My Debt-Free-Wannabe Diary

DontDoDebtKids

For the first time in months I will use my overdraft! :mad:

Poor planning with my credit card has meant that I didn't have enough money to pay it off in full this month so I will have to dip into my overdraft.

My spending has been fairly under control lately so I think this is a case of poor planning and overstretching myself to pay off my Egg loan.

I've started transferring cash from my current account into a savings account to match the balance on my credit card, so this shouldn't happen in future (thankfully).

Grrrrr. Not the best way to start the year!

DontDoDebtKids

Time to type some more spending diaries in:

Spending Diary 18/12 - 24/12

17.40 pub lunch
130.00 university alumni dinner
14.96 last minute amazon present
0.26 milk for coffee
2.90 lunches at work
18.00 drinks at ball
31.40 taxi to and from ball
12.20 train tickets
41.52 petrol
62.63 christmas turkey (to be refunded)
1.00 charity donations
5.23 stocking presents

Total: £274.87

Spending Diary 25/12 - 31/12

15.92 B&Q DIY stuff

Total: £15.92

DontDoDebtKids

A cheque I had forgotten about just left my account, pushing me over my sodding overdraft on my bill paying account (HSBC) as I transferred what I thought was a safe amount to my spending account (A&L) yesterday.

I am really cross. It's taken this person ages to cash the cheque and they pick now to do it!!!

HSBC are going to be really cross. I'm not sure whether to phone them and sort something out or to just ignore the situation as I am paid soon...

I know I should phone them before people start shouting. It's just such a hassle phoning HSBC (as anyone else who has ever tried to get in touch with them will testify).

The problem is that the money I've transferred to A&L now can't be reversed until it hits my A&L account, and any BACS transfer will take however many days to get back to HSBC. If I hadn't transferred the money, there wouldn't be a problem.

I could take out cash from one account and manually pay it back in at HSBC but that involves finding a local A&L to work and then trundling over to the HSBC near work.

Grrrr. :mad:

DontDoDebtKids

OK. A slightly contraversial solution has been found.

I have some 0% for 6 months credit card cheques (with a 2.5% fee) from my Lloyds credit card. :eek:

I am over my overdraft by £362.50. I have a Quidco payment coming in very soon for £50.24, so I actually only need £312.26. The 2.5% fee on this will be £7.81 and I will have to pay off Lloyds within 6 months if I do this.

Lloyds balance currently £1,804.06 so would be £2124.13 if I use a cheque, meaning I would need to pay off roughly £354.02 (excluding interest) a month to clear it.

Any thoughts people?

gallygirl

Not a great solution.... but maybe best under circs - are you SURE there is nothing else coming out you've forgotten about though????? Wouldn't it be best to always leave yourself a small margin for error, say £100?

BTW - HOW BIG WAS THE £62.63 TURKEY:eek: :eek: :eek: EEK

DontDoDebtKids

ali007 wrote:

Not a great solution.... but maybe best under circs - are you SURE there is nothing else coming out you've forgotten about though????? Wouldn't it be best to always leave yourself a small margin for error, say £100?

Might be a good idea...

Perhaps a £50 margin for error - if I don't include the £50 from Quidco and pay off the overdraft today then hopefully that will cover any extras.

A complete farce. The end of last year was going soooo well.

ali007 wrote:

BTW - HOW BIG WAS THE £62.63 TURKEY:eek: :eek: :eek: EEK

Very big! It was actually a three bird roast from the local farm shop - a partridge in a pheasant in a turkey.

It took us a week and various sets of family members coming for "leftovers" to finish it off!

Worth a try but I think we'll just get an M&S turkey next year.

EDIT: When I say next year, I mean 2008. We alternate between my family and my girlfriend's family for Christmas so we'll go to her parents' for Christmas next time I think.

Gemmzie

Just a quick question about your Egg loan. how much did you owe and how much did you get them to settle for? I'm currently trying to work out a F&F for them.

DontDoDebtKids

Gemmzie wrote:

Just a quick question about your Egg loan. how much did you owe and how much did you get them to settle for? I'm currently trying to work out a F&F for them.

I settled for £6280.04 - I can't remember what the outstanding figure was as it's now disappeared from Egg Money Manager.

DDDK

DontDoDebtKids

OK, popped into bank and paid in credit card cheque for £362.50.

I'll have to chalk this one up to experience. :mad:

DontDoDebtKids

Got my statement from SLC today - owe £4998.47.