What are you doing to get debt free .... join in!

lazy&indebt

What a wonderful and motivating thread!

I have Joined MSE!

Transferred overdraft and abbey card onto 0% egg card (5 month aniversary offer) and haggled with abbey card allowing me to transfer the whole balance back again to Abbey at 1.9% for a further 5 months and cut both cards up

Opened an ISA and set up a regular transfer every month plus a 'sweep' facility so ALL cash left in my account on the 22nd of each month gets put into my ISA

Learned to cook properly and saved myself a fortune in food bills, bought more shop own brand food.

Quit Smoking

Try not to drive as often

Ebayed stuff (only about £100 so far)

Taught myself to live on a strict budget of £5 per day (for food, petrol and going out) rather than blowing £400 - £500 as soon as payday arrives!

Subsribed to a magazine for a £1 saving about £40/£50

Go home for lunch every day rather than spending £4/£5 every day at the shop

Started having picnics and things on days off rather than going clothes shopping

Ajax18

- joined mse

- set up a strict budget plan, have been sticking to it for 2 months now and it works. At the beginning of the month we put all the money we need into different envelopes labelled "food", "sandwich/ coffee money", "books, films, cinema, music, clothes, swimming" etc... So we can always see how much is left. It gives you a great overview at all times...

- shop with shopping list at all times. Also make a weekly trip to Sainsbury's, Lidl and Tesco to get the cheapest deals at all times

- joined the grocery shopping challenge and stick to it with 86 pounds for the two of us a month. Works great...

- emailing companies constantly asking for vouchers. I reckon we have so far received vouchers worth 60 quid in the last two months! including 22 vouchers for milk!

- we have turned into little freebie junkies, asking for samples, taking up try me free offers, reading the freebie board several times a day

- sued Natwest and got all my claims and court costs back. Will cash in the check today

- Check the call charger tool on mse weekly and update a table which is right by the telephone so we save about 20 quid a month i reckon...

- switched energy suppliers through u switch, banking in 12,50 and getting cheaper energy and gas from powergen

- buying all clothes, books and videos at charity shops. They are usually in great condition and cheap!

- setting up an ISA and saving tax free on a monthly basis

- only ever going to free events, film screenings etc and we still have lots to do. Have become friends with local bands and they put us on the guest list when they are gigging...

- reusing envelopes that have been sent to me rather than buying new ones...

- managed to organise our whole wedding which is in two weeks for just 1000 pounds!!! :T

I think that's about all I can think of at the moment...

I think in about three months we will be debt free, especially with all the wedding presents coming in at the end of the month :-)

lincolnscot

Being in debt used to be a lonely affair, so this is a great thread.

Currently have sky for kids, joined Tesco DVD rental as cheaper than buying films from SKY

Sold old books on Amazon for £20 profit

Sold old workwear on ebay for £40

Bought new pair of boots on ebay, from royal mail employee boots cost £9 and come with a rather nice Royal Mail logo on side. The other boots were listed from £25 for brands.

stopped taking money to work, got a new t-bar with freshly cooked rolls and cakes, spent £8 in one day!!!

Monitoring eating habits, only eat what I need, chocolate biscuits and fizzy drinks are not required, kids can now relax.

joined various survey and freebie sites, money slowly coming in, £60 in cash and tokens. Plus all the free samples that I use, may not be my usual brand but its free.

Joined petrolprices.com currently save 2p per litre on 45litre fill, just by driving an extra mile.

All little things, but they help my wallet and bank account to gather dust :T

lessonlearned

Gread thread, positive, optimistic and inspiring, in fact just like the MSE community.

Anyway so far

2005

Began to think about money and where to cut back - struggling to help support our two sons at uni, trying to keep my struggling business afloat.

1. Took my husband's business finances by the scruff of the neck and got him a tax refund of £2000 - Result!! and yes, it was all legal.

2. Claimed £3800 from an endowment.

2006

Jan - Lightbulb moment
Shock horror - shortfall in budget and £22,000 on CCs (between the two of us). Felt sick, guilty, embarassed - you name it.

Faced the music - gave up my business and got a full time job, whilst o/h was able to concentrate on his business. Hated my job, left me feeling exhausted and ill but managed to stick it till last week. (Freedom!!!!)

Job served it's purpose - paid 1 years uni fees and rents for boys with a bit left over to make a start on the debts.

So far

Joined this website - brilliant - so helpful. When I feel overwhelmed by it all I just log on and read the threads - makes me feel better.
Bought Martin's book - it's now my bible.
Started a spending diary - showed me exactly where I was going wrong.

Thanks to everything I've learned I must have saved thousands

£22K CCs - doing the CC shuffle - mixture of 0% and low Life Balance
Est savings - between £2K to £3K - debts now about £19K

Switched suppliers - utilities & insurances etc saving about £1300 a year

Stopped buying magazines, newspapers & "bargains" savings about £1000

Estimated annual savings so far for 2006 about £4500

Started saving any spare odds and ends - vouchers, bogoffs etc, small change jar etc

£200 in bits and bobs account - rainy day
£8 in £2 Piggy Bank - started last week - holiday spends or similar
50p tin - for Christmas - don't know how much - have to open with tinopener so no cheating or borrowing
Reduced housekeeping to about £300 - aiming to get this down at least another £100

What's Next

Sell our second car - I can manage without it now not working (and get fitter by walking)
Declutter & Car boots - I will have time now
Cook nice homemade food and baking etc - eat well and save money
Have an organised, frugal household
Decorate our home and give it some much needed TLC - MSE Style of course

Change banks for better deals
Change mortgage (have to wait until next year because of redemption penalties etc)

Phew reading this makes me realise what a mess we wouId be in if I hadn't had a lightbulb moment.

We've still got a long way to go - but now I know we can and will do it.

Pre-light bulb I was stressed, worried and very frightened about our financial future - now I sleep better and am confident that we can do it. I checked the snowball thingy and estimate about 4 years to be debt free. I will try and cut this back but am not too worried if I can't.

The thing is I AM IN CONTROL NOW OF MY FINANCES NOW. My husband is really impressed and I am converting anyone who will listen to me - my sister, sons, friends and (ex) workmates.

Thanks a million MSE'rs - you're great.

LJD1_2

I've stopped spending money! It's fantastic and I get really narked when I have to spend!

rumblytum

This is a fantastic thread.

I've sat here making a list of all the things I've done, and I actually feel positive and PROUD for the first time for ages. Stuck in the slog, it's easy to feel bogged down - this is great.

Here is stuff I've done (prob. others too!)

1. Opened a new bank account that actually paid interest on credit balances. Downgraded the bank account that was charged me £15 per month for the 'extras', and paid off the overdraft.
2. Menu planning - still learning on this one, but not throwing food away now.
3. Learning to budget - using MS Money - still learning here and tweaking budget - but way, way better.
4. Ebayed LOADS of old children's clothes/trainers/shoes/toys (how much did I spend on DD??!) - Must have earnt £100s here - all transferred to debt straight away, not used to live on or treat.
5. Amazon loads of children's books - Must be a good £80 I've made here.
6. I also use newspaper and shredded paper in guinea pig cage to reduce sawdust used, and put her on the lawn as often as possible at this time of year.
7. Changed energy suppliers.
8. Use slow cooker much more, and cook from scratch much more. Still trying to cut out the take aways.
9. Use breadmaker always - never buy bread.
10. Use half amount of washing powder
11. Use white vinegar for fabric conditioner
12. Use vinegar for cleaning windows
13. Buy clothes from ebay/charity shops
14. borrow books/DVDs/Cds from library.
15. Started a veg patch - still learning, but courgettes/runners looking good, great batch of strawbs this year, raspberries not so good, growing cauli, peas, sprouts, beetroot, broccoli, aubergine, tomatoes at the mo.
16. always shop around for insurance
17. Growing herbs - not always successful - chives are great though, and I'm continually cutting them back and they're grown back within days. Have a bay tree for bay leaves, rosemary, mint, thyme, rocket, lettuce, carrots in pots, potatoes, can't do basil sadly.
18. Cancelled health insurance, joined HSA, and claimed back more than I paid in premiums (regular chiropodist appt for DD)
19. Send off for appropriate freebies.
20. Use a mooncup - no more tampons for me.
21. Made my own hampers for Christmas presents - made chutneys, marmalade, cakes, bath bombs, sweets etc
22. Use coupons for things I would buy anyway.
23. Shop online at Tesco and use vouchers and check madaboutbargains for special offers.
24. Recommended a friend to open an a/c at my bank and got £50 (straight to cc debt)
25. Shop at Lidl once a month for a big shop (It's half an hour's drive away, so don't do every week)
26. Cancelled subscriptions, and asked for them for Christmas presents
27. Didn't buy things I thought I needed, but asked parents to buy them for me for Christmas/birthday.
28. did two mystery shops - difficult though as I work full time, so can't really fit them in.
29. Turn lights off and shut down stand bys.
30. Transferred cc debt onto 0%
31. Trying to cancel PPI on loan.
32. Shop around for purchases to get best price
33. Buy bogofs (that I would buy anyway)
34. Do paid surveys
35. Dyed own hair, and haven't had it cut for a year. Going next week.
36. Get paid in points for scanning my shopping
37. Negotiated discount with ISP
38. Changed 'phone provider, use 1899 for daytime calls, check here for mobile and overseas calls, use saynoto0870
39. Use my compost bin and eggshells in my garden
40. Did a couple of car boot sales
41. Changed savings to DH's name as I'm a higher rate taxpayer and he's not (emergency fund, not savings)
42. Got a water meter
43. Got a second job - pay goes straight to debts.

That's it for now. Have been inspired by this thread to look into what else I can do (what is Quidco for example?) - but I'm staggered and proud by how much I have done.

My lifestyle, it is a-changing...

rumbly

sparkle_monkey

I'm falling a bit off the wagon so this thread is great! Some of the things I've done

worked a second job since august
stopped smoking
stopped going on frivilous weekends/spending £30 at the pub/£50 on a pair of shoes etc
read and listened to many books about money saving
maintained a spreadsheet
used up all the food in my fridge - making soups or whatever i can
stopped drinking altogether for 3 months - HUGE money saver
stopped renting DVDs and just 'find' them from other sources
practiced more yoga to feel relaxed and not stressed about debt
smiled about good things in my life at least once a day
given myself a pat on the back
bought myself occasional treats to keep me going - eg. after quitting smoking i bought teeth whitening strips so they look lovely now (and it cost me the price of 2 packs of fags)

I'm sure there's more to come..

rubytuesday

[QUOTE=LookingAhead.
Use Orange website for 30 free texts a month. Buy text bundles from Orange though which works out cheaper than sending singles.
QUOTE]

It is possible to get 3000 evening tests with orange and also free minutes to other orange phones.

LookingAhead

rubytuesday wrote:

[QUOTE=LookingAhead.
Use Orange website for 30 free texts a month. Buy text bundles from Orange though which works out cheaper than sending singles.
QUOTE]

It is possible to get 3000 evening tests with orange and also free minutes to other orange phones.

Are the 3000 evening texts to any network....and also for PAYG customers do you know? Thanks though for the heads up! :money:

Dr.Shoe_2

I have now reduced Sky to £10.50 (was £42) for three months- then I'll cancel it!

Negotiated another three months free on Screenselect.

Drafted the letter to change my account from Advantage Gold to Current Plus.

These steps alone have saved me £51.50!!! :A

It's scary to think how much money they take off us for very little in return!