Luckycharm's debtfree and self-sufficiency journey

Luckycharm_2 · 30 December 2009 at 9:43AM

Thanks Nellie Dean...I guess the debt is just a symptom of being totally out of control with money but I'm determined to get there in the end.

Cash from bingo britain just keeps coming in. I got £25 yesterday, £10 the day before, OH got £25 too, I'm kind of losing track of it all. (And I'm trying to get more in control? :rotfl:) I'm going to figure it all out today and start keeping record of it.

I'm on day 5 of my smoking quit. It's going well and I'm strangely not having many bad cravings. I think I'm ready to move on to another challenge. Maybe get fitter and start using my bike more? (We're stil snowed in. If I want to get to the shops it's the bike or walking.)

I'm very excited about New Year and the thought of a fresh start. I'm so happy to see the end of 2009. Bring on 2010!

Luckycharm_2 · 30 December 2009 at 10:56AM

I'm sat here now in tears of frustration. Just spoke to he abbey about a new fraudulent payment on my credit card and they don't want to know. Have advised me to WAIT until my January statement then contact them or phone the company who are taking the money and cancel the arrangement. Hello? It's FRAUD!!!! There IS NO ARRANGEMENT to cancel!

I could scream. I really could. And evidently even if I cancel my card (which I have done now) the company can still take cash from it up to 6 months after that. Does this mean I'm stuck in a cycle where I wait for them to take money then try to get it reclaimed? What a joke.

I HATE ABBEY!!!:mad:

Luckycharm_2 · 30 December 2009 at 11:53AM

I've calmed down a bit and rang them again. I spoke to a very helpful man who reported the transaction (which means they will query and refund it), reassured me that the company will not be able to do this again since my card has been cancelled and a new one issued, and was generally very pleasant.

Why are they not all like that?

Then logged on to my card account in time to see the new interest added. Which means my debt is up over £9k again and I need to find £56 to get it down. It meant a lot to me to have it below £9k for the New Year so I need to do something.

Luckycharm_2 · 31 December 2009 at 11:44AM

I seem to be getting a bit of hassle from bingo britain. They didn't credit my account with the £5 bonus yesterday and I got a very 'nice' email saying that they valued my custom but if I was only using the site to take advantage of their offer then that wasn't good. What do they expect exactly? I emailed back and said 'where's my bonus?' and it's there today. I didn't know what else to say to them. It was their idea to give everyone £5 bonus a day for a month, wasn't it? I'm not doing anything wrong by spending it am I?

Me and OH have made £150 between us so far. :j It's a great earner.

Well, here we are at New Year. It's time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the future. I've never been so happy to leave a year behind me in all my life. I'm so excited about 2010. :beer:It really seems like a fresh start. And this is the year when I finally learn to manage my finances. About time, too!

Luckycharm_2 · 31 December 2009 at 2:43PM

In an attempt to get a bit more organised, I'm going to do a summary at the end of each month. This will hopefully help to keep my scatty brain on track, stop me jumping from one idea to the next and keep my goals in mind.

December 2009

Paid off £970.25 in debt.
Realised exactly how poor I am at budgeting and began trying to learn how to do this better
Started saving a month's wage to take the stress off self-employment
Signed up to £100 clothes challenge
Made extra money from matched betting, bingo, scratchcards and extra work

All in all, not too bad. At least it's a start. Now I need a plan for January.

January 2010

Reduce debt by £500
No birthdays, holidays, visits or anything planned for this month so hopefully nice and cheap (have 1 birthday next month...maybe it wouldn't hurt to prepare for it now?)
Fully research internet/phone/tv packages as old one about to run out
Get car 1 MOTed
Get car 2 moving with plan to MOT it next month and sell it
Go on a DFW date with OH (after a year of bad health and very difficult times, we need to get back into the swing of socialising again...I'm looking forward to this!)
Keep matched betting, playing bingo and scratchcards
Get OH onto ebaying
List what seeds I need for growing season and budget for them

That's all I can think of right now. It's enough to be getting on with. I need to keep a firm hold on our budget 'cos until my month's wage is saved up, we're at the mercy of people paying late.
Hopefully I'll be able to stay on track now and not get caught up in too many different ideas and have nothing happen! This is the year when I learn to manage money.

Luckycharm_2 · 31 December 2009 at 2:59PM

I'm now on day 6 of my quit. I can't believe I have come this far but I'm really pleased to have managed it. The first few days were quite easy but it seems to be getting harder all the time. I don't know why that is.

We are still snowed in here (8 no spend days in a row!) and I'm not in my usual routine so I'm really worried that when the snow goes and I'm back at work, then the triggers will come thick and fast and I'll blow my quit.

I could try preparing for it but I don't really know how. It always seems like luck with me when I quit. I either manage for a while or I don't and I don't know what makes the difference.

Taking it a day at a time is useful. Maybe I need to cultivate some patience.

Oh, and my quit savings pot has £12 in it. Brill. £6 to debt and £6 for a treat for me. Wonder what that could be?

Luckycharm_2 · 31 December 2009 at 3:04PM

I've applied to do a masters course starting this year. It's only 1 day per week so I'll be ble to continue working while I'm doing it (if I get accepted). I'm quite excited about it but worried about the financial implications.

I need to do quite a lot of preparation for it. Do I get travelling expenses reimbursed? I know there are some grants available but I'll wait until I find out if I'm on the course before looking into them.

So much to think about but if I kep it in mind just now it won't be such a shock when/if I get on the course.

Luckycharm_2 · 1 January 2010 at 6:25PM

Me and OH just won £25 between us on bingo britain. :j Downside is now we can only withdraw every 72 hours which was not in their original rules. Oh well, I'll just have to wait for it.

7 days with no cigs now. Excellent progress.

We're still snowed in so everything else is moving at a very slow pace.

I'm so happy it's 2010!!!:jYEY!:j

Luckycharm_2 · 2 January 2010 at 10:30AM

I'm taking some time this morning to properly plan my week. I'm hoping this will help keep my stress levels low, stop any impulse or emergency buying and keep me from smoking.

Alternatively, we may still be snowed in and my whole week will be cancelled. Not good news when you're self-employed. (Although another week in pyjamas would be fine by me!)

Good luck to all DFW peeps.