Lee's Debt Free Diary: New Years Day Here I Come!

*Jellie*

Sounds like you're going great guns! I'm hoping to get debt free before getting a new place with my OH.

Good luck with the no spend month- I really ought to join you!

LeeSouthEast

My no spend month is still going well! Apart from fueling the car (permitted!), I've not spent a penny thus far. In fact, I found a fiver in a drawer this morning so paid that into my account when I went to see the mortgage man.

Thanks for posting

LeeSouthEast

Forgive me while I mentally bleed out loud.

I need to get my credit reports from The Big 3. I'm reluctant to do it though; what I don't know doesn't hurt me! On the plus side all 3 have 30-day free trials on at the moment so if I do it right it won't cost me anything. I've done so well not burying my head in the sand this year, but this is my stumbling block. I've been putting it off and putting it off for the last 8 months.

Sigh. It needs to be done. It has to be done. I must do it.

LeeSouthEast

I did make a little further move to shaving costs off my SOA today... I phoned Three and dropped from M'n'M 700 to 300. There's a £10 charge for doing that, but it'll save another tenner a month in the long run. That'll take my phone costs from £41 at the beginning of the year (M'n'M 1100) down to about £20 with the unlimited interweb bolt on thingy. :T Every little helps. I'm still mega annoyed they wouldn't give me anything for keeping my old phone when I rang! I've been a customer for over 5 years and they couldn't care less.. I'd switch, but I'd want a new phone if I did that and it'd end up costing me more... so I'm just going to keep my old handset and stay with Three... it'll still be cheaper in the long run.

*Jellie*

Well done on sorting your phone out.

Good luck with the credit report. At least when armed with the information you'll be able to see what to do to improve your credit rating. It feels far worse thinking about it than actually doing it!

Primula

Well done on your phone reduction. That's great.
And good luck with a no spend month! That is very brave indeed.

LeeSouthEast

Retrieved my Credit Reports with Experian, Equifax and Callcredit this morning. God did doing that make my stomach churn.

But, I was actually pleasantly surprised. (Excepting the £12 charge from Callcredit..grr). No surprises, and the one account I thought had been in default for a bit a few years ago, hadn't reported as such which was a 'wow, cool' moment. Couple of late payments on a very old credit card (should drop off in a year or two.. too early in the morning for mental arithmatic), leaving me with just greens across the board. That should hopefully tie in nicely with mortgage application time

Happy Sunday!

(Does £12 Callcredit fee mean I've failed my No Spend Month? Doh!)

LeeSouthEast

I've made amends for spending £12 yesterday. Courtesy of that report, I have found a Halifax account I forgot about. Went in to close it today and withdrew £10.44. Just after I walked out about 10 yds down the road, I found a £2 coin on the floor! Total paid into my Barclays account £12.44. Spending the £12 initially ended up making me 44p better off

LeeSouthEast

Spent £23 on Mum's birthday present today (including P&P).

Ordered two Gelicity Spa Jelly Baths from Firebox (with 10% QuidCo, naturally!). Given she has hip problems, I figured these would be an excellent way of helping her relax on her special day.

As a way to make up for this 'spend' during my No Spend Month I've got a £25 referral code for ING Direct! Just need to order a new chequebook and then it's game on.

[Deleted User]

Hi Lee,

Sounds like you are doing really well and are really motivated.

I wish you luck on your NSM, as much as I am trying my hardest not to spend anything this month you have already beaten me hands down lol

Well done on the money finding too.

Tea
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