Three years to get debt free

Sun_Addict

I’d love to declutter our loft. I know for a fact there is my collection of over 1,000 vinyl singles and albums from the late 70s/early 80s. Plus goodness knows how many old Christmas trees. Difficult to get up there but would be a job well done. 

Willowtree222

Sun_Addict said:

I’d love to declutter our loft. I know for a fact there is my collection of over 1,000 vinyl singles and albums from the late 70s/early 80s. Plus goodness knows how many old Christmas trees. Difficult to get up there but would be a job well done. 

It sounds like a huge job but one that would be worthwhile. Could you do a little bit at a time? It might seem overwhelming though. It did to me for ages and I know on your own doing things is tough too x

Fidelia

Sun_Addict said:

I’d love to declutter our loft. I know for a fact there is my collection of over 1,000 vinyl singles and albums from the late 70s/early 80s. Plus goodness knows how many old Christmas trees. Difficult to get up there but would be a job well done. 

Some old vinyl is very valuable so please make sure you research prices very carefully before trying to sell.  Some of the record-dealers who buy in bulk often offer a derisory price for a lot, knowing there is a real 'gem' in there that they can make a huge profit on.  I had a mammoth job going though my old vinyl a few years ago but it was worth all the effort because I had a rare labelled early Beatles LP and a first pressing of The White Album which helped pay off a lot of my debt at that time! I ended up sending these to a specialist auction. A dealer at a record fair had offered a total of about £10 for a joblot of about 8 LPs a few weeks before, the lot had included the rare, valuable one which I knew might be valuable even after the small amount of research I did initially.!.   I just sensed something was afoot, maybe it was the glint in that record fair dealer's eyes and the way he looked at that particular album.  Anyway I politely said 'no' and took them all home and started researching in earnest.  I'm so relieved that I did as, at the time, even the paltry £10 that the dealer had offered was a bit of a lifesaver to me. With vinyl, though, condition is king.  Sadly, I had others which realised much less because they'd been less carefully used and stored.  Well. after all, people usually buy records to enjoy at the time, not for making money on somewhere down the line.

Willowtree222

Fidelia said:

Sun_Addict said:

I’d love to declutter our loft. I know for a fact there is my collection of over 1,000 vinyl singles and albums from the late 70s/early 80s. Plus goodness knows how many old Christmas trees. Difficult to get up there but would be a job well done. 

Some old vinyl is very valuable so please make sure you research prices very carefully before trying to sell.  Some of the record-dealers who buy in bulk often offer a derisory price for a lot, knowing there is a real 'gem' in there that they can make a huge profit on.  I had a mammoth job going though my old vinyl a few years ago but it was worth all the effort because I had a rare labelledl early Beatles LP and a first pressing of The White Album which helped pay off a lot of my debt at that time! I ended up sending these to a specialist auction. A dealer at a record fair had offered a total of about £10 for a joblot of about 8 LPs a few weeks before.  With vinyl, though, condition is king.  Sadly, I had others which realised much less because they'd been less carefully used and stored.  Well. after all, people usually buy records to enjoy at the time, not for making money on somewhere down the line.

Yes, there are some worth thousands now. It’s a huge task going through things. I’m not the best at starting but once I’ve just done one thing I find I’m more motivated. Well, some days! 

Maybe you have some gems up there Sun! X

Willowtree222

Morning all,

Hope you are all ok?

Sat up late last night having a good think about the house selling. I know I don’t really want to sell but the prospect of less debt always appeals to me. I thought about how I could save money and pay off and the strongest way to help me is to pay off the loan earlier like I had planned. I struggle with cutting back and no treats as well because then it feels like I am working for nothing all the time. I think I’ve come to a happy compromise but the proof will be over the next ten months.

my plan hasn’t changed. For 11 months I overpay the loan by £500 a month. That makes the payments £789 a month with the natural payments. Anything extra will also go off the loan.

Once this is done, I allow myself to be £289 a month better off and that money directly buys DD and I treats. The £500 switches to the next item. I know I have said this before but I think it needs to be a firm plan now. 

I’ve also decided that I’ll only have two years worth of childcare costs left as they’ll be another option once DD hits Year 6. That’s £320 a month saving. Half of that money will go off debt paying and the other half will go into DD’s bank account to help pay for car/house/uni or whatever she needs. 

In Year 3, my car is due up. I’ll finance what I’ve not managed to pay off with the extras (hopefully nothing, but we will see) and then I’ll pay that off. 

By Year 3, I should be around £800 a month better off with the only focus then going on my mortgage. I’ll then focus half of that onto my mortgage the other half is again for nice treats for DD and I. That way I’m gaining from paying off and still not having the guilt of not paying any extra off. 

I think this suits my personality better. I can’t sustain long term paying without seeing benefit in my bank. I’ve tried! 

It feels better knowing I’ve got a plan though. 

Willowtree222

Today has been another focus on decluttering. I have no idea where all the stuff comes from but it never ends. 

A lot of my things are too good to throw away but things I don’t use so I end up keeping them because I don’t want things just throwing. The boot sale job lot for sale has a wedge of items now that aren’t worth anything singularly but are just too good to throw away. I found some smoking chips in the shed too and remembered a guy from work smokes his own fish so asked him and he will take the three packs of those! I don’t want anything from him for them just the knowledge they’ll not be wasted is enough.

a big dolls house is being collected tomorrow morning. That will clear a fair bit of space. 

I found an old chair in the loft that hasn’t been built in at least 7 years. I knew where the screws were and spent a little of today putting it together. I’m now happily sat rocking in the conservatory having cleared another load of items. 

I’m desperate for the boot sale lot to go. In the loft it would clear around half the area. Just because it’s all houses in boxes. Once it gets a bid I’ll be so pleased. The cheapest table for a sale near me is £20. It wouldn’t be worth it for me to do one, but absolutely would for someone taking my things as part of a huge mix. Let’s hope it will get that bid!

Once I get back there’s a few more items I will need to put on. I’m sure they’ll go but will list once I know I’m home to post them. 

Pay day in 2 days. Money is all okay. X

Parkyp

Hi, oh my son is clearing out his clothes but he’s trying to sell them on depo and eBay I now have boxes of clothes cluttering the place. But his wardrobe still looks full 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do like to get rid of clutter but for some reason an empty space doesn’t stay empty for very long 🤣🤣. 

Willowtree222

Parkyp said:

Hi, oh my son is clearing out his clothes but he’s trying to sell them on depo and eBay I now have boxes of clothes cluttering the place. But his wardrobe still looks full 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do like to get rid of clutter but for some reason an empty space doesn’t stay empty for very long 🤣🤣. 

I know that feeling. I sorted out a few cupboards yesterday and had one full empty small cupboard. It lasted about an hour before I’d filled it with something else! 

Willowtree222

Not ending the month in the best state. A flurry of bills and money came out my account putting me straight back in my overdraft. That now leaves me with a dilemma as paying the extra £500 will likely just put me back in it. 

Really need to get on top of everything again. Since October I’ve done as I’ve pleased. I’m surprised I’ve got this far without being in more debt to be honest with how unfocussed I’ve been. 

Now I’m wondering if it’s worth paying my bike off first. It’ll be quicker but not as much monthly impact as the loan. It’s a higher apr too. I need to really sort this all out now. I’ve spent too much time messing around and once again allowed my ex and the actions around him to unsettle me. The money was agreed, I needed to pay it, now I need to focus on it all again. 

I was doing so well up until last October. I know I can’t let this unsettle me though as I’ll go back to emotional spending.

I can do this. 

Fidelia

You're doing so well, Willow, please don't doubt yourself xxx.  Your 'get up and go' really inspires people and there are bound to be little blips along the way.  Real Life isn't exactly plain sailing at the moment is it and it's so hard to live exactly as we planned. for and hoped.

I just wondered, with all your selling activities, whether you've ever used Vinted.  I keep seeing ads on TV for it but have never investigated it myself.  

The cost of a car boot table round your way seems a bit steep!  I suppose we're lucky in some ways being more rural as there are often boot sales held in fields and such like where you can take a whole car load of stuff and spread it out as far as you like.  You have to provide your own table if needed but the pitches are still about £8 maximum.  I think the recent increase (from £6 pre-Covid)was to allow for  social distancing to some extent which lessened the number of sellers paying the pitch fee.  There have only been 2 within reasonable distance that I've heard about this year and I'm still not confident enough to risk having one yet with crowds gathering round my pitch and  lots of people touching my stuff.  Shame, as I love nothing better than a summer outdoor car boot sale and I've certainly got enough clutter to fill several cars boots!   Good Luck with the bids on your lot.