Go on, do your worst ... I know I deserve it!

neverdespairgirl

I'm not going to give you a kick, but I do think you've not yet really had a light-bulb moment, if you are more in debt now than you were then.

Do you think you have a realistic expectation of what you can spend? £1,000 on a TV and well over that on a sofa represents a very large spending pattern indeed, even for someone who isn't in debt.

I don't think it's a question of putting up with something nasty, as you perhaps seem to think. You can spend an awful lot less than that on a very nice sofa and TV, which are perfectly nice and not a compromise at all.

Jenna

Thanks for your reply and I don't disagree with your main point - you don't need to spend masses to get something nice! If I can make a few points in my defence (!) though lol...

I was more in debt than in August (by £3), I have paid my sister back £5 since then so it is now less than August ... that was my last December bill, and I've not been paid in January yet so it will go down more from that too

The TV was £1k but this was split between me and my OH, so £500 each. Also, we paid it off in 9 months (at 0% with a £18 re-payment fee, so we paid £9 each of this), so I would suggest it was a realistic amount we could pay back - I'm not saying it's the cheapest TV ever but we got a very good deal for a top of the range 42" plasma screen, base & a gorgeous black glass stand - a year on it's still selling in high street shops for £1,400 (I had to check this the other day as I'm renewing the contents ins soon). And I would point out again that it's saved us money because of not going out every night for entertainment - now we stay in loads more and are quite happy curled up watching a film!

I don't think the deal we got for the sofa is bad either - or that we can't afford to pay it back - it's just that we should have saved for it then bought it ... and that is why I'm mad at myself, if that makes sense.

But still - I can quite see the basic point of your post and I do agree with that part! I don't mean to sound harsh (if the above did) I just wanted to clarify a bit, hope you don't mind

poppy10_2

Jenna wrote: »

I'm not saying it's the cheapest TV ever but we got a very good deal for a top of the range 42" plasma screen, base & a gorgeous black glass stand - a year on it's still selling in high street shops for £1,400

I got a top of the range Toshiba Regza 42X3030D 42" TV with stand for under £600. What is your TV model?

MABLE

Jenna wrote: »

I think I need a good kick up the bum!!

I've had a perfectly good last few months since August ... done lots of overtime at work, paid off lots (CC in particular is done from nearly £2,500 to £1,720 ish and TV loan is gone altogether - yey!) and tried very hard to ignore OH's seemingly eternal need to spend, spend, spend.

I had no idea what to get him for Xmas (and he had the same problem with me) so in the end we agreed, lets be practical and get each other something for the house and just do little presents to each other (limit of £50 - which we both overspent, me by £25 ish!!). And the "thing for the house" ended up being a £1,199 sofa!! :eek:

Admittedly it is gorgeous, we got it on discount down from £1,499, it's price-matched against the January sale price, is leather (so easy to clean), is much needed (the sofas we have now were 2nd hand, free, stained & v. uncomfortable but we "made do" with them when we first moved in together in Jan '07) and will no doubt last ages. We can both sit on the same couch and stretch out, rather than either being squashed together on the same one or anti-social on two separate sofas. Oh - and 0% for 2 years, with no early re-payment penalties.

On the down side (please kick me, I have been!!) it is in my name only, although we are paying £600 each obv. And it is still MORE DEBT when I should be reducing my total debt, not increasing it!! I've now worked very hard for 4 (nearly 5) months, and (although I haven't done the sums etc properly yet) I'm pretty sure I'm in slightly more debt now than I was to start with! Grrrrr :mad:

Why am I so stupid sometimes?! Can I have someone to shout at me and talk some sense into me please??
Sorry ... feel like I've let everyone on here down, I take your time up asking questions and things and then go and do something like this...

With respect your debts are not huge. It is good to go out spoil yourself and buy something really nice. My advice is to enjoy it. Whats done is done and focus on the rest of the year clearing your commitments.

Jenna

Poppy - it was a Panasonic Viera TH42PX60 at just under £1k to include a base & stand - this isn't top of the range now but it was when we bought it, if you see what I mean.

What you paid sounds like a very good deal although no idea on the technical spec (my OH is v. technical and I leave all that to him lol)?! Did you pay cash by the way? I know that can sometimes reduce the price...

Thx Mable , I certainly intend to focus this year!

Jenna

Right ... a spending update, then ...

01.01 - NSD
02.01 - NSD
03.01 - £1.54 for 2x toilet rolls (hideous garage prices but none in the house at all!!)
04.01 - NSD (I haven't spent anything so far today, and we are staying in tonight. I have paid bills - as I got paid today - but they are accounted for in my budget, so I won't count those in my daily spends)

Learning for the future ~ It helps to buy more toilet rolls in the shopping just before Christmas! We've had loads of guests and they seem to have used them all lol!

Progress since last time I posted:
~ I've paid my family back £5 (for January)
~ I've saved £28.50 towards paying my Tesco CC this month
~ I've saved £15 towards the C/Tax (it's not due in Feb so the whole amnt will go towards debts but I'm still going to save up as usual each week, so the money isn't wasted!)
~ Done 2.5 hours of OT this week

Need to do:

~ Menu Plan & food shopping (I'm going on the OS board too for ideas with this)
~ Finish renewing contents ins this weekend & cxl old ins
~ Renew rental lease on flat ... annoyingly it's going up by £35 pm in 2008 ... an increase of £17.50 pm for me and my OH (each). We're considering moving later in the year, but will see - the central location means we save quite a bit on transport, and I can walk to work too
~ Research into 0% BT offers for my CC # 2

Think that will do for now ...! Hope everyone is okay xx

neverdespairgirl

Jenna wrote: »

Thanks for your reply and I don't disagree with your main point - you don't need to spend masses to get something nice! If I can make a few points in my defence (!) though lol...

Defend away!

Jenna wrote: »

The TV was £1k but this was split between me and my OH, so £500 each. And I would point out again that it's saved us money because of not going out every night for entertainment - now we stay in loads more and are quite happy curled up watching a film!

I can see that, but I'm sure you can get a perfectly good TV that you can enjoy curling up in front of for £1k, if that makes sense. It's not buying a TV that I was questioning, but buying such a big and expensive one.

Jenna wrote: »

I don't think the deal we got for the sofa is bad either - or that we can't afford to pay it back - it's just that we should have saved for it then bought it ... and that is why I'm mad at myself, if that makes sense.

The deal sounds fine, it's the standard you are aiming for in your furnishing that I think you might need to question, as £2k+ on a sofa and a TV is an awful lot. The highest spenders I know are a couple in their late 50s, who fly business class on holidays to 5* hotels, have 2 x 6-bed houses, etc. But their income is well over a million a year, and they don't have 42 inch TVs! And quite a lot of their furniture / sheets / kitchen stuff is inherited from their parents. I think you need to look at your expectations, and make sure you don't aim for a champagne lifestyle on beer incomes.

Jenna wrote: »

But still - I can quite see the basic point of your post and I do agree with that part! I don't mean to sound harsh (if the above did) I just wanted to clarify a bit, hope you don't mind

You didn't sound harsh at all, and I hope I don't either!

MABLE

Originally Posted by Jenna
The TV was £1k but this was split between me and my OH, so £500 each. And I would point out again that it's saved us money because of not going out every night for entertainment - now we stay in loads more and are quite happy curled up watching a film!UNQUOTE

Could not agree more. We already have a Sony Vega tv that cost £1,0000 about 2.5 years ago. We wanted a really good Sony DVD and HD tv. Pure madness to some ppeople but just ordered these items and the Sony Vega is now surplus to requirements. However we love our films and because we live on the moors can not get to the cinema that easily we consider it money worth spent.

Jenna

Thx both for your replies oh and neverdespairgirl you don't sound harsh at all!

Spending update again ...

05.01 - NSD
06.01 - NSD

*is rather proud of that* - a proper no-spend weekend! The only thing I bought was food shopping in Tesco (and yes, it was with a menu plan - yey!), but again it's already a planned expense in my budget, so I won't count that.

Back to work tomorrow ... got cup-a-soup planned for lunch, and will see if I can find some biscuits or something to have with it. I have 1 hour of OT planned too, so I need to stick to that!

My friend is also trying to pay off her debt so I'm hoping we can give each other moral support ... her OH is v. similar to mine, they both think that the debts "aren't that big" and therefore we shouldn't really worry about paying them off! So we're trying to re-educate them on that lol!

So all in all it's going pretty well ... the only big thing I need to watch is that I don't get depressed again ... I had some bad things happen to me a few years ago and somehow it's never too far from the surface (don't know why but I've got a bit upset this weekend about it all) ... I really need to watch myself, and not get too stressed/tired coz it won't help me cope with it and get back on an even keel ... I don't know if all this is very debt related but when I get depressed I really don't care about anything much, so that won't have a very good effect on paying back my debts!

Well - I think that's enough rambling from me for now! Hope you're all OK xx

neverdespairgirl

I find exercise is the key - I'm far less likely to feel stressed or low if I've had lots of exercise. OH and I play badminton together regularly, and that's great fun, doing something together, and feeling smug at the same time.