It's not rocket science, so why don't I get it?

Piquant_2

debtdesperado wrote: »

Hi Piquant... I was in the same boat and then it was pointed out to me that I was going to frazzle myself silly trying to worry and do everything at once!

My tip is slow down and take babysteps... work out what you can afford to pay off the debt each month (and if you're worried about redundancy, you have to consider what cash you have stashed away for a rainy day and whether this needs to be added to, depending on your circumstances), do the snowball thing and take a careful note of the debt free day...see how far away it is.

Now adjust it so it's realistic so that you can live (eg, you might want to cut yourself some slack and promise yourself that you can get a new horse in 3 years time (or whenever) once your debt is down to £5k rather than zero?).

The debt free date get a bit further away, but no matter! Then try living on your budget for a couple of months. Keep going over? Adjust your debt payment again, do the snowball and come up with a fresh debt free day. Don't worry if it seems a long time away - because it's realistic, you will hit it rather than crash and burn in a few months because you're sick of living by candlelight, eating value pasta and not going out etc!

It's taken me 4 months to really work out an accurate budget, and to get the balance of debt repayment v having a life, which has really surprised me.

Slow and steady, I have discovered, will win the race :-)

Thank you debtdesperado all excellent advice. I particularly like the "you will hit it rather than crash and burn in a few months because you're sick of living by candlelight, eating value pasta and not going out" quote and will listen to it.

Hopefully, my dear rebel of a horse will carry on for a few years yet and let me clear at least the credit cards. The loan will follow a couple of years later.

Piq

lucielle

Hi Piq, I know you have posted on my thread and as you are a fellow horsey person, I will be watching your progress.
L

lilly81

Hi Piq,

I have been looking forward to you starting your diary, and will be reading with great interest :j

Lilly X

smarties84

Hello, i just wanted to say well done for paying off the amount you have since AUG -nice one.
My job is the same as yours, very worrying and i to have lots of debt and theres no way i would manage if my job ended!
Will be reading this all the time now xx

chevalier

have you posted up an SOA anywhere so we can see if there is anything to be trimmed from your budget.
good luck
chev

KTjazz

I still can't find a shaking hands smiley by the way... I'll keep looking.

I can find a high5 one, will that do?!

Piquant_2

KTjazz wrote: »

I still can't find a shaking hands smiley by the way... I'll keep looking.

I can find a high5 one, will that do?!

I think that will do nicely! Post him up and we'll high five our agreement...

Piquant_2

chevalier wrote: »

have you posted up an SOA anywhere so we can see if there is anything to be trimmed from your budget.
good luck
chev

I think you have the best signature ever! Oh and thank you for popping in.

I haven't posted my SOA, mainly because I fear everyone will want to trim my horse first. I've had him all his life, 24 years, and the thought of not having him is intolerable. I also have him on full livery which is very expensive. I had a very bad accident a couple of years ago, I managed to turn myself inside out :eek: meaning I found mucking out and the manual tasks a little difficult.

The accident is one of the reasons my debt is so high. I paid many thousands of pounds for physiotherapy - but it was worth it, as I have so much more movement than I ever should have had. And believe it or not, I had to buy myself a whole new wardrobe of clothes as I couldn't manage fastenings for a long while. There is a possibility I didn't need to spend quite so much there but what's done is done!

Gosh, sorry that's a bit of a waffle, thank you chevalier if you stuck with it....

Piquant_2

lucielle wrote: »

Hi Piq, I know you have posted on my thread and as you are a fellow horsey person, I will be watching your progress.
L

Lucielle, I rather hoped you would pop in. I hope my thread is half as interesting as yours. Certainly, my cooking won't be as impressive as yours

Piquant_2

Wednesday 9 December

Best get on with today's entry.

I have sent a chaser letter to Tesco Finance as they haven't acknowledged my request to cancel the ppi payment on my loan. Once I've done this, I'm planning on claiming the whole lot as I believe it was incorrectly sold to me. Actually it wasn't sold at all, merely snuck on the back. I know I would have refused it as I have a policy covering sickness and redundancy already.

Was very money saving last night and made sure I got my fill of free champagne and dinner at the work Christmas party. Am suffering a fairly severe allergic reaction today, squeazy, headache, tired, that sort of thing :rolleyes:

Was planning to call the bank to get my account unlocked and see if I could get my £25 charge refunded as an act of goodwill. However, in the midst of my allergic reaction I didn't pick up any paperwork with account numbers on....:o

Oh well, tomorrow's another day! and I have a date with the ex ex....