this all to be done sooner rather than later than constantly be saving up for it!

Everyone's balance is slightly different - absolutely!

crunch_time

Here is a quick round up of what has been going on in Crunchy land - i know you are all dying to know ha ha!!

- i've felt very relaxed not thinking about money these last few days - perhaps this is a learning.
- I have paid £600 off my credit card but husbands went up by another £300 ish due to various things that came up which needed to be paid for.
- weirdly for once I'm not beating myself up over this. My credit card now stands at £183 so will be paid off by the end of October. It can then be closed down and we can concentrate on husbands one.
- so I have had to reduce my total to say we have only paid off £111 off rather than £150.
- I still have loads of stuff to ebay - will get on with this.
- Using Monzo is going well.
- Husband has taken out a savings account and has just started saving £200 a month into it. This means we currently have £2500 in savings!!
- In total we are saving £400 a month so by Christmas we will have £3700 - nice little emergency fund!!
- A job has come up for January which I like the look of - its full time but temporary for 2 terms. The difference per month for me going from 3 days a week currently to full time is £500 a month considering childcare - that's why I am thinking of full time.
- I'm realising that stressing about money and the total debt we have does not make any difference to it so I am taking the pressure off amounts and deadlines and seeing what happens.

Right, off to tackle the mountain of ironing I created for myself when I dug out all our winter clothes and washed them!

It very much feels like autumn today - lovely and fresh.

Crunch x

Elnora32

I'm actually Ok about being in debt due to house renovations. Not so happy about the holiday debt and spending money debt we have racked up in the last 2 years but there are reasons for that other than the normal 'living beyond our means.' I just want the debt to be controlled.

I think you do have it under control and yes, I agree it is different when it is for house renovations. The holiday debt will soon be gone. The other thing is that you are saving an emergency fund which will be a healthy amount by the end of the year.

Its actually pleached trees we will be buying and planting ourselves. each one costs about £200-£250 and we need 10-12. The issue is privacy from our neighbours above the fence as they can see into our garden. I am NOT happy about £2500 for trees but we a rethinking forward for the resale of the house. Not thinking the trees will add value to the house at all but will improve the privacy issues.

I thought it was a lot for just a hedge. I have heard of pleached trees but couldn't remember what they were. I Googled them and fresh pleached trees are selling for around £400 and mature for £600 so it looks like you've found a bargain. I also agree about the privacy issues and even though it is a lot of money it will be well spent

Seasidegal58

You appear very relaxed and in control crunchy! Good news on OH and his savings account - he sounds like he has had a light bulb moment!

I hope the job turns out to be just what you want!
x

crunch_time

Morning all! It feels very autumnal here today.

Nothing much to report other than we spent a whopping £170 on food yesterday. Both children are having packed lunches whereas last year one had free school meals and the others meals were tied up in nursery fees. Also I took husband with me which is never a good idea. Bacon and eggs for breakfast as a treat turns into bacon, eggs, sausages and black pudding. In attempts to eat more healthier I have stopped the children from eating weetibix and we now buy the oat variety which is much better for their tummies. But costs £5 a week. When a supermarket does their own brand of this I will be quick to snap it up!!

We also picked up some new placemats as ours are really tatty. In fact there are a lot of little things we need to buy for the house like a new set of towels, lamps and lamp shades etc. I’ve decided to set a budget of £100 a month and take it room by room.

We have friends coming round today and then workout and then school work later. I haven’t done anything about applying for the job yet.

I’m enjoying being in a relaxed state of mind and looking after my wellbeing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

You appear very relaxed and in control crunchy! Good news on OH and his savings account - he sounds like he has had a light bulb moment!

I hope the job turns out to be just what you want!
x

He's trying to get me to open an account with that bank (nutmeg) so we can get an £100 referral reward!

It's a stocks and shares Isa and my current one is a cash Isa.

What do you guys think? Is it worth it?

Crunch x

Seasidegal58

At Nutmeg I believe you pick a risk profile suitable for your circumstances and they invest it in appropriate investments for you. So there is the possibility that your investments could fall in a volatile market as well as rise and you could lose out if you needed to take your money out of the market in an emergency. I presume that you would be happy to tie your money up here for at least five years to ride out any downturns. An idea is that you could transfer half your cash isa into the Nutmeg vehicle so at least you would have some security left via the cash vehicle, albeit the derisory interest rates on offer. You would also have to check out Nutmeg's fees.

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I've never heard of Nutmeg, will look into it out of interest. I'm naturally risk averse and don't actually have any savings at the moment, but it's good to plan just in case :rotfl:

enthusiasticsaver

With a stocks and shares isa you would normally have to consider tying your money up for 5 years or more and there is a risk to capital so if you are risk averse it may not be for you. Personally I would tackle your debt before investing in stocks and shares isas.

Willowtree222

It has suddenly turned massively autumnal xx