Handbags & Gladrags – Confessions of a Recovering Spendaholic

Shoe_Gal

Swinstie73 wrote: »

). THE BEST 1ST AIDER IN THE WORLD! Who gives a to$$, I'd love to have practised my bandaging right across her mouth, using it as a gag :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Swinstie73

Hi all,

Not much to report money-wise today, spent 60p but all in a good cause as I REALLY NEEDED CHOCOLATE! Pay-day not until Friday and was hoping not to need to buy any groceries til then but have ran out of milk, so will pop into shop for that tomorrow after I drop my sister's b'day card off. Will have to write it tonight or else I'll forget.

Got the kitchen semi-tidy after my scone making session tonight, took one to work today but was a bit hard. Can't seem to get them to rise either, they looked a bit pancakey, will try again though. Going to have an early night tonight as not been sleeping well, think drinking too much tea late at night (then having to get up), so no more for me. Hope everyone else is well and sweet dreams xx

Swinstie73

Hi All,

Early pay-day this month so bills and stuff won't be paid for ages. Have updated my totals for this month, but stupid site threw me out when I tried to save (can't be bothered doing it again now), and doesn't look good for being at £7K by the end of the year. My lovely total of £8.5K has gone up to not much under £9K as had car insurance and break-down cover this month, plus my BT fee. Have had to reduce my payments also, as ended this month with £20 in my purse and £22 in the bank - not good. Anyway working this weekend so it might just make up for it a bit. Have a good one, gonna be busy so probably will not be back til Monday. x

savingholmes

Hi Swinstie glad you are still okay

Swinstie73

Hi All,

I am pooped after working all weekend, but hey another few bob in the bank (once I get paid that is), so can’t all be bad.

Have paid off the evil Debenhams card, was only £50, but wondering whether to keep it incase of any ‘offers’! Considering I don’t really shop in Debs much, I probably shouldn’t but will maybe keep until after Christmas at least. I don’t really like taking out a card then cancelling it after only a month, I know what it feels like to be dumped after only a month, ha!

Anyway balance is only £109 less than last month, even though paid over £500 this month, stupid car insurance! Anyway from this month on, I am giving my trusted sister another £20 to put away for my insurance next year. If it’s anymore than £240, at least I won’t have too much more to pay.

Can’t remember my balances last month, but this month I am at:

£4,221.21 – Loan
£4,160.10 – Credit Cards (£370 – Virgin, £3,495 – Halifax (incl £105 transfer fee), £295.10 – Barclaycard)
£10 – Catalogue

So, even if I continue to pay £500 for the next two months, not going to make my £7K target, boo!

Have made another decision though, as after being so down about money this month and hearing about a couple of premature deaths (non-family), that life really is too short to be so strict. I have always said I wanted to balance paying off this debt with still having a life, but I’ve became a bit obsessed about trying to pay it off.

So, I now have three choices:

a) Continue as I am and try and pay off debt by Dec 2010 (original date was Sept 2010, so 3 months more).

Pros: Be debt free in 14 months time, assuming £2,200 approx to pay off loan – will have £3,900 in savings, leaving £1700 to cover 2010 holiday and approx £1K credit card – 0% finishes July 2010!

Cons: Budget will be stretched very tight with no emergency money for any unexpected expenses. Holiday not a necessity but would be nice to get one.

b) Move DFD to Mar 2011.

Pros: £4,500 in savings, loan now only £1,750 to pay off, leaving £2,750 to pay off £1K credit card, (cheap) holiday for 2010 - £750 - £1,000, leaving £1K or £750 saving for emergency fund.

Cons: Won’t be debt free for 17 months, which is already 6 months more than original DFD of Sept 2010.

c) Let loan run its course – ends March 2012.

Pros: Used to paying £145.56, so what does an extra year matter, ha! Will have £6,900 in savings, minus £1K to pay off credit card so £5,900 IN SAVINGS! Ok, so minus approx £2,500 for 2010/2011 & 2012 holidays only leaves £3,400, but I am excited by this prospect, as it would be a great amount to have in an emergency fund. This could be depleted by future spends of course as you never know when some housey appliance needs replacing.

Cons: By the time loan is paid off, I will either be wanting, or needing a new car. Now, in 16 years of driving, this is only my fourth car so I wouldn’t necessarily be wanting a new one, but I can’t guarantee not needing one, it is 5 years old this December.

Won’t be debt free for 29 MONTHS! This is 18 MONTHS more than original DFD.

Looks like Option b is my best bet, it’ll take me slighter longer to get debt free but won’t feel like forever, which is what 29 months seems like. I seriously need an emergency fund as there is a possibility of redundancies in my Company, I don’t think I’ll be affected but who knows. As long as my credit cards are paid off, if the loan does run it’s course, I will still have savings and/or redundancy if it comes to it (loan is unsecured and has no protection), to pay if off.

This has turned into another mega post but I feel better getting my thoughts down on paper so to speak. I might start another diary in the New Year and try to keep things simple this time.

Hope everyone else is well, and not fallen asleep reading my ramblings, ha!

laura2481

Swinstie73 wrote: »

Hi All,

I am pooped after working all weekend, but hey another few bob in the bank (once I get paid that is), so can’t all be bad.

Have paid off the evil Debenhams card, was only £50, but wondering whether to keep it incase of any ‘offers’! Considering I don’t really shop in Debs much, I probably shouldn’t but will maybe keep until after Christmas at least. I don’t really like taking out a card then cancelling it after only a month, I know what it feels like to be dumped after only a month, ha!

Anyway balance is only £109 less than last month, even though paid over £500 this month, stupid car insurance! Anyway from this month on, I am giving my trusted sister another £20 to put away for my insurance next year. If it’s anymore than £240, at least I won’t have too much more to pay.

Can’t remember my balances last month, but this month I am at:

£4,221.21 – Loan
£4,160.10 – Credit Cards (£370 – Virgin, £3,495 – Halifax (incl £105 transfer fee), £295.10 – Barclaycard)
£10 – Catalogue

So, even if I continue to pay £500 for the next two months, not going to make my £7K target, boo!

Have made another decision though, as after being so down about money this month and hearing about a couple of premature deaths (non-family), that life really is too short to be so strict. I have always said I wanted to balance paying off this debt with still having a life, but I’ve became a bit obsessed about trying to pay it off.

So, I now have three choices:

a) Continue as I am and try and pay off debt by Dec 2010 (original date was Sept 2010, so 3 months more).

Pros: Be debt free in 14 months time, assuming £2,200 approx to pay off loan – will have £3,900 in savings, leaving £1700 to cover 2010 holiday and approx £1K credit card – 0% finishes July 2010!

Cons: Budget will be stretched very tight with no emergency money for any unexpected expenses. Holiday not a necessity but would be nice to get one.

b) Move DFD to Mar 2011.

Pros: £4,500 in savings, loan now only £1,750 to pay off, leaving £2,750 to pay off £1K credit card, (cheap) holiday for 2010 - £750 - £1,000, leaving £1K or £750 saving for emergency fund.

Cons: Won’t be debt free for 17 months, which is already 6 months more than original DFD of Sept 2010.

c) Let loan run its course – ends March 2012.

Pros: Used to paying £145.56, so what does an extra year matter, ha! Will have £6,900 in savings, minus £1K to pay off credit card so £5,900 IN SAVINGS! Ok, so minus approx £2,500 for 2010/2011 & 2012 holidays only leaves £3,400, but I am excited by this prospect, as it would be a great amount to have in an emergency fund. This could be depleted by future spends of course as you never know when some housey appliance needs replacing.

Cons: By the time loan is paid off, I will either be wanting, or needing a new car. Now, in 16 years of driving, this is only my fourth car so I wouldn’t necessarily be wanting a new one, but I can’t guarantee not needing one, it is 5 years old this December.

Won’t be debt free for 29 MONTHS! This is 18 MONTHS more than original DFD.

Looks like Option b is my best bet, it’ll take me slighter longer to get debt free but won’t feel like forever, which is what 29 months seems like. I seriously need an emergency fund as there is a possibility of redundancies in my Company, I don’t think I’ll be affected but who knows. As long as my credit cards are paid off, if the loan does run it’s course, I will still have savings and/or redundancy if it comes to it (loan is unsecured and has no protection), to pay if off.

This has turned into another mega post but I feel better getting my thoughts down on paper so to speak. I might start another diary in the New Year and try to keep things simple this time.

Hope everyone else is well, and not fallen asleep reading my ramblings, ha!

Hi Swinstie! I would go for option b...it's sort of in the middle. Not so strict you're making yourself miserable and not so long you are dragging out (and you will save money on interest too!)

Any more converstions with your OH?;)

savingholmes

option b sounds reasonable

Sun_Addict

Hi Swinstie

Option B looks the best to me too! However, do you have to count car loan as debt if you can afford the repayments and you may be replacing it with another one at the end of the term to get a new car? OH always has a loan on the go for his van, once the loan finishes he gets a new van and a new loan starts up. We never count this as debt as such - we just look at it as another bill. It's just the credit card that we count as debt as this is money we should never have spent in the first place.

Just a thought.

EssexHebridean

Work out exactly how much additional money you pay for a car bought using as loan, THEN tell me it's not a debt?! Sorry to sound harsh, but the bottom line is that borrowing is borrowing, and that equals debt whether it be a loan, CC's, or even a mortgage. The reason why our society is where it is right now - ie, in a bloomin' great recession - is the fact that so many people chose to think of certain types of debt as being "not real debt". The only debt that is "good" is that which is considered debt such as stoozing which will, in the long run, make money.

Swinstie - option B sounds sensible (glad to see you back posting again BTW - had a sneaky feeling you wouldn't stay away for long!) as it's a good compromise and will enable you to start getting some cash behind you against the possibility of needing to replace you car. Having said that, there really is no reason wny you would need to replace it is there - presumably you've kept it well maintained and if so it should certainly go on for a good while yet. Having said that though I have to admit to a degree of hypocrisy as I tend to replace mind every three years normally - the 6 year old Citreon we've just bought my OH seems ancient to me! So long as it's looked after and serviced regularly though you should get a good many years out of the current one if you want to. My problem is that I get bored and want a change though....!

Swinstie73

Hi all,

Thanks for agreeing that Option B is the best option for me, I knew it was but just needed some confirmation from others. As much as I'd love to be debt free sooner, I also want some sort of life for myself and not do my usual of not go to nights out/concerts etc., cos I think I'm always skint IYSWIM.

Anyway, Sun Addict, I thought about what you said about a car loan not being a debt but agree with Essex in that I've counted all my debt as 'real' debt apart from my mortgage as that is long term. The car loan is a personal loan so I'm free to sell the car anytime without penalty, so it is definitely part of my debt, unfortunately.

I've planned to keep the car for the term of the loan and since it is the newest car I've ever bought i.e. was only 2.5 years old when I bought it, then this is doable. My sister's OH is a mechanic so as long as he sticks around then I should be able to keep it well maintained. I set them up by the way, knew I did good finding a mechanic, ha!

Well spent £6 today whilst at work, it was a Breast Cancer Charity function, so feel like I contributed whilst getting a few little presents for part of my sister's birthday's next year (and some macaroon for myself). Worked 6 hours, so that's about £70 I've made between last weekend and this.

Didn't spend too much on Friday (Halloween party), as we got a run there and back, it was a good laugh although OH was in agony with toothache all weekend. Kind of glad he's gone home now (I'm bad) but haven't had the best of sleeps since Thursday as been nursing him.

Well gonna have a quick bath before X-Factor, so nite all x