Today is a new day!

chevalier

Wow that is a great partial result. How much as a % of your total debt will this pay off?

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Thank you so much everyone for sharing this wondrous, joyful moment with me. It has even got better in the last 24 hours!!!
The cheque for £5691.86 arrived yesterday, went in the bank yesterday. I shared the joy with the cashiers who despite my grievances with the Halifax have always been v nice to me and always ask after dd and so on. They were v pleased for me although of course it was funny saying it was actually from their dear employer! They didn't seem to mind! They were just v happy for me..
Then I had a message to call the Halifax and on doing so it was about my home insurance complaint which has been resolved at last and the chq owed to me is being sent in the post this week. That is already spoken for though re my mortgage payt this month.
Then I did call the PPI complaint dept about the other 2 elements of my policy with them for the mortgage explaining it had been sold to me as a complete package and therefore I wished to pursue a complaint on that too and so they have said that is fine and have started the ball rolling there. So, if justice prevails I will be due another refund.
So, once the other PPI cheque for £3500 approx arrives I will be able to properly put my plan into place which is to pay off 3 debts and start reducing one other debt much more quickly with the freed up funds. If I should have a poor month or a crisis occurs I don't need to allocate those excess funds to a debt, they will give me a bit of breathing space but my aim is to not lose focus whatsoever. I will not be wasting the opportunity this gives me to speed up the repaying process of my debt. Oh, it still hasn't sunk in..
This will change so much and the positive effect it will have on dd too and our lives as a family unit will be just wonderful. One indulgence I will be doing is taking 3 friends out for a meal. I am paying for a chinese takeaway for my dear friend and hubby up the road who have been there for me through thick and thin , on hand with plasters and sweet tea and tissues to wipe away the blood or the tears!after falls and so forth, another friend who takes dd to school twice a week, I will do the same with her and her dd, then another friend who gives us all her dd's clothes that don't fit her anymore, saving us an absolute fortune, and to whom I am also most grateful. I want them all to know just how much I value their support and this is a way I can do that. Plus with cutting back I can't remember the last time I ever had a chinese or indian take away so it will be a lovely treat for dd and I too! Then apart from new slippers and hoover and mattress, the indulgence stops. It's focus, focus, focus on all things that enable me to stay proactive on this roller coaster journey to the ultimate goal of owing nothing!!!

satchmo1

Woop, Woop P&F, sooo happy for you x

Enjoy your well deserved treats

mum2one

that is absolutely brilliant, so glad, ur one in a million, and to do all that for everyone else it shows how big your heart is. xxx

InaPickle

Ooh PaF, that's FABULOUS! :T

I hope you get lots more money back to put to such good use. It will make your life soooo much easier!

See, there is a guardian angel out there!

If it's not too rude to ask, how much do you owe in non-mortgage debts and how much of a percentage will this be for you to pay off all at once?

I'm soooooo pleased for you - it literally couldn't happen to a nicer person!

ani*fan

I would just like to add to the kind wishes everyone has been sending you and say...

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

This excellent result could not have happened to a more deserving person and the fact that you will be using some of your refunded cash to treat your friends, daughter and the people who help you out on a day-to-day basis just brought a tear to my eye.

Can't wait to keep following your story. I hope the chinese food is yummy, that your new slippers are warm and comfy, that your new hoover works a treat and that you sleep more soundly every night, and not just 'cos you have a new mattress. There's nothing like reducing debt to give you peace of mind and sweet dreams.

Well done PAF.

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Thank you so much for all your good wishes. Pickle, Im yet to work out percentages! The second PPI cheque arrived yesterday, I banked it yesterday so it will be cleared next Tuesday. I will pay off my three debts next Wednesday, and sort out where Im at then with debt left etc, revise my snowball plan etc.
I'm buying my new slippers tomorrow! The chinese take away with my dearest friend is happening sat eve. Dd and I are so looking forward to it. One thing Ive promised my dd is to buy her a pretty dress for my brothers wedding at the end of March. Although, her wardrobe is lovely thanks to the kindness of my friend giving us her dd's old clothes, it will be quite a novelty for dd to have a nice item of clothing bought for by her old mum and for such a special occasion!
Otherwise, all my focus is on my business. I attended a very exciting training meeting last eve. And I'm very excited about the increased potential to my business turnover as a result of the info last eve. sales this week are good, and I have a lot to plan, I think with the half term coming up much of what I want to implement thats new will start after that week.
With all the wonderful news of late, I do not want to lose momentum so its head down, do my best and plan my work and work my plan!!!.

Keeping_Motivated

Excellent news you so deserve the breather and assurance this will give you.

Just wondered re the debts you are paying off, are they the ones with the highest interest?

Will you be leaving yourself an emergency fund to help keep the stress levels down at times?

Jo4

Brillant news! :j

POSITIVE_AND_FOCUSED

Hi KM, the emergency fund will be in the fact that my outgoings will drop by over £200 a month. 3 debt payts total £200, then the removal of PPI from two loans will save a further £30. I am considering buying a new TV as I currently rent mine and for paying out £229 max on a 32 inch TV I would be saving £20 a month. So, I could potentially save myself £250 a month. Now, if all continues to go well with my business this month and the rest of the year - I say that because I am looking out on a blanket of snow this morning so I am not sure if I will be working the next few days out and about as I do not want to risk falling! even with ice treads on my boots and my walking sticks and walker! - I am on target to earn over £100 -200 more this month than I need to that is taking into account outgoings before the PPI payout, so I could have as much as £450 more than I need, £250 min. That will be my breather each month although my intention is to use it to pay off other debt quicker and then be debt/mtge free by say 52/3, maybe sooner!!! That said I do not intend to put that quicker debt plan into full action until May because the excess £250 min a month will enable me to get other jobs I would like to get done and for which I would need to pay without worry plus we are going to Newcastle for 5 days at the beginning of April and it would allow me a breathing space come March/April when its also the school hols and my brothers wedding. It would be nice to buy dd a dress for the wedding for eg and give my brother a nice wedding present. And indeed myself an outfit for the wedding! But don't worry, if things do not go according to plan and we can't do that then I wil not be increasing debt to do that we just won't do it. It's just that is what I would ideally like to do.
On that spending note, I felt such a daredevil yesterday. I purchased some new slippers, £22.95, Padders make, lovely and supportive and warm. I had budgeted up to £29.95 so Ive saved myself £7!!! Then we went to Asda and bought a new vacuum cleaner, £59.96. It's fantastic. I bought it based on the great customer reviews it had on the asda website. Hoovering this little house yesterday was a joy, so quick in comparison to before and the cleaner is so light. I could get it upstairs with much more ease and without using the stairlift! I had thought I would need around £80 so that came in at £20 under budget. Then we had a takeaway last eve with my dear friend and her family, my treat, my way of thanking them for all their encouragement and support and love. I'd budgeted £40 as there would be a few of us and it came in at £35 including tip so a £5 saving there.
So, another interesting fact Ive established is that having budgeted £450 each month for petrol, food , miscellaneous and childcare costs. My actual spending came in at £45.53 less than that for January. plus I have a modest paypal bal of £8. Ebay I plan to use as a little saving fund, forget money is being paid to me for things and then have a little fund for poss Xmas, not sure yet but Im not going to touch it for now! And Ive discovered the joy of shopping at Lidl. I spread my food purchases between Iceland, Asda and Lidl. Fruit and veg are so so cheap at Lidl and some of their meat is too.
So, this wednesday is the day I use the PPI money to pay off debt. The second chq clears on tuesday and I can sort it out from home and get other business ideas off the ground, finally finalise my newsletter and website, get my parties booked. Focus, focus and more focus. Next Saturday dd and a dear friend and I are going to buy my new mattress! So, its all happening. Just pray this week that work won't be too disrupted. What will be will be but I do not want to lose the momentum or focus and I so want to use this lifeline to move forward ...