I'm working for the cash machine - my diary

gwen80

Hello

I've been posting on here for a little while, mainly on the 'Single and in debt' thread. As you might have guessed, I'm single and in debt. Earlier this year I finally got my head out of the sand and faced up to the fact that I had accumulated a reasonable amount of credit card debt over the previous year and a half.

I don't really want to bore you all with the details, but basically I owe about 2.5k on a credit card now, after raiding my savings to make the balance less scary. Most of it is now 0% interest after I took advantage of a Barclaycard offer.

I also have an overdraft and a student loan. The student loan repayments are taken out of my salary every month, that is going down and I have decided to tackle my overdraft once my credit card is gone.

I have been saving for a while to renovate my house. My savings would cancel out my credit card, overdraft and student loan. However, I've worked so hard to save that money to make my house a home and a happier place for me to live that I cannot bear to see it swallowed up by debt. I know this might not make sense to some, but I really can't do it, so I am keeping my savings. I'm also continuing to save to renovate my house, whilst paying off the debts.

After an enthusiastic start with debt busting, I have found it difficult to find the motivation recently. A couple of weeks ago I joined the Chrimbo crackers countdown challenge. I really hoped this would give me the kick I needed to do some serious ebaying, matched betting and other money making. However, as you can see by my signature, it hasn't worked.

Now I'm hoping this shiny new diary thread will be the inspiration I need to get debt free and generally sort my life out.

There's a hole in my pocket, my pocket, my pocket...

Gwenx

gwen80

Right, got to get things sorted now. I've just worked out I am owed over 600 pounds from various places (including Quidco :rolleyes:). That is going straight towards the credit card when it eventually comes through.

It is so frustrating, because I really think if I could pay a big wodge off like that, it would motivate me so much to get on and pay the rest off, but I just feel like I'm waiting and I shouldn't. I should be getting on with things to pay the rest of it off and save more for my house.

I've just entered some meter readings online and hoping it brings my gas and electricity DD down again. This months DD payment was an eye-watering 112 pounds!! :eek:

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello Gwen!

Good to see a fellow Single and in debt person with a diary and a plan. I am impressed that you are owed 600 pounds! brilliant, it will be good to see the cc debt go down below 2000!

Does the over draft have interest ? I can see the point of leaving the CC and student loan but maybe at least lower the od? - just a tiny teeny suggestion.

I am working on a plan to sort myself out, gone a bit off the boil to say the least

take care hon xx

gwen80

Hi Buffy!

How was Weymouth? I am hoping that this diary will really make a difference. I have periods of real determination and make quite a lot of progress, then I have times where I really struggle to find the motivation to do anything even remotely moneysaving/making. I wish I could be Gwen no.1 all the time.

I know! I added it all together and I'm owed at least 600 pounds! I just wish it would hurry up. I'd love to be able to say my CC is less than 2k! One of my targets is to be rid of the credit card by the end of the year and that money would give my plan such a kickstart. It's still not going to be easy though. As I am still saving aswell, I can't pay loads off the credit card. I am aiming for 100 pounds a month though. Having said that the last month has been a bit disastrous.

About the overdraft, I pay 5 pounds a month to use it. I don't know what percentage that's equivalent to. I probably should focus on the overdraft a bit more, but I fear I'll just spend it again if I don't reduce the limit right down and I'm worried there may be times I need it if I don't get the credit card gone first.

At the moment, my vague plan is...

1. Continue to reduce outgoings:

• Possibly new broadband provider - Moved from Be broadband to Plusnet to save £7.50/month and get £38 cashback :j
• New landline provider - Moved from BT to Plusnet saving £14.75/month. Also part of cashback deal above :j
• New mortgage - On hold
• Reduce gas and electricity usage - Moved to EDF to save money and got £60 cashback, now moved on to npower to save money and got £120 cashback - will continue to monitor regularly and look for ways to reduce usage.
• Anything else I can think of:
  a.Challenged council tax band...reduced from Band B to Band A...got over £500 refunded and should save ~£150/year :j

2. Increase income:

• Look for cashback on any of the above - As always. Have now earned almost £800 over three years on Quidco :j (although I have forgotten to use it a few times )
• Ebay/Amazon everything I can - Listed one book on Amazon...to be increased soon
• Matched betting (I am determined to crack this) - No progress so far
• Open new higher interest ISA to maximise house savings - Done :j
• Investigate other options from the Up your income board if matched betting doesn't work out

The idea is any extra money I make will go towards my credit card and by reducing my outgoings, I'm hoping to be able to relax the purse strings a little, as I've been a bit bored since I got my head out of the sand. I want to go out and do things a bit more. Maybe meet a fabulous man...

Gwenx

Hollyberry

Hiya Gwen

Great to see the new shiny diary, and love the title....
Can barely keep my eyes open due to excessive wombling today, so will save any sensible comments for another day.

Meanwhile, take care, and good luck with those plans.
Hx

gwen80

Thanks Holly! How did your wombling go today?

My original title was 'I must have had fun, cos now I'm broke' which is a lyric by The Bravery, but I thought it a bit OTT to call myself broke. I do feel like I am working for the cash machine though and blimey, do my pockets have holes in them. However, I regularly feel like a bit of a fraud on these boards as my debt isn't massive and could be paid off. However, I have two major issues in my life right now and one is my house and the other is my credit card. Both can be remedied by saving/making more money, so I need to sort it out and I don't want to solve one without the other if that makes sense.

Gwenx

Shoe_Gal

gwen80 wrote: »

Thanks Holly! How did your wombling go today?

My original title was 'I must have had fun, cos now I'm broke' which is a lyric by The Bravery, but I thought it a bit OTT to call myself broke. I do feel like I am working for the cash machine though and blimey, do my pockets have holes in them. However, I regularly feel like a bit of a fraud on these boards as my debt isn't massive and could be paid off. However, I have two major issues in my life right now and one is my house and the other is my credit card. Both can be remedied by saving/making more money, so I need to sort it out and I don't want to solve one without the other if that makes sense.

Gwenx

Hi Gwen

Happy diary :A

Hollyberry

gwen80 wrote: »

Thanks Holly! How did your wombling go today?

My original title was 'I must have had fun, cos now I'm broke' which is a lyric by The Bravery, but I thought it a bit OTT to call myself broke. I do feel like I am working for the cash machine though and blimey, do my pockets have holes in them. However, I regularly feel like a bit of a fraud on these boards as my debt isn't massive and could be paid off. However, I have two major issues in my life right now and one is my house and the other is my credit card. Both can be remedied by saving/making more money, so I need to sort it out and I don't want to solve one without the other if that makes sense.

Gwenx

I know what you mean about feeling a bit of a fraud on here - me too, as I'm not actually in debt, although I have a finite amount of money in the bank. But I think this is a good place to get a grip on things, and it's helping me stick to my budget.

Wombling yesterday included a desk and an ancient stereo (2nd year at uni, so very, very old ) to recycling, plus two bags of unrecyclable carp. I've had the day off today as I was starting to feel very creaky, and we've been for a long walk by the canal instead (plus a very MSE 2 for 1 lunch).

H x

Bowski_1011

Happy new diary Gwen! :j

Your vague plan looks like a good one! Keep updating and Im sure you'll keep on track.

Good Luck!

(Hopefully I'll be joining you in the diary world soon)

makeup

Hey Gwen

Great to see a new diary to subscribe to!

Your plan sounds fab.

I think on here, whether you owe thousands and thousands or are now Debt Free, we all have in common the amazing ability to spend over our means!!!

And this is one of the best ways of keeping it all together and working well.

Good luck and keep on posting!

Cashwitch

Go for it Gwen! Lovely to read about other peoples' ideas on things, there's so many good ideas on this forum! It's interesting about the different tacks people take to address things. It's means I'm kept on my toes adjusting plans now and again as I hear more and more good ideas!
We're taking a different route to yours....we're going all out paying off as many debts as possible before starting to save next month. It's taken a lot of discipline and has been really hard not to bank some money, as we've got nothing at all to fall back on. We also want to do some major DIY on the house but have had to let things grind to a halt since April so we can pay off a good portion of the debt. It's hard to know what to do for the best sometimes! I think your plan looks sensible - go for it!