Hello Dear Reader,

If you did just one thing that I suggested yesterday to get rid of debt, then you are on the road to freedom. Here’s the one thing I want you to do this week. I want you to stock take your house.

Go to your wardrobes and drawers and check all the items of clothing that you have. What can be sold? What needs laundering and hanging up ready to wear. What do you have that you can alter to make into a new outfit? Pair up all your socks, repair your tights and turn anything grey or baggy into dusters and dish clothes. Now assess what you have and take a make do and mend mentality. Create outfits and photograph them with garments side by side. Play with this and add a scarf or a darker t-shirt and look for more variations. ‘Shop’ your own wardrobe and make the most of what you have. If you really need something then take a look in the charity shops first. A word of warning about charity shops, do not use them for retail therapy - only go in them if you genuinely need something!

Check your furniture. Does it need a steam clean? Does it need sanding and waxing? Does it need a coat of paint? You are going to ‘shop’ your house and make do with what you have. Do you have curtains you will never use? Try making loose covers or cushions to give your sofa a new look. Try sewing two sets of curtains together to have a two tone or cut into strips and sew together to get a totally new look altogether. Do you have any paint in the shed or under the stairs? Clean down and sand down the woodwork and freshen the place up. All this going to keep you busy? That’s the point, busy people are never bored and don’t have time for shopping.

Dig out your books and check what you have. Sort into those you will not keep and those you will read. Take all your cookery books to the kitchen and find space on a shelf for them. Underline the simple and affordable recipes and try them out. Now build time to sit and read your books. All those wasted hours in shopping centres will now be replaced with reading.

Tidy out your airing cupboard and check your linen. Sheets make useful dust covers for sofas to save them from wear, tear and pets. They also make good curtain liners to add extra warmth in the winter. You can use sheets as quilt backs and they also add extra insulation to your bed in the winter and I often use two bottom sheets along with a fleece blanket under them to keep us warm in an unheated house. Check your tea-towels and cut any down into napkins or dish clothes as you won’t be buying any more kitchen rolls or paper tissues. You’ll line dry them too! Check all your towels. The tatty ones can be cut down and made into wash mits - see here for instructions or flannels. Old towels make great door mats by doubling then and sewing them together like a quilt. On a wet day then can save any footprints that the door mat doesn’t absorb.

Stock take your kitchen. Over the next few weeks, you are going to use up that stir-fry sauce, you will use up those packets of rice, you will soak those pulses and use them. You are going to eat down your freezer and any stockpile you have. These are going to be difficult times and a perfect time to use up what you’ve been storing ‘just in case’. Your mission is to eliminate food waste and use up whatever your have because it’s good food and waste is a real shame. You are also going to menu plan with what you have first. If you have a mass of cous cous, rice or pasta then you don’t need to buy any potatoes or oven chips as you have all the starch you need and you are going to make do.

Stock take your shed or garage. Is there a bike languishing in there? Have the children out grown their’s? If so, either freecycle them (always someone worse off that you) or sell them. Learn how to service a bike via Youtube and sort your bikes out. You won’t need a gym membership (never had one whilst I was in debt) as you are going to get out and about and ride that bike.

Check out your garden. Do you have any growing space for any veggies? As a word of caution, if you were starting from scratch, buying tools, wood for raised beds, netting, bean poles ect. then this can prove more expensive than vegetables from Harrods unless you are going to keep this us. It can be great fun but you are also at the mercy of a wet summer and shortened growing periods. Why not check out your garden and keep your lawn weed free, your hedges clipped and tidy, your borders can be bulked out with cuttings and by lifting and dividing plants. Keep your garden in order to maintain what you have.

Check out your empty spaces. Is that back bedroom empty? Rent it out on weekdays to folk working away from home. Is that shed empty then offer it for storage for payment. Is your garage or driveway devoid of any car? Then rent the space, especially is you live in a city where car space is hard to find. More and more uni students are mature students and they don’t want to live in Halls and they are willing to house share in term time only and are looking for somewhere quiet to study.

If you’ve checked everything out then sit back and count your blessings. You have plenty of clothes, serviceable furniture, plenty to do, plenty to read, a small income source and a welcoming garden. Now total how rich you feel and marvel in the fact that you need next to nothing.

You won’t be shopping for years and this spirit of making the best of what you have will sustain your through debt repayments. Tomorrow, I will be focussing on the kitchen and cooking on a tight budget.

Over to you Dear Reader. Who has sent an email to Radio Cornwall on [email protected] Who is on their way to debt freedom? Who is taking the first steps? Who is scared to reduce their lifestyle and equally scared of the next bill they can not pay? There’s no judgement here as I’ve been in debt and know how hard it is to get out of debt. Share your thoughts on debt busting week so far.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxx