A Fool and Her Money- CAFCGIRL's Debt Diary

CAFCGirl

aww Catt,

we can get there together slowly then!

I've been playing around with my spreadsheets for basic budget.
My hope at the moment is that I can use the deposit from my old flat to pay off my one remaining store card, and then essentially I'll owe my mum that money (she lent me the deposit) and mum's being mum's, they're generally interest free!

Just got to get the pesky dosh off my landlord tomorrow! Even if it wont clear the whole debt on the card at leats it'll clear a fair old whack and that way seeing a lower amount I'll be more motivated to find that extra £10 or month or whatever as the balance will then look likes its actually going down more considerably than if it was just £10 off £500! Heres hoping anyway!

Decided to make myself feel better by eating the Bf's chocolate muffins that he left here, that'll teach him to pi$$ me off!

Skint_Catt

Yum, muffins!! Wanna share

I love interest free parent loans! Though I always pay more back in pressies and flowers than interest would be! :rolleyes: :rotfl:

Catt xx

CAFCGirl

opps sorry Catt, I've eaten them!

All four!
Definitely best form of revenge!
I'm now going to spend the evening ignoring the Bf's calls (if he does call!)
and attempting to meal plan and create my shopping list on a budget of £75 for a month, for one?

Do-able?!

Skint_Catt

£75 - I should say so - especially if you like 8p noodles like me!!! :rotfl:

Do you check out the old style board for meal tips? Some people post what they have in the cupboard and people tell them what they can make without buying anything more!

Catt xx

CAFCGirl

I'm dreadful with planning, as I'm sure everyone is aware!

With the best intentions I normally fall flat on my face.

Discovering how to roast a chicken (rubber chicken anyone?) might help me somewhat though!!!

Maybe we could write a DFW Cookbook, 101 meal ideas for 8p noodles?!

Seaxwyn

Sorry to hear you are feeling down CAFCgirl and the boyfriend blues have reared their head again. Hope its temporary and he's got a wonderful surprise planned for your birthday.

karry1412

Sorry to hear you're feeling down.. :grouphug:

I agree with Catt - how about trying to get your DFD into 2008? That would be fab!! I don't really know much about this though - maybe paying off that store card would do that anyways..

Either way, hope you feel better soon!!

CAFCGirl

Crikey do I feel guilty!

My poor little diary was so neglected for the joys of Giving Up Money for Lent, and the new upcoming challenge that has been borne through it.

Well peeps, I can only apologise!

So an update.........
I've paid off the demon store card with the released deposit from my old flat.

Top stuff!

I've managed a meal planner plus some stocking up and did it via Asda online to stop myself from spending too much.

Now this month will be the first month whereby everything is being paid from my pocket, whereas last month I had the boost of the old deposit.

So it's gonna be tricky.......... But I'm sure I can manage it...

And so here is my brand spanking new 2007 new flat new cafcgirl SOA
Rent £525
Utilities (budgetted) £50
Council Tax £76
BT £35
Sky £18
Mobile £45
Food £60
Me Money £50

Debt Payments
Loan 22.9% fixed £134.18 (2505.02 outstanding) due to end January 2009
Abbey CC 22% 1389.17 Overpaying £91.59 for April then £116.59 onward
I.F CC 1157.93 4.95% LOB Paying £24.23 (still above minimum)

So from Snowball I'm in debt by £5k roughly. Better than it was when I first signed up here. I've paid off £3k since joining. After realising that, I didnt feel quite so bad, but then I dont feel quite so good either.

Now heres the excuses for certain appearences on the SOA:

Mobile at £45, I've written to Orange requesting proof of when I signed contract as I believe it expires sooner than they do.
Awaiting response. However if it comes back and I was right, I'll be cancelling contract as soon as, and I've already got myself a free Orange PAYG sim (ordered online) which will give me extra free texts the next month depending on what I top up with.
So in order to set the badboy up I'll be putting £10 on it to ensure it's within time limit for the offer (expires 31st March).

Sky at £18 a month. This is for pure entertainment, as you'll note I dont have a going out budget simply because I dont go out, and I'm quite happy that way. I'd much rather stay in and watch Spendaholics!!!!

Food at £60 a month. I'm not actually sure if this is going to be reasonable or not, and I've realised just how bad some of my eating habits are. But if I struggle here I can always allocate some of the Me Money over.

Me Money is literally as it says. Following on from the Lent thread, there was a discussion about carrying it forward in some way. So it was agreed that everyone would have a budget of £10 per week for unnecessary purchases, be it a magazine, choccie bar (not covered in groceries!) just to alleviate the stress and anxiety over watching every penny.
This will therefore emcompass that challenge and will also include going out, presents etc. Since I dont have that many people to buy for, Christmas etc is never really a problem for me when it swings round. Especially this year as I plan on making food stuffs for everyone!

And so there we have it!
I've also been signing up for as many mystery shops that come my way as I can. This past month feb-march I've made £40, and I've got another to do on tuesday which is a payment of £18 (inc £5 toward my bill).

I've toe dipped into the world of matched betting with A LOT of help from Peaches (That woman is a demi-God!), and seem to be on the right track when my account is unlocked lol. And so any profits from there will go straight toward debt.

Theres nothing I can really do about my loan DFD, but the cards I can, and so I want to get these paid off early as possible!

Skint_Catt

Do you use pigsback CAFCgirl?? I've raised £15 since end of Jan so far for Xmas 2007. Free money!

Well done on getting rid of the store card and £3k in total!!!

Catt xx

CAFCGirl

Thanks hun.

I confess to not being a great one for Pigsback although I'm registered.
Quidco I've got £25.20 tracking, so that'll help somewhere. Hopefully can add to that too!