My Moment of Realisation!

slummymummyof3

Why don't you post a SOA so we can take a look and see where we can make suggestions for further savings?

bigrob2

Well its been a month or so since I last posted, Im making steady progress with the debt and I am happy with the rate it is going, I am still managing to enjoy myself but without a severe impact on the debt.

The only real purchase I have made is 3 tickets to V Festival, I went last year and it was amazing and I promised I would be going back again. Two tickets are for freinds but they will be paying me back on payday so Im not too worried about this.

My challenge now is to try and refrain from creeping back to my old spending ways like popping to tesco at night for a bottle of milk and coming back with a £10 shop!

I am also determined to take a holiday with my girlfriend this year and will be trying to save alongside my debt payments, although this will probably wait until the tail end of the year before I decide if I want to spend money or clear my debt, I think i will lean towards clearing debt for sure.

bigrob2

Well, it was a tough week leading up to payday, the bank balance pretty much hit zero, all for 17p, I had a tank of petrol to last me a week which i just about managed, and I spent a week eating home made stew, which as much as I like it, it can get a little tedious after 7 days of the stuff!!

The good news though I made it to payday without spending any extra and I have now managed to drop my debt below £13k! I did use my credit card to pay my service charge but I had pretty much all the money ready anyway so I actually paid it off my other credit card.

So, the big changes coming up:
- Ive changed my mortgage from 1st July which should reduce my monthly fee by £160 a month based on current mortgage rates
- Ive instructed a letting agent to rent my flat for 6 months and I am moving in with my former lodger who has bought his own house. This means I now get the extra income from the rent but also save on all the expenses such as electric, water and council tax etc!

With these two changes, i should have an extra £500 a month for the 6 months that I rent out my flat. My aim is to save the money to pay off my overdraft and then attack my credit card for the last few months.

Anyhow, I shall report back in the coming months with an ever shrinking debt hopefully!

bigrob2

Well its been a bit of a mixed month. My debt has climbed back to just over the £13k mark again although it could have been worse. Had my car serviced and it turned out I needed £1500 of work to ge it through the MOT, so I have traded that car in for a more economical diesel motor, this cost me £500 in stead of the £1500 so in one respect the spend was worth it.

I have however paid off my MBNA card in full now, except for a tiny bit of interest which is applied on the 1st of the month although this will be paid first thing in the morning and the account closed!!! Feels amazing to get rid of one my outgoings and concentrate on less now.

The other big news, fingers crossed please everyone, is that I should have a tennant moving into my flat from 4th June, the better news is she is paying 6 months rent up front!!! This will completely clear my overdraft and leave me with a little extra to save as a cushion for unexpected costs!!

bigrob2

So i have now been living with my friend for just over a month, financially it has been worth it, i have paid my overdraft off and the pressure is off in terms of outgoings.

I have also tinkered with my banking slightly by opening an account with Santander, each week i transfer £90 from my main halifax accountto use as my spending money. Basic calculations are £60 petrol £15 weekly shop and £15 pocket money although a tank of petrol usually last me about 10 days so i am hoping that over time there will be a surplus in the account that I can use to treat myself. I find this extra account is like giving myself a weekly wage so if I spend it all in one go it only means a few days to wait till the next payday.

Its working so far! fingers crossed folks.

bigrob2

Well its been over a year since I last posted, how time flys when your having fun! I didnt really go off the rails although I did enjoy myself perhaps a little too much. I have a few holidays and breaks and generally been going out (a little too much).

My debt rose by about £800 but I can cope with this.

I changed jobs in February, from an office based role to a field sales position in a new company. Targets arent too high which means I have a realistic chance of earning some commission but luckily I claim for all my fuel which is saving me a fortune!

I also moved back into my apartment 12 months ago and made my brother move in and pay me rent, its only token rent to help him out but it all helps!

Anyway, back to the nitty gritty, my plan at present is to

1) Pay off my Halifax Card by end of January 2012
2) Save my car insurance and a cushion for unexpected bills
3) Pay off all my debt by December 31st 2012 (fingers crossed on this one)

My barclaycard balance needs transfering but at the moment I cant get another credit card so I need to sit tight on that one paying off just over the minimum until I can improve my credit rating enough to get a new card.

All being well i should be paying off £350 a month and saving £300 a month.

Wish me luck!!

bigrob2

Back again, Im somewhat hit and miss with this diary but find it useful to turn to it when I'm feeling frustrated and want to spend money! Well a few changes buit nothing major.

I managed to get a balance transfer credit card with a £3500 limit so Ive moved my balance from Halifax and this is now clear :-) Ive also moved a chunk from Barclaycard and paid off about £500 extra as well, the money I owe my Dad is reducing steadily too. Even better though....I managed to save the £1050 I needed for my car insurance (which cost me an absolute fortune even after weeks of shopping around).

So now I think I need a few more mini goals to work towards.
- Reduce my total debt to under £9000 by the end of March 2012
- Focus on my Barclaycard in the short term as this incurs the most interest
- Work my !!! off for two months to guarentee a bumper bonus and commission in my April pay cheque :-)