Dallas does debt.

dallas85

I often read Debt Free diaries for inspiration in my own debt free quest, and after seeing how well they work for some, have decided to take the plunge and start my own.

As you can see from my signature, at this moment in time, I am £3580 in debt, and I hate it! I have an overdraft with HSBC at -£1250, an overdraft with Nationwide at -£600 and a credit card with Nationwide at -£1730. I am excluding my Student Loan debt from this for now. Although I am well aware that it is genuine debt, I do not have to begin making repayments until May 2010 and so am focusing on clearing these for now.

I graduated in May 2009 and now work full-time. Over the summer I have been keeping as much money as possible for the deposit on my new rented flat, which I move in to on 1st September. I have now paid this, and am ready to start a new budget from September. My aim is to pay off my credit card by Christmas, as well as making some payments to my HSBC overdraft. My main current account is with Nationwide, and next month I am going to try and stay out of my £600 overdraft which will mean that by Christmas 2009 my debt will be down to approximately £1000 (to HSBC). My aim is to fill up an ISA with £3600 by April 2010.

I plan to have 6 NSDs up to the end of this month, and from September will be joining the payment-a-day challenge.

I really enjoy reading lots of the diaries on here and will continue to do so for more inspiration!

Happy debt-busting and thank you for reading!

Snow_White_5

Hello, and congrats on the shiny new diary, flat and job! You sound pretty organised already. Good luck! And don't worry about the student loan yet, it's interest-free from this Sept, isn't it?

dallas85

Hi Snow White - thanks for posting!
I'm not really sure about the interest rate on the student loan at the moment. It seemed to go up and down for a while. I've got quite a hefty bill from 5 years at university, but will tackle that later.

Fire_Fox

Loving the diary title. :rotfl:

:j Student loans at 0% from September for a year. :j

dallas85

Thanks Fire Fox! Brilliant news on the student loan rate.

dallas85

Good Morning DFWs!

I felt very focused yesterday after starting my diary, and thank you to everyone who replied about the student loan rate - that is very positive news, not just for me, but for many thousands of students who are currently struggling to find paid work.

Last night I signed up to Quidco after reading lots of good things about it on the threads. As I am soon to move house, I am hopeful that I can make some good cash back when I sign up to utilities, internet and buy some furniture. I'm lucky that I'm being given a bed frame, a dining table and chairs, and that my Mum and Dad have some things they need to get rid of so I won't have to spend an awful lot on kitting out the flat. I'm moving in with two boys, however, so I think I will be taking the lead on getting the flat in order! I will need to buy a double mattress, and a duvet as well as some other bits and bobs so if I can do that through Quidco then it might make a difference.

I'm hoping that today will be my first NSD since I started my August challenge as I have sandwiches in my bag, and some fruit to keep me going. My friend is coming round for dinner tonight - I have no idea what I have in stock at home, but I'm sure there'll be something!

My plan is to do some serious ebaying at the weekend and get rid of some old clothes and books. I noticed on Music Magpie that if you have more than 100 CDs to sell they will come and collect them from you free of charge. Back home in Wales I must have at least that amount gathering dust and so I'm going to look into shifting them all off to MM.

Anyway, hope everyone has a good day!

Snow_White_5

Hi Dallas,

It's great that you don't have to buy absolutely everything for the new house. My mum got me a double duvet recently from Tesco and it was super cheap, about 8 quid if I remember rightly.

Didn't know that music magpie will collect. Do they have to be good (i.e. vaguely popular) CDs? I can imagine the driver rocking up at my parents' house, taking one look at my old CD collection and driving off again in disgust!

Moving in with two boys :eek:. Let's hope they're house-trained!

Raquela

hello! Thanks for popping into my diary! Interested to hear how you go, especially as you're in a similar situation to me with recently graduating etc. (except my debt is sky high compared to yours - well done for deciding to tackle it now!). I don't count my student loan debt either in my main debts either; mine is starting to be paid off relatively soon I think, but it's so little I won't notice it out of my pay packet, as I'm only just over the threshold for having to pay it back. Once I've paid my other debts off I will think about overpaying (assuming I managed to pay the other debts off before I'm 65 or whenever it is and they don't write it off!).

vodkabarbie

Hi Dallas
They won't be OK on Quidco, but IKEA are also good for cheap bedding, when I left uni I kitted myself out with towels, bedding incl pillows and duvet and I still shop there for those things now, 8 years later!
Good luck with your new place and with your DFW journey!

dallas85

Good Morning - another lovely day for us here in London - I hope the weather is good where you are too.

Unfortunately, yesterday turned out to be a LSD rather than a NSD - I spent £1.50 buying a baguette and salad to accompany some pasta which I made for my friend and cousin for dinner. My friend was kind enough to bring around olives and a bottle of cava, so we had a lovely dinner in the garden for very little money.

Today, I have already spent £18.00 renewing my travel card. This, however, is going to be the last one I buy for a while. When I move in about 10 days' time, I will be living almost across the road from work and so can walk over in the morning. The fact that I'll be living so centrally will hopefully mean that I can reduce my London travel costs from around £80 to about £30 per month which is alot of extra money to go towards paying my credit card.

Has anyone been watching Economy Gastronomy? I think it's such a brilliant programme. The concepts are definitely something I'm familiar with thanks to my parents, who are both great with money. My Dad is a dab hand at whipping up dinner for 5 out of whatever is in the fridge, although sometimes with mixed results! When I move into the new flat, I'm looking forward to communal cooking which is something that I haven't done this year. We are all pretty foody and so with a bit of planning I will be able to drastically reduce my grocery bill and also make some great food at the same time! I'm thinking of investing in a slow cooker for winter, as they look fun, and great for being able to serve dinner as soon as you get in which is definitely where I fall down on takeaways if I am tired and don't want to cook! Does anyone have any advice with makes/models or use of slow cookers? Any tips gratefully received!

dallas85

thanks for the tips vodkabarbie - i'll look into IKEA bedding for sure!