Nics DFW Dairy - I WILL be DF!!

Nic25

Hi guys, I've been posting on these boards for a few days now, and as I can't sleep tonight (check out the time - silly toothache!! :mad: ) I thought this was the perfect time to be brave and start my own diary.

Like most of you, this diary is mostly just to keep myself on track and focussed on clearing the debts, but if anyone wants to add any tips/encouragement/random comments, they will be very welcome!

So, a bit of background first - I'm 23 and have been in my first house with my partner for almost a year. In total, we have combined debts of £13250 (not including the mortgage obv.), most of which is my debt, which is why I'm so keen to get it paid off. However, OH is very much on board with everything I'm reading out to him from on here at the moment (we'll see how he is when 'beer' isn't included in the budget for next week though! )

Most of the debt (£6200) is on one credit card which is only interest free for another 6 months so this is a priority at the moment. We also have one other credit card, an overdraft (left over from my student days and IF until june 09 ) and a car loan.

My long term aim is to have all these debts paid off, have a couple of £1000 in a savings account (We opened as ISA when we moved in together - it has a grand total of £1.85 in it!! :rotfl: ) and to graduate from the DFW board, to MFW board, and be able to braoch the scary subject of paying off our martgage early.

At the moment, OHs wage is much bigger than mine (about 3x) so all bills etc come off this, leaving my wage (£600ish a month) for groceries, general living, my travel to and from work, and for the main credit card (minimum payment £150 per month).

We're scraping by this way just now, but my OHs account usually goes abut £50 overdrawn by the end of each month, so we'll have to work to remedy that. I'm hoping by re-budgeting (infact even starting to budget at all! ) will remedy that. If not, I think I'll have to look at taking on more hours at work, which I'm not keen to do.

Soooo, after that novel guys (well done if you're still reading this! :T ) I'm going to finish by listing my main aims, and the first few little milestones I'm aiming for, just to make it seem a bit more do-able. I'll be using this diary from day to day to list the savings and payments made, and just to write down my random ramblings too!!


MAIN AIMS
Be debt free by June 2012
Reach £2000 in saving account
Be in a position to begin paying off mortgage

LIST OF MILESTONES (to be updated as I go along)
Get CC1 under £6000
Find out details of overpayments on car loan
Reach £50 in sealed pot challenge


Wish me luck!! :beer:

tealady

Hi and good luck. If you put up your SOA then I am sure the lovely peeps on her can save you some money.
The best place to start IMO is a spending diary, it is amazing how a few pounds spent here and there add up.
Also check you are getting the best deals on utilities and insurances.
Watch your APR's, the debt with the highest one is usually the one to clear first. If you have 2 "free" Council tax months coming up why not thow that money at a debt?
Good luck.

Nic25

Thanks TeaLady - I posted my SOA a while ago, and got some great tips from folks Got most of the big things sorted out - working on switching mobile contracts etc, so it's just about keeping in budget now, and throwing all the extra money I can at the debts.

I think the way I'm gonna go about it is to try to gain extra money from elsewhere and use that just for debts.

Today I have gained:

Onepoll - £3.60
PureProfile - £0.05
Daily Scratch - £0.10
Sealed Pot - £1.65

And also moved £40 that was sitting in my Paypal account. So should have that in the next few days. :j

Not much, but it's a start, and it'll all add up!

Miss_Piggy_2

Good morning Nic

Sounds like you are well on the road to becoming DF! Well done on being so sensible - wish I'd had an ounce of your sense at that age! Maybe then I wouldn't be on here !:o

Good luck on the budgeting. It seriously is the most important thing to do....I used to spend a fortune without realising it. Now if its not budgeted for then we don't get it!

Good luck

Miss P
xx

cozza123

well done Nic i'm 24 but don't have a house want to get debt free first. we are all here for you if you need any advise miss piggy's right the things that you don't realise you are spending on are normally the worst magazines, going out etc. its helped me anyway so if you need anything give us a shout.

Nic25

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys! :grouphug:
After the grand total of 3 hours sleep last night, I'm feeling a bit yukky today - would love to stay on the sofa in my dressing gown all day with the fire on full, but needs must!

I'm out at a panto tonight (it's behind you!!! ) but will be on when I return to let jot down all the money spent (or not hopefully!) during the course of the day.

Smamfer

Good luck... having your own diary will truly make a difference x

Nic25

Well today wasn't a great day for me MSE-wise. Although I did have a lovely night at the pantomime!
It was only a local one, so I thought the tickets would be fairly cheap, apparently not lol! Plus I paid for my own plus my sisters... so more money down.
Quite proud of the fact that I'm lying on my bed writing this though instead of in the pub with the other folks I went to the panto with! Not so much a show of willpower so much as I can't drink anyway with all the painkillers and antibiotics I'm on for my teeth! :rolleyes:

I didn't do a lot else today - some teaching in the afternoon, but spent most of the day dozing on the sofa due to the lack of sleep last night (here's hoping for a better night tonight!)

Anyway, my gains for today are:

OnePoll - £0.20 (£3.80)
PureProfile - £0.20 (£0.25)
Daily Scratch - £0.10 (-£1.00) lol

Spends were:

£14.00 Panto tickets
£2.00 sweets for in theatre!


So not too bad in all, since I was in the house and unable to spend for most of the day! Meant to go to Boots for some Clove Oil as recommended by some lovely members, but ran out of time before class, so it'll be on my list tommorow.

Hope everyone had a good day today!:)

Nic25

Morning (afternoon?!) all, had a nice long lie today!! Well, I can't be spending money if I'm lying in bed!! :rotfl:

Was very busy yesterday and didn't get online to post Was out at a gig, but not drinking due to all the tablets lol so had a Low Spend Night. Did see a man who had collapsed though and had to be taken away by ambulance

I'm out Xmas shopping today, which will be a challenge, but I'm gonna try very hard to be good!

And I'm balancing it up by having dinner and 'family night' with the inlaws - so wont cook or spend lol! And then am out performing at night, so will have free drinks etc, and get paid at the end of the night - woohoo!! It's great to be paid for something you love doing! :rotfl:

Also moved £30 from Paypal yesterday, so that should be with me in the next few days - previous £40 safely in bank now, waiting for CC bill to come in at the start of the week!

Off to do surveys etc just now, so will hopefully post later with some totals etc, and just how much damage the Xmas shopping caused.... :P

Nic25

Hi everyone, just signing in

Had a great day shopping yesterday, and finished it off today - just a couple of little bits and bobs and thats me!

Spent quite a lot, but got a few bargains, and have been putting some money aside for Xmas pressies so doesn't feel quite so bad as it should!

Don't have much time today (lots of pressies to wrap!) but feel better if I just pop in and post something on here each day, just to keep me on track!!

I'm not even going to try and list my spends for today and yesterday, but I'm going to write what I gained to make me feel better! :P

Yesterday/Today I gained:

OnePoll - £0.05 (£3.85)
Daily Scratch - £0.30 (-£0.60)
Sealed Pot - £2.76 (£47.82)

smarties84

Hello there, well done so far. I will be checking in here from now on!