Countdown from £28k...

IrishSean

Meant to say; get your name up on the DFW roll of honour:

You earned it!

After the car we are toying with idea of a pension house: tax implications & long term care costs aside I think rental income is going to be better than savings. I might get kicked out of here into mortgage free wannabe then😂 .Undecided, but a new gym right next door is going to prove hard to move away from for all of us!

Sarahwithlove

I'd go back to basics when comes to paying for things. Rent and that's it. Maybe start having some cash on you so that you can give them some cash towards food etc rather than giving them your card to go and spend what they want. Or do they go to a shop you could get a gift card for? Just keep topping it up with money if you want to give them anything towards cost of things. Seems like they are taking advantage of your genorosity.
Asd@ is good for kitting yourself out I did most of my shopping for supplies there and didn't break the bank doing so. 

ryanm8655

Thanks for the replies both. 

Been meaning to write something for the debt free roll of honour but want to do a big write up to make it more meaningful so have been waiting until I have the time.

Just doing a bit of planning for what I might need to buy and to set out a budget. Anyone know what size 2 singles become for fitted sheets/bedding? Specifically the bed pictured here: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/75559653#/

All of my bedding is standard double so thinking I might need to buy some more...looks like a king to me but I’m not sure...

Also had another small financial win. Not usually a gambler but put a couple of small bets on the boxing last night for a bit of fun and to take advantage of a good offer. My bets came in so I made a £45 profit. Wish I’d done the euromillions now

Headed back home from uncles but currently out on a drive (parked up) just for a bit of breathing space as I can’t be bothered to see the family at the moment

Also desperately need some new jeans (have lost a bit of weight where I don’t drink as much) as mine are now way too big and keep falling down. All of my jeans used to be a bit tight but back to a 34 waist now. All of my t shirts are a bit baggy now too so could do with some more of those. I did keep all of my old clothes in the vain hope I’d get thin again one day but gave up on that and gave them all to the charity shop ha.

Sarahwithlove

Could you ask the estate agent to find out for you? You don't really want to buy any more if you can avoid it or don't need it.
Not sure if it's something your OK with but maybe give some charity shops a try or ebay until you are back in London and know whether you're gonna put some back on 🙈

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

Could you ask the estate agent to find out for you? You don't really want to buy any more if you can avoid it or don't need it.
Not sure if it's something your OK with but maybe give some charity shops a try or ebay until you are back in London and know whether you're gonna put some back on 🙈

Yeah, I’ll get in touch with the estate agent I’m just being impatient haha.

I don’t think I will put much back on to be honest. When in London I tend to do a lot more passive exercise as I trek places rather than use taxis and buses etc. Down here everything is far away so tend to drive. I’m back to my natural weight basically. Also plan to look after myself a lot more (won’t be spending every evening in pubs and eating out to avoid being in an awkward situation in a flat share) and get back into the training to fill the evenings. Do some park runs etc.

I wouldn’t go mad in anycase, my jumpers are all fine (as I’m quite thick set in the upper body anyway) and I kept all of the shirts that made me look like a badly packed sausage previously Also haven’t worn my blazers/sports jackets so they’ll all fit again too. So just need a couple of pairs of jeans from M&S and a few t shirts. Should only come to about £50/60. Main thing is the jeans to be honest as mine are literally hanging off ha. Kept my chinos that were too small, it was just the t shirts and jeans I got rid of. I like my clothes to fit well mainly, so charity shop would be a nightmare Did have a look in TK Maxx yesterday but they didn’t have anything in the size/fit I wanted (slimfit) and they were also about £30/pair, which is more than M&S. Not fussed about the label on the basics. I only spend money on shirts as find you get a much better fit and they also last (used to buy all my casual shirts in next and found they didn’t hold their colour or shape for every long so was a false economy at £20/pop.

Sarahwithlove

Sounds fair enough. I think after your debt busting you can certainly afford to buy yourself some jeans. 

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

Sounds fair enough. I think after your debt busting you can certainly afford to buy yourself some jeans. 

Yeah, though you’re right to advise caution. In some ways it’s good to be forking out on a new flat etc. So soon. As stops me getting used to having loads of spare cash and buying stuff without thinking. 

Was having a read of old threads of mine and the mindset difference is crazy. Actually made me both laugh and smile reading them ha. Some of the replies were a bit brutal and like @alt80 they sort of rubbed me up the wrong way initially. But what a relief that I didn’t go the route of consolidation again. It’s been a tough year or so but all is well that ends well and it’s been worth it for the lessons it’s taught me. 

Family aren’t keen on me moving back to London. They don’t trust me not to just go mental and end up in debt again but that 100% won’t happen again. Pointed out there’s a flat around the corner up for rent But the rent plus travel costs for work would be way more than the cost of the London place so doesn’t even make financial sense, without considering the fact I’d also be miserable down here ha.

Uncle made me realise how I’m not actually that bad spend wise. Said I need to budget £400 a month for my food shopping I just laughed it off. I’m quite happy with cheaper wine, don’t need to be drinking Barolo all the time. Like nice wine but there are other things I’d rather spend my money on...save expensive wine for special occasions. I just use the Vivino app to pick ones that have a decent rating but are also cheap...love a bargain haha.

ryanm8655

ryanm8655 said:

Ok. So whatever was wrong with my credit rating seems to have been fixed...

I started using my Santander credit cards and then paying balance in full, not sure if this would have impacted it? Or perhaps it is the fact my address change has now registered...

Anyhow, I am now pre-approved for a whole host of different 0% credit cards.

I have several offers of 0% for 40 month credit cards with which I can do a money transfer, would you do this and then use the money to clear the loan?

The consolidated loan is for £10k @ 11% over 24 months and the money transfer rate is something like 4%...seems a no brainer? I can then use the £480/month to clear the credit cards instead...

Where it all went wrong back in 2016 😂😂😂😂

alt80

Mate you've done brilliantly. Can't believe the attitude of the family and was also wondering if you'd be better staying to uncle until moving in date?

Legs21

I’m sure most of us on here could kick our younger selves for overspending and not giving a second thought as to how we would pay it back. Unfortunately, the debt free journey is not something you can teach anyone, you have to live it and learn from it until you find a comfortable spend/save balance to prevent it from happening again.