DFSD's motivational ramblings...

debtfreesomeday

Have been hit by a bit of a financial bombshell this morning.
Got back to work to find redundancies are being made. Firstly with management in the next couple of weeks, but it's been hinted that 'others' may be next.

In full panic mode now. :eek:

Just when we were getting back on our feet and there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

debtfreesomeday

We're trying not to worry about the possible redundancy issue until we need to. However, we are making plans to try and be in the best possible position if it does happen.
We are steaming ahead and using every little bit of spare cash to try and do two things:

1. Finish the Christmas shopping so that we don't have that extra expense coming out in the next couple of months wages.

2. Use every spare penny we have after that to pay off the credit card as soon as we possibly can, and I mean EVERY spare penny!

Hubby has been great and raided his savings jars and managed to find another £60 from which we are able to buy some more Christmas gifts. I've ordered some to pick up from Boots next week in their buy 2 get 3rd free offer (and with a bit of re-arranging at the online checkout, managed to get the most expensive free!). Ordered another from CDiscount from their sale yesterday, so we're coming close to finishing the Christmas shopping now. We have written plans of everything we have left to buy and allocated a sum for each person, so now it's just a case of buying it when we have the cash available.

Hopefully we should have it finished this month and then November and December are 'throw everything at the credit card' months. I'd love to clear it by the end of the year, but that means finding an extra £590 which I'm doubtful about. Our penny jar is big, but not that big!

DFSD
X

debtfreesomeday

I can't sleep. I've got all sorts of thoughts running round my head at the moment.

We had a nice evening - cooked for some friends (MSE way of course ).
They've just bought a lovely big new house and, although I'm really happy for them, a teensy bit of me is very jealous. (Ok, quite a big bit of me actually) . Not jealous of them individually, but of having that financial freedom to buy things we'd like as they do and not have to worry about every penny that is spent. I'd just like to get our house feeling like a home, to me it doesn't at the moment for various reasons, but we can't afford it and I can't see us being able to for a long while yet.

Ok, moan over. I'm sorry.

I'm desperately worred about my parents too. I just wish they were in good health and could live their life. They've worked so hard all their lives and are people who will do anything for anyone, so it seems so unfair that they are suffering so much.

I guess I'm just feeling tired and emotional - think it's best I shut up and go to bed! All I want to do is go out and blow the budget really, and buy ourselves things we'd like / need, but I know that's not going to help in the long run and will make me feel ten times worse afterwards!

Oh to have good health and money eh?.

Night all
DFSD
X

debtfreesomeday

Not a great weekend really, have been feeling very impatient and restless the past few days. I want this debt gone and I want it gone now, so we can start to live a 'normal' life. :mad:

Anyway, Monday today and back at work. Currently eating my basics 17p chicken soup for lunch trying to convince myself it fills me up! :o

We have overspent this weekend. All on Christmas presents, but we have nearly now finished the Christmas shopping, so we won't need to spend much next month and will make the money back that way if we're overdrawn.
We have only spent a third of the groceries budget and I'm guessing we'll only need another one big shop in this month before payday so may also save money there too. Likewise for the petrol budget.

I have to take something back to a shop tonight, so that'll be £18 back in the bank account. Also have a bit of DIY to do that'll keep me out of trouble. :rolleyes: ( I mean out of the way of internet shopping / the shops!).

No grand money-making schemes this month. I feel I should look into matched betting as I see lots of people on here who've had fantastic results, but I just can't get my head around it, no matter how many times I read the threads about it. Might go off to have another little look now...

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

Nope. Still don't understand it!

debtfreesomeday

Just been looking at our snowball again in attempt to renew my debt-busting enthusiasm and to remind me how far we've come. Our debt's been under 20K now for a few weeks which is good. In fact, at the end of next month it'll be under 19K which is even better. :cool2:

From February we shall start overpaying the Lloyds loan. I originally thought you could only do this by going into a branch and making a payment over the counter, but it seems we may be able to do it online by standing order which makes it so much easier. I'm really pleased about that.
The first 7 or 8 months we will be overpaying by £411.77 (just as the snowball says!), the remaining 6 months will then be overpaid by about £515. I can't wait, it will finally feel like we're getting somewhere then, or on the home straight so to speak.

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

£33 of petrol put in the car today, so that's £77 spent out of £150 petrol budget for the month.
Also ordered another online shop for a week Wednesday - cost presently £46 - this should then do us until after payday.
That'll then be only £95 in total of the £150 groceries budget spent this month which should 'mop up' the overspend on Christmas presents. :j Think we've got this grocery thing well and truly cracked now, with a little forward thinking and planning.

Stepped the diet up a notch today too as have let things slip lately (a box of maltesers each last night might not have helped...) . Have had a jacket potato for lunch (brought from home of course :cool:) to fill me up a bit more as I'm ravenous after getting home from work and find myself eating anything in sight!!! :EasterBun
We have chicken and noodles planned for dinner.

Also got half an hour of the cross trainer planned for tonight. :A

Bought another Christmas present in Tesco's last night for £5 so that's another person ticked off the list. :T

I'm now finding myself getting excited about the prospect of being credit card debt free within 4 months. :j:D:T:D

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

£7 from the surveys has now hit my paypal account, so I'm going to transfer it out into the bank account and pay £7.86 off of the virgin card to bring the balance down to a (nearly) rounded £1730.

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

Morning all

Feeling a bit brighter this morning as had a good DFW day and a good diet yesterday . Onto more of the same today! Although I do keep thinking I'm a day ahead of myself which isn't helping much.

Right, paid that little payment of £7.86 off last night. According to the snowball calculator, our last payment on that credit card is due in February and it will be for £182.92. So, as a little challenge, I'm going to try and make/find that amount before February so we can finish paying it in January instead.
Not sure how yet, think it may be mostly by making savings in the monthly budget on groceries and petrol etc., but we'll see how it goes!

We have a large spare change pot that we can bank too - but will wait until Christmas time or January to do that and let it fill up a bit more.

Hopefully should get a few more surveys, and if I can borrow a camera, maybe ebay some stuff.

Wish me luck!

DFSD

debtfreesomeday

I won a lovely Alessi-designed bottle opener on an instant win this morning. I can feel an evening of entering competitions coming on! :cool:

DFSD