Help to keep me honest

glass_half_full · 4 November 2015 at 5:13PM

Thanks Lacherlich for your supportive comments and suggestions. I am likewise motivated to leave the credit card world behind, it feels exploitative. Sure many people have a healthy relationship with their cards, but for me it is definitely a part of the problem cycle at the moment. On the food budgeting, I think this is going to be a work in progress for a while as I work out the best way on this one. I think I will try the online option first and see how that goes. I think you are right about the holiday, probably the key thing here is to be creative and see what we can do at low cost.

wishus · 4 November 2015 at 6:19PM

I had a credit card a couple of years ago to secure holiday payments for my honeymoon (if buying anything like that you are best paying by cc, then paying the bill in full), but haven't used it in all that time. I suppose I should get rid of it now? Would be better for my credit rating.

OH on the other hand... mmm... not good to have that CC there when you want a shiny and you're depressed! That's £7K of our debt, that is.

glass_half_full · 5 November 2015 at 7:24AM

wishus wrote: »

I had a credit card a couple of years ago to secure holiday payments for my honeymoon (if buying anything like that you are best paying by cc, then paying the bill in full), but haven't used it in all that time. I suppose I should get rid of it now? Would be better for my credit rating.

OH on the other hand... mmm... not good to have that CC there when you want a shiny and you're depressed! That's £7K of our debt, that is.

Hi wishus,

Yes, its not the card itself, but how we use it that is the problem. I am finding a cooling off period is being helpful when it comes to impulse buying!

glass_half_full · 5 November 2015 at 7:36AM

Good morning diary and all,

Yesterday was interesting. Not very 'debt free wannabe' we went along to the opening of a new M&S which is supposedly one of the biggest in the UK, it was opened by Twiggy. Amazingly impressive place, kind of a 21st century consumer heaven (or maybe a consumer purgatory, everything you desire, but cannot really afford!), everything you could imagine in terms of choice for menswear, ladieswear, etc. The foodhall was amazing. I have to confess we visited the cafe, £8 for couple of coffees and mince pies, I have a long way to go as you can see on this journey!!

Here I am recording my small DFW steps for today which I will add to the other thread when it opens later today.

1. Keep posting everyday on the small steps thread
2. Listed a pair of shoes on e-bay that I bought on line pre LBM which are too big
3. Waterstones tell me a book I ordered pre LBM is not available, I have saved £25 by not buying it.
4. Keep going on the online shopping detox.
5. Cooling off period on all impulse buy impulses!
6. Not using the remaining credit card (I may cut it up today not sure)
7. Going round to in-laws for dinner this evening (feel slightly bad about this since this is a weekly standing arrangement and not about saving money bu I include for completeness)
8. Keep updating YNAB with every spend and try to keep to the 4 rules

OK I think that is enough for today.

Morning will be busy but afternoon more relaxed.

glass_half_full · 6 November 2015 at 10:30AM

Good morning diary and all,
A few mini money saving steps to record which I have posted on the small steps thread. I think this daily discipline will be a key part of this journey for me.

1. Keep posting everyday on the small steps thread
2. OH has resurrected Nectar card and it has 5,000 points
3. I have moved the current account to Natwest Rewards (3% on direct debits back) the interest rate on overdraft is high but no intention of going there again thanks these forums
4. Did not cut up credit card in the end as I sometimes travel overseas and maybe having just a debit card is a bit risky
5. Keep spending to a minimum

On the way to work, hearing that interest rates will be kept low probably until 2017. More shocking was a statistic which I thought I had misheard, that UK unsecured debt is growing at 8% per annum!! Wow. So with interest rates potentially low, I feel even more motivated to clear this debt -ASAP.

Going to a dance practice class this evening, so will spend a bit, but gets us out of the house and is good exercise. Had a look at YNAB last night and it brought home to me how disciplined I am going to have to be to keep on track!!

glass_half_full · 7 November 2015 at 10:47AM

Good morning diary and all,
Here are some DFW steps for today.
1. Keep posting everyday on the small steps thread
2. Transferring all outstanding CC debt (£7900) to zero % so debt free day is now Feb 2018 not July 2018 due to interest savings
3. Filled in YNAB
4. Insisted work pay for a course on invoice rather than me on CC which has been the case in the past
5. Low spend day today going to a bonfire local display £5 each

OK, so recently I had moved all the credit card debt onto one card which is a Natwest card. I liked the idea of the debt being visible to me on online banking, it was about £8,500 at the highpoint. Now Natwest are charging me 6.9% on the balance transfer and with the other charges I paid £75 interest in October. Now please don’t judge me too harshly but I was seeing this interest charge as a kind of motivation to pay down the debt. But yesterday it struck me that since it will probably take a couple of years ish to clear this, then that is going to be a lot of interest. I was also reluctant to get another card since I thought this would make things worse. But with the new attitude to spending I know I can control this card and only use if to get the extra Nectar points and pay it off each month from the budget, plus pay down the debt. So last night I applied for a Sainsbury card which I was accepted for and it will give me 0% for 21 months. I was surprised to get a credit limit of £8500 which covers the outstanding debt. With the current balance of £7900, this would mean a monthly payment of £376, which I think I can manage to clear it in 21 months. It will also save me probably £1000 ish in interest. Now this is a basic step Martin recommends to transfer any credit card debt to 0% so I realise this is a bit obvious! So I have run the numbers in a spreadsheet and this would mean a new debt free date of February 2018! One other thing, I have been asked to attend an event at work in November and usually they have asked me to pay for it on my CC. Recently this has meant carrying over £500 of debt due to this. So this time I have insisted that they pay it through invoice rather than me paying it. Yesterday, I did my first online shop with Sainsbury, came in at just over £50 which is a lot less than usual, not sure if that is because we were planning it better, or we have forgotten something, I guess we will see. Today will be a low spend day since the only spend is £5 each to go to a local firework display, plus a bit more on some food there.

crazy_cat_lady · 8 November 2015 at 12:22AM

Hi

If you're regular Sainsbury's shoppers, then you should register with mycoupons if you haven't already. You can get a lot of extra Nectar points for buying stuff that you normally would.
Also, if you've never shopped online with Asda they have a good offer on Topcashback at the moment as well.
Well done shifting the debt over - it will make a huge difference - and keep posting on here because it's brilliant for motivation.
Good luck.

glass_half_full · 8 November 2015 at 9:37AM

crazy_cat_lady wrote: »

Hi
If you're regular Sainsbury's shoppers, then you should register with mycoupons if you haven't already. You can get a lot of extra Nectar points for buying stuff that you normally would.
Also, if you've never shopped online with Asda they have a good offer on Topcashback at the moment as well.
Well done shifting the debt over - it will make a huge difference - and keep posting on here because it's brilliant for motivation.
Good luck.

Thanks crazy_cat_lady :beer:, I will check out mycoupons today! I find the daily posting is really helping me to stay focused and keep honest, so will continue to do this.

crazy_cat_lady · 8 November 2015 at 9:59AM

I find being on the forums every day incredibly motivational. If I'm tempted to spend then I think about having to report it on my diary and it's not usually worth it...

glass_half_full · 8 November 2015 at 10:01AM

Good morning diary and all,

Yesterday evening was fun, went to the local fireworks display with OH, DS and his friend. Spent a bit since it was £5 to get in and we spent a bit each on food. But had a great time and really enjoyed it.
On the money saving front, I came across this article http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/cut-loan-overdraft-costs on the forum. I am moving the CC debt to a zero interest card, but I also have a Natwest loan which is currently around £8,700. I am paying 6.9% on this. I had never considered using money transfer to pay off a loan before. So inspired by this article I applied for a Virgin Money card. I got accepted with a credit limit of £11,000. This has an interest free period of 32 months and a transfer fee of 1.69%. So I have done a bit of a rethink, and if I increase the repayments slightly over what I was paying on the loan I can clear this debt by November 2017. This is quite inspiring since it is 2 years away, and my birthday, and it feels so much better and more imminent than the original debt free date of July 2018. The bonus is that this card comes with a free case of six bottles of wine! It does seem crazy that in 48 hours I have been able to take out 2 credit cards with a combined credit limit of £19.5K. No wonder it’s so easy to get into trouble. I will need to stay disciplined to clear these cards and not used them as lines of credit.
On other matters the Sainsbury shop arrived. One minor issue was getting 3 bunches of bananas instead of 3 bananas which we thought we had ordered! Anyone know any good banana recipes?! We seem to have forgotten some items but this is just getting used to it so hopefully this will be a good money saving strategy.

Here are some DFW steps for today.
1. Keep posting everyday on the small steps thread
2. Applied for a Virgin Money Card so I can pay off Natwest Loan and move to 0% and pay off early due to interest savings (got a free case of wine!!)
3. Today will be a spend free day
4. This afternoon going on a mini-retreat with OH. Hoping for some spiritual guidance and inspiration!
5. Filled in YNAB
6. Did some decluttering and found some coats and clothing to take to charity shops

Help to keep me honest

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