Hi

I used to post on here a couple of year's ago and the Get Organised Boards and I found them really helpful.  I've managed to with the boards help to reduce my debt to nil and we now have no overdraft ect.  We have in recent months become less frugal and are spending what we earn so need to tighten our belts again.

We managed to get married last month and not have any debt and we had a wonderful day and time and can now start our married life without any money worries.  The problem is we've exhausted all of our reserves and savings :-0

I guess I kind of feel exposed not having anything of a buffer in case anything goes wrong etc.  We want to move house and we want to replace the car soon.  All of these are going to take pennies that we just don't have at the moment.

I look forward to getting to know you all and exchanging tips. 

Kaz x

Hi Kaz,

It's lovely to have you :D

How about having a really good sort out and then doing a car boot sale/table top sale or sell on an auction website? I know this probably won't raise a lot of cash but you'll probably be surprised how much. Also, if you want to move house it's good to streamline before you have the hassle of packing everything.

Rachel

Hi Kaz,

I remember when you were here an on GO before! Welcome back :-)

Congratulations on the debt free wedding and for paying off all your debts. I understand the thing about slackening off - it's a natural release valve after you've sacrificed to pay off the debts imo.

We're looking to move house too so ikwym about needing all the spare cash you can get!

Hi

Thanks for that.  I've sold a few items on an auction site and have loads I could sell I think its another thing on my never ending to do list I don't seem to get round to so I think I will have to get my act into gear.

I don't fancy the early start to do a car boot sale and the weather is abyssmal now so I'll probably give it a miss until next year.  I have given loads of things away on freecycle though to try and clear some clutter and put things in charity bags or taken them to the skip if they weren't salvagable.

I think I need some structure to get things sorted little bit at a time.

I've gone through my direct debits and been brutal and cancelled everything that is non essential.  I always shop around for good deals on insurance etc and have changed energy suppliers not so long ago.

I even claimed back my ppi insurance which paid off the last of my credit card debt - yay.

Kaz x

Hi Sam

Thanks for the welcome back.  Things seem to have creeped up on us like buying lunch instead of making it or getting far too many takeaways because we are busy.  It's a great time of year though for food as I love soups and stews and love using my slow cooker it's fantastic.

We planned our wedding in three months and used what savings we had plus help from our parent's to pay for the wedding and honeymoon.  Now we have got to this pay day and we have no savings whatsoever so if anything were to go wrong we have nothing to call on.  This has made us look at what we were doing financially and although we have some wedding money that is not to be touched until we move home to pay for things for the new house.

We have been on the market for well over 12 months now and have had a few viewings including one last week but no offers as of yet.  We are also going through job evaluation at the moment and my letter says that in two year's I will lose a third of my salary.  They say that this letter is incorrect and that where our sector of jobs is concerned the process is flawed.  They are looking into correcting this but at the moment the letter stands.  My mortgage adviser tells me I have a legal obligation to declare this letter which will scupper my chances of getting a decent mortgage :-0  I just hope they sort things out soon, at least before I need to move.

What I would really like is a six month buffer of bills money including mortgage.  This will then ensure that if either of us goes off sick there will be money to fully cover at least six months.  We get paid six months full pay, six months half pay and then nothing so at least we would have some buffer then.  It will probably take us years to save this sort of money though and we need a new car etc.  We can but dream I suppose.

I will definitely be taking on board any frugal tips on offer !

Kaz x