The Edcawber Principle

Options
1…6263656768…244

Comments

  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Options
    Sunday meal sounds delicious, Ed.

    Always try to aim to do something with your weekend - not housework. :) might be worth you getting someone to do cleaning / linen / ironing.

    Not read the article re German saving but iirc as a nation the majority live in rented houses which are cheap due to rent controls? Surely, that will make a big difference to the way they save and what they choose to invest in?
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • Karmacat
    Karmacat Posts: 39,460 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Options
    edinburgher wrote: »
    Trying to get my head back into finances and the last fortnight has been horrific in terms of NW - I think we've surrendered ££££ in a week :eek:

    Debt repayment is (thankfully) looking a little healthier. £283.17 paid off a CC (regular payment and the 3rd batch of CB borrowed from DD) and an expected mini milestone has been reached :) We have now passed under £25k total debt and under £19k actual debt (debt minus savings). I'd estimate another 3 weeks 'til we go under 60% total credit utilisation, but I'm pleased as the repayment is now sustainable as we're budgeting better and I have no fear that the outstanding will suddenly bounch back up.

    Edit: thanks to the slowly moving snowball of virtue, subsequent regular payments have fallen by £2/week.

    The debt repayment sounds brill - so what smacked your NW, was it market changes? I just don't keep that close an eye on it, I must say ...

    OTOH, the slowly moving snowball of virtue is a wonderful, wonderful phrase, and regular payments falling by £2/week is a practical demonstration that what you're doing is having a huge effect.
    2023: the year I get to buy a car
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 90,268 Ambassador
    Academoney Grad I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Options
    Your tea last night sounds fab :drool:
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.     ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,462 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    Alex - that's certainly part of it - they pay high taxes, but face real stability (and as a result, everyone just piles into cash savings that pay a pittance). No chance of any domestic help until the debts are gone, so that's something to aim for ;)

    KC - yes, 'trade wars' and such :eek: It could always be worse, if I had a million invested I'd have lost the high end of ££,£££ :rotfl:
  • gallygirl
    gallygirl Posts: 17,228 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post Mortgage-free Glee!
    Options
    edinburgher wrote: »
    It could always be worse, if I had a million invested I'd have lost the high end of ££,£££ :rotfl:
    Always a silver lining :rotfl:.
    A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
    :) Mortgage Balance = £0 :)
    "Do what others won't early in life so you can do what others can't later in life"
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Options
    Taxes are far too high in this country, let alone being taxed more. :eek:
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • badmemory
    badmemory Posts: 7,791 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Taxes are far too high in this country, let alone being taxed more. :eek:

    Bet you're glad you weren't around 40/50 years ago when basic rate was 30% not 20% & the tax free amount was a much smaller (proportionally) than it is now, but then we were the ones who had it so good. And as for the higher tax rate - high enough to give someone the vapours!
  • AlexLK
    AlexLK Posts: 6,125 Forumite
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Options
    I!!!8217;m not convinced previous generation did !!!8220;have it so good!!!8221; and I!!!8217;ve not implied so as far as I am aware. Things are different now to 50 years ago; positive in some ways and negative in others. :)
    2018 totals:
    Savings £11,200
    Mortgage Overpayments £5,500
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 90,268 Ambassador
    Academoney Grad I'm a Volunteer Ambassador Mortgage-free Glee! Name Dropper
    Options
    I dont think previous generations had it 'better'.
    It was a different time.

    As an aside I remember my mortgage being at 15.4% not long after buying a new house.
    That was not much fun :eek: :rotfl:
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.     ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,462 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    edited 27 March 2018 at 9:10AM
    Options
    AlexLK wrote: »
    Taxes are far too high in this country, let alone being taxed more. :eek:

    Are taxes 'too high' for average earners, or high earners? Because the statistics for high earners look eye watering, but I'm not convinced that those of us on low or middling incomes have it so bad :think:

    Never mind, found the answer online (well, from 2014). At that point, a married couple with two children was 5%+ worse off than the OECD average. I wonder if that's changed?

    Let's not have the "my mortgage was 25% and we ate coal" comparisons again :D How about we agree that while houses were significantly cheaper in the past, mortgage rates were typically more expensive and that the younger generations have a quality of life that would have blown minds in the 70s, they face less prospect of attaining security of tenure in their living arrangements?

    For the rest of Europe, this doesn't seem to be as big a problem, but we Brits do love a good bit of home ownership :)

    £0.70 paid off a CC.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards