Diary of an Ex-Spendaholic - Sorting it out in 2010

Ex-Spendaholic

Well that is 1 debt gone from my DMP - Robinson Way for Studio. :j Paid it off this morning.

I have contacted Lowell Portfolio and the balance is £185 and not £270 like I originally thought. I asked about a discount for !!!!!! and was told the best they can do is £157. So do I pay it as planned to get rid of it or use the money for another debt whilst paying Lowell £15 per month for the whole of 2010?

Have made the contractual payment to Visa 3 which leaves £112.26. The girl is ringing me back to let me know if there is any discount for early settlement - doubt it somehow. Just waiting on refund from Play.com, money from Fonebank and a refund from Next which will cover the £112.26 and that will be another debt gone. :j

Keeping to my other resolutions regarding lunches etc and continuing to put money in the sealed pot and the jar for coppers.

Oh and I had a prize today of a DVD boxset. I reckon I can get about £50 on ebay for it. :dance:

Scottishmummy

How about offering them £250 with the proviso that if they don't accept it will go to someone else and they'll have to wait on their £15 a month?

Well done on everything else.

Ex-Spendaholic

Well by mid next week we'll have £11627 to play with. It would be great if this could clear the Tax Credits and also get rid of Visa 1 and 2. However as things stand this lot totals £14196 :eek: leaving a shortfall of £2569.

I am still awaiting a CCA from the 2 Visas. They are both with DCAs. One said that they have went back to the bank (RBS) to provide this information. I feel at this stage that I really can't proceed until I hear about the CCAs and also the penalty charges.

I'm starting to lose belief that I can possibly get a lower settlement figure on the Visas and that I'm not going to be able to clear these debts.

I made the contractual payment to Lowell today of £15. I am going to contact them again about a !!!!!!. I think I'm just going to try and pay them off in one lump sum from ebay sales etc. I know they are a small creditor but the fewer creditors the better.

On a more positive note I'm keeping to my pledges about not buying lunches, stuff I don't need, using the debit card etc.

emmie26

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

Things I will no longer do:

• Buy expensive shampoos and conditioners - the don't make any difference anyway
• Buy books - I will use the library
• Spend £5 on sweets, drinks and other tat when I'm buying petrol
• Spend more money than necessary on presents for other people
• Buy cards, gift wrap in places like Clintons
• Waste money on M&S food
• Use the debit card for every teeny transaction
• If family/friends owe me money, I will take it off them instead of refusing :mad:
• Buy clothes etc just for the hell of it
• Buy every cleaning product on the market
• Throw away food

It is like you have written down all my bad haits I really need to stick to this plan as well :T

Ex-Spendaholic

Targets for week commencing 11 January 2010

Pay off Visa Number 3 - currently standing at £112.76 Was waiting on them ringing me back to see if they were offering a discount for full settlement. However they never called so I'm just going to pay it and not embarass myself further as I have the money to do it.

Deposit Fonebank cheques of £74. - Done

Phone Lowell again. Balance is now £170. Trying to see if I can get a discount for Full and Final. - Done

Return the items to Next which I was to do last week. This will give me £16. - Done

Phone Tax Credits - OH is newly self employed and need to let them know about this.

List DVD win on ebay. I reckon I'll get £40-£50 for this.

List petrol vouchers on Ebay. Could maybe get about £40ish for these too.

Ex-Spendaholic

Interesting day today. Had a letter from Visa number 2 today with details of the past 6 years charges. They have charged £476 in total. :mad: Tomorrow I'll be sending them letter 1 to start the reclaiming process. If I get this with interest it should round the balance off to £4K. I'm still awaiting the CCA as the DCA told me to reply with account number (which I believe I did first time). Watch this space.

Secondly I had a letter from ARC Credit Management. They are taking over my Egg debt. I've already emailed them telling them its part of my DMP. The wonderful thing though is that I owe £253.84 less than I thought I did. :j This brings the DMP debt to £24845.62. :beer: OK its still massive:eek: but Rome wasn't built in a day. :rolleyes:

Ex-Spendaholic

Phoned Lowell. They will knock off an astonishing £15.23 if I pay by the end of January. I'm going to pay that to get shot of it. It will be one less creditor to worry about.

Sent off reclaim letter to Visa 2. With interest it amounts to £576.

Received a prize today of a vaccum cleaner. :j Its worth £280 but Argos have them half price at the minute for £140. I'm wondering whether to put it on ebay. There are some on there for £209.

Ex-Spendaholic

Well today I have paid off Visa 3 :j and Lowell. :beer: 2 less people to owe money to. :j Thats £65 extra to play with each month. :j

I've also cancelled my bank card and ordered a replacement. This was due to Creditexpert helping themselves to £6.99 per month. this will get shot of them meaning with the £65 above I'll have a total of £72 extra each month. :j

Returned the items to Next so got £23.50 as I found another item. £3.50 has gone into the sealed pot fund and the £20 is going to be used to take the kids somewhere for a treat tomorrow. A lot of the normal free activities aren't happening with the weather.

I have been doing well with my other pledges ie not using the debit card, buying rubbish etc. Quite pleased with myself actually. :A

Working away on the Sealed Pot too.

Ex-Spendaholic

Have had a busy weekend. Doing lots of house tidying etc and am really pleased with it. Have finally cleaned the fish tank and have advertised it.

Have had the kids out for tea as a treat too. Called into a new restaurant which we thought had opened but turns out they were just training staff. Was delighted when they gave us vouchers to come back for a free meal when they open. :j

Have had my refund of £19.96 from Play.com. :j

Am hoping to hear back from the Visas this week on the CCA requests and charges claiming. I want to offer F+Fs on both of them but want this info first.

Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have repaid the tax credits overpayment which will free up another £50.00 per month. :beer:

This week I will definitely get some stuff on ebay too as the money would come in handy for the car tax which is due end of Feb. :rolleyes:

Really pleased that I have stuck with my goals of not using the debit card and not wasting money on rubbish. :j

Ex-Spendaholic

Won a DVD today. :beer: Have listed it on Ebay along with another DVD I won a few weeks ago. If they sell I'll get about £63. :beer:


Been out for a walk and found 7p on the ground which has gone in the shrapnel jar. Also found £1 on our garage floor which has gone into the sealed pot along with the £1 saved from buying milk on BOGOF from Lidl.


Also Freecycled a chair which will be collected tonight. I love getting rid of clutter.