My journey to a debt free life

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  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    edited 24 February 2018 at 6:19PM
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    Arrrrggghhhh got a letter form SC this morning about the direct debit that;s been set up to start my payments and they havent altered it to take into acccount the change in my outgoings,I phoned them last week and told them my fuel bill had gone up by £41 and the lady I spoke to was supposed to sort it out but clearly hasntI cant phone them today because its Saturday so will have to wait until Monday to sort that out,I hope this wont delay things
    Its a lovely day here today so Im actually going to hang my washing outside to dry for a change,Im trying not to use the tumble dryer to cut down my electric bill so any good weather is welcome at the moment,I was moaning to a friend at work yesterday about my lack of drying space in the house for things like duvet covers and she said she hangs hers over her living room door and its normally dry by the time she gets home from work so Im going to try that when the weathers bad as I always end up tumble drying mine ,Ive got the place to myself today because DD and her BF have gone out for the day so I have jobs to do then sewing,Im going to try and list the things I need to get done on a daily basis in the hope that it will encourage me to do them, I do like ticking things off a list so todays jobs are
    Walk the dog = Done
    Hang the washing out = Done
    Buy sawdust and dog food = Done
    Clean the chickens out = Done
    Hoover the house = Done
    Then later on I can sit and do some sewing as a treat for doing jobs :)
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    Yay just got back from buying the pet supplies and there was post from SC with my amended budget and DD so I dont need to phone them after all......phew Im glad thats sorted and there wont be a delay,Im actually dare I say it quite excited about my DMP getting going and knowing that everyone is getting paid something and I havent got to worry that Ive forgotten someone
    Im not skiving off my jobs list either by the way, Im on my lunch break, the dogs been out for a walk the chickens are running round the garden the washing is blowing on the line and I am about to dust and hoover the house :)
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • System
    System Posts: 178,102 Community Admin
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    Glad its all sorted with SC. You can relax now.
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    ploppy57 wrote: »
    Glad its all sorted with SC. You can relax now.
    Hopefully it will all be plain sailing from now on and I can get back to concentrating on life in general instead of debt 24/7
    Ive definitely changed my mindset though as this morning I went The Range to buy sawdust and dog food and normally I would have a look round and buy something I probably dont need and I went to have a look round but changed my mind,I bought what I went in for and left straight away,that’s unheard of for me so Im learning my lesson :)
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    edited 26 February 2018 at 1:19AM
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    Working today so I have been busy,it was a mentally challenging day today rather than physically challenging and Im glad its over and I now have two days off
    Tomorrows plans are to investigate my local B&M store as I keep hearing good things about them but have never been to ours,its a fair bus trip away for me but I have a yearly bus ticket that is paid for through my wages so it won;t cost me any more,I also need chicken food and there is a pet store there that sells it and a massive Tesco,so Im going to check out my freezer before I go to see if I need to top anything up
    Its payday on Monday and Im worrying about how much Im going to be left with because I have to pay back an overpayment this month and next,I know I have the council tax money to cover the shortfall but I wont be happy until I see what I end up with
    I had paid £50 into my bank last week to buy my DD birthday pressy but didnt use it all so I had half that left in the bank plus rent for the garage from my sister,this meant I had £58.70 in my account this morning so I drew out £50 and left the £8.70 in there,the £50 I drew back out has gone into the savings Im accumalating. At the moment its all one savings pot for emergencies,birthdays and Xmas ,but I need to divide it up so I dont send the emergency fund on pressies later in the year
    My plan at the moment is to keep putting away the money my DD boyfriend gives me for living here into the emergency pot,he is going to uni in September so I wont have this money then,Then the money I get from my sister for the garage is gong to be my birthday and Xmas savings,its only £32 a month so not enough but I am looking at reducing my budget in other areas to try to make it up to £50 a month,at the moment I have no idea if this is feasible but i think I should get a good idea after a couple of months,I also been dropping hints that my pressy budget isnt as big as previous years and that I will be spending less so hopefully I shouldnt struggle too much
    Im looking at my budget and trying to work out where to save,I know I can save on the food shop by being a bit more organised,Ive cancelled the lottery and I!!
    Im getting rid of my current tv/broadband package to get a better deal,I also have boiler and central heating insurance with British Gas and it;s quite pricey so I;m going to book one last service so its all up to date then m going to look for a cheaper deal on that too
    Right Im actually feeling like Ive wound down enough after work to go to bed now so I will leave my plans there for tonight
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    edited 26 February 2018 at 5:27PM
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    I didn end up going to B&M today as I didnt feel that great and its absolutely Baltic here today,I only really needed chicken food but actually have enough to last until next week and loo roll which I bought in town in Poundworld plus,it was 9 rolls of 3ply made with sustainable tissue for £2,I normally buy Mr S or Mr T own brand which is £3.50 for 9 rolls,I just need to get the packaging out the bin to compare ply and amount of sheets per roll .........never thought I would find myself doing that :)
    I have given my kitchen a bit of a deep clean today so thats kept me busy and in a minute Im going to have a go at making some flapjack,I havent made any for years and it never turns out right ( always falls apart) I think its because I use marge instead of butter,Im using dairy free marge today because DD is vegan so doesnt eat dairy so we will see how they turn out
    Over the last month Ive kept all my receipts for anything I have bought and Im going to sit down later and tot up how much I have spent,Im interested to know how much I have spent on food really as previously Ive spent lots and wasted lots, this month Ive partly lived on what was in the freezer and just topped up each item as it ran out and cooked recipes that have made me 4 meals which Ive just eaten everyday until they ran out,Im looking for more recipes so I have cheap veggi meals to cook that divide up well and are easy to reheat for work the next day the main problem I have is finding things that are cheap filling but also ok for keeping my weight stable,my thre most favourite recipes arent exactly low fat but I think I can get away with them if I eat sensibly at other times,my three go to recipes at the moment are
    Leek Croustade
    Butternut Squash Green Bean and Pesto Gnocchi Bake
    Homity Pie
    All are really filling and make me 14 main meals and the only one I add any extra sides to would be the homity pie,so they work out quite cheap too
    Im thinking I will add some sort of curry and a root veg bake of some sort with the odd Quorn product thrown in when Im feeling lazy
    Right I must get on and have a go at this flapjack now
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • System
    System Posts: 178,102 Community Admin
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    I am always checking the ply and number of sheets on loo roll these days...:rotfl: Years ago I would just buy Andr*x without a second thought. Its not just the number of sheets but the size. I bought some really cheap ones the other day and they were awful. The length of the roll didn't even go all the way across the holder. Complete waste of money.
    I also check kitchen roll as well and boxes of tissues....:rotfl:

    Its cold here today as well, we had snow earlier but it lasted about 15 minutes...lol Sun is shining now but snow forecast tomorrow night I believe. I'll be glad when its spring. Where about are you?

    I made veg soup today and that will last a couple of days. Your recipe with the Squash sounds interesting. I love squash.
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    ploppy57 wrote: »
    I am always checking the ply and number of sheets on loo roll these days...:rotfl: Years ago I would just buy Andr*x without a second thought. Its not just the number of sheets but the size. I bought some really cheap ones the other day and they were awful. The length of the roll didn't even go all the way across the holder. Complete waste of money.
    I also check kitchen roll as well and boxes of tissues....:rotfl:

    Its cold here today as well, we had snow earlier but it lasted about 15 minutes...lol Sun is shining now but snow forecast tomorrow night I believe. I'll be glad when its spring. Where about are you?

    I made veg soup today and that will last a couple of days. Your recipe with the Squash sounds interesting. I love squash.
    :rotfl: glad it’s not just me then,I’ve never thought to compare before but needs must and all that:)
    We haven’t had any snow yet and I’m hoping we don’t get any,I love snow if I don’t have to go anywhere but it makes getting to work so difficult,I am down in Devon so it’s usually milder here than everywhere else
    The Squash recipes is lovely and so filling,it’s from abook called The Busy Mums Vegetarian Cookbook,if I get chance at some point this week I will post it on here
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    edited 27 February 2018 at 12:21AM
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    Today was a productive day,I partly deep cleaned the kitchen and also made the flapjack,I did over cook it though so it more like Hobnobbs than flapjack,its tasty though DD and DBF loved it.
    Tomorrow Im seeing my DD1 and my DGS,its our last maternity leave day together as she goes back to work on Thursday,I cantbelieve its time for her to go back,its gone by so quickly, I do feel so,sorry for her because she really doesnt want to go back but has no choice,she is dropping a day though so will be working 4 days instead of 5 she will have Fridays off so will at least get a nice long weekend each week
    Im looking after DGS on Thursday when she goes back and then every Tuesday im looking forward to the nicer weather so we can go out and do things instead of being stuck at home in the bad weather, DD2 has three weeks off for Easter so we are planning some free or low spend things to do with him while she is off,she loves him to bits but because of her uni schedule she doesnt get to see him as much as she would like so it will be nice for her to spend some time with him
    I made Butter chicken for tea tonight with one of those So Juicy sauces you cook in a bag,it was lovely but not big enough for 4 meals,it was cheap though so not to worried,if I have time Im going to make Homity pie tomorrow as I can then take that to work on Wednesday,it depends how the day goes,if I run out of time I will take something else on Wednesday and make it on Thursday instead
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,391 Forumite
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    Just checking in quickly before I get ready for my day and Im very happy to say my wages went into my new bank account without a hitch today and I also got paid more then I thought I would so Im not as broke as I thought I would be,this means I have enough money to actually live on this month and to divert some into into my new savings account (which Im opening online later today if I can) I can now stop worrying about this month at least
    I added up all this months bills and checked them over and over to make sure I havent missed anything because m not used to having money left over,it was quite liberating this morning seeing how much money Ive got to last me for the month with no OD to take into account and extra bills to juggle,it makes me wonder how I ended up in this mess in the first place
    My DMP payment will go out on the 1st and the I dont have to think about it,I am wondering about whether its wise to make overpayments when I can but before I do that I want to build some savings so I have a good emergency fund and all the extras covered,I dont want to over commit myself at the moment so will wait and see how it goes
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
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