Carrot cake in the oven

Okay. Just added the amount we owe to Scottish power so total debt gone up. The direct debit is now £105 (from £72) which I don't mind as 1 it comes out of my Santander 123 account and 2 it will pay it off quicker as I want to then switch to Daligas.

After paying off the spend on ccc1 and the store card I am going to set the overdraft in my sights. We are constantly (almost) up to the limit and I'm robbing other accounts to make sure we don't go over. I'd like to get it down to £1000 to start with as there's no interest then. I don't want to use existing savings as I did that before then just immediately spent to limit again - felt like I'd just lost £1750, I'd Like to save up £750 separately and then pay it in and cut od down to £1000. Cc1 and store card should be paid this month.

Then we should have another £2k coming into savings soon, fingers crossed. I've decided to keep it all in savings rather than pay off the debts. Particularly considering my job worries.

Apologies to anyone who comes across my diary and feels depressed. I'm just in that mood at the moment and it's really helping me to write it all down.

Ali-OK wrote: »

Hi!

You're definitely not alone in returning - me too - welcome back and with carrot cakes too, they sound yum.

Keep posting, it does help to get it all out I find. Empty the mind and start afresh.

Sorry to hear work is difficult. I left a job that doesn't sound too dissimilar, bit off more than I could chew, but glad you are getting support and hopefully that will all come good.

Have just moved over to Daligas - went via energylinx for £17 cashback which was paid into my account last week and our direct debit is £22 less per month - a big saving and well worth it. Now I'm quibbling a few pence on the final bill from our old supplier - just call me tight :rotfl:

Good luck with your debt-free plan and journey and I'll tag along for the ride if I may

Thank you so much - really appreciated. :rotfl::rotfl:

I'm going to give it some time with work but have another application in and one in progress just in case.

I'll give. The Daligas link a go. I'd like to change soon really because it looks like it would be better to have a bit built up for winter - I like to keep my direct debit the same if poss.

Pence better in your pocket than theirs - I'm totally with you on that

Nice to have you along. :-)

I'm not sure where this week has gone but it's Sunday again and although I've popped into the other threads I haven't had the focus to update my own thread.

Thank you Aok for your post, it was really appreciated and Hi Beanie Lou to you too!

Not too bad a week at work, lots still going on but I'm feeling more confident about myself, my own self value, ability to survive without them and to get another (and better) job if I need to or I may even decide to do that anyway. Thanks to all the MSE'ers encouragement.

OH got paid on Friday so I've paid a few things early (itching to get going) and have also done the sums even though the direct debits not gone yet. The next two weeks will be busy at work so I wanted to change my signature to keep me focused (!). I realised I'd done the sums wrong (!) so have recalculated and it's 5% I've paid off (not 8.5%) but that still a lovely feeling. I've drawn up 100 squares and am going to colour one in each time I pay off 1 %. Can't wait to see it fill up.

It won't be so many next month as OH had a bit extra from work this month and I had a final payment from my old job. Nice that has gone to paying off our MrT card though. I'm keeping the card and using it for groceries then paying each spend straight away - I can do this from my phone now and it means no huge surprise at the month end. Plus I earn Clubcard points - very nice.

Just waiting for the Santander 123 statement to show the payments for the direct debs. I transferred some of the savings so that we can make the 3% interest. It was in an ISA but I think there's slightly more interest from the 123. Excited at the prospect of a bit more interest and also the rates will be paid by ddeb in April and the gas ddeb gone up so will be more cash back again. I think I'm going to push the gas direct debit right up to pay it off as soon as I can so that I can switch. These next few months should see usage down to about £60 a month. Ddeb is currently £105 so if I push the ddeb to £185 that should see it off by July. I want to switch to Daligas in the summer (thanks Aok - I must keep that link) so I can build up a bit of credit as I'd like the payment to be the same each month. Although July might be leaving it a bit late so I may need to up it slightly to start. I know serious MSEs will probably say to leave the money in my account rather than the gas company's but I'd rather just have one less thing to think about.

Had a bit of a shop yesterday. Took a few sale bits back to Next that didn't fit dd. However that means my next bill will be only £16 as I had a £10 off a £25 code and bought 4 tops for £16 - 2 for work and 2 for home (nice treat). I had another two codes come through so will see if OH and DD NEED anything. Then went to Boots and spent my £5/£3 vouchers. I love the no.7 wipes so 3 for 2 on those a no brainer and bought some foundation as well. Cost £16ish but well under half price and all will be used. (I almost bought some facial things but I used to follow the 'no buying any toiletries' thread and I managed to avoid that mistake narrowly.

Went to the Halifax while in town to get DDs saving book updated as 6% saver annual transfer was in March. She's opted to have £10 of £20 pocket money paid in each month, so was nearly £130 including interest. She's asked for £15 in future but that means only £5 to spend each month so I'm wary that my purse will take a hit. She did really well on the music magpie site so I may have to set her to work again.

Visit to Mr Ts and spent over £80. However as well as weeks meals got lots of bargains which will last for the month and I also took my vouchers with me and have some bits and pieces that will get used and were good value and earned more points. I'm in a much better position this month, although it's not perfect I feel that there is not quite the desperation of starting the month with almost nothing once the bills have been paid.

Hope this hasn't been too depressing reading for anyone who happens across it. Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I'm enjoying a lovely granola cake from my Emma Bridgewater plate (the start of my collection hopefully) with a nice coffee. Have a great Sunday and a good week to all! :rotfl::beer::T

Oh I almost forgot. My signature is now ordered so that I'll start with the bottom bills and work my way up ie gas is priority. I also forgot to mention that I have to claim the cash back for the phones4u contract. Wish me luck as I've heard a few negatives.

And finally I'm really pleased that our debt apart from my car is less than £20k. I know it's still a lot but it doesn't seem that long ago just the cards were £25k. We are definitely heading in right direction. Hold her steady please!!! Fingers crossed

Oh and final final thing. Mr SS has seemed to grasp the idea of not spending what you haven't got. He has saved some cash ready for an outing he has planned in a couple of weeks. This has never been heard of before. I am so excited - many will think thats pathetic but it is such a relief, I know those in a similar boat will understand. Yayyyyy

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

It makes such a difference when both parts of the couple buy in. You're doing really well not just with the payments but also with the conversion of mr.

Thank you INOD. Its been a hard journey. Sometimes I wonder why I bother to save 10p when mr. is splurging on the ccs. For sometime now though the ccs have been steadily coming down and not at the expense of the savings. DH was moaning about not having a holiday this year, but honestly he gets a good enough 'allowance' now to save up and take us all away - I've gently pointed that out and will keep going with the conversion. He has given up smoking (and now that comes out of his allowance it will be another incentive to stay given up this time). Drinking is allowed once a week unless a special occasion - I buy 4 large cans from the household budget and if he wants the hardstuff it comes from the allowance - hilarious that he came home with a miniature yesterday, which isn't the best value for money but I think this is one instance where I want the least for most.

LoL better get to work now. Have a great week and thanks for popping by. :rotfl:

LOL, been messing around with my signature again! I put the calculations into excel this time and realised I was £1000 less in total debt than I thought - hope I've got the figures right now. Was worth the time to do that and its made it a little clearer where I should pay some of the savings to. I think I should pay enough off the car to bring it down to its value (i.e. to £10,500 - which feels comfortable to me), and then pay whatever I feel comfortable giving up should come off the credit cards. I'm going to pay off the rest of the overdraft by just underspending each month rather than use savings. Right off to do that application and clean out the fish tank (poor goldie), I've done the ironing and the claim from phones4u is in the envelope ready to go recorded delivery tomorrow! :rotfl:

I've just realised that the £1000 was my Mr T cc that I paid off at the end of March