3rd time lucky?

*Jellie*

Thanks- I've just sorted through a few boxes and pulled out items to have a go at selling.
I'll aim to get some things ready to put up next Thursday. That gives me some time to take the photos and read through other peoples descriptions.
It must be great to be ebaying things from losing weight.

IWantToBeFree_2

It is really satisfying, but it just means that I have to buy new clothes! Still, I would rather lose weight and be healthier and spend a bit more money on clothes than be fat forever!

*Jellie*

Definitely! Maybe you can buy at charity shops until you reach your target weight?
I had to go on steroids a couple of times and they made me put weight on. I bought all the new clothes in charity shops and supermarkets so I wouldn't spend so much and wouldn't feel so wasteful when I chucked them out again!

Knitty78

i just wanted to wish you good luck and well done on the ebay! I have a cupboard full of stuff I have been meaning to list for over a year which I am going to crack on with this weekend.

IWantToBeFree_2

Well its been a while since I have posted on here, but I am still plugging away at the debts and slowly but surely getting there! Since I last posted we have been away on holiday which wad funded by money we had saved rather than putting it on cards etc, and the balances have all been reducing.

We may be buying another house in the near future which means we will have 2 mortgages etc, but hoping that if it all goes ahead, we will be able to sell ours not long after buying the other, due to the nature of the purchase we wouldn't be able to sell ours first so will have a few months of having to be really disaplined with money, we can afford it, we just have to curb the spending a bit.

Put an update on the balances on debt below:

Credit cards:
Virgin: £3,545.00
Tesco: £1,250.00
Barclays (1): £2,600.69
Barclays (2): £742.52
Halifax: £2,184.92

Total: £10,323.33 (reduced by £751.36)

Loans
Egg: £453.56
Halifax: £2,691.00
Barclays: £5,762.00

Total: £8,906.56 (reduced by £2,142.71)

Others

Sofa: £1,501.00
Littlewoods: £205.57
Littlewoods (sister): £239.74

Total: £1,946.31 (reduced by £157.32)

Grand total: £21,176.20 (reduced by £3,051.39 which represents 12.5% of previous balance).

Savings balance has gone up from £1,250 to £1,850.

The debt total should drop below £20k for the new year - we have a new 0% card to shift some of the credit card debt onto - the online barclaycard statement showed the 0% period ended in Dec, so I paniced and applied for a new one, then the paper statement come and said it was April that it finished, so a bit frustrated as it means we will waste a few months of 0% but I guess it happens and it cannot be helped. We are shifting the Barclaycard balance (the £2,600 one) and then part of the Halifax balance and keeping the Barclaycard open as it has a 6.9% LOB rate attached to it so if we can't get any other 0% cards early next year, we will shift everything else to the Barclaycards.

I am still ebaying, made another £250 before postage and fees over the past week, also doing all the online surveys I possibly can and back into the swing of entering competitions which provides us with nice things, or things that we can sell!

The Egg loan finishes next Feb, and my student loan will also finish at the end of the year and we should be about £200 a month better off, if we get the new house, this will just be general living money, if we don't, it will be extra to throw at the other debts!

IWantToBeFree_2

The final ebay total came in at approx £220 after fees and postage which I am very happy about, it means our savings balance is now over £2,000.

I have called SLC today and they have confirmed that my student loan payments should cease after the December payment and have put a stop request into HMRC so hopefully come the new year, no more student loan deductions!

Just waiting for OH new card to come through so we can determine which cards to pay off with it via balance transfer. As the Barclaycard information online was incorrect, we could have waited 3 months and its a little disappointing to waste 3 months at 0% but it cannot be helped. I am in 2 minds which to transfer, if I move money from the Barclaycard, it means that we have a £4k limit free to transfer another balance to at LOB 6.9% if we cannot get another 0% deal, however, the Halifax and Tesco deals run out prior to the Barclaycard one. Decisions Decisions.

I was going to transfer it to current account and stooze it for a few months, but I figured that having £4k more debt on my credit file could harm my chances of a new 0% card next year so I am simply going to pay the cards off, the interest I could have saved in my offset account over 3 months is only approx £65.

IWantToBeFree_2

We now have 3 new 0% cards, the Barclaycard mentioned above and an Egg card each (me and OH) and the limits are sufficient to move all our debt to 0% for the next 12 months. Over the next 12 months I want to halve it (to around £5k) rather than just paying the minimums so once this year is out of the way I will be doing a new budget and seeing how much we can put away every month into the savings to build up the savings and then pay off the credit cards near the end of the 0% period (would rather do this than pay higher payments through year, we earn more interest that way).

Also paid off my smallest loan today, when I logged on they had an early settlement figure on there so I figured i'd get it out the way now rather than in February as it will help me set my budget in new year, especially since my student loan will be paid off this month as well - means that we will be £200 a month better off without getting a pay rise!

In other news, I have loaned my sister £1,700 to pay off her overdraft otherwise she would have been stung by Halifax's ridiculous new charges which would have doubled her monthly interest. I know people may think I am daft when I am in debt myself but I'm not racking up the interest and I will have the majority back soon as she is waiting for a few PPI cheques.

Decided that 2010 is the year that I really make inroads into the debt rather than just pushing it around different places!

IWantToBeFree_2

Was wanting to update all my debt totals early in the new year, however my credit file is ridiculously behind in respect of payments, so rather than second guessing, or ringing up and nagging creditors for balances (on the loans) I have just left it as it is for the time being. Now loan statements have to be sent I am hoping we get some in the new year.

Our spare room currently looks like a junk yard and I am hoping to sort through it this week, along with my wardrobes to find things that can be ebayed, its a while since I have put things on and the extra cash is always welcome!

I have recently dropped my phone tarrif by £10 a month which is effective from mid January, and will also be cancelling our Cineworld passes this month as we are close to the anniversary and given we barely use them, it makes no sense at all to carry on spending £25 a month on them. This makes us £35 a month better off, £35 more to the savings/debt busting pot!

We've recently had gas and electric bills and we are still in credit (although not by much) which pleases me, as this time last year we owed them for the gas. We are in credit with BT for the landline, and I am getting rather frustrated with them as they say they cannot drop our DD any further, but we never use our line for calls so the credit just gets bigger - I shall be calling them after the next bill (due mid Jan) to cancel the direct debit, from what I can see, we don't get any discount for paying via DD so I will just pay every quarter, and the first quarter and part of the second will be free.

I had considered removing Sky Sports from our package in a bid to bring our debt free date forward a bit, but we do watch it all the time and I think that despite being £19 a month it is worth it as we would spend more if we went and watched footie etc in the pub.

Last council tax payment of the 'year' should be made tomorrow, gives us 2 months free and therefore an additional £170 - I plan on transferring this over to the savings straight away.

Really focussed on doing this this year, and whilst I haven't formally joined any challenges, I am using my sealed pots for everything 20p and below (we cashed in £110 just before Xmas) and I am also doing the virtual sealed pot - transferring my 'lose change' into my savings account from the current account every Friday.

IWantToBeFree_2

The Cineworld passes are now cancelled so that is £23.98 better off for us.

For some reason my council tax is no longer appearing on my standing order list and hasn''t been taken today, I am sure I should have made a payment this month therefore I am going to have to dig out my paperwork and trawl back through my statements to see if I need to make a payment. Not due til the middle of the month so if I do, it won't be late.

IWantToBeFree_2

Sold my Wii last night, haven't used it in a long time, and probably won't be using it much going forwards, its very much one of those novelty things... Anyway, my auntie is giving me £200 for it, plus a couple of games, quite pleased with that as didn't think I would get that much! Its currently at my sisters so I am getting her to dig it all out today and ensure that its still all working ok. Auntie doesn't live close so she is going to transfer the money to my bank and pick it up next time she is in the area. Quite chuffed, another £200 closer to being debt free!

Savings account is growing healthily - we get £5 a month reward in 3 current accounts (all Halifax) every month, so I have been transferring that over, and I am also having my expenses from work paid into that account as well - its an 'easy' way to save, as long as buying the fuel in the first place from my normal account doesn't leave me short, it should work well.

I was a payment short on my council tax, god knows why the standing order disappeared a month early - paid that online and now going to enjoy 2 council tax free months - the £85 each month will be transferred straight into my savings/debt busting account.

Was supposed to be going to Lancaster at the weekend for a night out with friends but due to the bad weather we have postponed, which means that I should have some spare money left at the end of this month to shift into the savings, which is good going as January is always a tough month. Also means that I can do lots of sorting at the weekend and get some stuff on ebay/amazon.