Hayley's-Not-A-Diary-Just-Ramblings

dancingfairy

For some people they are able to go full out at tackling their debts. If tackling them full on is likely to make you ill or cause other problems - just know that you are going in the right direction. You don't need to use every single penny to pay off debts always. As long as you are keeping an eye on things.

hayley11

Yeah I did a snowball thing yesterday and it's not taking ALL our spare money so it should be manageable and i've updated my spreadsheet so I know how much I've got to pay each month.

hayley11

I've rung Sky today to cancel the movies mix so we're saving approx. £8 a month :T Going to get OH to ring Setanta to cancel Racing UK which will knock £5 a month off.

I was just thinking and I might have to post on the PPI Reclaiming thread but my OH has a credit card and he has the PPI, might be worth trying to reclaim it? I keep telling him to ring them and cancel it but he's so bloomin lazy sometimes :mad:

hayley11

I've started keeping a spending diary online for me and my OH so we can really see where all our extra money is going. It's quite shocking really, I had £40 at the start of this week to last me til the 25th July and that's for any shopping I need as well as just money for me and in two days I've spent over £8 in "treats" :eek:

I always buy a drink on the way to work which is usually around 80p so I went to B&M and bought two big bottles of flavoured water for 59p each, i'm going to fill a small one up to take to work with me instead.

Only 7 days til I get my DLA and 10 days til I get paid :T

hayley11

I thought i'd update this diary now instead of the thread I posted the other day because that one was rather depressing and this one is going to be super positive! :T

I don't know if many people read mine, there are so many, far more interesting diaries out there but for anybody that does, thank you

So to keep this updated, I am still working 25 hours a week and also doing Avon, get about £30 every 3 weeks through Avon. My OH has now got his act together and has got a job, he started yesterday, it's only 25 hours as well but we're hoping in the new year he will hear about a really good job he applied for with Northern Rail, he's already had the interview and medical but they messed it up big time so they have to wait til a new assessment date comes up which might not be til early next year. He also works as a steward at a football ground and gets about £25 a game after tax, he usually ends up with £50 a month from it.

We have also applied for Housing Benefit/Council Tax benefit, I know we probably wont be eligible for this now that my OH has started working but I originally applied mid October so should get something from them. We've applied for Carers Allowance because I get DLA and we've applied for WTC. So hopefully we should be getting a bit more money in soon. And i'm really hoping they will backdate them, fingers crossed

My OH left his job in August and because I only work 25 hours and it's not a great paid job, we got way behind with all our debts and most utilities, basically the only thing we've been paying is the rent, council tax, bt, mobiles and sky.

So now that OH is working, I contacted CCCS and they have suggested a DMP for all our debts. So I'll put my new SOA based on the DMP because we should be starting that 1st December if my OH gets a full wage on the 15th, if not it will be the 1st January. Oh my god is it really nearly 2009, where has the year gone? :eek:

Incoming:
My wage - £620
AVON - £40
OH wage - £750 (I worked this out using an online calculator, I will let CCCS know if it's a lot more/less)
Steward Work - £50
DLA - £250

Total Incoming = £1710

Outgoing:

Rent - £475
Council tax - £86
Gas - £40
Electric - £40
Water - £50 (CCCS suggested amount to catch up)
TV License - £14 (as above)
BT - £40 (tied in until August 2009 but considering just paying the £60 cancellation charge to get out of it)
Sky - £30 (going to ring to see if we can cut it down anymore)
Setanta - £15 (can be cut to £10 if we get rid of Racing UK)
My Mobile - £35 (reduced from £40, can’t reduce it more than that as I need the texts and minutes, tied in ‘til December then will cancel and get PAYG)
OH Mobile - £35 (tied in until December, trying to get him to cancel then go PAYG but he wants to get a new deal with Dial A Phone for the £60 quidco cashback and free laptop)
Shopping - £253 (This is set out by CCCS but no way will we spend this much, there's only two of us and a tiny hamster!)
Pet Supplies - £10 (set out by CCCS)
Medicine - £7 (as above)
Dentist/Opticians - £10 (as above)
Hairdressing - £18 (as above)
Clothing - £33 (as above)
Newspaper/Mags - £9 (as above)
Football Subs/Entertainment - £50 (CCCS said to drop the fitness to £21, it's £32 now but OH loves his football and it's pretty much the only time he goes out so i'm not stopping him doing that)
Emergency - £15 (never had an emergency fund before but definitely going to set up a standing order for this to go into an ISA)
DMP - £382

Total Outgoing - £1647
Surplus - £63 (this may have to go towards gas/elec, see below)

Debt:

Egg Loan - 9.9% - £9052.21
Egg CC – 7.9% - £416.94
TSB CC – 18.9% - £989
OH TSB CC – 18.9% - £3000 (we are owed £528 from thomsons for a cancelled holiday)
OH Overdraft – 0% - £1550
Next – 26% - £1820
Littlewoods – 0% - £669

I got a new gas/elec bill yesterday and it's for £297.29 :eek: So going to have to ring them and try and make some kind of arrangement and seriously try and cut down our gas and elec usage. To be honest I think with us both being back at work, it should go down quite a bit because we wont need the fire/heating on so much during the day.

I am feeling very positive about everything now. I've always tried to get on top of things and then something happens and messes it all up. But we're both determined to get this debt cleared, so no more quitting bloomin jobs or getting ill (ok that's always me and I can't help that but i'm going to try!)

Anyway sorry for such a long post and thanks for any support/advice anybody can offer.

Hayley xx

Jesthar

Hey Hayley,

Well done on getting yourself sorted out again! Keep posting, not only do welike to hear how people are doing, but we can also help keep you pointed in the right direction and cheer you up if you get down.

~Jes

SazM030306

Well done Hayley, keep up the good work! x

hayley11

Thank you both

I'll definitely keep posting, it's very motivating this board, everyone on here is so helpful and supportive. I think a lot of people would be lost without this board and MSE in general.

hayley11

My boyfriend has a credit card with Lloyds TSB, there's nothing on it as he transferred the balance to the RBS one and he hasn't got round to cancelling it yet. Anyway I was reading Martins PPI reclaiming article and I was certain he got that credit card just after we got made redundant Jan 2007, so I got him to ring Lloyds, after getting very frustrated with the person he spoke to who's English was so bad it took a good 5 minutes just to clear security because he had to repeat everything about 5 times, she confirmed he got the credit card on the 7th Feb 2007. He didn't start his new job til the end of Feb so yay should be able to claim all the PPI back. I know it wont be loads, probably less than £200 but still, better in our pocket than theirs!

hayley11

I thought I would update this with my goals...just to see exactly what I am working towards. I'm determined not to start a family until we are debt free. I want to be in a position to provide for my child without relying on credit. BUT I do want children before i'm 30 (i'm 25 now) So I need to stop dragging my feet now.

Okay my goals are:

• Stick to the DMP (current DFD October 2012)
• Bring our debt free date forward
• Start a family once debt free
• Buy our own house once debt free
• Live a happy life with my partner

Been in work again today and really struggled with my back, hoping to go in tomorrow as well but we'll see how I feel in the morning, don't want to push it really.

My OH has started a weekly poker night at home, gets to see his friends and have a bit of "man" time without me bugging him :rolleyes: They only play two games at £5 each so the most he can be down is £10 but to be honest he's quite good so he usually wins one game at least. :T

I have been reading the matched betting thread, i've tried to get into it before but I just don't get it. I mean I do get it, I get the principles/rules etc but I just don't know if I'll ever be able to do it. Knowing me i'd mess it up and lose all my money :rotfl:

Hayley xx