Buddiebabe's SOA / Debt Diary

buddiebabe

Hey

Well i think i've done the right thing. I have a Royal Bank Credit card that i didn't use and didn't close the account and forgot all about it. Well i got a replacement card sent through about a month ago and i found it last night when i was tidying up . So i phoned up tonight to let them know i had the card and i asked if there were any balance transfer deals available or i was going to close the account.

I was told that there was a 5.9% deal for 9 months with a 2% fee for each transfer.

Anyway i decided that i would transfer 3 of my cards onto this as i have a £6000 limit.
So tonight i have transferred the £750.00 from Marbles, the £1800.00 from Morgan Stanley (i received a letter from them saying it was now barclaycard :mad: and i hate barclaycard) and also £1900.00 from Tescos so it means that instead of having 5 credit cards i will now only have 3 payments to make instead of 5 and it should save me a bit of money in the long run.... well in the 1st nine months anyway!
It is going to cost me £89 in fees but i think that the 9 months savings balance that out.

I also set up a direct debit at the time for the minimum payment.

I intend to close my Marbles and Morgan Stanley accounts once the balance transfers have been put through.

One question....
I have my Skycard which is administered by Barclaycard that i use for all my shopping but pay off in full each month. By doing this i usually save £5.00 every month off my Sky bill. It was the only card i had available that i had paid off that gave me something back.
Now once my Tesco card is paid off i could get clubcard points for using this (not sure how many)... this card is administered by the royal bank of scotland. The interest rate doesn't really matter as i pay this off in full.

Which card should i keep and which should i cancel??? I am tempted to cancel the Skycard but i can keep track of that one online... whereas i haven't been able to do that with my tesco card... may need to look into that again.

Anyway thats enough for now... am off to see if i can set up my tesco card so i can see it online :rolleyes:

Buddiebabe x

gallygirl

DK which is best card for you, but you should be able to register on line with Tesco to view your transactions & pay etc on line.

You're making real progress, well done :j :j :j :j

buddiebabe

Thanks Ali007 i have managed to register with Tesco and have managed to see my balance and my recent statement.

I think i only get one clubcard point for every £4 spent or two clubcard points for every £4 spent at tesco's. Im thinking i might keep both cards open and use the Tesco one for getting my petrol (get more clubcard points) and my Skycard for all my other shopping. The tesco card i can pay straight away using my direct banking, however, the Skycard needs to wait until the statement comes.

I have just done my Pigsback clickthroughs and am going to do the competitions on it now.

Then im going to go on the wii fit for a while
Will try and update again soon

Buddiebabe x

Seaxwyn

HI buddiebabe, good to see an update and that things are moving in the right direction. The balance transfer should make life a lot easier, it sounds as if you're making your credit cards work for you rather than the other way round now - great news.

Hope things are still going well with the boyfriend. Are you still working two jobs?

buddiebabe

Hey Seaxwyn

Yeah the balance transfers will make things easier it will mean 3 payments instead of 5 and i'll also be getting something back from using my other cards!!! Its about time i did

Still working the 2 jobs couldnt afford to give up the second one even though id love to.... just not financially viable at the moment.

Things with the boyfriend are good... still have my off moments but then again doesn't everyone... he has put up with alot though and he's still with me so i must be doing something right

Its a year on the 19th of this month since i met him... time has flown by.

Hows things with you. I have been reading your thread when i get the chance just never get round to actually posting.... note to self MAKE MORE OF AN EFFORT!!!

Buddiebabe x

gallygirl

Suss out the Tesco deals - don't use the clubpoints for shopping. They are worth x4 if you redeem, e.g. for breakdown cover, or you can sell on ebay for just under x2.

buddiebabe

Thanks ali007 i recently used my clubcard vouchers to get a years subscription to Cosmopolitain magazine for approx £9 of vouchers compared to £3.20 an issue :j i would only buy it occasionally but thought it would be nice to treat myself to something. The first issue arrived today am going to read it when i go to bed. Didn't realise i could sell them on ebay.... which is so not like me cause i know u can sell anything on ebay :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

I did look at the deals but wasn't really sure what i would get with them am off to have another look as im sure that the vouchers are due out in May... just dont hold me to that!!!

buddiebabe

Hi

Well i officially get paid on Monday so the money went into the bank today :j so i have paid all the minimum payments to my cards and my loan payment is due to come off on Monday and all the balance transfers i requested went through yesterday :j so at the moment the accounts are looking as follows:

OVERDRAFTS:

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £501.50 OD

LOANS:

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £12803.04

CREDIT CARDS:

MARBLES £0.00
MBNA £4280.00
MORGAN STANLEY £0.00
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND 1 £8320.00
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND 2 £4539.00
TESCO £0.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING £30443.54

Now i know its not the end of the month yet so there is the chance that these figures can go up or down but just wanted to write them down when i had the chance.

The only problem is that im going to blackpool on Wednesday until Thursday and i know its going to be an expensive trip.... well i think it will be.
The accommodation is only for one night and the costs being shared between 9 of us so its less than £20 each for that. One of my friends is driving down so we need to share the cost of the petrol so its probably going to be another £20 for that. So thats £40 so far. That doesn't include money for food, drink or other things that may need to be bought..... or the cost of travelling into Manchester from Blackpool.... it is the chance of a lifetime... i mean when are Rangers ever going to be playing in a UEFA cup final again anytime soon :rolleyes: i am looking forward to it but do expect to get caught up in the atmosphere and will probably spend more than i normally would.

Now i was thinking if i take out £198.50 from the bank this would bring my overdraft up to £700.00 but i wouldn't take my bank card or credit card with me just the cash. Then anything i had left over would go straight back in the bank when i came home. The other option is to give the money to my other half but then he'd probably mix it up with his. Alternatively i just take £50 cash and my bank card.

Another dilema i have is that in a few weeks its going to be a year since i met my boyfriend. He is taking me out for dinner to celebrate i just dont know what to get him.

Any helps appreciated

Am gonna go do some ironing now such an exciting night im having

Buddiebabe x

Seaxwyn

Hi buddiebabe. Your debt is coming down nicely so you can afford to let your hair down a little on the Blackpool trip. If I were you I think I'd just take the cash with me - then there is no danger of 'accidentally' spending more.

Do you need to get your boyfriend anything? Could you write him a letter about how much the year has meant to you? Or get a print of a special photo framed? If he knows your circumstances he will surely not want you to spend lots on him.

buddiebabe

Hi

As its the 1st of June i thought id better update my current situation

OVERDRAFTS:

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £500.00 OD now £790.00 OD (an increase of £290.00 :mad: )

TOTAL £500.00 now £790.00

LOANS:

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £13054.08 (52 payments to go) now £12803.04 (51 payments to go)

TOTAL £13054.08 now £12803.04

CREDIT CARDS:

MARBLES £750.00 now paid off (transferred to Royal Bank of Scotland 2)
MBNA £4300.00 now £4280.00
MORGAN STANLEY £1800.00 now paid off (transferred to Royal Bank of Scotland 2)
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND £8470.00 now £8320.00
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND 2 £4551.00
TESCO £1900.00 now paid off (transferred to Royal Bank of Scotland 2)

TOTAL £17220.00 now £17151.00

TOTAL OUTSTANDING £30774.08 now £30744.04

TOTAL PAID OFF SINCE 01.01.08 £2040.54

Well that's really disappointing i only managed to pay off 4 pence this month well i suppose its not too bad considering i did get away for 2 days and i've not added to my debt so i suppose its been an ok month :rotfl: if i didn't laugh about it i'd cry!

I phoned and reduced my overdraft to £800 so that means i dont have access to the other £150 so it cant go up anymore than just £10

I have the following in savings now:

Road Tax £150.04
Car Insurance £88.70
MOT & Servicing £37.00 (my car had an interim service £183.00 :mad: the only good thing was i had enough saved to pay for this so im not any further in debt)
House Repairs £64.35
House Insurance £92.01
Gas bill £71.83
Car Insurance Excess £250.00
House Insurance Excess £60.00

Total in cash savings £813.93

TV Licence £86.00

Christmas Savings

ASDA card £25.00
SUPERDRUG card £25.00
MORRISONS stamps £22.00
Works Savings Account £126.91

Total in xmas savings £198.91

Its my boyfriends birthday this month so will need to get him something for that. He has mentioned that he wants gloves for his muay thai but the ones he wants are around £50 so im going to use my works savings account to pay for them (once he finally makes his mind up!)

I have 239 things listed on ebay at the moment and 4 are being watched... there are no bids on anything and im not hopeful as i know everyone at the moment is in the same boat when it comes to money but will wait and see what happens.

Am hoping that this month will end with more than 4p coming off my outstanding debt!

Off to put the chicken in the slow cooker now
Buddiebabe x