Hello Dear Reader,

I’ve been to the slimming club tonight and I’m as inspired by the honesty of why people are not losing weight as I am with the weight loss. To be honest, I’m quite good at sticking to something and allowing myself the odd bit of cheese or a sweet as a small treat and when I’m focused I am totally ‘on it’! I learned that from paying off debt, I took it head on and mustered up all my discipline every day and totally stuck at it. Now, I’m comfortable, I can make measured and budgeted purchases. (I bought DB a new bike at the weekend and I just loved being able to do that as I’d saved the money to get it for him.)

In the main, I know I’m preaching to the choir but I’m always aware that you dear reader, may have searched online for help or advice about tackling debt and some how you arrived here. I don’t just write here but write for other websites too.

Take a look here at - Three simple steps to tackle debt.

as we’ve got one coming up this weekend, take a look at Bank Holidays Don’t Mean a Trip to the Bank

and as everyone needs to look at their budget every now and then Take time to budget

And!!!! As there’s a school half term break next week think about how you can stretch the fun without stretching the budget

School holiday part 1.

School holiday part 2.

Finally, think about how you keep a rein on the purse string and are literally The Chancellor of your own exchequer.

I hope you find any of this useful. You can leave a comment here and let me know if you don’t want it published. You can use the contact details above to get in touch with me. I know some of you are waiting to hear back and I will take time in my half term to answer in more detail.

I always love hearing from you and feel free to get in touch.

Happy reading and I’ll be back tomorrow,

Oh…..the slimming club? I lost another 1.5lbs so 9lbs down in total. I hope to be a stone (14lbs) lighter by the end of June. Like paying down debt or controlling a budget, I know it can be done and I also know that it takes time and I have to stick at it.

Love Froogs xxxxx

Hello Dear Reader,

As I promised you this morning, here is my reply to your email. Thanks for agreeing to me answering on here and allowing this ‘quandry’ to be thought about in the open. I’ll let that phrase ‘in the open’ rest with you a while and let you think about it.

Here without any details of who or where are the issues: decent job, a life style to maintain and most of it is for show and all funded by credit that you will pay later. It’s now amassed to thousands . One of the partnership feels duty bound to maintain this lifestyle whilst you, who wrote to me are worried and want a different way. The words that struck a chord with me and will with many who read this is that you are ‘at your wits end with worry’. So many people in debt lose sleep, their health suffers and their children are affected by the worry of their parents. Debt can and does cause severe mental health problems which can lead to more debt and more worry. It can be a downward spiral but here’s the positive thing. You’ve asked for help and here’s my public promise to you…….I’m with you every step of the way!

Your partner is still in the earn it, spend more that they earn and keep spending phase of this issue and you want advice. Well here it is! If he can’t help himself, if he’s spiraling ever downwards then you are going to have to use shock tactics and take control of the situation. You know how much the debt is so I assume from that that you are aware of: overdrafts, credit cards, car payments and loans. You must also be aware of monthly amounts and payment schedules. If not then, by any means, find out. Get all of the facts and figures and sorry to mention this, but the figure you think is the final amount may be smaller than you think.

You are going to need to find out a set of figures: total monies coming in and total monies going out. You will need to track all spending for a month: fuel, car costs, running costs, all direct debits and keep every receipt. Where do you spend money? Do you eat takeaways? eat in restaurants? buy clothes? go on day trips? weekends away? have club memberships? wine club memberships? occasional spending…….those trips to Tesco for a top up soon stack up? You need to get a picture of who spends what, when and what are you buying?

The big part of this that most people avoid is confrontation, challenge and change and you are both going to have to face up to all of these. If you’ve never had a row about money before, then you are just about to. There will be upset, crying, door slamming and emotional purging. One of you is having an affair with spending and the other is being cheated on! For some people this is a deal breaker but a real, strong and truly loving relationship will survive this. If one of you has the financial control, spends everything and leaves the partner worrying about this then you’ve got one heck of a domestic on your hands. All you can do is put on your big girl’s knickers and your Wonder woman cape and dig in for a long slog.

The good news! Your debts are half your annual income. Ours were two thirds of our joint annual income (at the time, we earn less now) and with total determination and short term deprivation we made our way out of debt in less than two years. If you pledge one third of your after tax income per month to debt repayment, you can be out of debt in two years. Any one can suffer any lifestyle change for such a short space of time.

Now here’s the only tough bit if one of you is living a lie and that big fat smelly lie is trying to keep up with the Jones when you can’t afford it. Be honest!!! You can turn down invites for a couple of years because you are trying to improve your family’s finances. That’s all you need to say. Yes, some people will be numpties and challenge that but you don’t have to grace them with any sort of answer. Let them think what they like! We told people we were paying off debts and were not ashamed to say we are improving our family finances. If people didn’t like it then they can lump it! We didn’t go anywhere or do anything until we were debt free and now we are, we still mostly turn down invites as we still don’t have money to throw away. If I can’t turn up to your wedding in my ordinary clothes then you don’t want the real me so what am I going for?

Yes, people, usually in debt themselves, will do the willy waving, look at my: car (on finance), holiday (on the credit card), flashy kitchen (on a bank loan) and try and impress you. If you are genuine friends, then carry on being genuine friends but start to weed out the chaff of the fakers, piss takers and hangers on and rid yourselves not only of debt but the dusty collection of people with bad habits who are more interested in what you have instead of a genuine friendship where people can be honest with each other. Think of it this way, if you’d given up alcohol, would you still stand in a boozy pub with a bunch of drunks whilst you were sipping on barley water? It’s just not compatible. You may need to move on and keep on moving.

So lovvie, here is the summary. Get the facts - what do you owe? what are the monthly repayments? what are you spending money on? The tough bit, you’ve got to woman up! He’s got his head up his **** and you’re worried sick. It’s time for you to have equal say and if you want the debts gone then you’ve really go to show him how it can be done by looking at what you can stop spending money on to free up money to pay off debts. Remember the figure, one third of your after tax income needs to go on debt repayment a month.

1. Build up an emergency fund first - we worked on £500 in the bank that was for real emergencies! Christmas is not an emergency, it’s an annual occurrence!!

2. List all your debts from smallest to largest.

3. Keep paying the minimum payment on all of them.

4. Take one third of your after tax income and throw it all the smallest debt first.

5. When that is all gone, take all the money you were paying on that debt and move it to the next and keep paying the minimum payment on that debt too (minimum payment + third of after tax income).

6. By my calculations, you should have all your debts gone in two years! If you have a good credit score then use interest free credit cards to move debts into and pay off debt quicker. Make sure you pay off the balance before the free credit is up. Use price comparison sites to get the best deals on this such as Go compare.

With the two thirds of your after tax income break that down into:

1. Mortgage.
2. Utilities - switch and save - get the best deals
3. Insurances - use price comparison site and also cashback sites to get the best deals plus cashback.
4. Food - switch down, go down a brand, use generic, shop in the local market, Lidl, Aldi and buy supermarket basic. Home cook, bulk cook, menu plan and set a budget each week and stick to it.
5. Transport to work costs - you’ve got to keep your jobs. Find a price for servicing and start setting aside a monthly amount to cover the cost when it’s due. Cost £300 so you need to set aside £25 a month into an account to pay for this. if your bus fare, train pass is a regular amount to commute to work then this is at the top of your priorities.
6. Clothes, your child is growing so clothe him/ her - there are good clothes for children in Primark, Tesco, Asda and you don’t need to spend much. You and your husband are not growing so make so with what you have! Sell excess clothes on ebay and keep clothes in a Paypal account to use for vitals such as new work shoes, bras, boxers or tights.
7. Sell everything you don’t need - use the money to pay off debts.
8. Only buy birthday and Christmas presents for children, the adults can get by with a token….who doesn’t love a shower gel or bar of chocolate! If they need impressing then ask yourselves about the kind of shallow plonkers you hang round with!
9. Set aside 5% from the two thirds of your after tax income for saving, this will pay for school trips, hair cuts and real necessities. Make up is not a necessity……….Mua in Superdrug or Aldi’s make up if it is vital to you but get used to buying 98% less than you every used to.
10. Money left at the end of the month? Move it one month into a savings account and one month as a debt over payment.


Now here’s the most important one! Earn extra money!!! All of that money will go to an ongoing emergency fund that needs topping up. If the washing machine breaks down, the car needs new tyres, your only shoes have a split in the sole, then you need to turn to savings as you can not add one penny to the debts. This is the first phase of the new way of living, you only spend real money. Your own, that you’ve earned that month or saved from previous months. This amount will be meagre to some but it’s the realistic amount of money that you have and be proud of it. You’ve earned it, it’s yours. It will be more than some but less than others. It will have to be enough as now, that’s all there is!

Here’s the target date, in May 2017, you will be debt free! You will have a disposable income of one third of your after tax salary per month.

It is possible.

Now gird your loins, you’ve got a blinkered, stubborn, resistant to change man to nudge firmly in the right direction. Be loving, be charming, be kind but be firm! You will need to love each other more than ever over the next two years and at times, you both will be all you have to keep yourselves going.

Keep in touch lovvie and good luck.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxx

Hello Dear Reader,

Hello Dear Reader,

Across the UK and behind closed doors, people are lying. They lie about how much money they earn, they spend, how many clothes they buy, how often the use their credit cards and they lie about their credit card bills. Worst of all, they lie to their partners and to themselves.

I know, because you tell me, that some of you are trying to reduce family spending alone because your partner does’t share the same view point. They tell you that life is for living and that you might die tomorrow. In all likeliness, you’ll live into shivering old age because you didn’t save money to keep yourself in your dotage. In most cases, the lives you describe are openly antagonistic with one person being thrifty and the other being a spendthrift. I have no idea to sort out your relationship problems or what advice to give you. You have to make your own decisions.

I would ask everyone to think of the following. Do you and your partner know how much the other earns? Do you both sit down and work on household accounts together? Are you both responsible for balancing the books and paying the bills? Do you both check receipts and keep a record of spending? I’m not asking you to turn your dining room table into Barclays but you should be at least able to be honest about spending. If you are both in the financial dark then you could shed some light onto your household budgets by doing some or any of the following:

• Keep your payslips/salary statements in the same file and both know how much the other earns.
• Agree between you a spending limit per person per day/week/month.
• Agree a saving amount either individually or jointly when you are both paid.
• Share the financial routines and check meters together, pay bills together and have a sort out the finances meeting once a week.
• Agree a budget for food, menu plan together and food shop together and when it’s done cook together.
• Keep bank statements in a shared file and if you bank online, give each other your log ins and have an open and honest discussion about spending.
• Go through bank statements weekly to check on each other’s spending.
• Have joint ‘No Spend’ days every week. Try keeping money in your wallet all week and only spending on a Saturday or pick a day.
• Discuss any individual purchases - if you get your life under control then you will make your coffee at work, take lunch with you, have a library book to read and you won’t need any unplanned spending. If you need to buy clothes then discuss it with each other. If you share finances then you need to get used to planning the spending of them.

Hello Dear Reader,

It’s five days after pay day and you’re worried already how you’re going to make it through the month! You were paid and the overdraft swallowed a chunk of your salary and your direct debits took the rest. Things are different this month because you are utterly sick and tired of this being the way things are month, after month after month! You were so sick of it that you emailed me. You are scared of the future and how you are going to get through this. The only thing you know for sure is that you want to get rid of debt but have no idea how.

Let’s start at the very beginning. I want you to go and get all the payslips, all the bank statements and I mean both of you. No secrets, no hidden payments no denial. You have to get real about this. You need to take a deep look at the money you have coming in. That’s it. That’s all there is. Now that wasn’t so scary was it.

Now the big scary bit! I want you to make a list and find the statements of everything you owe. The total list. The car payments, the credit cards, the bank loans, the home improvement loan, student loans and the overdrafts. Get some kind of file and put them in some kind of order. I would suggest that the smallest amount is put at the front and the biggest at the back. I’ll explain why as I get further into this.

Now remember, I’m holding your hand, really tight and I’m not going to let go. I recognise that look of in trepidation in your eyes. I saw it in the mirror once. Now take a very deep breath and find out the total amount you owe. I guess it’s more than you thought it would be by the way you’re digging your nails into my hand. It’s OK, we can get through this.

You’ve now faced the brutal truth. You know how much you’ve got and how much you have to pay but we’re not done yet. I now want you to go and round up all your utility bills, maybe you can just check your bank statements to see how much goes out every month. You may not have checked this before; how much do you spend on gas, electricity, the mortgage or rent, home, contents, car and life insurance? Next, how much does it cost you to get to work each month? Finally, go find some grocery receipts. How much are you spending on food? These are the utter essentials and you have to pay for these.

You are nearly there. You might need a spread sheet? Or may be just a big old note pad. You need to check the maths. You will need to be able to cover at least the minimum payments on all of your debts, to pay the essential bills, to keep the roof over your head and now you need to brace yourself. If you want to pay off those debts…………….EVERYTHING else is a luxury and you can do without it. Now breathe because I’m still holding your hand. Now, you will take away one figure from the other. The total amount you have to pay out each month (Mortgage+utilities+minimum debt payment+food+transport to work=how much you have to pay out). IF there is anything left that’s what goes to debt payments.

You can pick any debt, but I’d like to suggest you pick the smallest. Maybe that’s your overdraft? Every month, you’re going to throw every single penny you can at that one debt whilst paying the minimum on all the rest.

Remember, you’ve paid for everything else, the food is bought, the mortgage is paid and you can live without luxuries. Now, start to cancel anything unessential. Give notice to your mobile phone company because you can go pay as you go. Cancel the Sky TV or Virgin package because you can go Freesat. Cancel the papers, cancel the holiday, the trips and just remember…………..this is temporary and you will holiday again but not just for now.

Fast forward six months. You’ve not spent on any credit cards, you’ve reduced or paid off your over draft and your credit score is improving. Now it’s time to look for 0% Balance transfers. You will start to get debt savvy. You will now be making the biggest payment on that 0% each month. The minimum payment that you would have paid on that debt and every other penny you have to throw at it. Then what? Oh, you just keep going. You may have years of this, but it will be many years less that just paying the minimum payments on all your debts every month.

Whilst all this shizzle is going on every day. Know that I am holding your hand. I won’t let go. I know how hard it is to say no. No I can’t have a holiday, no I can’t go out, no I can’t have my hair done, no I can’t have new clothes, no I can’t buy anything for the house, no the family can’t have anything either. Some of you will have to do this with your entire family. Your teenagers or toddlers are in this with you.

I also know the liberation and freedom of paying the last payment! Then and only then……….I’ll release my grip and turn and say to you. We made it.

Until tomorrow,

Love Froogs xxxxxxxxxxx

Hello Dear Reader,


Some one wrote to me today, at the beginning of their journey, and wanted to know how I started mine. I wanted to downsize, I wanted to move to a smaller house, have a smaller mortgage and have smaller bills. I put my house on the markets, sold it, found somewhere and the offer was accepted. Santander, who kept us on hold until New Year’s eve, had an underwriter phone me and tell me that I had too much in the way of personal borrowing and they would not lend us the money. We had/have a mortgage deal, that if we came out of it, even 1 minute before the deal was up we would have a £10K get out clause. The house sale fell through, another £1500 was added to my debts as that’s how much the selling/legal process had taken up to that point. We had also spent £3K re-decorating, re-carpeting, landscaping, re-tiling two bathrooms so that we could sell it. We were well and truly fucked! I was now stuck in a house, that I couldn’t really afford and I was going no where.


I crawled out from the bottom of a gin bottle, pulled myself up by the bra straps and got on with it! I had a home loan from my previous house, about ten thousand on credit cards and overdrafts and a car loan.

I had a huge mountain to climb, it was scary, I can’t stand heights or being told no, and I had no way to go but up, as I was hanging off the edge. I started by phoning the National Debt Helpline, which was a government funded advice line. I asked if I should reduce my mortgage by paying that or pay off personal debts. They advised me to pay off my debts first and pay off my mortgage later. I had an interest only mortgage for a while……………I was in no hurry to give Santander their money back!


The first thing we did was to get the balance on everything we owed. We then looked at our income and made a budget using the two. I wasn’t a big spender anyway and always shopped and dressed reasonably frugally. Dearly Beloved and I sat down and had the biggest and frankest talk we had ever had. It was one of those ‘I solemnly swear’ moments, where we decided, then and there to pay off everything we owed before we bought anything else ever again.


We started saving money straight away. We changed credit card companies, we transferred a card at a time to zero % balance transfer cards and paid the maximum on one until it was gone. We snowballed our debts, until we only had the car loan left and put money aside each month until we could pay off the total balance. The more we paid off the homeloan, the smaller the interest payments were and we could pay that off as soon as we liked without penalties.


We shopped around for cheaper energy, we got a water meter. We turned off our central heating and froze our tits off (wear more clothes, snog more………….you’ll get by). We got a lodger, I marked exams, I tutored private students, Dearly Beloved went to jumble sales, car boots sales and auctions looking for things he could sell on ebay. We used our ‘ebay money’ to pay for large annual bills such as home and car insurance. We made on average another £5K a year in extra income and £1.6K from having a lodger. We used every penny extra we ever made to pay off debts in big chunks. I cleaned caravans in the summer holidays and DB worked and still works extra as an ebay trader.


I always cooked but took on the food budget as a military operation, I got my weekly shop down to £30 a week. I don’t shop every week. I use Approved Food for some dry goods. All my cleaning materials, toiletries and basics were Tesco Value. I would internet research for pet food prices, where laundry soap was the cheapest…………..I still do. I made Christmas and Birthday gifts, we only do this in a very minor way in our family and DB, myself and our children no longer exchange gifts at all for either. We love each other any way and nothing that can be bought can make that any better. I make my Dad a cake for his birthday and take mum flowers on hers, other than that, there is no expense.


We went without. We didn’t go on a holiday, didn’t have a day out anywhere that cost anything until our debts were gone. We took a flask and a piece of home made cake on day trips and internet researched places to park for free. If you live in Wadebridge, on a housing estate at the back of town and wonder whose car that was? It was mine………..I don’t pay for car parks!

At the height of our debt repayment, we had £150 a month for both of us to live on and that included food. We went without new clothes, without new shoes, without having my hair done, without anything which wasn’t needed. I mended tights, I stitched up holes in my bras if the wire poked through, I mended knickers, I cut and coloured my own hair, I could make a mascara last a year. We cancelled the satellite TV, the mobile phone contracts. We found cheaper broadband, we still have the same steam powered PC and we made do with what we had.


We went to work by train (both worked in different directions in those days) and even charged our lap tops and phones on the train to save money. We turned off the lights, we wore more jumpers.We took any food and drink we needed, where ever we went, including when we went to visit family. We declined all invitations and now people don’t invite us as they know we don’t go, don’t send a wedding present, don’t go to work ‘do’s’ - they accept we are the people who don’t.


We aimed to pay off all our debts by the London Olympics, we did so a year early. We managed that by taking on extra work and earning extra money. I still mark exams and did so to pay for our holiday, if I hadn’t have earned the extra money, even though we are debt free, we wouldn’t have gone.


When I look at what we’ve achieved, it was relatively easy. It was fun. We played at it. We now pay, almost the amount we were putting towards debt repayment, towards reducing the capital on the mortgage. We still have a hefty interest payment each month and it is only reduced by £100 month, each time I reduce the mortgage balance by £10K!! Every time I see the amount of interest I pay each month, I can see my money going to a blood sucking bank and I want to pay off the balance as quickly as I can. I still aim to move house when I’m out of the terms of the deal I am in and when the market picks up again, so I don’t lose the balance I’ve paid off. This could go on for years, in fact, I may never get the money back.


I can now manage and afford the house I live in because, I have very low bills, I live frugally, I don’t spend money I haven’t got on stuff which isn’t essential. I haven’t changed my lifestyle one bit as I still owe thousands and thousands to the bank for the house. When the government has decided how much they want me to pay for my pension, then and only then can I start paying extra into that as well as paying extra into my state pension to pay for the years I didn’t work. With that in mind, I have to save every penny and still continue with food for nutrition and not fun, clothes for warmth and not style and be careful with every penny I earn.


I am now a judicious saver and live frugally to put money aside for: pension, monthly mortgage capital reduction, car replacement in the future, emergency fund, dental bills, an annual week long holiday, some new clothes and my favourite Aldi make up.


Starting was easy enough, we just decided to do it and did it. Sticking to it wasn’t hard either, we just held on and kept at it. Sticking to it now is harder as we could spend money but continue not to. Neither of us cared what people thought, some people were OK about it, some weren’t but I couldn’t care less. Our friends stayed so and happily came for supper and we went to them and we continue to do so. Now, the hard bit , is just keeping this up for the rest of my life.


Until tomorrow,


Love Froogs xxxxx