Moral support needed!

sunflowerlady

Hi!

I’ve moved to the Debt Free Diaries from the Debt Free Wannabe thread.

I posted my situation and SOA a few days ago and have since received loads of really great advice. I’ve put a decent plan together, using the Snowball method, am listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcasts and coming to the DFW forum everyday.

I’m just gonna need to talk about this journey to keep me focused and any moral support / hand holding / kicks up the backside are going to be greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to walk on by!

Just for the record. I’ll write ‘I’ but it’s actually ‘We’.

A bit of background info....

We've had credit cards for as long as I can remember, cleared with a loan a couple of times but always gone back to the bad habits of living beyond our means and just putting it on credit.


Bit older, and almost wiser, and we seem to have stopped reaching for the credit card like we used to and have been trying to pay them back but it's all getting a bit overwhelming with all the 0% rate swapping etc. etc.


The CC/Loan debt is pretty much 17 years of living beyond our means at an average of £200.00pm! Included in that is getting married, moving house 6 times (work), 2 x maternity leave, current house necessary work - new roof, bathroom, porch replacement. So it’s not exactly come from buying a load of stuff we didn’t need but it’s there and it has to go!!!

This week wins:

SOA completed
Repayment plan in place (Snowball)
Oct 2020 Holiday Cancelled
2021 Holiday plans scrapped
New car plan for end of this year moved out to early 2022 (it’s 11 years old and slowly dying)

Thanks for reading!

DancingInTheRain

Good luck

FootyFanDan

Good Luck on your journey

Naomim

Hi,

I read your thread on DFW board & subscribed, I'll add this one too

Good luck

Naomim

MovingForwards

Wishing you luck, I always found it good to set small targets, which you can achieve e.g paying an extra £5 on one debt, don't buy clothes for 3 months (unless you need smalls) and make do with what's in the wardrobe, means the bigger aim isn't so daunting!

MidsHollie

Good luck Sunflower! I find the snowball method, and the Dave Ramsey podcasts very motivating. I've already got rid of two pretty tiny debts in my snowball, and now attacking number three of six. I've found writing down every single penny spent, budgeting for all expenses including putting money a side for annual expenses, and having an emergency fund very helpful.

MidsHollie

MovingForwards wrote: »

, don't buy clothes for 3 months (unless you need smalls)

I think I have a problem..... I'm sure I have enough 'smalls' to last me throughout the 2020's decade :rotfl:

sunflowerlady

MidsHollie wrote: »

I think I have a problem..... I'm sure I have enough 'smalls' to last me throughout the 2020's decade :rotfl:

I wish I could call mine ‘smalls’ lol

A local hairdresser does a monthly clothes swap event, I’m going to start to go.

sunflowerlady

It’s Saturday and I’ve got a bit of time and space to look over the payment plan I put together and to start looking more closely at individual categories such as Groceries.

We’ve got a full freezer and larder cupboard so I’m going to do some meal planning for the next two weeks.

I’ve not really given much thought to NSD’s in the past but now I know that yesterday was one, I’m determined to make today and tomorrow one too!!!

The children are swapping bedrooms, due to the eldest having a lot less stuff than the youngest so needs less space. I’m going to get them to have a good sort out of their toys and books too and put some on the local FB selling site. See if I can make £20 this weekend!

This morning we were asked if we would like to go and stay at relatives later in the year, with a couple of activities tied in. It clashes with something else so we can’t go anyway, but normally we would have said yes with no idea of any kind of budget or if we could afford it. It’s def a £250 weekend and I’m actually really happy that we can’t go, for the money saving aspect. It’s not particularly who I want to become but whilst we have these debts to pay off, these kind of things will just need to wait until we’ve got the money for it.

Eldest has expressed a wish to go to Legoland for his birthday...and to stay on the resort in a themed room. Travel, one night premier inn, one night on the resort, food etc and it’s most definitely a £600/£700 couple of days. We can’t go, but I need to think of something similar for a tenth of the price!!!!!

Off to meal plan! Bye for now.

sunflowerlady

Just sold an item on FB. £2!!! I’m delighted!!!!!

sunflowerlady

Hi!

Fri and Sat were NSD’s and that feels good, I sold three things on FB, two have been collected and paid for but I’ve a feeling the third is going to be a no show! All this for £5 lol. But I’m going to put these £1’s into a money box and bank them once a month.

Did a food plan for the next two weeks, got loads of stuff in the freezer/cupboards but needed some essentials like milk, butter, school lunch bits, household things etc. I went to Aldi with a £40 budget earlier today and spent £41.19!! Couldn’t get three things on my list and also picked up three things I hadn’t put on my list (must stop that habit). All in all I’m pleased and should be able to get what I need for £20 next week. That’s £80 out of £160 budget, other £80 is going into the emergency fund.

I keep seeing on here that people make their own Sausage Rolls, it’s not something we would actually go out and buy but I got 8 sausages (£1.15), a pack of filo pastry (0.85) and have just made 20 rolls!!! I’m feeling very pleased with myself right now! They can go into the packed lunches this week!!!

It’s payday tomorrow and I’m looking forward to day 1 of moving money to Monza and into all the diff categories and most of all I’m looking forward to starting to pay off the debts in an methodical way!

Can’t wait till I can update my signature!!!