Frugal refresher for five days!

Hello everyone,

No photos today I'm afraid. I've been catching up on all of your blogs tonight and came over all whimsical when I read Vintage Vixen's blog tonight. I remembering actually saying to the poor teacher who ran 'Careers' at school that when I grew up that I wanted to be Stevie Nicks. I was 15, a mouth on sticks and had an answer for everything! Poor old fart didn't even know what I was talking about. I think I said I wanted to be a nurse so I could laugh at lots of willies as well..........I think I had to stand outside his office for an hour after school. I was well known in the corridors of my comp!

We've just paid the first of our 'repayments' on our mortgage after having a interest only mortgage for a few years! Previously, we always had a repayment and then stupidly took out a stupidly large mortgage. I've had to gird my loins and dig deep in the frugal repertoire to do this but I will get this house paid for. I can pay up to 10% of the balance a year and I'm going to get 21.5K paid off in 12 months!!! It will nearly starve and freeze us but I'm going to do it!

I thought I would share some of my truly, deeply frugal ideas with people. Some of you reading this may have logged onto 'Frugal Queen' for the very first time today. Over the next seven days, I will be sharing five frugal facts about me every day. Here are today's.

HOW I SAVE MONEY ON THE COSTS OF WATER - Get a water meter. In my water region, South West Water charge £1400 a year for un-metered water per year. Since having a meter I've reduced the amount of water I consume every quarter. I now pay under £300 a year for my water.

Here are my five frugal money savers to cut my water bill by £1100 a year!

1. PERSONAL HYGIENE Stop having baths! I am a bath addict. I can't think of any thing more delicious than a bubbly bath. Now I only shower. Baths are for birthdays and special days. Get a timer in your bathroom (five minutes are all I allow myself). I can wash shoulder length hair in five minutes. I wet my hair, then turn the water off. I then soap it and rinse. I don't do what the bottle says and wash it twice!!! It's a con to sell more shampoo!!! Also, I don't condition! That again is just a con to sell you something you don't need!!!! It will condition itself after a few hours! I don't wash my hair, or myself in the shower every day! I shower every other day. I wash my hair every other shower! I keep it clean by clipping  it up and not touching it. Most of the grease on your hair is off your hands.

2. USING GREY WATER Place a bowl under every tap. Every time I wash my hands, or my face or my teeth, the water gets used to flush the toilet. In the kitchen, the water gets taken outside in the summer and poured onto the garden. Make sure some of the water goes down the plug or your drains will block! I also use a large plastic box, or you could use an old baby bath if you have one or get given on, to stand in whilst you are in the shower. I then pour that into watering cans and water the garden. I have run out of rain water from the butts so I really need this water for my veggies. We use homemade natural soap and not much shampoo and very few chemicals, and as I've eaten the veg, I may be proof that this is harmless.

3. THE LOO If it's yellow..........We don't flush pee. We only flush poo. Plus, any hand washing water gets poured down the loo. It's a sin to throw pure drinking water down the toilet so use second hand water. I placed a brick and a water hippo in each cistern, so I've reduced the huge flush in my old style loo by one third.



4. THE WASHING MACHINE - we replaced our top loader, after we'd sold it on eBay, with a triple AAA class front loader, which we chose, not only due to using very little energy but because it used the least water. We place a full size plastic bin next to it. I put the hose from the machine on the side of the bin, to pump the rinse water into the bin. If you use Eco soap powder, which I do sometimes, you can pump all of the water into a bin, or water butt and use it on  the garden. I've eaten all of the veg which has been watered by the washing machine waste water and I'm alive.

5. SAVE ALL THE RAIN YOU CAN - Buy as many water butts as you can afford. A good rainy day will fill them and each butt represents a saving of £10 for SWW customers. When it really really rains, I put pots, buckets, pans, in fact any thing that will catch the rain. I use an old bin too, if the butt is full, then I pour the water from the butt into the bin and let the next rain storm fill it up again. Use the rain to rinse the car when you wash it, even to wash the car and windows.

I'll be back tomorrow with five more frugal refreshers of how I reduce my living costs and I'm able to pay off debts at a huge rate and now over pay my mortgage at (fingers crossed) 10% a year.

Until tomorrow,

All my love,

Froogs xxxx

Just so scary!

 Hello everyone,

Thanks so much to the responses on my blog on Tuesday. You make me feel heard, listened to and certainly not alone in my debt repayment journey. As you were so kind then, I thought I would share my massive life shift today, and a guilty secret and how I'm going to put it right.

Dearly Beloved and I each have a debt repayment schedule. I have put some of our individual debts together onto 0% interest credit cards, which we have tarted from one to the next for quite some time. We are both using them to get rid of unsecured loans and interest baring credit cards. On one of DB's credit cards, the last payment went out on the 10th of this month. It was a snowballed debt payment, of all the payments he was previously paying and he is now personal debt free. I pay the big share of the big debts and I feel that I've got them in hand.

In 2009, when we sold this house, and found one we wanted to buy a tiny cottage. We went back to our mortgage provide - Santandarseholes, who wouldn't give us a mortgage, SMALLER! than the one we had as we had borrowed too much money, on personal and unsecured loans! So, the house sale fell through and we had to really take our debts in hand. If we wanted to downsize, then we had to do something about it. I embarked on a truly, madly, deeply frugal journey that has reshaped my life. By the early few months of 2012, we will have paid back in excess of 45K!

Now if you wonder what all of this meandering is for, now is the time for my guilty secret. When we bought this house is 2007, we mortgaged ourselves to our armpits and could only afford to have an interest only mortgage. Now believe me, I have done some utterly stupid things in my life but taking out a mortgage on a house I could not afford is the most stupid thing I've ever done! Today, in a huge leap, we've begun to put it right!

After the 10th, we contacted Santander and have made arrangements to change our mortgage to a repayment mortgage. Even though we are tied into a 6.5% interest rate until the 9th of September 2012 (when our tied in mortgage term ends), we would still be able to pay off £9000 of mortgage capital before we move house. The more we pay off, the bigger the equity and the more money we'll be able to put down. We are aiming to buy a small house and pay for it in five years!

So, today we lept into the abyss and have signed the repayment mortgage agreement that DB will drop into the local branch of the building society in his lunch break tomorrow! We'll also be able to over pay up to 10% of the outstanding balance of the mortgage every year! Sometimes, admitting you're wrong and putting it right is scary. My interest only mortgage was the silliest thing I've ever done and now is the time to put it right!

The Frugal Future?

 Do you get a mortgage statement and pension statement in the same month? I seem to do so. As I am a year and a bit away from trying to sell my house and downsize, I've become a price comparison website nerd! I go and look at investment plans and have come to the conclusion that Suze Orman, Martin Lewis and Dave Ramsay have sussed it all out for me. There is no point in paying into a savings fund as long as you have a mortgage. The interest will cancel out any saved gains. So watch this space. I'm locked into a mortgage deal until 3/9/2012! Or I have to pay Santander almost £8,000 for the pleasure of changing my mortgage deal. In the meantime, post debt repayments, I will pay off as much mortgage capital as I can.

 Now, you may well window shop. I often look at tents on eBay, or even browse around charity shops and often think of what I might like in the future. Wood burning heating? Solar or PV? In fact, I just want to pay for my new house (which will be compact and bijou) and then think of saving, or solar, or a ground water storage system. Until then, just because I'm nosey, I'll keep looking for the best deals, whether for energy, utilities or mortgages.

Do you keep an eye on your 'future finances' even though, maybe like me, you're not there yet!

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxxx

Busy Saturday and nothing spent!

 It was just a week ago, that at this time, I was wandering around Auray about to go to lunch. Today is just about reality and being frugal and a wee bit eco. Every peeling, shredded newspaper and anything biodegradable goes into our compost, and that is being used to grow our spuds in bags. I use my tea bags and coffee grinds to add nitrogen into our plants. Anything grown in a container needs feeding. I rip open the tea bags and keep the tea and then dig it into the soil and compost around the plants in containers.

 Today, has been extremely busy. I shopped at Tesco (online) and my week's groceries, including pet food, toiletries and cleaning products has come in at £35.75 including delivery. I have lots in my store cupboards to supplement and I'll be using them up for a while. I've also been picking beans and courgettes and they are also supplementing. I've baked a fruit cake for Dearly Beloved to take some to work every day and I'm using up a lot of what we've got.

 Today started with a rigorous house clean. Here in Cornwall, we get a lot of damp and therefore a lot of black mould. I get round this with 21p Tesco value bleach, diluted 50:50 and I spray it on the mould, leave it a while and go back and clean it off. The shower gets mouldy, so do the window frames and corners of rooms, I keep on top of this and usually tackle an area every week.

I've also spent time on recycling today. My towelling bathrobe, that I bought well over ten years ago has all but given up, so I've cut it up this morning for my rag bag. I usually make wash mittens or dish clothes, but I'll keep it for when I need it. One of DB's tee shirts has also given up, so I've cut it into strips to add to the knitted bath mat I'm making.

 I spent a while this morning compiling my menu plan, based initially on what's in the house to last us until Wednesday, when my Tesco delivery arrives between 8pm and 10pm. It's £2.50 cheaper to have it delivered 'off peak' and I can't buy any extras if I don't go to the shop!!

Here's the weekend menu plan

Saturday lunch - Chicken cooked in honey and mustard sauce - 3 for £1 from Aprpoved food and part of my spare food stock (next to no sauce for me courtesy of Monsoir Dukan's advice) with salad - I cooked twice as much last night.

Supper - Corn beef hash for DB (remainder of tin into the fridge to go in his sarnies next week) I'll have some dry fried courgettes with a dash of garlic, with a tin of sardines (21p Asda cheapies - I have several tins of these stashed away) and we'll both have green beans from the poly tunnel with theses.

Sunday breakfast - scrambled egg (I just microwave it) and eat it plain, whilst DB will have his on toast.

Sunday Lunch - beef stew made with carrots and onions, some gravy (don't tell Pierre!) and DB will have some of our early new potatoes with his - I won't.

Sunday supper - steamed smoked haddock (piece reduced to £1.19 in Morrisons) with spinach (out of the freezer) and DB will have some new potatoes and I won't!

Monday Breakfast - oatmeal pancakes for breakfast and DB will have cereal and miilk.

Lunch - DB will have corn beef and homemade chutney sandwich with a piece of fruit cake - I'll have a pot of Tesco Value cottage cheese.

Monday supper - 100% beef burgers with salad, DB will have some homemade oven chips with his - I won't!!! (simple - we eat the same, I eat less and fewer carbs)

Tuesday Breakfast - both can have a ham omelette.

Lunch - DB will have sarnies and cake, I will have a tin of sardines, some toms and a yogurt.

Diet will liven up then as Tesco order will arrive!

 Many people have said very complimentary things about my debt repayments, and my determination to live a simpler life. It does bring its benefits. We eat less so we're healthier. We amuse ourselves so we are less and less reliant on money and we know we can live on very little. This in turn means we don't dwell on what we don't have or might not have in the future. We enjoy the little we have and get on with life. This has had a positive impact on our mental state and we think, as often as we can, about the good things in our life.

 I've had a really good work out in the house this morning. I've cleaned the inside of all the windows and got rid of all the mould around the window frames. I've washed all the clothes and bucket by bucket, watered the borders in the garden and even had some spare to pour onto the lawn. I've showered and washed my hair, as ever, standing in a big blue plastic box and poured the water into spud bags.

It's a busy life, but extremely rewarding. The 'down time' today will include: getting out with some music and getting at least a three mile walk into my day, reading my library book, catching up on the paper DB found on the train last night and walking the dogs.

Busy Saturday and nothing spent..................what a perfect day!

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx

You heard it here first!!!!

I declared war on debt in 2009, I haven't bought any more than the bare necessities since! Today, saw a major defeat of debt in a huge battle. I came home and got onto moneysupermarket and various O% credit (with a 2.9% transfer fee.......still a 10% reduction in creidt charges) card deal sites and got a Natwest card and transferred my car payments, which were at a blood sucking 13.9% and transferred the 4.5K balance onto the card! I also scooped everything, out of every account we have and paid the last £650 off the last credit card (all of which had been transferred to 0% as well!!!!) The balance transfer will save me £549 in interest payments and (drum roll!!!!!) We now snow ball the payment from the car payments and what we were paying for the 0% credit card together and that means the last payment will go on on New Years Eve this year! All that will be left then is the home loan and with the snowball rolling in that direction................we will hit target by paying our last payment in July last year!!!!!

Never fear dear reader; I'm not about to go out and buy new clothes or pay to have my hair done (any way Foster Mummy gave me the best hair cut I've ever had!) Nor am I about to start shopping in Sainsbury's or Marks and Sparks..............life will go on as normal!

Oh yeah! And to celebrate? I switched in the gas boiler! Heated the water and had a deep bath!!! I can nearly afford it now!!!

Monthly devotions to the calculator

The financial month is coming to an end, or as we all know it, the week before payday. It's time to get out the calculator and look at bills and finances. I've been busily not shopping, not putting the heating on, not buying anything and not spending any money. This time, each month, I log onto all of my internet banking sites, my 0% credit card site and check that the balances have gone down. After I've checked all of the bills, I go back to my bank account and 'round off' anything left over. So, a balance of 3873.29, then becomes a balance of 3970.00. When I've finally done rounding everything off, what ever is left gets 'rounded down' to add to my savings account. I usually add around £10 a month extra to my savings account.

I use my savings account to pay for car tax, tyres, servicing and all home related costs. It does mean that I leave myself hardly anything spare at all but I have the huge sense of relief that everything is paid for! I know I have to pay almost £150 a year for car servicing, so £15 of each month's savings has to go towards that. I know I need about £100 a year for clothes and shoes, so I make sure £10 a month goes into the savings account for that. It all seems a bit pathetic really, it doesn't seem very much. It might seem really ridiculous after a day at work, to sit and shuffle pennies in one direction or the other. I promise, I'm not turning into Silas Marner! I actually like to end the month with no money left in my main bank account and know I've reduced debt and given myself some peace of mind.

Thanks all 2000 of you who clicked 'Frugal Queen' yesterday, who became a follower, or who kindly left a comment. I always look forward to hearing from you all.

Until tomorrow,


Froogs xxxx

Bills, budgets and not spending!

 Over a year ago, I read Ilona's blog and down the side of it are a really sensible advice and one piece I've always followed was to write down every penny you spend. I check food prices, diesel prices and if I can't get something at the charity shop or booter, then I judiciously shop round for it. It's a long long haul. The payments have gone through for my holiday and I've written them down and it's left my savings account very much depleted. Every other aspect of my trip is going to be bargain basement and I'll tell you all about that when I go. In the meantime, I'm not giving up on throwing everything I've got at the debts I'm repaying.

I've reached a repayment milestone, from when I started snowballing to throw every penny I had a repayment, which I've been doing seriously for fifteen month, well, I have fifteen months of payments to go.

 Even though I'm close enough to 'feel' half way, I'm really not easing up. I just don't shop! I'm off on holiday and not one new item of anything what so ever will be bought to take with me! Last year, when I cleaned the caravans in the summer holiday, I noticed that there were clothing labels and price tag labels in almost every caravan I cleaned. It was as if, it was normal to buy lots of new clothes when going on holiday. It seems stupid to me; I go on holiday to slum it and work on the principle that no one knows me so what do I care if they think the worse of me.

 In the past, I used to put the holiday on the credit card and then spend a year paying it off! I would also look at holidays as treat time. If wanted something, or to buy someone something, then I wouldn't even think of it! I now have a totally different perspective, the holiday IS the treat!!! We will be taking most of what we need and eat with us, I'll be in a caravan so cooking will be a doddle and the only thing I will buy is wine for DB!

 Having taken steps to not only reduce debt but work towards being debt free is rather like my new exercise regime. To be honest, it's really hard and sometimes I don't want to do it. I'd like a night in front of the telly but I know nothing is ever going to change unless I get outside and move my butt! I'm striding the streets and not really comfortable about doing this in broad daylight in sight of the masses. The beginning of anything is so very very hard.

I learnt a few years ago, if you do something for 30 days, you can programme yourself for it to become a habit. It works for quitting something too. If you can give up: carbs, meat, smoking, drinking, sugar or what ever you've decided to give up, then you've probably done so for life. Therefore, if I'm to accept that philosophy, then after 30 consecutive days of anything, then the pain, discomfort or just feeling an utter twat will diminish! Now I've been a 'non-spender' since 2009, 'going without' doesn't seem any kind of hardship and I don't care what people think of my life style. I've paid back (not paid off.......it wasn't my money!) £22,500! since November 2009! There were some really scary times, times when I had to say no to people who I thought mattered to me, when I've felt uninsured, when there's been nothing left in the freezer and when I've got the car back home on fumes.

 Using my theories of sticking to something for 30 days and then it becoming habit is being really, really tested but I have to have faith in my own convictions that anything is possible if you are brave enough, stick to what you believe in and hang on when it gets tough. My three mile walks, of which half of that is up hill, already seem easier, even after just a few attempts at it. I've conquered a mass of challenges over the past year or so and every footstep in front of the other feels as wonderful as every time I make a payment or pass by a shop without going in. I never ever thought the day would come when I would say, that having a tight budget and sticking to it, over paying and not spending or exercising daily until I work up a sweat would make me feel so very very good!

Thanks so very much to the incredibly kind words you all left for me, £65 in a restaurant was the biggest blow out I've had in years and I agree, it was well spent! Thanks to the 620 of you who are now following and cheering me on from the side lines, and to those of you who read and stop by. The support is just incredible.

Until tomorrow,

Froogs xxxx

A strangle hold grip on debts.

Living on a budget! Not always fun but necessary for everyone! I used budget brain and updated it to show alterations of standing orders and overpayments. Please excuse the big gaps between pictures today but I have screen copies from the budgetbrain website and the format isn't easy to port over. Double click to see the budget below.
You can see these pictures by double clicking them. It makes you put everything on the sheets, from boiler insurance to life insurance. Our clothing allowance is £30 a month and that includes shoes for both of us although that's mainly limited to a new pair of work shoes once a year. As you may already know I buy my clothes from car boot sales, charity shops and posh things from ebay.

Living off a immovable budget is difficult. It means you have to forgo spontaneity and plan for activities. You can never just 'go shopping' unless you have set aside a specific set amount to take and you take that in cash and nothing else. You can not afford meals out and birthday and Christmas presents are always handmade. You start to live very very differently and start to put money aside for trips to relatives as you know you need some spare money for the fuel to get there.
What ever we have left at the end of the month goes onto credit card bills. Every so often, we'll log onto our accounts and see what the 'odds' are. If I have £243.26 in my account, I will often transfer £3.26 over to a credit card account and what ever I have left at the end of the month goes onto my 0% credit card to over pay it even more and pay off what I can. It leaves so very little for anything else that a day out, or something for the house has to be very carefully thought through. If I need a new coat, then I have to make some extra money to do this. If we need anything at all we try and sell something to pay for it, or we wait until payday to spend what's left if there is anything left.

We also try to have a treat, usually on pay day it's about ten quid which we spend on wine, some chocolate and a big bag of crisps. We always factor in a couple of days out a month where we spend a few pounds on some diesel and get out for a day here and there. I also buy a few craft items to make presents from. This month I bought coconut oil, cocoa butter and Shea butter to make some 'posh' soap for presents for family and friends. I will spend money on ingredients for mince meat, Christmas cakes and Christmas puddings, which are also for presents this month too. So a bigger than average spend for the end of September.

I know there are people who read my blog who are: careful with money and are living OK, some are in debt and are already doing something about it, some are on low fixed incomes such as a pension and are using their frugal skills to live as comfortably as possible and some people who need to embark on the journey and lifestyle I am on, but haven't jumped in with both feet just yet.

Where ever you are and who ever you are, make a budget. Know what you have. Know where it's going. You may see, like we did, that there is a little bit of slack and we can pay a little bit more to our debts each month or not worry when the dogs need grooming. We have as Foster Mummy says 'nuff pence' and we're getting by in style. I don't mean to boast but I'm blogging on my lap top whilst wrapped up in bed with the leccy blanket on and I'm deliciously toasty. DB is next to me and reading and our pets are at our feet. All is well!

Getting a grip of debts the painful way!

I've been talking to a few people recently about debt reduction. I feel some people have been badly advised and may take the route of debt consolidation or even debt management,where they hand their debts over to a management company and pay a fee each month, not realising that the only thing that makes debts go away is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is dreadful for your immediate future and means you sometimes can't hire a car, rent a house and certainly not move house or get another mortgage. By far the best route is biting the bullet, accepting a very much reduced standard of living and paying off debts.

Once you get used to living on less money and living differently; soon enough and after a while, it just doesn't matter! I can so easily tell who is and who isn't 'on their arse' by their access to ready cash. So many people that I know have nothing left at the end of the month as they are either living on credit or they have maxxed out! Below is my debt repayment plan. You can only see this properly if you double click it to enlarge it..........I'm not ashamed of being in debt and not ashamed of how I have to pay this off and certainly not ashamed to share the payment plan with anyone who cares to see it.

We decided to pay off everything, which means in the first instance that you stop spending anything at all. Complete cold turkey! If you are in the position that I was in, you can't afford to drink, to smoke, to go to the pub, to have a mini-break, to eat out, to go to the pictures or theatre...............................YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT! You can't afford to use your credit cards EVER! STOP IT!

Martin Lewis uses the analogy of attacking one debt at a time, which we did. We then repaired our credit rating in six months and were able to start moving debts into 0% cards and now we over pay them and we're attacking those debts.

If you are reading this and you are cutting back because you are in debt, please contact me first before you even think of either consolidation, re-financing, re-mortgaging and especially before going anywhere near debt management. There is another way and YES it's going to be painful and it will take a few years but you will walk away debt free, with a credit rating in tact, with your own roof over your head and you will have a better future. Who's coming with me???

For those who have asked - to find the debt snow ball calculator simply google "debt snow ball calculator" - you can also discover how to pay debts off quickly by googling Dave Ramsay or Suze Orman, also watch the 'good debt, bad debt' video by Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert on You Tube - search "Martin Lewis" in You Tube and look for his live stage show/lecture - it's fascinating and will tell you all about paying off debts. Here's Dave Ramsay and his video on debt snowballing

Special delivery!!!!!

I LOVE opening credit card statements as we've paid most of them off!!!!! I moved a huge chunk of Dearly Beloved's credit card to Virgin Bank's 0% and I'm now paying that off at £500 a month!! The balance that was left, that I couldn't transfer due to credit limits, was paid off with my exam marking fees at the end of July! So, after my first day back at work, I arrived home to another zero balance and zero to pay credit card statement! I may be eating from the bottom shelf and the bottom of the freezer, making my own soap and wearing someone else's clothes!! But hey! I'm on the road to being debt free!
I also found this on my doorstep! I assume my neighbours left these for me, some of the tomatoes are a bit green but they are good for chutney.
So I rustled up a quiche and here's how I did it.

Shortcrust pastry - 8oz plain flour, good pinch of salt and 4oz of Tesco version of Utterly Butterly - wizzed in the food processor, dribble in a squirt of cold water and hey! Pastry - put it in the fridge. Cost 7p for flour - 7p for marg - 14p for pastry

Open a pack of Tesco cooking bacon - £1.08 for 500g, use half of it - wrap the other half in clingfilm and freeze it.

Cut said bacon into little cubes, along with a peeled onion, also cut into little pieces and fry - no need for fat. Onion free from the garden.

After frying the onion and bacon, allow to cool.

Roll out pastry and line a flan dish.

Tip cooked bacon and onions into the flan dish.

Beat 6 eggs - 75p - from Pensilva, sold in the fruit and veg shop for £1.50 a doz. - Pour onto the bacon and onions.

Grate 100g of cheddar - on offer for at £4.98 a kilo (Cathedral City) so 49p. and sprinkle on top.

Slice four tomatoes and layer on top - free - on the door step!

Total cost = £1.92 and there are six portions, we had two tonight, we'll have one each for lunch at work tomorrow and one each for lunch on Friday as well. 32p per portion.

Tonight we had ours with grated carrot with some raisins and homemade vinaigrette and some sliced cucumber. Our delicious supper, to celebrate paying off a chunk of debt was under 50p per person and even if I say so myself............it was lovely xx

What do we go to work for?

"Normal" is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work, driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for, in order to get to the job that you need so you can pay for the clothes, the car, and the house that you leave empty all day in order to afford to live in it"

Ellen Goodman

Today is a bit crap to be honest. Its a crap cake, smothered in crap, with crap frosting, with whippy crap on top decorated with crap sprinkles. It's raining, my car is making a funny noise which might indicate an imminent huge expense, it's cold and I went to work yesterday (in my unpaid holiday) worked all day and today, I've worked all day again. I love teaching, but I don' t like my 60 hour working week when I actually get paid for 32.5 hours! Nor do I like working in my holidays. I've read my own blog today and I've counted the sum of my days and they are good, nonetheless I want to work to live and not the other way round. I'm in the have no choice but to work bracket as I've determined my own future through my own choices and now I must pay............for a while. Below is the dream I hang on to and I'm almost in a position to downsize and make that a reality.

I have to remember the plan; where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. My personal debts, will be non-existent in 2012 or sooner. I will have received two incremental pay rises and will be better off. Sell big house (economy may be better? or not!) buy tiny two down, with garden big enough to grow a few veggies, a couple of chickens and some where to dry the washing and pay off the mortgage by 2018! Who knows what I might do after I have paid off the mortgage - Oh I know!!!! I will work to do things I like doing instead of just surviving.
Sound familiar??

Now I really must stop moaning and get back to work!

Walk a mile in my shoes.

Come with me, through Respryn woods, along the River Fowey and share what I thought of today.

In 1997, after five abusive years, I picked up my two kids and left. I left a man with in excess of 2 million pounds worth of assets who then took me to court for custody of our daughter and kept me in and out of court for the next four years. Each time, he would turn up with a barrister and as I was not entitled to legal aid, turned up and defended myself, until, in desperation I too hired a barrister. Each 'bout' cost us about £7,000 for a few hours or so in front of a judge. Every time we did this, with no money, all we could do was remortgage the house. Anyone with children would have done the same. In the end, we spent almost £25,000 just to stop him taking my daughter away from me with no reason but spite. So we got into the spiral of debt.
We initially bought the only house we could afford in a district of Plymouth called Keyham (btw - I left my ex with nothing but scars and our clothes), nice enough but not a safe area. We worked hard, renovated our home and moved to the only house we could afford in a good area of Stoke, another district in Plymouth. We replaced every downstairs floor joist, all the render and plaster, we built and extension, installed a kitchen and bathroom and carpeted the place. At the same time, I had two jobs and went to Exeter university to get my English degree. Like many modern students, my education also added to my debts.
I reflected on my life, my walk as I walked the dogs today. There are people who read this, who have known me for years, who will vouch for what I say. I haven't run up debts on designer handbags, but clothes for work, shoes for my kids and keeping a roof over our head...........especially when we found dry rot and had to have a new one built! I don't drive a Mercedes, I drive a Fiat. I bought a four bedroomed house as five adults moved into it in 2007 when we bought it! I renovated the entire of the house I now live in for five thousand pounds and as it had cat piss stained pink shag pile carpet and groovy wall paper and smelt like and old people's home........I had little choice but to do the place up.
We did holiday for four years in France and my exam marking money paid for it. I haven't run up debts being extravagant; I just used to kid myself that I could afford to have the heating and lights on at the same time! Both my kids went to 'good schools' and every school trip, choir tour, £100 blazers!!! were bought with credit cards if I couldn't afford them and the kids had to have them.
We then moved house, when I got a new job in Cornwall in the property boom of 2007, when house prices were at their peak and we ended up with a huge mortgage. Cornwall is one of the most expensive places to live in the UK and I had no option but to take out a 200K mortgage! Then prices of: food, fuel, utilities etc went sky high and suddenly we were financially worse off. After having a mortgage application for a smaller house refused, we decided to pay off what we owed and drastically change our life style. We have halved our debts since doing that but the privations are extreme. We could have taken a softer longer journey but I prefer the short term pain. My family and friends have supported me every step of this rocky journey as have people who read this blog, and for that am I extremely grateful.
Even my work place have embraced my lifestyle, allowing me to teach the kids 'real' cooking on a budget as a school activity. Colleagues who read my blog have taken up tutoring and a more frugal lifestyle to pay off their debts and people openly talk about the money they owe and how they want to get off the 'commercial' money go round and live differently. People I work with proudly show me their charity shop finds and how they made a few quid on Amazon and Ebay.
As I turned the corner in Respryn woods today and saw this sign, I looked into the distance and saw the castle and even though it looked so close, it was still up hill. My castle is now in sight, but it's still up hill. I still have further to go than the distance I have travelled and the terrain gets rougher as I push myself harder. We are getting better at doing more with even less, better at earning more money and better at living ethically and with less impact on the planet. I genuinely appreciate the words of support that came with me on my walk today; I don't do it alone.

Debt Demolition

About a year ago, when we were refurbishing the house, ready to sell it. I maxed out my credit card! I then realised I would have to take a much reduced price on my house if I wanted to sell it and we calculated that we had lost 40K in equity in 2 years! We soldiered on and sold the house and were then informed by Santander Bank, that our mortgage application was refused as we had too much personal borrowing. The mortgage refusal came in December and we approached Christmas knowing that our sale and purchase could not happen and we were in a very bad place financially. We sent off for a credit report and all told we owed almost 45K in personal loans, credit cards, car finance, home loans etc. We were always careful and were ambitious with our homes and climbed the property ladder to a four bedroomed detached............that we could afford but only at a squeak.
My new year resolution was to pay off my debts! Today we owe 25K approx and have almost halved our debts since last Christmas. I looked every where for advice and took the advice of Suzy Orman and Dave Ramsay, who were giving American far more radical advice than the softly softly approach of Martin Lewis, who advises a budget first and then pay the max of your debts after that! Oh no! Oh boy! I decided to pay off the max of my debts and live off what ever was left. We've bought nothing! The lights have stayed off. The tumble drier has gone, the dishwasher has been retired and we've bought no new clothes and we don't go out! Anywhere really!
I worked in the summer break, cleaning caravans. Dearly Beloved does any overtime available. I've worked as a one to one tutor, I've marked exams and we've sold anything and everything on e-bay and Amazon. Today I realised that I had been paid by AQA and paid off the last £1300 that I owed to Santander Bank, every penny and didn't leave myself the price of a lipstick! I also paid off the £36 we owed to MBNA and that card has gone. Now all of Dearly Beloved's credit cards are on 0% and now my snowball of £500 a month goes to paying off £5000 which I transferred to Virgin on 0% and that will be paid off by May 2011, in fact by May 2011, we will only owe money towards the car and ban loan and we will be able to snowball all of our money towards them. My estimation is that we will be debt free by midnight of 2011 and will start 2012 as new people!
I always feel totally elated when I clear another debt! Today I am on top of the world! even though I've got only £133 to see me to pay day (which I've learnt is more than ample!) and my big treat today was to visit friends and their little children! (who were so entertaining) I've also had confirmed some 'home boarding' work for the summer and my first dogs arrive next Saturday! All is very good here!

Monthly budget

It's that time of the month again, when we sit down, work out everything coming in and everything we have to pay and wonder what we are going to do with the tuppence ha'penny we have left!

This month I cleared the last £1.76 off my Halifax, so the balance is ZERO! My other card is now receiving the snowballed payment of the full £500 per month, which means my Santander balance will be down to £1300 (after receiving my tutoring fees in July's wages - that will be zero too) We have transferred one of DB's 21% cards over to Barclays on 0% and that will be paid off in ten monthly payments of £210. I have transferred his other card to Virgin, again on 0% and that will also be paid off in ten monthly payments of £500 (I'll make the first payment when I've cleared my Santander card, in July I will have to make the minimum payment.) We are left this month with £315 to live on, to buy all food, clothing and anything else we need, which is fortunate that we don't need anything!

I don't count the lodger's £30 a week, and usually buy the groceries when we get paid and then use what ever we have left in the 'pot' at the end of the month to put towards a debt. With our projections we will have paid off another £11,294 in ten months..............I know what you're thinking, if we were not in debt, then we would have masses of savings! We will get there!

This is the time of year when I work the hardest and try to make as much money as I can! I get all the money I'm owed with my July wages, then I'll wipe out £2300 in one go. I'm also going to be far more proactive about lodgers in the future and aim to rent my room out all week, to make some more tax free money.

I'm looking forward to spending my summer holiday, in a deck chair in my garden, or doing craft of walking on the moors with the dogs...........roll on the holidays!

Looking for the next debt repayment opportunity.

Some people look for investments; I spend my time judiciously looking for opportunities to repay debts. I will have cleared my credit card debts by July and then will take up Dearly Beloved's credit cards and loans. I'm quite open about the money I owe and the lengths I will go to save money and pay back as much as I can as quickly as I can. I will be paid for exam marking in the beginning of August and I shall pay off two thirds of a small loan that DB has and then his payments will not simply be swallowed up by interest. I'm totally exhausted at the moment but I'm adrenalin driven. My next big frugal mission is to get rid of the dishwasher. I'm amazed by the amount of electricity it uses. I might hate washing up but I hate paying utility bills even more! Think of me on Monday when my 450 exam scripts arrive and I will do my own job and then hours of marking until the early hours to get it done! Every little helps.

On the up!

We've had an extremely productive weekend. Firstly I procured a bed really cheaply and will now clear out my junk room and advertise for another lodger. I'm finding the extra £30 a week in cash to be really useful and means I can fill the car up with diesel or put some money aside. I managed to get all the bedding in a charity shop, including the duvet, which the lady in the Salvation Army shop said that she'd washed herself. Secondly we managed to transfer high interest credit card balances to 0% cards!
We set off today on our favourite 'wild walk'. I inspect how the wild plums, crab apples, overhanging pears from people's gardens are doing. I know where the best blackberries will be found and I keep an eye on all of this.
We went down through the woods and I filled my pockets with wild garlic. I wonder if it has garlic bulbs like cultivated garlic?
This wood is in the middle of Liskeard and it masks the sewerage works and pumping station for the entire town. It's a wonderful piece of public space and provides some much needed shade and cool for my poor dogs who suffer in the heat.

Here's Dearly Beloved looking all wistful and romantic......which he is!
Above is the pumping station. I love the effort the water board has gone to. I'm glad the highest water bills in the country is reaping some rewards for us.
I have to stop and stare on a regular basis. I love the blossom. I'll wait a couple of days for the rest of the elder flower to blossom and go and gather some to make elder flower fritters.

I have digressed somewhat. We must have improved our credit ratings. We have both managed to secure sizable 0% balance transfers for our credit cards. I will pay off one over the next two months and then start hammering away at one of DB's credit cards. Due to the 0% cards, we'll pay off debts even sooner. I have even managed to secure a meeting with my mortgage provider, Santander to investigate a renegotiation of our mortgage deal and hopefully be able to sell and downsize. A smaller house would mean a shorter mortgage (in time) and I'll be able to simplify my life altogether.