I want to break free........

BADPENNY_2

Hi,

pretty quiet tbh. now back at work and waiting for payday on Friday not much on the debt busting front. I have managed to transfer 2 of my highest interest cc's onto my new egg cc which is at 0% untill oct 2012 and also transfered £300 to my Halifax cc which now takes that to a balence of just over £300. I think any overpayments will now go to that card so i can clear it quickly and it will be one less bill to pay.

Me and oh had a bit of a heart to heart the other night and we have decided that although its not a good time finance wise for us we are going to start trying for a baby:j. I can't afford to wait any longer as I will be 39 in Oct and i'm already worried that we have left it to long so although we are both terrified, I'm excited. So even more of an incentive to get rid of these debts as quickly as possible. Oh has also decided he wants a change of job and some re-training and expense is involved but he is very unhappy in his job at the moment so I will support his desision on that. So at the moment my new kitchen will have to be put on ice untill next year!

Not much planned for today, oh is going to do some diy around the house so I will potter about and I may try and list a few things on ebay if i can find the energy!

gilligansyle

Glad you have another incentive to get debt free.
You are now in a far better place financially, physically (giving up smoking etc.) and mentally, than you were six months ago.

Hope it all works out OK for you.

BADPENNY_2

Once again I have let my diary and my spending habits slip. I need a new approach as even though i'm not using my credit card at all now my day to day spending is still not under controll and my debts are not going down at all as I still only ever make the minimum payments each month.

I've just looked through my bank statement and i'm around £70 short for some dd's that come out this week, further investigation has discovered that I have frittered away close to that amount on things that I can't account for. I've got to get a grip on this spending spiral that i'm in and have another 'lightbulb' moment as I need to tackle this head on now and make some new good habits.

Off to have a think......................................................

gilligansyle

The best thing you can do is keep on with your diary, make it a habit to put it down. The discipline is good, pop on to other peoples diaries, read what they are up to, that will give you inspiration.

BADPENNY_2

Well it was with a heavy heart that I paid my £70 birthday money I recieved last week into my current account to cover my dd's.:(. I had planned to 'treat' myself :mad:. Also persuded my lovely oh to return the boots that he bought for me but couldn't really afford.

Anyway I get paid tommorrow and have sat down and reviewed our budget and have realised that with a few tweeks here and there we can afford to pay an additional £150 of our cc's each month. God knows what we have been spending this cash on each month as we have had it spare since march when our car loan finished. So tomorrow as soon as I can I'm going to pay £75 off my citi card and £75 off my oh's halifax which he is pretty chuffed about.

Today with the exception of 1.80 for my bus fare to work will be a nsd, i've just filled up on boiled eggs and toast which will keep me full till lunch and then i'm having chicken soup. My freezer is still quite full this week so will be able to shave a bit off my food budget this week and i'll do a meal plan of course.

I think you are right GS i need to keep up with my diary, i don't think I can manage every day but will committ to at least 3 times a week to keep me on the straight and narrow! so i will update tommorrow.
oh and i'm also going to keep a little diary with me to keep a log of my day to day spending.

BADPENNY_2

well best laid plans and all that....... I skipped home from work tonight ready to make my overpayments to my cc, made up i was and what do I find on my mat. A gas/elec bill for £309:(. Determined not to be beaten I got my jotter out and started to work out this months budget praying for a loophole somewhere and I then discovered that my tv licence is also due at the end of the month, still I soldiered on shaving off here and there and then hurrah it happened, morgage came out on 13th oct, got paid 15th oct, next payment due 13th nov but i get paid 12th nov! so no morgage for me this month(i get paid 4 weekly) yippie so i managed to make an overpayment of £50 to both mine and oh's card. I've redone my sig so each month on payday i can asses how much i've paid off.

BADPENNY_2

I have a new plan. I have overpayed my cici card by £50 but felt I wanted to do more, I know I have to get a grip of my day to day spending on rubbish that I don't need so what I have decided to do is give myself a daily budget of £5, from that budget over a weekly period I will try and save as much as possible and whatever I have saved at the end of each week will be paid of on of my cards. So far this week

Monday - budget £5. Actual spend 0. Saved £5
Tuesday - budget £5. Actual spend £3.60 on bus fares. £1 into sealed pot
Wednesday - planned nsd. hoping for £5 saving
Thursday - planned nsd. hoping for £5 saving
Friday - planned nsd. hoping for £5saving.
Saturday - will proberbly spend budget.

Total potential saving for this week -£20 (to be paid of m&s card)
so it would be great if I could do this every week. That could potentally be an additional £80 paid of my cc's.

Also counted out all my loose change and have almost £60 in the jar so its all bagged up ready to be taken to bank tommorrow and then that will also be paid off the m&s card as my balence is only £40 now so it will be great to clear this one then I can concentrate on my Halifax which only has a balence of £300 so shouldn't take too long to clear.

BADPENNY_2

Whoop whoop!!!! I have just paid off £30 from oh's cc (shared my copper jar proceeds with him)
Paid £40 off my m&s cc with my copper jar and £15 that I have saved this week from my daily budget, so the m&s card is now clear. Now any overpayments will go to Halifax and the balence on that is £253. I think I can definatly have this cleared by xmas at the very latest and then I can focus on my citi card which has a balence of £1512. Then i will concentrate on the big boys, egg which is nearly 5k and mbna which is £5230, the egg is 0% until next year and the mbna is on 8%apr for the life of the balence so i'm not as worried about them yet.
Wow I feel so motivated now, almost like I can see a way forward now. I am really questioning everyday whether I need to spend or not as I really don't want to break into my £5 for that day. OH dosn't belive I can do this and thinks i'm being too unrealistic to try and not spend anything at all but if I can be organised I think I can do this.:j

BADPENNY_2

Morning,

woke up to a wet cold day at 9am but now the sun seems to have come out and i'm debating hanging some washing on the line but not sure if its a 'drying' day, might have to stick to the rack in the spare bedroom today. Day off today and i'm still in my pj's, not much planned as i need to have a nsd today but thats ok. will potter around and then go to the gym later tonight i think. I've started running on the treadmill and have got up to 25mins now at a reasonable pace so dead pleased with myself there.

I may try and put some stuff on ebay later, not really in the mood tho and i need to put a coulour on my hair later, again not really in the mood, just feel like doing nothing today.

BADPENNY_2

Oh has a loose change jar that he keeps in his locker at work, he bought it home the other night and there was £80 in it:T. He is having his LB moment i think as he asked me to pay it off his Halifax card for him, which I have just done. He has also said that he is going to try and budget properly next month and pay some additional off his cards.:j. It feels so much easier when he is on board.

So this week so far I have. Made an overpayment of £50 to citi. (in hindsight it should of gone to Halifax as it has the lower balence)
Made an overpayment of £40 to m&s using £25 from my copper jar and £15 saved from my daily spending budget. So I have managed to clear 1 card ( i know it was only £40 but it feels like a victory to me) I still have my £5 from yesterday in tact. Today will proberbly spend my budget as I like my Sunday papers but if i can have a nsd tommorrow I will send £10 to Halifax tommorrow night.:j.

Mum phoned me on Friday evening and had some really sad news about a work friend of hers who has just lost her daughter in really tragic circumstances, leaving two young children. I don't know the people personally but feel so sad for the whole family, it has really made me think that no matter how tough a time I think I am having it really is only money, people are so much more important. I am going to try and hold onto that thought every day.

Right need to get moving today, Have a rare day off with the oh so we are planning on a little drive somewhere and a car picnic with the papers. Love doing this:rotfl:.