Debt mutual support thread number 4 .... every journey starts with the hardest first step

[TalkinPeace]

This thread follows on from Nerf's incredibly useful
FIRST www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/1969188-Can-we-have-a-support-thread-for-people-who-are-massively-in-debt
and then SECOND
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/2011878-Debt-support-thread-2?
and my THIRD
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/a2062902-Debt-Number-3-For-those-who-feel-they-are-drowning-and-want-a-way-out?msgid=48505428#48505428
threads about realising you are in and supporting each other out of debt.

I am not in debt, any more.
Here is a link to some spreadsheets that might help
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legal_money_matters/1987219-SPREADSHEETS-for-Debt-Control-Budgeting-Mortgages-etc

and lots of people use this
YouNeedABudget

The important thing to remember is

• yesterday is as past as the Crimean War

( we will not judge how you got into debt, but we will support you on the way out )

• this is an anonymous forum

( we will not tell your employer, family or friends of the reality of your numbers )

• this thread is about supporting people through the huge mindset changes needed to come out of debt

( feel free to offload all of the feelings that drive you to want to spend, that make it hard to save and that generally make life crap at times )

Join in, bare your soul and come out the other end.
Its worth it.
You are worth it.
The long term results for you, your marriage and your children are worth it.

Dd aged 11 has an Asus memo pad and it's brilliant, I think they are under £100 now. It works as well as dhs ipad.

didyou well we have had our hands burnt with a Kurio - just pants really, DS wants the apple apps, they are unrivaled in my opinion. He likes to make stop animation films with his lego and he has got into coding recently. I did consider the kindle HD with the camera but again..I suppose we are apple converts we have 6 devices in the house (yee gods listen to me on my debt thread - all purchases made before but ones which I would standby DH does his music I study on mine.)

I will also be putting all his 11+ online learning stuff and reading books on it. My DC are young enough to easily monitor their time and not have to worry about social media. though Im a bit about youtube.

Thanks nerf I know if we really wanted to get out of it all quicker we could cancel gym, sky, not have new car and downsize existing, no holidays. So you see I still feel a bit of guilt knowing we still living a bit and not pulling out all the stops. DH thinks it's ok as long as we stick to overpayments and dont spend anymore on cards - happy to live a little.

If we were debt free and no childcare we would be 1300 per month better off.

Good for you fairy I need to sort car insurance, ive already let a cheaper quote from Aviva time out - its boring isnt it! But £40 thats a weeks food shop here at the moment.

Jickjack Im hoping for just that - Ive been in forest during snowfall in feb half term and it was so pretty. Ive also visited Whinfell in Dec and it was all decorated nice - th log cabins just have that lovely alpine feel - fake snow around the lake - mince pies and irish coffees at the Lake Inn!

Hello all I had my op and am now feeling rather stiff and sore. Annoyingly the drs/surgeons didn't see fit to come and actually tell me what they did/found inside (they were working off a CT which showed abnormalities and had presented me with a sort of sliding scale of possibliies.

Even more annoyingly, because drs haven't been I am stlll being starved "as a precaution" and they won't be here until 930 tomorrow now.
Theres 1 nurse on our ward (2 massive bays + 3 private rooms) and there should be two, so it's along wait for pain meds etc.

I am ringing AXA at 8am to see if I can be transferrred to a private hospital for post-op care, I am sick of this. No pun intended.

yaya nerf congrats! Hmm badvoc I'm adding that Vegeree to my post-op menu list (which is a mile long...)

yay!*

I hope you are comfortable and dont have to wait too long for pain meds and you are seen to first thing Peonies a few no spend days for you then?

agree about the ipad.
I've got a gotab 7" tablet - it cost £80 and it's really good. for someone who demands the best of this this and this, then yeah, let them have an ipad, but my tablet is perfectly fine and actually pretty good.
it's got 4gb of storage (I put stuff onto my computer if I run out of space), most apps get be downloaded from Google play, attaches to the wifi, great for internet and dd can work it!

Actually I have a money query ! All you whizzkids out there - I want a tablet to replace my ailing laptop, and will be able to sell laptop for a couple of hundred (they're going on eBay for around that) but obviously will need to keep it until after I buy tablet then reimburse my savings. I'll be saving/selling stuff on eBay to raise the cash in full so I have time to play with.

As if they read my mind (do they? ) my phone provider rang me up this week and offered me a free tablet with a 3G contract with them. What do we think? Rip off? Should I price a tablet, then price 3G contact + VAT for the 12 months? I can save the money for the monthly fee in advance so I'm not taking on a new debt/bill. Could even see if I can pay for the year up front.

Fairy

Are you using cashback sites for the insurance too?. I put dh on as a named driver, even when he had points it was massively cheaper with him on there.

Sounds like a good deal to me Missa.
As- I am going to go against the grain and advise you to get them an iPad :)
We got ds2 a cheaper tablet (ds1 had an ipad2 bought with his b day money) and tbh it just wasn't as good. Apple apps - esp the educational ones - are far superior IMHO.
Both mine have ipad2s which have been fine.

Fairy lea - that's important stuff though, because actually £20 is a lot of money to lose in unnecessary car insurance. I'm really careful now about letting five pounds go here and there, I think it's the right attitude to treat money with respect.

Totally agree that some tablets are a waste of money - kurio was dire and a false economy. However I'm not convinced that an iPad is the only option - we have kindle fires which are great and very very easy re parental controls (kurio was awful) and a hudl which I wouldn't buy again for a younger child. Both between 100 to 150, although less because I used tesco club card boost.

Peonies, so sorry you are still suffering - do you now have a diagnosis?

Erm, sorry if I missed anyone x

Nerf I totally agree about the odd £20 meaning a lot - I got charged an extra £17 on my credit card this month as I used it to pay my dental bill as I'd forgotten my switch card a few weeks ago - I got the bill this weekend and am about it. I probably wouldn't even have realised before I came on this thread and got YNAB.

I got an email yesterday to say we are getting our ENTIRE deposit back from our other flat, I'm thrilled that our week of cleaning paid off.

And I hope everyone likes the vegeree recipe! I had my DB, DSiL and my parents over on Sunday for brunch (cheaper than Sunday lunch!) and made that, overnight oats with grated apple and raisins and lots of tea and coffee - everyone seemed to really like it and it only cost me about a fiver.

MissA I would definitely be asking to be transferred, it sounds nerve-shredding!

trainers that sounds amazing... I am soooo hungry! NHS guidelines say nonone should be fasted longer than 6 hours unless absolutely necessary - I've not eaten since 6pm on Sunday "as a precaution"

Will ring phone provider in a bit and find out about the tablet contract.

Who wanted an ipad mini?

This code gets you £30 off in sainsburys, DMVP-HQ63-7LXR.

re tablets : no tablets in this house.
Because typing essays for secondary homework needs a laptop.
Tablets are essentially toys
When it comes to real work (DD is doing A levels) laptops are king
and they start at around £300 new, £150 recon from ebay

DH and I both use laptops : he for his writing and presentations and CAD software (and tablets have no cable connectors so cannot link up to secured networks)
me for all my HMRC stuff that only works on Windows

MissAnnersley
NHS guidelines say no-one should be fasted longer than 6 hours unless absolutely necessary
Where on earth do they get that idea from?
Fasting for 24 hours is just fine. No water for 8 hours is just fine (we do it every night after all)
Hope the docs are polite to you when they appear.

tip I don't think it's seen as dangerous, just cruel. It is one thing choosing to fast for a period of time in an informed way and another to be forced to do so for surgery that never materialises. I was fasted on Thursday and Friday then again from 6pm Sunday until 9am this morning, hardly acceptable IMO.

The iPad "deal" from my phone company is risible -
£840 over 24 months for an iPad that costs £399 . As if!??

Blimey! What a con!
Hope you are feeling better soon Missa.

Ooh, Ooh, is chuffed.
Just saved £152.64 on my car insurance.
The renewal from Direct Line said £346
Logged into Chrome using an incognito window (blocks all cookies) and the Direct Line site
Copied quote details in as a new customer : it came up with £193
so I phone Direct Line, they match the online quote.
Job done.

Hope you feel better soon miss.

Tip that's really good :) well done... great tip re clearing the cookies.

I finished off my insurance stuff today and saved £40 a month as I thought I would, really pleased with that. Also joined the rac for breakdown cover and got a £20 petrol card :) all helps!

Ooh good thriftiness TIP! I need to clear cookies before booking some train tickets, I can't believe how cheeky travel companies are.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets/?utm_source=CRM_V2Sep2014&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=solus_TicketySplit

Have you tried this Trainers?

Fluffy
All of those sites (and the holiday ones) put cookies on your machine so they can tweak the price next time you search.
They hate it when you search with cookies blocked as they cannot track you and charge you more.

Well done TIp, good reminder that even post debt you need good habits.
Peonies - when I had the children I had to fast (planned sections) and it was horrible. It's the cups of tea I missed rather than big meals.
Erm, there was something else. Maybe the iPad? Think I've covered alternatives