my dairy to be debt free!

minnie999_2

Hi

iv finally got my act together and decided to take this whole debt thing very seriously, and make it my number one goal to clear it all, i guess my current situation is not at all bad and i know once i get going i will be fine.
i have approx debts of £ 3300.00 and aim to get this cleared by January 2009 thats my goal.
im going to try and keep a diary of all my outgoings and make sure i dont spend on things i dont need. ( which is my main problem)
iv just spent 2k on a holiday but saved up for that so i dont need to include that in my debt.
iv got £2,200 on my virgin credit card which is 0% until oct 2009, i will not be spending on this card at all, in fact i will cut it up.
i have just over 1k on a bank loan and pay £ 129 a month for that, this ends in April but i can over pay and have the loan paid off before that.

each month i get £1117.00.
i put £ 250.00 in another account hubby puts in £ 250.00 too, this covers all bills, food and entertainment, the only bills that come out from this account is elec, gas, mobile bills, contact lenses perscription, council tax, phone and lottery. Birthday pressies, the food shop and any nights out we have also come from this account. We have no overdraft facility on this account thats the way we would prefer it, so we know we can never go overdrawn and have to make sure there is always enough for the monthly DD.
all other bills such as tv licence, water, insurances, car tax, etc are all paid off yearly, plus we dont have a mortgage as we have paid that off.

so each month i have approx £ 867.00 to chuck towards the debt, which you probs think should be easy, but thats where my problem is, i end up sometimes buying things i dont need and sometimes adding to it, we have just had some home approvements done and iv spent lots of money buying new things which i could have waited for, so im going to try and be really good now and really bring the debt down, i know this forum will help me loads and will continue to log my progress, i look foward to the challenge.

**Amy**

:hello:

Good luck with your diary.

If you are finding it hard to pinpoint what you spend, or curb what you spend, then maybe a spending diary might be worth a go?

Also, you could allow yourself a set amount a week (£20?) that you can spend on something for yourself? This would probably make it feel less like you are just paying off debts, and it will make you less likely to fall off the wagon halfway through.

If you put £550 a month for 6 months towards your debt you would be debt free. Which would still leave £217 left to do what you want (obviously you could throw that at your debt as well but just to give you an idea!).

You do need to cut up that credit card!

Anyway, good luck on your journey.

x

SarahNeedle1872

Hiya Minnie..... Welcome aboard the great ship DFW!

Why not post a Statement of Affairs so we can see if there are way to help cut back.....

Also start a spending diary (on here if you like) as £867 is a LOT of money to get through in one month - not that I can talk with my weekly spends!
Talking of weekly spends, check out Pap/Moozie's weekly challenge thread, and the daily spends thread.... sometimes it helps if yu have to 'confess' to what you're spending!

HTH

Sraah x

minnie999_2

hey thanks for the support, really appreciate it, i know this is the only way to help me now, the best thing for me is to defs cut the credit card, adding to it wont help my situation, everything then has to come out of the current account. If i have the money i will buy if not i have to go without.

im fortunate to have a lovely hubby who pays for all my car expenditue inc petrol so really i should be a millionaire...lol....
my soa is quite straightforward really

1117.00- wages
250- towards household bills and shopping, i always like to be in credit in this account and never take money out from here so we very diciplined in the joint household account, this works very well for us.
so that leaves approx £ 867 a month, but got a few expensive months ahead with birthdays, etc then will need spending money for our holiday in sept, so when u think of it like that it can get diificult to throw big chunks at it.
but iv really cut back and always take a packed lunch, iv not brought clothes, shoes for approx 5-6 months and really cut back on luxuries.
as long as i dont add to my debt i will slowly be able to pay it back, as well as enjoy the treats and little luxuries in life.

so far today iv had a NSD and hope it stays that way too.

saver03

Hello and welcome:hello:

I agree that a spending diary would be the best thing for you and make sure that you write everything down in it even if it's just a daily paper as it can all add up. You will probably get a shock when you look at it and see how much you are spending on certain things but it does help.

Good luck with it all :beer:

wanttobeasaver

Goood luck with your diary!!

minnie999_2

ok pay day is 25th July, and i hope not to spend a penny until then, theres nothing i need to buy, i will confess im actually £45.00 overdrawn just checked, and my limit is £100, so can not afford to dip into it anyway.
i will just have to be extra nice to hubby and make sure, he pays...lol...
hes excellent with money and always manages without ever getting into debt or going overdrawn, oh well they do say opposites attract!!

minnie999_2

so far im doing well, 9 NSD another 7 to go then its pay day.
im planning to have a few treats next week, but thats courtsey of DH so i wont need to dip into my account for that.
also i rang the bank today and changed the DD date of which my loan goes out, i would prefer the loan of £ 129.12 & 250.00 for bills to come out the same day, so then i know exactly how much i have to chuck at the bills each month.
i will only be making the minimum payment on my 0% card this month as i need to pay my lloyds credit card bill which has my holiday on, at least that will be paid off in full and i dont have to worry about that.
you may wonder why i have the lloyds card, this is a joint one with hubby and we use it for big purchases so that we can collect airmiles ( this card is however paid off in full each month) and i only spend on it when i can afford to pay it all. I wont be using this cad for a few months now as the aim is to pay of the virgin card and get rid of the loan.
im sure i will get there one day!
p.s i have cut up the virgin card.

beanielou

Well done on cutting up the Virgin card!

minnie999_2

w/end has been great, mum visited me and gave me £50.00 as a gift, and i visited family and also got £ 20.00 from family....
but also got a parking ticket for £ 25.00...not happy but my error, so paid the fine this morns and will bank the rest of the money, this will take me into credit as i had been overdrawn. so overall not bad, did not spend any other money, and its payday on friday!

minnie999_2

im proud to say iv had another NSD, DH has given cash to get a few bits for food etc, so luckly have not had to spend any money from my own account, im counting down till pay day so that i can pay off my cards, its such a good feeling when you see a big chunk of it gone. This month i will be paying just over 2k on my american express card and also collecting lots of airmiles too.
iv also decided that i want to pay off my loan first then move onto my credit card. Im really into cutting the debt now and have already noticed a big difference with my spending im actually thinking twice about everything which in the past iv never done.