Debt Payers and Savers Support group

[Jchihuahua]

This morning Oh's car wouldn't start.... Haven't taken it to the garage yet but SERIOUSLY !! This is exactly how every year starts for us :/ a few big token items break and we end up in debt :/ and it spirals etc etc last year we lost the tv the washing machine and a fridge in the same month!

This is us exactly!! This January our car is totally broken as I said and our oven had to be repaired and last year in January my TV blew up, had to pay a plumber to repair a leaking tap and had to be £300 in vets fees!

haven't been back to the thread for a wee whilr but had a fairly awful week... obviously jinxed myself with that post. After I posted on monday about the car breaking (oh took mine to work) I took one of my dogs out for a wee. And he couldn't go, he was off his food and drink. .. about 3 hours later he started peeing blood :/ long horrible story short ..... we had to put him to sleep on monday night. Not only are we devastated at the loss of our boy but in trying to fix him we spent 400 pounds feeling a bit bitter about it because he still died!!! But least we tried eh ? January is a write off for us now. Heres hoping feb is a bit kinder

Oh no, how awful . I'm so sorry to hear that .

 

[aimee-lou]

So sorry to hear about everyone's bad luck. Rhi_Rhi - so sorry about your dog. Jchihuahua - big hugs to you too.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Sorry to everyone having a bad month, especially rhi_rhi, very sorry about your dog

 

[QueenMummyToBe]

So sorry to hear that rhi_rhi

xxxx

 

[lau86]

So sorry about your dog rhi rhi x

 

[catty]

An old man my oh used to see at new year has passed away. We were in shock to discover 50% of his estate to oh even though he still had living family. Works out we will get about £4000.

I dont no if its stupid of us but rather thsn pay our debt wed rather save some and use the rest to buy stuff we need. Double buggy, we need to babyproof the house, finish decorating and other bits n bobs that we would have to do without then save about £2000 for the future.

We should probably clear debt but then we wouldnt see any of it and our debt isnt causing issues

 

[aimee-lou]

Definitely prioritise things you need over debts, but you are paying out more in interest on the debt than you could earn on the savings, so bear that in mind. I would use it as an opportunity to create a buffer though. What a surprise though - what a lovely man to think so highly of your OH too.

Oh and bear in mind that most baby stuff can be sold on so you could re-coup some of the costs you pay out. Double buggies hold their value well for example.

 

[aimee-lou]

Not a very 'cheap' few days for me. Spent about £150 on books for Earl, hubby's birthday presents and a couple of other bits and pieces. I have managed to only spend £15 so far this week on food though.....but that's mainly because we ended up having 3 take-aways last week due to being so busy Need to reel in the spending.....but with hubby's 30th coming up it's going to be tough.

Put some stuff on ebay though, and on FB too......not expecting much but it's all to put towards the savings pot.

Oh and we experimented last night. We took the sides off Eddy's cot and it was a complete disaster. We'll be keeping them on (we put them back onlast night it was that bad lol) for the foreseeable so now need to save up for a new cot-bed for Charlie instead There's always something with kids isn't there! lol

 

[Pingu]

Hi all, please can I join?

Sorry to hear about your dog Rhi Rhi

We have not had the best end of 2013 and start of the year with our car, it cost us £500 just before Christmas and it has just failed the MOT. We have to replace 1 tyre to pass but they have given us advice that 2 more tyres will soon need replacing aswel as the front brakes and discs. We have also just had to replace our windscreen and the service is also due. It is so frustrating as we was not prepared so had to use a credit card to pay.

Our goals for this year -
Pay off £1500 on credit card
Save £500 in emergency fund
Save £1000 for Christmas
Save £2500 towards our Florida holiday

=
Pay off £1500 by 01/10/2014
Save £4000 by 31/12/2014

 

[weewdy]

Hi ladies

How is everyone doing?

Well thanks to my other half getting a bonus I am £500 nearer my first target. I have deposited this into my savings account so I don't spend it.

I have also been watching what I'm eating and because of this (not spending any money at corner shop etc) I have saved £100 in a fortnight which will go towards my holiday this year.

Downside is my oh has decided he wants to go away for a long weekend in may so I will need to save for that, also we have my car mot/road tax/insurance in march which I forgot about the joys of owning a car I suppose.

 

[babycrazy1706]

Wow this makes me not want to get a car!!!

Sorry about your dog rhi rhi. Xx

 

[catty]

Just got my yearly mortgage letter through and iv paid £7273 in 2013 and £5805 was interest!!!
Cant wait ubtil my fixed rate is up in july I should save about £125pm with the rates are at the moment

 

[aimee-lou]

Just got my yearly mortgage letter through and iv paid £7273 in 2013 and £5805 was interest!!!
Cant wait ubtil my fixed rate is up in july I should save about £125pm with the rates are at the moment

Can you over-pay? I mean when your fixed rate is up, continue to pay the amount you're currently paying (or pay the extra into somewhere) and then you'll be paying mortgage off quicker with very little extra effort?

That is shocking though, although we rent, so pay £6k a year for the privelege of handing back the keys when we move lol.

 

[babycrazy1706]

Just got my yearly mortgage letter through and iv paid £7273 in 2013 and £5805 was interest!!!

How depressing!!

 

[Blah11]

Mortgages are funny aren't they. You only really pay off the actual mortgage in the last few years everything else is interest we're 5 years into a 25 year mortgage and only paid 6k off or something!

Most places charge you if you overpay or finish early.

 

[babycrazy1706]

£10 added to my holiday fund today = £70 total

Also

£2 added to Elijah's account
£7 to Disney land. Xx

 

[aimee-lou]

Not a lot to report here. I'm in the middle of what appears to be a spending spree. With my hubby's birthday coming up, it seems all I'm doing is spending. I've managed to squirrel away a grand total of £14 so far! lol We;re planning a surprise birthday party for him (me and his friends from his hockey team) and we have baby-sitters, tables and arrangements made. I'm trying to get a cake made but with only 2 weeks today, it's short notice and I'm not very talented with icing! lol

However, I have a lot of ebay and facebook sales upcoming (2 FB buyers coming tomorrow and 7 ebay items ending tomorrow so FX'd about them).

 

[catty]

Well iv done badly with money recently. Was my mums birthday and I usually spend a little while searching shops then il look up prices online and almost always get a pretty good deal. Anyway id ran out of time so ran into next with lucas in my arms anf his bag. Well he weighs 21lbs and the bag kept sliding so I could barely look at anything, I basically just grabbed a few things and it came to £33, id already taken her for lunch and bought wine and cake so was much more than id normally spend. A friend came round to do some diy for me and I got us a chipper which I wouldnt normally have bought. Little things like this all really add up when ur on a tight budget

 

[lau86]

There always seems to be something that's unexpected doesn't there! For me this month it was the car tax, there goes my christmas money!
Never mind, I'm doing ok this month and will hopefully get to the end of it either breaking even or with a little bit left.
Everyone's cars seem to be causing trouble dont they! Mine wouldn't start the other day but the battery was flat, I was panicking!!

 

[amazed]

I've managed to put more in my pot of dreams now have £400 in there x