Debt Free by 40 - let the countdown begin!!!!

seahorsey

Morning!
Hoping for a slightly less hectic day today.....
Yesterday, energy company came to fit the smart meters and I have to admit I’m slightly obsessed. Really interesting to see what are daily running costs are - hopefully it’ll be a really useful tool for driving the bills down.

Heating engineer also came out and should hopefully be back today to fix the boiler. Quoted £170 so not too horrendous but still could have done without it.

OH car insurance renewal came through yesterday. It’s gone down by £13 a month but I was horrified how much interest is charged when paying monthly. It’s added £45 to the premium :eek: Now I have two options, 1. Leave as is and let it auto renew (done a comparison and still the cheapest give or take a couple of £) 2. Pay upfront for the year. To do this we would need to cover half of it using the overdraft. I’m a bit reluctant to do this as the OD is paid off at the mo and don’t want to go down that slippery slope again. Plus we’d be charged interest on this which could potentially wipe out any saving. I’m leaning towards option 2 and hopefully learn for next year and at least pay for one lot of car insurance upfront.......

Have a good day x

seahorsey

Morning!
Had a really lazy weekend this weekend. I wasn’t feeling well Saturday so had a very rare few hours in bed whilst OH took DS into town. Food shopping this week has come in under £80 for the first time in a long while (Ok, it was only £3 under but I’m taking that as progress!).

I’m still obsessing over the smart meter. Had a washing and batch cooking marathon on Sunday and was really shocked to see how much electricity we used. Granted the washer and dryer :cool: was on for almost 12 hours but nearly £5 in one day seems steep :eek: Will make the conscious effort to only do full loads.

Listed a lot on eBay yesterday, so hoping for some extra pennies to try and stop the boiler bill wiping out the emergency fund completely- fingers crossed.

Right I’m going to try and sneak out for a short 2 mile plod. Have a good day x

seahorsey

Good morning!
13 days until payday!!!
It’s not as tight as it has been in previous months, but it still looks like I’m going to have to break into the emergency fund to absorb some of the plumbing costs. I know that’s what it’s there for but it’s frustrating all the same. No sooner has it got off the ground a chunk of it will be wiped out - Nevermind.

Running club last night. Really enjoyed it and feel like I’m finally beginning to get back into it. Hopefully it will have some effect on the waistline too!

I’ve just logged onto my old Swagbucks and one poll account out of curiosity. I used to use these a lot before DS was born but haven’t done anything with them since. Was pleasantly surprised to find I was at £20 in onepoll. I will get that £40 cashed out!!! Swagbucks used to be great for Christmas and birthdays - I’ve spent 15 mins on it this morning and it’s frustrated the life out of me. However, I think if I perhaps do 15 mins am and pm it may help cushion the blow for Xmas etc.

Talking of Xmas, I was contacted by a friend who I rarely see or hear from (once or twice a year max). She’s asked if we can just send cards from now on - absolutely fine by me!!!! That’s 4 less Christmas pressies to buy..... I know that sounds harsh but we’d just got caught up in the cycle of buying for buying sake for the last 20 years.

Busy day with DS today - gym class, play date and then onto meet a friend and drop her little ones birthday pressie off - I’m sure he’ll sleep well tonight!

After reading the MSE email, I’ve checked my compare the market account and have found I’ve got meerkat movies that I never knew about! Not that we go cinema very often, but DS is almost at the age where he’ll sit through things and there’s a few new films coming out that we want to see. Plus the 2 for 1 meals is very welcome for a treat too.

Right I’m going to try and sneak out with he woofs before little man wakes. Have a good day x

VB1980

Hey, I’ve followed your thread for a while now but didn’t want to read and run this time. Just thought I’d say I think your doing really well... I too have a dream of being debt free by 40 but the news that both myself and my OH could potentially be made redundant in the coming weeks has shattered that. You have inspired me to post things on eBay and in doing my first mass laying session today, so thanks for that! Keep going, your doing really well, and I look forward to reading your updates! X

seahorsey

Hi VB1980 thanks for your lovely comments. Really sorry to hear about yours and your OH work situation, can imagine it’s a very stressful time for you. Fingers crossed it won’t come it, but if it does there’s loads of good advise across the MSE forums which may help you out.

Been a bit lapse at updating, mainly because there’s not a great deal to report. 1 week to payday, all bills have been paid, there’s enough fuel in both cars and food shop should be minimal.

Ebay sales have picked up again a bit - just over £100 made since I last posted. Very pleased with that. I’ve put half of it back into the emergency fund to repay some of the plumbers bill, so back up to £140 there. The £1k mark seems along way off, but it needs doing. Massive weight off my mind when the boiler needed repairing knowing that the money was there without robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I’ve had an offer come through from £co - spend £10 or more and get £10 back. Going to use this to do a Iceland shop. They’ve got some good deals on cupboard stuff we buy as well as the frozen. Only need to spend £35 to get free delivery so that’s a bonus too.

Rare day to myself today, so the house is going to get blitzed!!! What an exciting life I lead :rotfl: I’m actually quite looking forward to it!

Car boot season will be kicking off around here soon, so anything not ebayable will get boxed up and put in the garage as car boot fodder. Would be good to do one a month while I’m still getting rid of stuff.

Right I’m off to make one last cuppa before everyone wakes up! Have a good day x

seahorsey

Morning
Can’t believe it’s been almost 2 weeks since I last updated. Payday has been and gone so here’s the progress report....
Cc1 was 1934.16 now 1900.71 = -33.45
Cc2 was 6890 now 6730.6 = -1589.4
Very was 390 now 375 = -15

Total was 9214.16 now 9006.31 = -207.85

Annoyingly close to breaking news into the 8k bracket. Not quiet as much paid off as I’d have liked but on the positive side we had £200 ish in boiler repairs and still managed to reduce the debt - a couple of months ago this wouldn’t have been the case......

Aims for March
1. Pay off £300
2. Sell 5 x eBay per week
3. Get running upto 8 miles
4. Lose 7lb

seahorsey

My poor diary has been neglected once again. In truth, financially things aren’t ticking over too badly (don’t want to tempt fate there tho!) however aims 3 and 4 for March have taken nose dive. Work is pretty crappy at the mo and I think that’s taking my drive and focus away from the ‘self care’ elements of life, as a result my mood and self confidence is pretty low at the mo. Need to do something to lift me and just get me back to where I was earlier in the year I.e. having the ability to leave work issues at work and not let them creep into my home life. I think a little ‘me’ time is called for - even if it’s just a 15 minute soak in the bath (a real rarity these days!!!), just need the chance to switch off from all the other roles in my life and just think about myself for those few minutes - does that sound really selfish??? I’m going to make the effort to switch off for 15 minutes a day and see how we go......

In other news, my pressie stash is coming along quite nicely. I’m allocating £70 a month to Christmas and birthdays. The aim is to get eveybody other than immediate family sorted by July / August time and to pick things up as cheaply as possible (obviously!). I hate shopping for Christmas in Nov /Dec - it stresses me out and I end up painc spending twice as much to get something I could have picked up earlier in the year for half the price.

My spending tracker has been a big eye opener. We’re managing to spend £70 a month regularly on eating out although we rarely go out for a meal if that makes sense. It’s made up of grabbing things on the go, take aways and McD with DS. Need to reduce this. A nice meal out once a month would seem much more of a treat than spending it on convenience food.

Right better get on - will check in soon x

enthusiasticsaver

Nice to hear from you. Sounds like the budgeting is going well. Knowing where your money goes is half the solution. Amazing how quickly the little spends on take out meals and coffees etc add up.

I think self care is important. You can't be there for others if you don't look after yourself. Don't feel guilty about that.

seahorsey

Thanks Enthusiastic saver. I agree - self care is so important. Really need to bump it to the top of the list occasionally.

So following on from my last post - I failed on both counts straight off :mad: I was on a day long training course yesterday which was soooo dull and pretty much irrelevant to my role. Knock on effect was 1. I ended up spending around £5 in drinks and snacks to keep me awake and 2. Ended up working a 10 hour day to get stuff done that needed doing before my two non working days (weds &thurs). Arrived home after quickly seeing to the ponies, just in time to kiss DS goodnight. Massive mum guilt - will not be making a habit of it :mad:

Today, got a few errands to run in town. Will have a quick wander round the charity shops to see if there’s anything interesting and pop to the park to let DS run off some energy.

MSE news:
looks like my hoped for pay rise may not be materialising after all. Should know more by the end of the week.
6 items sold on eBay and posted :T
Receipt hog downloaded - hopefully earn some vouchers for Xmas