Paid off the £31,000! BUT - still scrimping!

Sunshine_girl2 wrote: »

The DNA could prove interesting, after you have had your spit analysed , what a great job that must be for someone !

I haven't watched TV for about 3 weeks, I just watch catch up all the time on my tablet !

Have a lovely lunch tomorrow.

Thanks SG2 - no it wouldn't be on my list of jobs to aim for!:rotfl:

redofromstart wrote: »

I'm another fan of Fat Rascals.

How lovely of your boss to share the bonus.

Fat Rascals are lush redo! Re the bonus - I did do most of the work on the project, but having said that, he didn't have to give me anything. He's a good old stick really. I know there are some in the firm where their bosses didn't share it out.

And a result today - thanks to reading about Essex Hebridean's good Sky win on her diary today, I bite the bullet and got my behind in gear to call Sky myself. From £76 per month they've dropped it to £38 per month for 18 months for TV, broadband, line rental, calls etc. And I didn't even need to haggle!:j:j:j

Barbie61 wrote: »

Good luck my dear, I am in a very similar position now with only 8 years left of working life and wishing I had sorted my debts out years ago. I am wondering if I should Opt out of this workplace pension which is going to increase this month because every single direct debit increases by the year and I am still paying the same on my DMP because I am too frightened to reduce it. I think they may all take me to court or put the interest back into play if I don't pay them the original amount. So I am like you working out how much food I can afford to eat each month and trying to save pennies towards a flight to see my grandchildren in the USA but it's going to take a long time. I do wish we hadn't all been brainwashed into credit card debt and needing to have material things - my sons and my grandchildren will be much better off because they like many of their generation are eschewing consumerism for much more spiritual lives being with their little ones and making memories that count. Sending much support to you x

Hello Barbie - thank you for your insightful post and good wishes. I think quite a few of us "more mature" posters on this board wish we had sorted out our finances years ago rather than continued on our merry consumer driven path! I would hate to try and add up how much money I have wasted over the years!

Since I cleared all debts, I feel sometimes that my "Scrimpy" title has become rather a misnomer - maybe it should be retitled to reflect that rather than "scrimping," I am merely "budgeting" more efficiently these days. Because I currently have a well-paid job, plus a good emergency fund, I don't have to worry about not being able to pay my bills (I have very low outgoings on the non-discretionary spending front) and I am still managing to put a goodly amount into my pension each month.

I'm sorry to hear that you are so worried about your DMP and the fact that you will now be expected to put extra into your workplace pension. Perhaps you could discuss this with your HR department at work. I'm not fully conversant with how it works in great depth, but if you do opt out then I think that the pension will just be deferred and sit there till you retire – you may also be able to take a break from the contributions and then add to the pension again later when your financial position improves. Plus, there are quite a few very helpful, knowledgeable people on the Pensions and Annuities board who may be able to give you some advice.

I do hope things ease up for you moneywise and you manage to fund your flights to see your family. The positive is that your sons and grandchildren are living their lives without resourcing to "things" that they, like so many people out there, think will make them happier (like a lot of us have here), but in the big picture just leech away at your future happiness and security.

You could always start a diary on the board – I find it helpful to record things and there's plenty of lovely people here that would cheer you on your way and lend support!

Good luck!