“Debt is normal. Be weird.”

mark55man

great start to your diary, although I see you have had practice.

OH and I had 4 in 5 years and the youngest is now in his twenties, but not left home.  

I am a big biscuit fan, but a simple plain chocolate digestive will do 50p or so from Lidl. 

Good luck with clearing all the small debts that will feel good, then the loan will keep going for a bit - don't let your DH spend too much of his new money on gadgets - yes clearly some, but life will be so much better when the debt is tackled and the harder you push now the quicker your snowball would work.  (Note I took the long way round so don't do as I do , do as I wish I had done ) 

Looking forward to seeing the numbers coming down

YouWithTheSadEyes

Sounds like a great start - have subscribed to read along!

savingholmes

Wishing you luck on your journey. I started with a higher debt than yours and am now down to the last 2k. You can do this

browneyed_girl

Thanks @savingholmes . It must feel so good to be within sight of the finish line!  How long has the journey been?  I can only imagine the celebration that will happen once the final £2k is cleared!!

browneyed_girl

Hi @YouWithTheSadEyes and thank you for reading!  It’s lovely to think that people actually find my random thoughts and rants useful!

browneyed_girl

Thanks @mark55man!  I must say I’m very impressed with the amounts you’ve been paying off your debt each year - I must remember to keep track of this myself to keep me motivated!  

DH is really being very good at cutting back on spending - it used to be that we’d have an Am@zon or eB@y delivery almost every day and sometimes more than one!  I’d love to just be able to throw every available penny at the debt, but I agree with DH that we also have to get some enjoyment out of the journey and not deprive the children of a happy and enjoyable childhood.  We do lots of free activities and try to spend as much quality time with them as possible, but to them that’s just not the same as having the pricey things their friends have!

browneyed_girl

@WinterWarrior I have to admit that the chocolate malted milks have won me over and will likely end up as a new regular!  Love the idea of smashing up Twirls for the ice cream - I can already picture the kids’ reaction to such an amazing creation!

browneyed_girl

Evening all! 

Today has been a NSD and I’m just a tad delighted!  They so rarely happen that I’d begun to consider them a myth.  I’m determined now to set a goal number of NSDs a week - I think three is probably a good amount to aim for.

Attempts to declutter today have been somewhat hindered by DD1 and DD2.  The positively repulsive state of their bedroom meant all other tasks were put on hold so that full PPE could be donned and disinfectant sprayed on every available surface.  It seems any time recently that they’ve been ordered to tidy their room, they’ve translated that as ‘hide everything out of sight of mummy and feign innocence’.  I think finding half a cereal bar trodden into the carpet behind the floor-length curtains was the real low point.  Closely followed by the mouldy, half-eaten crumpet behind the bookcase  Not sure if I’m more angry about the mess or the fact that they’ve wasted food!  

On a more positive note, I’m working my way through items in the freezer so that I can defrost it at the weekend.  Kids used up pizzas for dinner and an apple strudel with ice cream for pudding.  Only used half the strudel, so that’s pudding sorted for tomorrow.  I found less than a single portion of Quorn mince hiding in the freezer (not sure what I was thinking at the time that made me decide it was vital to save such a small amount), so added some carrot (grated) and pepper that were both looking a bit sad, plus some red lentils, half of some leftover pasta sauce, cayenne pepper and lots of smoked paprika to make a veggie chilli.  Chopped up some potatoes that had seen better days to make wedges to go with it - overall pretty happy with the result!  

I’ve been given extra motivation to crack on with debt-busting and save money as my best friend has just got engaged and asked me to be her maid of honour!  She lives at the other end of the country though, so I’m going to need to put money aside for all the visits necessitated by wedding prep.  I’d also love to buy her a really special gift and don’t want money to be an obstacle.  I’m not saying it can’t be an inexpensive yet personal gift, but I’d rather not have my options limited by available funds.

Anyway, DS has just nodded off (I’ve been sat on his bedroom floor whilst typing to make sure he actually stays in his bed), so I’m off to busy myself with more housework.  I always think it’s such a shame that it never stays finished!

WinterWarrior

Well done on the NSD. Why not join the nsd challenge board I’m on? They are a really lovely bunch of people 😁 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78543578#Comment_78543578
You choose a number to aim for and can decide what counts.
Behind the bookcase is an excellent place to hide a crumpet you don’t fancy anymore! Luckily I can post leftovers in the dog here….

savingholmes

Behind the bookcase is an excellent place to hide a crumpet you don’t fancy anymore! Luckily I can post leftovers in the dog here….

Yep the dog would get it in our house too. 
Well done on cleaning and all the other plates you're spinning.