Time to turn this around

Drawingaline · 6 December 2017 at 6:56AM

Hi

I am also an avid reader and utilise the library a lot. Sounds like you have a good plan going forward. We owed 22k back at the beginning of 2016, swing that figure come down has been wonderful. Good luck:o

FiscalPickle · 6 December 2017 at 8:05AM

Thanks UncannyScot, I'll have a look at those sites. I'm in a crafting club with friends, when we next meet up I'll suggest that we bring books we've enjoyed to swap around the group.

Hi wishingthemortgageaway, I think my library does offer this. I'll need to get a staff member to show me how it works to load up on my Kindle, then I should save some space on my bedside table :rotfl:

Thanks drawingaline, I'm very motivated by the though of seeing the total come down! :cool:

FiscalPickle · 6 December 2017 at 8:08AM

Plans for today:-

1. Take coins to bank at lunchtime
2. Then go to Boots, I need hairspray. Try their cheapest own brand, see if I can cope with it
3. After work, make a start on the family Christmas cards
4. Wrap 4 Christmas gifts
5. eBay an unworn jumpsuit, which is ideal for the party season so should sell

I feel that since I started to take control, I'm more organised in other areas of my life and generally feel like I've got my !!!!!! together in general. Long may it continue! :beer:

Pauper1 · 6 December 2017 at 8:21AM

Good luck on your journey FiscalPickle It sounds like you're making some good progress. Have you looked at your bills to see if you can reduce any? In October I think I managed to reduce mine by at least £60 a month, which makes a big difference over the year.

FiscalPickle · 6 December 2017 at 6:02PM

Hi Pauper1, the only bill I can significantly reduce is the food shop, where I live there is only 1 electricity provider, gas, phone etc. However I will see where any savings can be made, I think groceries is the biggie. If I meal plan and list better this will reduce the amount of top-up shops needed, which could be as much as £50 a month extra going out. When the mobile phone contract is up that will save me a bundle, at least £20 a month, unfortunately not until this time next year though.

A successful day so far, I took the enormously heavy bag of coins to the bank but the machine was on the blink. I've left the bag and my details for a member of staff to pay it into my account - there was no way I was lugging that there and back again. Hairspray in Boots cost £1.79 for 450ml, it is priced at £1.99 but I get a discount on their own branded products for being a member of the contact lens scheme.

FiscalPickle · 6 December 2017 at 6:19PM

I think I'll shop around for life insurance, if I bother to keep it at all. I did have a policy that would pay out £100k, I took it out as I didn't want to saddle my nearest and dearest with my debt. It seemed a waste of £25 a month in the current circumstances, which could be better used chipping away at Debt Mountain.

As I don't have a mortgage yet I'm questioning the need to even have life insurance until my financial circumstances have significantly changed for the better. I'm fairly sure if I dropped dead tomorrow my employer's pension scheme would pay out a death benefit that would more than cover the debt, with enough left over for a rocking funeral. I'd expect Iron Maiden to be booked to play at the wake \,,/

FiscalPickle · 7 December 2017 at 9:09AM

I would call yesterday a partial success. Total spend £11.32, this includes the hairspray in Boots, also needed cotton face pads. Again I get 10% off those with the contact lens scheme. 60p on milk for work, we’re drinking a lot of tea in this cold weather.

Then I got home, my husband most emphatically did not want chickpea burgers for dinner, he wanted something more satisfying and stodgy. When faced with such a situation in the past I’d have thought oh to hell with it and ordered a Chinese banquet on my card as a treat. He knows that I have debt and am trying to sort it, but not the devil in the detail yet. I said if he wanted Chinese I would get something as well, however I would give him cash for my food and he could pay on his card. I had Peking chicken and we shared chips, total spend for me £6.50. A bit of a mini win there, I’ve read on other diaries that debt busting is like dieting, you need something to stop you going off the rails completely.

FiscalPickle · 7 December 2017 at 1:06PM

Debt free date has been worked out as 26 October 2019. In case anyone is interested, that is 688 days from today. By 26 June 2021, I will have saved hopefully enough towards a house deposit, providing my H also sorts his end of the bargain. It really helps me to have structure and specific dates to work towards, I feel so much more in control and not lost at all any more.

Scott_Weiland_2 · 7 December 2017 at 1:10PM

I can understand re the chinese my advice though one tiny thing did you know you can get cashback for buying takeaways.

register for topcashback.co.uk

both just eat and hungry horace are on there, it might only be a few p but every little helps.

Scott_Weiland_2 · 7 December 2017 at 1:12PM

FiscalPickle wrote: »

Hi Pauper1, the only bill I can significantly reduce is the food shop, where I live there is only 1 electricity provider, gas, phone etc. However I will see where any savings can be made, I think groceries is the biggie. If I meal plan and list better this will reduce the amount of top-up shops needed, which could be as much as £50 a month extra going out. When the mobile phone contract is up that will save me a bundle, at least £20 a month, unfortunately not until this time next year though.

A successful day so far, I took the enormously heavy bag of coins to the bank but the machine was on the blink. I've left the bag and my details for a member of staff to pay it into my account - there was no way I was lugging that there and back again. Hairspray in Boots cost £1.79 for 450ml, it is priced at £1.99 but I get a discount on their own branded products for being a member of the contact lens scheme.

re toiletries hairspray etc try home bargains or b and m etc i would bet you could get a decent brand without buying a cheap boots branded product.

Time to turn this around

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