Back again!
Options
ZarZar1990
Posts: 292 Forumite
I was last here in 2009 as a single student in a modest amount of debt.
6 years of house sharing and 4 promotions later, I'm back.
I now live with my OH, and I'm sad to say that I'm in even more debt than before :eek:
Myself and OH combined our loan and credit card debt, so we have around £19k outstanding on a personal loan.
We also have around £1000 each in overdrafts and credit cards, which just goes to show that consolidation never works :rotfl:
I remembered that I found this site and forums super useful all those eight years ago, and I managed to whittle down some debt with the help of them :money:
We own our house (mortgaged obviously), which is great because the mortgage is less than I was previously paying in rent.
My OH used to be worse than me with money, but after a couple of months of experiencing more month than money left, he's fully on the bandwagon. :A
Our scenario is as such:
We both have good jobs, we should have plenty of spare money each month, even with our sky-high outgoings.
I've got us utilising Quidco for every purchase, and we've already almost filled a 'sealed pot'.
I've also taken control of all of the budgeting, trimmed down everything I can, and I am ready to go!
I'm going to use this as a spending diary, and my little challenges are as follows:
-Walk into work (I park for free, but it's 1.5 miles to my place of work, so occasionally I get the bus!).
-Stop buying coffee in the morning (I am a caffeine addict).
-Take lunches into work with me.
-Draw out a weekly allowance of 'spending money' in cash, and spend it sparingly. (I currently have a monthly allowance but make the mistake of using my debit card for everything, leaving me skint towards the end of the month).
-As a rule, never drink on weeknights.
I'm not anywhere close to being an alcoholic, and I never used to drink in the week. My OH came along and it turned into sharing a bottle of wine almost every night!
Not only was this bad for my waistline, it was bad for my wallet and mental health too!
I've pretty much stopped this now, but I need to ensure I keep on it so if I do go out at the weekend I can enjoy myself guilt-free. :beer:
I'm already enjoying the sense of community in being back, and catching up on some of the threads.
Let's make it stick this time!:T
6 years of house sharing and 4 promotions later, I'm back.
I now live with my OH, and I'm sad to say that I'm in even more debt than before :eek:
Myself and OH combined our loan and credit card debt, so we have around £19k outstanding on a personal loan.
We also have around £1000 each in overdrafts and credit cards, which just goes to show that consolidation never works :rotfl:
I remembered that I found this site and forums super useful all those eight years ago, and I managed to whittle down some debt with the help of them :money:
We own our house (mortgaged obviously), which is great because the mortgage is less than I was previously paying in rent.
My OH used to be worse than me with money, but after a couple of months of experiencing more month than money left, he's fully on the bandwagon. :A
Our scenario is as such:
We both have good jobs, we should have plenty of spare money each month, even with our sky-high outgoings.
I've got us utilising Quidco for every purchase, and we've already almost filled a 'sealed pot'.
I've also taken control of all of the budgeting, trimmed down everything I can, and I am ready to go!
I'm going to use this as a spending diary, and my little challenges are as follows:
-Walk into work (I park for free, but it's 1.5 miles to my place of work, so occasionally I get the bus!).
-Stop buying coffee in the morning (I am a caffeine addict).
-Take lunches into work with me.
-Draw out a weekly allowance of 'spending money' in cash, and spend it sparingly. (I currently have a monthly allowance but make the mistake of using my debit card for everything, leaving me skint towards the end of the month).
-As a rule, never drink on weeknights.
I'm not anywhere close to being an alcoholic, and I never used to drink in the week. My OH came along and it turned into sharing a bottle of wine almost every night!
Not only was this bad for my waistline, it was bad for my wallet and mental health too!
I've pretty much stopped this now, but I need to ensure I keep on it so if I do go out at the weekend I can enjoy myself guilt-free. :beer:
I'm already enjoying the sense of community in being back, and catching up on some of the threads.
Let's make it stick this time!:T
Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £500
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £500
0
Comments
-
Hi welcome back.
Good luck xx0 -
-Walked into work today
-Rejoined checkmyfile, found that I still have 3 accounts open under my previous address- have closed one down and will pop to the bank and close the other two on my lunch!
-Got OH on board with checking his rating
Later on this year, myself and OH are both starting new courses to better ourselves and career prospects, luckily we can do this whilst still working fulltime and maintaining current career.
It will require an outlay of funds initially, but worthwhile for longterm prospects.Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000 -
Best of luck!!
Stopping ordering coffee from coffee shops, packing my own lunches and walking to college are all aims that I'm also trying to achieve. I've even bought a portable coffee flask (£10) which I put some instant coffee and milk in so that I can fill it with hot water while at college. Based on my previous 70p-£2.20 a day coffee shop habit, it'll pay for itself in a maximum of two weeks!0 -
Thanks Starlight!
I've got one of those too, my OH's brother got it me for my birthday so I've got no excuse really!
Here's hoping we can do it. Do you have a Debt Free Diary?Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000 -
Productive Day!
-Closed down all of my dormant bank accounts and store cards
-Put 70p in the sealed pot (which is very nearly full!)
-Made several small over payments to our personal loan (every day, if the joint account has an odd amount of pence in it, I send it to the personal loan)
I totted it up yesterday and worked out in the 8 months we've had the loan, I've over paid over £140- which I know isn't a lot, but it's pence that otherwise would have been wasted or frittered away.
Tomorrow we've got a wedding reception but OH is driving to cut costs.Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000 -
Make sure you spend those £1 coins in your sealed pot by OCTOBER!Savings as of April 2023 Savings account - £26460.50(14474.88)Current account - £2140.24(4576.79)Total - £28600.74(19051.67) £1010 (£65pm CS/BS) £250 CS/BS/JS0
-
Will do Zippy- going to pay them into a savings account as soon as it's full!Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000 -
ZarZar1990 wrote: »Thanks Starlight!
I've got one of those too, my OH's brother got it me for my birthday so I've got no excuse really!
Here's hoping we can do it. Do you have a Debt Free Diary?
Yes - I'm a single student myself so I'm probably in a similar position to when you started your last diary!0 -
Starlighthappiness wrote: »Yes - I'm a single student myself so I'm probably in a similar position to when you started your last diary!
Cool I'll subscribe to you then!Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000 -
Stuck to budget really well.
Today I will be spending though! (Within budget).
I have booked a surprise meal for the OH (booked it 4 wks ago) and I have just made him aware that we're heading out!Personal Loan: Start: £22020:eek: Now: £18800 :j
Credit Card: £600
Overdraft: £5000
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 247.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards