Newbie needing help!

moneydesperate_x

Hi

I just wanted to say.....I have three horses, yes three and my mare is pregnant! So that will be 4 in April. I can totally understand where you are coming from with regards to your horse.

I have debt, and lots of it, but its not through paying for my horses, rather my nasty shopping habit (i am trying to channel it into a housework addiction instead!).
I have to say, without my horses (I am lucky as 2 out of the three, not the pregnant one i have put out on part-loan which covers all their costs) I probably would have slit my wrists about the amount of debt i have got myself into.

I look at it this way, I am paying my debts off, slowly but I will pay back every penny now instead of getting deeper into debt, I dont smoke and i dont even drink as my mother is an alcoholic so i dont touch the stuff.
I know my horses cost me money every month (but not much as my part-loaners help pay!), but I dont need to go to the gym, i am not at the shops at the weekend, but out in the countryside in the fresh air, and i have a purpose to live for.
Please dont give up on this site, the support from everyone is great, please dont be put off just yet.

MrsB68

I am pleased to hear from someone else who has horses - you can understand what a chill out they are. I have had mine 12 months now, and since I have had him I have stopped going shopping for silly impulse buys which was my way of releasing stress from work. Instead, like you, I go down the stables and spend hours there not realising the time!

I know I have to save money and I know what I need to do to sort my finances- and I do aim to start it from this month!

Thank you for your support.

moneydesperate_x

piggybank68 wrote: »

I am pleased to hear from someone else who has horses - you can understand what a chill out they are. I have had mine 12 months now, and since I have had him I have stopped going shopping for silly impulse buys which was my way of releasing stress from work. Instead, like you, I go down the stables and spend hours there not realising the time!

I know I have to save money and I know what I need to do to sort my finances- and I do aim to start it from this month!

Thank you for your support.

Thats what we are all here for, help and support.

Silly impulse buys is exactly what got me into debt! And I know my horses are the driving force behind me getting out of debt, without them i honestly would have slit my wrists.

My horses do live the DFW life though! My other half makes my hay for me, i get woodshavings from a local boat yard, so thats their bedding covered, my part loaners cover shoes, feed and insurance so i have managed to get their costs down to almost nothing!

Thats the good thing about this site, you can take peoples comments on board if you like them or you can leave them!

Since joining here (only a week ago!) i have managed to reduce my mobile bill by £10 a month, changed my bank account saving £15 a month and changed insurance saving yet another £15, so thats £36 a month i have saved only by reading other peoples threads and seeing what is a good deal and what is not!

I have to say, I would go without a lot of things before the horses go, they are part of the family.
The other thing you may want to try...with horses you always end up with items you no longer need/use, you could sell these on ebay for extra cash?

Anyway thats enough of me talking horses! Good luck and keep in touch

debbiedebt

:hello: Please don't give up on this site. I have found just noting my own progress every day so helpful.

Hang on in there and continue to enjoy your horse at every opportunity.

Good Luck!!!!

MrsB68

moneydesperate_x wrote: »

Thats what we are all here for, help and support.

Silly impulse buys is exactly what got me into debt! And I know my horses are the driving force behind me getting out of debt, without them i honestly would have slit my wrists.

My horses do live the DFW life though! My other half makes my hay for me, i get woodshavings from a local boat yard, so thats their bedding covered, my part loaners cover shoes, feed and insurance so i have managed to get their costs down to almost nothing!

Thats the good thing about this site, you can take peoples comments on board if you like them or you can leave them!

Since joining here (only a week ago!) i have managed to reduce my mobile bill by £10 a month, changed my bank account saving £15 a month and changed insurance saving yet another £15, so thats £36 a month i have saved only by reading other peoples threads and seeing what is a good deal and what is not!

I have to say, I would go without a lot of things before the horses go, they are part of the family.
The other thing you may want to try...with horses you always end up with items you no longer need/use, you could sell these on ebay for extra cash?

Anyway thats enough of me talking horses! Good luck and keep in touch

Someone offered me woodshavings at £1.00 per bag but I wasnt sure as to whether I could use them as they hadnt been treated like the stuff that you buy. Can I use them then? Thanks for your advise.

moneydesperate_x

I think the difference between treated and untreated is that the treated is dust free.
The shavings i get are not at all dusty and are better than some of the bagged shavings.
I would say that unless your horse has a dust allergy it would be ok to use them, you could always give it a go and see how you get on?

Nothing ventured nothing gained?

Mandoo_2

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for you about the debt, but just wanted to say that you should not give up. I have found from experience on this site that people are not trying to judge or offend you, but sometimes have trouble putting thoughts into word on the page. We are all in the same boat here and there are many nice people on here that have good, helpful things to say.

For me personally, my Cat is my best friend at the moment!:p
Don't give up on the horse - we all need our stress relief, but if you can save a few quid then its all for the best!

Soubrette

Hi Piggybank, everyone on here are trying to help you - even those saying things that aren't so good to hear.

The way I look on my finances is that I have a certain pot and it needs to balance. I have a very expensive hobby - a Canadian husband - as he goes to see his family and friends once on his own every year and once a year with all of us. Very expensive

So I have to make the budget balance by being extremely mean in other parts - last year we hardly had the heating on over the winter and this year I'm only heating the downstairs and not the upstairs. We have one car which is a bit inconvenient and we buy very basic value food.

We live a perfectly comfortable life with scope to cut down further if we need to - but the Canadian trips are nowhere near the top of things we would cut down on first.

BUT they are on that list if ever things became really desperate.

People here can offer the advice but it is up to you to take what's useful to you and hopefully action it.

Good luck

Sou

PS - did I read somewhere that someone had found some cheese curds - please let me know where you bought this as we've been looking for quite a while - even the specialist cheese shop in Bath had none :mad: