Time for school!

Stinkybell

I've thought about starting a diary for a while now, as have been debtbusting (or attempting to!) for a couple of years, been on MSE since March and could really use the encouragment a diary seems to bring to so many people. With school starting tomorrow (or at least it does for us teachers!) it seems like the perfect time to get everything sorted out. Ideally I'd like to be debt free by Christmas, but realistically, I expect it to be well into next year before everything's clear.

Will post a proper SOA eventually, but just to give an idea of where I stand...

Barclay's Overdraft - £2100.00 (£1500 of it is Interest free)
NatWest Overdraft - £375 (Interest free)
MasterCard - £350 (will be paid off next month, use for big purchases eg car servicing)
Visa - £40 (paid off in full every month so Interest free - only use it to improve credit score)
OH - £400 (for various bits and bobs including several flights to Ireland)

I'm only really concerned about the overdraft. I'm due to get my "Golden Hello" soon which will help paying off a chunk of it (£2500 before tax) but other than that I need to come up with ways of saving and spending less. I really want to start saving for a deposit - OH is saving at the moment, but clearly gets a bit annoyed as I never contribute!

Advice etc always very welcome x

tealady

Hi. I would start with keeping a spending diary and having a few no spend days (NSD's). Also if you put up your SOA then perhaps we can give you a few pointers.

Stinkybell

I will defo be keeping a spending diary starting from tomorrow (Monday 1st - nice and round), although to be fair the only thing I'll spend today is the laundry! :T

Stinkybell

Infact, scrap that - it's OH's turn to pay this week so that means today will be a NSD! :j

Stinkybell

Well with all the fun of school starting, I've hardly had any time to come on and do a proper update!! So I sat down last month and worked out a repayment plan to get on top of all my various debts, and even made allowences for things I knew were going to come my way such as OH's birthday, Christmas and Car Insurance. I'm thinking that I'll have my debt free day somewhere around Easter if I'm good!!
How things were the day before payday:-

Barclay's Overdraft - £2180.00
NatWest Overdraft - £350
MasterCard - £433.04
Visa - £0
OH - £400

It actually looks worse than it did before, but it's mainly due to the delightful £395.60 bill to service and MOT my car! My car insurance is due in November, and the renewal is about £430, but I'm going to shop around and get cashback MoneySaving Style.:money: