Time for positive action

Canda_2

Oh and happy new year to all!

Canda_2

Well surprise surprise I haven't posted for weeks and I've lost my oomph.
Have worked the figures and realistically we can't pay everything off by August. We'll be lucky to get it all paid this year. I've really lost my way with everything. I'm not even doing the scratch cards any more. The only thing I can be positive about is that the debt isn't getting any bigger!
After payday we're going to move our main current account to OHs bank. He can't even get a debit card with my bank so we're going to move to his bank where he has a debit card and I should be able to get a bank account easily and probably an overdraft as well. (I only want £50 as a buffer towards the end of the month.) That way we can pay several hundred across to the overdraft each month and treat it like a loan without dipping in and out of it all month long, if that makes sense.
I'm feeling really lonely so I am going to try and post on some of the diaries I lurk on!

Canda_2

Well payday has been and gone. Things are tight this month as we're trying to allow ourselves some spends for our first anniversary and we've paid the giant winter gas and electric bill (I hadn't saved as much as I hoped for it). I am proud though that we've paid it all in one go thanks to being careful.
Going to see the bank on Saturday to arrange my new account so we can live as planned in the last post. It should make things much easier. Next month the sofa payments start which I'm hoping will kick start the motivation to pay things off again. And our ex lodger is working again and has said they will start sending us small payments - every little helps!

Canda_2

Things have been ticking along nicely and then OH decides to draw out some money, he logs on to my bank transfers £105 into the joint account but draws out £120 meaning a direct debit of £5.99 got returned and we'll now be charged £30! I was so cross! It proves why I look after the money side of things! Anyway it's spurred me on to close the joint account as we've been talking about doing that since we opened it. It's always been a pain. Needed to rant and get this out of my system, thanks MSE. More updates after the weekend.

Luckycharm_2

Well done on paying off the loan; those payments were huge! And also for coming back here after not posting for a while. I did the same thing when I started my diary...went awol for months. But this community is always here to support you and we all know that light bulbs can flicker a bit before switching on fully.

Good luck with it. You'll get there. (Keep telling myself the same thing!)

LCx

hypno06

Change your bank password so that he can't log on to your account!!

Canda_2

Thanks for your replies. Stupidly when the bank set it up the only way to access our joint account is the same login I use to access my account!
We're off to visit the banks this morning and get new accounts sorted that can be used properly, the troublesome joint account has never been used much as they won't let us have a debit card which is why we only leave enough to cover the DDs in there. I've been saying for months we should close it so it's my own fault for being lazy!

Canda_2

Right, well it feels like we didn't achieve anything today but we did open a joint account and a sole one for me all with the same bank for ease of transfers. So now operation overdraft can truly commence! The joint account will be for all household bills and spends in our own accounts. I got a small overdraft with my new account just as a 'just in case' but until we've got decent savings we've got my old overdraft to fall back on and 'borrow' from if really necessary. The sofa payments start 2nd March so that will be a real motivator to see that go!

Canda_2

We went away for our 1st wedding anniversary this weekend. We had a budget and stuck to it although it was very hard. My OH kept trying to convince me to spend the £100 overdraft I got with the new account but I resisted. We still had a good time even if we were counting every penny we spent!
I've got the new bank cards now so can start transferring everything to the new account and stop living in the overdraft. All I need now is for payday so I can start putting things into action, roll on Friday!

hypno06

Glad that you managed to get away and stay within budget......now you can focus on the debtbusting, knowing that you don't always have to sacrifice all the nice stuff