Bang...and the debt is gone! (Hopefully!)

MissShoes

So I now have 20 items listed on ebay.

I have another 30 items ready to list so I'm going to do 6 a day for the next 5 days then try to list at least one thing a day for the whole of October.

Shoes

MissShoes

Meal Plan
breakfast- tea/coffee/crumpets/toast/cereal/porridge/eggs/bacon
lunches- sandwiches, pasta or cous cous salads, sandwiches, fruit, crisps, chocolate (for OH)

Sun 2nd- spag bol
Mon 3rd- thai green curry with rice and poppadoms
Tues 4th- leftover thai green curry with rice and poppadoms
Wed 5th- lambsteaks with roasted potatoes and veg
Thurs 6th- beef stirfry with noodles and veg
Fri 7th- jackpot freezer (pizza/ready meals/fish and chips)

wolveslass

Hi MissShoes, just had a good look through your diary it is quite inspiring. I started on my journey last year and have had a mixed time. I am finally getting on track and have read with interest how you've tackled your debts.

Did you make minimum payments and then overpay on other debts, so that your number of creditors dropped, or was it part of snowballing? I think I may try something similar as pyschologically it feels good to see a creditor disappear.

MissShoes

Ok meals for the rest of the month need to be sorted as we have only £42.50.

Freezer stocktake reveals:

4 sausages (can use for toad in hole or sausage and mash)
4 pork steaks (will do 2 meals, cooked in cider/with apples and onions)
1 big pack of steak (will do 2 meals- casserole with dumplings and a stirfry)
1 pack of peppered beefsteak (will do 1 meal, beef fajitas probably)
1 packet chicken thighs (will do a big curry which will last 2 meals)
2 packets of mince (will do one spag bol- 4 portions and one cottage pie- 4 portions)

= 12 meals sorted after this Friday (which is when I've meal planned until)

If I can get a pack of sausages and a chicken I will do a sausage pasta bake that will do 4-6 portions and a roast which will then do 2 subsequent meals. Any prawns I can get on offer I will use in a stirfry (I still have 16 packets of straight to wok noodles).

MissShoes

wolveslass wrote: »

Hi MissShoes, just had a good look through your diary it is quite inspiring. I started on my journey last year and have had a mixed time. I am finally getting on track and have read with interest how you've tackled your debts.

Did you make minimum payments and then overpay on other debts, so that your number of creditors dropped, or was it part of snowballing? I think I may try something similar as pyschologically it feels good to see a creditor disappear.

Hi wolveslass,

I got as much as I could onto 0% (had to use my friends cards as I couldnt get any credit) and just paid minimum on those. Then I paid minimums on the rest apart from the one with highest interest and repeated the process. I'm down to the nitty gritty now but it's taken a long while. Along the way I've had a mountain of small debts/loans/fines/parking tickets/fees etc so I'm enjoying just having 5 cards, 1 defaulted account, 1 overdraft and a friend.

That still sounds a lot but the balances are coming down! Last month I didn't snowball, I just paid a hefty chunk of all of them in order to bring the totals down to nice SMALLER round figures.

The things I'm enjoying most are ebaying and really taking control of the groceris/my storecupboard and getting my total up on onepoll.

How has your journey been so far? Are you keeping a diary?

Shoes xx

MissShoes

Up to £24.75 on my onepoll account. Really want to get to my £40 payout- so frustratingly slow!

Went to Mr A for herbs/microrice/sausages/dustpan and brush/bowls/stirfry sauces/coconut milk/garlic/mushrooms/milk/worcestershire sauce/catfood= £27.74

Around £25 left in grocery budget to last 22days but the freezer, fridge and cupboards are heaving.

Tricky day at work- need to get to the gym to get rid of my stress and frustration before I come home from work.

Still waiting for £380 from OH to clear plus 4 payments from paypal. Have listed my 6 ebay items for today.

MissShoes

Onepoll up to £25.20

Paid gym fees today- no spend day aside from that. Will keep track of total number of days I use it each month to calculate cost per visit/am I using it enough.

Lamb for tomorrow might be going off but I think it'll last. If not, it'll be fresh pasta and sauce with salad.

Money from OH, quidco and refund all cleared. Still waiting for ebay payments. Hoping they're delayed because of the weekend, not that there's a problem because I withdrew funds from my account on 5 consecutive days????

first 2 of my 5 bills through for next payday to deal with. Have set up scheduled payments with a little extra on each but will adjust when remaining 3 bills come through so I can see if I've got room for minimums on 3 and to clear 2 accounts.

7 items selling on ebay, another 17 waiting for bids. Haven't listed my 6 for today- will do extra another day. Tomorrow looking like a nightmre 12-16 hour day. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. Work have just sprung a LOAD of extras on us so Mon-Wed next week it's vital I'm on tiptop form and well prepared, meaning that's what I'm spending my weekend doing.

So I worked out on average I work a 50 hour week, plus now I have an extra few hours a week studying, plus gym every day, plus running a household, plus working on becoming DF, plus having a relationship and worrying about the future in general. Sigh.

Shoes is tired. Off to bed, 6am start for me. Great.:(

MissShoes

3 ebay payments cleared today. One still on it's way of £6.75.

24 items currently listed. 8 will sell.

My bank balance was £419.95 (OH money for taxis, OH rent/bills share, £20 quidco and £19.95 refund) plus £49.48 ebay money= £469.43

Paid gym fees yesterday meaning I had £397.73. Paid ebay fees meaning I had £386.31. Paid my half of the cat centre- £30. So I thought I have 20 days until payday, all the bills have been paid and I just need £75 for the cleaner and then a little for parking for an appointment, a few bus fares, ebay p&p and some in reserve for a lunch out for a friend's birthday and a gift.

I also still have around £25 left for groceries, we are well stocked just fresh stuff as and when.

So I threw caution and patience to the wind, called up and paid my Vanquis card in full as the bill was generated yesterday. £213.80.

It now has a zero balance. The funds have left my account. Once they've reached the account I will call up and close the account, ask for confirmation in writing and ask that my credit file be updated accordingly.

Phew.

A bit risky doing this but also I think better psychologically as now that's one less to pay and its my intention with my next pay to pay off dorothy perkins in full next month so that can happen in 20 days. Ideally I'd want to do the same out of next month's pay, have £200 leftover to clear the LPF visa too but there's a lot more happening next month so might not be viable.

The main point is I HAVE VANQUISHED THE VANQUIS. I vow that that money-grabbing, extortionate interest company will not receive one more penny of my hard-earned cash. WOO HOO!!! :j:j:j:T:T:T

Now I have £142.51 to last 20 days on.

Wish me luck,

Shoes xx

MissShoes

onepoll up to £26.45. 9 ebay items selling for £15.00 total. listed 7 more ebay items

early night for me with my skybox, although I think I'll fall asleep straight away.

Long day for me tomorrow, finished with the gym.

Night.
Shoes x

MissShoes

up to £27.35. NSD again today. £137.57 in bank. £7.47 and £9.45 on way from paypal. Around £6 in my purse.

Need to get £75 ready for cleaner. I'm owed £3 from grocery pot.

very tired and very busy. Lots of ebay items selling this weekend. Have more to list- around 20. That's an early morning job. Lots of chores to do. Lots of work to do. Lots of sleep to catch up on.

After cash taken out for cleaner, I reckon I've got around £88 to last me 18 days. This is to cover a small phone bill due to changing direct debit date as well as ebay sales.

Car tax due next month for £71= £35.50 each.