Positive thinking

Not going to dwell on my financial woes. Just going to make a plan to deal with them. There is nothing to be gained by dwelling on what we cold have differently.

and so:

I have rung or mortgage company and told them that for at least a year we will be making only the basic payment on or mortgage. I pay by standing order not direct debit as it gives me the easiest opportunity to overpay, so I have adjusted my payment amount.

My bills expenditure is pretty much as low as it can go unless we decide to make some serious lifestyle changes. I feel that the amount of money we save by having broadband, through access to information & discounts, makes it a good investments, so it gets to stay. Our other questionable expense is Sky TV. However I do remember that during the four years when we didn't have it we did spend a lot more at Blockbuster. It is also a part of the same package as my broadband so both are discounted. I will discuss the possibilities of switching off movies for the summer.

Although I have the best rates for utilities we could still reduce usage. Washing to be dried in the conservatory or on the line.

Shopping I believe I have a balance on now. A few years back I spent around £48 to £50 a week to feed s all. I decided that I could spend more to raise the quality of or food with plenty of fresh veg, happy meat, free range eggs etc.. I accidently got into habit of popping to the shop when I was asked to, on my way home from work, just for a few items. I didn't monitor budgets back then & was shocked when I checked my bank statement one month and found how much I had forked out. I cant recall exactly but I think it was close to £600. Now I have a routine which I stick too. I budget £100 per five of us but always come in under. I spend about £60 to £75 each week and have a £17 veg box (thoroughly recommending 5-a-day boxes, by the way)every two weeks. I like the variety of veg that yo get, which makes me try new dishes.

The good things relating to the properties are;

In Greece: Once we have paid the 25000 euro we can rent or property out for short term lets, which pay really well. I wont dwell on the fact that it's possible no-one actually wants to go there.

In Syria: Once things have settled down again then the land should start to regain value. We also have a partly constructed flat but I have written that off in my head and assumed that we get nothing.

In UK: We still have a big mortgage to pay off but once we get some income coming from Crete then maybe we can catch back up again. Likewise any money we eventually get for the land in Syria can come straight off the mortgage.

We can do it. The is a recession on and it's bad for everyone but we are, overall, doing okay.