I started this blog as a way to chart my venture from the red to the black. For a long time I had been steering the good ship “Frugal Funghi” slowly towards the calmer waters solvency.
About six or seven years ago I started this quest to be clear of debt. My epiphany came when the wife and I were looking to buy a new home. This was back around 2007 or 2008. I knew then that I would not be able to afford the repayments of any mortgage due to our credit card, must have now, lifestyle. Yes I had the income, but the outgoings and minimum credit card repayments were hamstringing us.
I decided then that things had to change. I was the sole occupant of the SS “Frugal Funghi”. Within about 18 months I was totally free of debt and I thought everything was going to be great. Then the wife dropped the bombshell (or should that have been “torpedoed me”?). Her level of debt, which she failed to ever mention to me, was five times as much as mine! I had two choices; either sail away in my boat, or throw her a life-line. I chose the latter even though she sincerely offered me the former and would understand if I did disappear over that horizon!
With hindsight being so badly in debt was an eye-opener. I have learnt so much through reading books, newspapers, blogs, watching Youtube and listening to others either in real life or on podcasts. I know full well that I would not have done any of this if my circumstance at the time were different. I would not have known any other way. Heck, I’d probably still have a small debt somewhere and would have accepted it as the norm!
So for the last 7 years we have chipped away at that debt mountain. I have devised strategies to tackle it. I saw and chased opportunities that others thought were a waste of time – all to save 5% off of a grocery bill or to get 3% cash back for using the same petrol station etc. I even learnt to use debt to my advantage and play the banks at their own game by borrowing off of one credit card (at 0% interest of course) whilst saving that real cash I would have used instead in a higher 2-3% interest account (I am planning to do a post to explain this in more detail – for clarity the “spend” that I am referring to here is not for “wants” or luxuries, but everyday needs like groceries and petrol etc.). I also learnt to cut back on the must-have-now culture. I was an Apple fan-boi for a very brief period during this time. I was one of these who just had to have the latest iPhone! The last phone I bought (notice I said bought?!) was from a second hand shop. It is the Google Nexus 5. I bought it in September 2014 for about £80 less than the advertised price on the Google store. When it was shown to me it looked pristine. I asked about the history and was told that it was brand new. Someone had it as an upgrade and promptly sold it, unused, for some quick cash. Their loss, my gain! I still have that phone today and it still looks pristine and it does the job too!
Rolling on to the start of 2015. Land fall was in sight just over the horizon. We only had about £5,000 of unsecured debt left. If all went to plan we would make it to the black by the middle of 2017 – a mere 18 months away. That was so doable. I started to look towards a five year goal. It was simple, by 2020 I was to have enough money to start some sort of serious savings and investment plan. My 12 month goal was to have enough money squirreled away for those rainy days. My 3 year plan was to have about £3,000 to £5,000 saved. I thought these were realistic.
Then a series of unfortunate events started to happen.
Just after the new year we received a little windfall from the sale of my wife’s grandmother’s house. She had passed away in 2013, and it had taken 18 months for the house to be sold. It was a modest amount which paid for this year’s summer holiday to Kos. Yes, a bit of an oxymoron going on here I know, but in our defence we only went abroad every other year. But this small gift allowed us to keep pushing our finances forward without having to take that one step back.
The holiday itself came and went. We also received another lump sum cash amount, this time because of a flight delay. We were given £1,400 for the inconvenience of waiting over 6 hours for our return flight to depart. So not only had the holiday in essence been bought for us, we also made a tidy profit on it too!
But the real kicker came in July this year. Sadly my father-in-law lost his fight against cancer. Even though it was expected, it was still painful when it came. He was a good man and will be missed by many. This Christmas is going to be tough. With his passing we received another windfall. The difference this time was that if managed correctly that money could be life-changing. Equally, if squandered, it could all be gone in the blink of an eye. The amount I’m talking about here is a modest sum. The wife or I won’t be giving up work any time soon on the back of it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not being smug or happy about this turn of events, nor do I want to seem ungrateful. I would gladly hand it all back to have the father-in-law with us again, even for just one minute. But putting all that aside, I am glad that I was in debt and that our finances were in such a poor state all those years ago. Because of that situation I now appreciate the value of money. I do intend to continue to look after our family finances in the same manner and I do still intend to keep looking for those little savings that can be made or exploited.
The father in law once promised “To see us right” if anything should happen to him. His promise has turned out true. For that I will be forever be in debt to him and that is the only debt I hope to carry from this point forwards.
The Frugal Funghi 