I can't beleive how easy it can be

Bonglecat

Here's the thing I have been upset, distraught and worried by my finances for ages. Each month salary goes in bills go out and bam I'm overdrawn. Within 2 weeks I'm nearly up to my limit, a week before payday I'm over it (and it's a big one!!) borrowing money from other accounts putting stuff on credit cards etc. :eek: I don't even live a particularly expensive life, I go to work on the bus, don't go out very often but I could never get straight I kept wishing someone would just give me £1000.

Then I decided to get serious and you know what I did? I started to make a meal plan, shop only for what I needed, use up some of the stuff in my kitchen cupboards, bother to use my money off vouchers and make packed lunches.

The difference was evident immediately after 2 months, yes only 2 months, 2 pay days the overdraft is gone. I have 2 weeks now until my next payday and my bank balance is still healthy, plus I have £200 in savings.:T

How could it have been that simply? But I'm not stopping there because I do have credit cards (of course on 0%) so I also have a note book and I'm writing down everything I spend to A) deter me from spending and so that I can see what I do waste money on. So wish me luck and maybe one day I will be totally debt free.

SkintGypsy

It is truly astonishing how much money you can waste without anything to show for it, or feeling like you have treated yourself. It's just gone.

We too found that our standard of living is not remarkably different, we just watch a little more closely what we spend in certain areas, and the amount of surplus cash for debt repayments is there to be used. It was never cash in the bank before, we didnt have nice things or go on expensive holidays and we always struggled to find some money to fix the car or pay the road tax, so where did it go??? Frustrating that it took this long to realise, but equally I am glad I learned my lesson at 27 rather than 57!

ruby1968_2

Well done bonglecat, you seem to have caught on, there are lots of idea's from everybody on here and some really good advice. keep posting.

Bonglecat

Quick update on my situation:

Problem 1 - perpetual overdraft running at around £1000. Result - GONE. Yup after my lightbulb moment back in March I have maintained the careful shopping including adding Poundland to my shopping repertoire. I also noticed that my cats (4) were leaving half of their dinners everyday so I cut down what I gave them from 1 pack each meal to 1/2 a pack, they now clear their plates and I've reduced my cat food bill accordingly.
Problem 2 - "unexpected" bills knocking me back down. Result - SORTED. When I say unexpected I mean regular annual bills I forget about e.g. car servicing, cats annual injections, birthdays and christmas. I have now got 5 savings accounts, 3 with my bank and 2 with ING, one for the car £60pm, one for holidays/christmas £100pm, one for general savings £25pm, one for the cats vet bills £20pm and one for birthdays £20pm. All now have balances on and I will be able to pay cash for the car service in August.
Problem 3 - Unsecured debt. Result - STILL THERE BUT PLANS IN PLACE I have now paid off my catalogue bill which I left to run with minimum payments as it was interest free. I have a personal loan with 2 years left to run and I intend to let that be, since in the past I have constantly re-jigged my loans to add yet another debt onto it and I think I have basically had a loan constantly for the last 20 years. I have 2 credit cards both currently on 0%, I have cancelled the two cards that I transferred the balances from. So I am down to 3 credit cards, very scary as at one point I had 7. I am chipping away at them with fixed payments of £120 and £240 pm which are both more that the minimum. The 0% will be ending in September but I'm a bit scared of tarting since my bank turned me down for a debt consolidation loan 2 years ago I'm worried that I won't be accepted. The third card is my M&S Visa I use this for large purchases that I have the money for e.g. holidays (see next problem) as I get M&S voucher cashback, this one does not maintain a balance and when it is used it is paid off when the bill arrives, I currently have £30 of vouchers to spend.
Problem 4 - Holidays even when we can't afford it. Result - WE CAN AFFORD IT. Yes, we are stupid and actually spent our house moving money on a trip to Mexico 4 years ago because the sale was being delayed. Whilst we were away we got a call to say everything was going ahead and then we had to borrow the money to pay for the move!! DOH! This year we received our annual bonuses in March and I put a large portion of it away for holidays, we had already booked to go away in May. Unfortunately we were booked for Madeira!! after the mud slides we decided to cancel but we were able to switch to another holiday without charge. This time we selected Lake Garda and a much cheaper holiday saving £400, also the hotel was HB instead of B&B another saving, and once we got there we found they also provided a complementary light lunch, afternoon tea and coffee and wine on tap, more money saved. The whole holiday has been paid for including spending money with no debt incurred.
Problem 5 - My husband. Result - Outstanding issue. Everything I've told you is what I have been doing and driving forward, unfortunately my husband feels that life should be lives and money spent even if it's not yours. My only consolation is that he is up to the limit on both credit cards (neither are 0%) I keep making payments but as soon as there is any give he spends again, he doesn't seem to understand how expensive the cards are. My plan is to wait until I am debt free and then go in hard...

M&S Visa £Nil,Capital One CC £6557.95,Barclaycard £3966.96,Catalogue £Nil, Personal Loan £6088.42, Overdraft £Nil =
Total Outstanding Debts £16,613.33

Swampmonster

WeLL Done!

You've done really well!

Bonglecat

Well I did it, yesterday I tarted. I went for the Virgin Credit Card 14 months 0%. My barclaycard and Capital One are very nearly at the end of their interest free periods. I can tell you I was very nervous expecting to be declined but to quite Virgin "You're in". Interestingly they asked for potential balance transfers before accepting me and then set the credit limit to cover the transfer of both. I figure if I keep making the same repayments as I am on the 2 cards combined then I will have paid off slightly over 50% before the 0% period ends.

M&S Visa £Nil,Catalogue £Nil, Virgin One Credit Card £10,098, Personal Loan £5854.25, Overdraft £Nil =
Total Outstanding Debts £15,952.25

Bonglecat

It's me again, it's been over a year since I last posted. So here are the current results:

Yes, there is a balance on the M&S Card but that is because I have just paid for a holiday to portugal on it, but £300 is already in my savings account and the rest will be there before the bill is due, so I'm not counting it.

Overdraft crept up again over Christmas, due to giving in to Santa loving husband, but is now gone thanks selling some stuff on ebay (got £400). Regular annual bills are still being saved for and I even found I had over estimated for one so had £50 back, thank you very much. Following tarting made big dent in credit card debt and personal loan only has 17 months left to run. Agreed with hubby no expensive holidays this year, Portugal is a cheap and cheerful with my Mom, hubby and I are renting a cottage in the Yorkshire dales in the Autumn, but I have another motivation here next year is a big 0 birthday and it would be nice to celebrate on a Cruise holiday. Lastly I decided to manage hubby with a monthly pleasure spending allowance which he has embrassed and is no longer running amok.

In addition I managed to apply for and get a new job, in the same company so no effect on my pension or annual bonus but with a 10% pay rise. Hubby has also received a 5% annual rise and is even talking about giving up smoking. Now if that was to happen, we would be rolling in it!!! But don't hold your breath. Still taking packed lunches and writing out my menu and shopping lists everyweek. But I have cancelled some of my loyalty cards since they encourage you to shop at a more expensive store. e.g. Boots, I can get branded products cheaper at the supermarket or discount stores like Bodycare, even with the loyalty points it still works out better.

M&S Visa £472, Catalogue £Nil, Virgin One Credit Card £8,120, Personal Loan £3980.89, Overdraft £Nil =
Total Outstanding Debts £12,120.89

Bonglecat

So I thought I would share a bit more with you all. In addition to being a Debt Free Wannabe I am now also exploring the world of minimalism. Let's start by getting one thing out there, minimalism isn't about one chair and a vase in an empty room. It's about living with the minimum amount of stuff that you need to life happily. I mentioned in my last post that we made some money selling stuff on ebay, here are some of the items that went:
One of the two sofas from the living room (now we can actually walk around without banging our shins),
Two dinning chairs we had 6 but there are only two of us and we rarely have people over for dinner,
one of the two coffee tables in the living room (see earlier comment on shins!!),
a sofa bed bought for guests that we never have over,
some ornaments and decorative items that we never even look at,
a coffee nespresso coffee machine that was a gift and used perhaps twice (all the pods were 2 years out of date!!),
a briefcase that has never been used,
2 leather handbags,
my wedding shoes which were so high I could make it through my wedding day wearing so have never put them on since, and
a box of 90 books.

We made over £400 from these things but more importantly we can move around the house freely. There is a lot more stuff we can get rid of such as a complete Wedgewood dinner service (see earlier comment about not having people over for dinner). But the most significant thing I got from this process was looking at my life and the way that I have spent in the past. I was always buying things for the lifestyle I aspired to (or at least thought I should aspire to) and not the one I had. Why else would I have all the equipment for a hectic social life when I hate having people over, I'd much rather see friends out in restaurants or pubs? I also had loads of evening clothes for glamourous occasions when I go out to that level about once a year. It's suddenyl very freeing to think I don't need that and it also means that I can look at things in the shops and say to myself "that's pretty/fun/would be useful for...." without thinking I must have it, because now I say well when would you actually use it?

Hopesprings2011

Hello Everyone,

Have just joined - had my 'lighbulb' moment. Sounds stupid, but I've known for ages my approach to spending and money need to be sorted. Just turned 30 and met a lovely guy - we're talking about moving in together etc, which has prompted me to really start loking at stuff. He's talked about us buying somewhere together in the future. Lovely, but I need to sort out my credit rating and my finances. Just been turned down for a loan...

I earn a very decent salary, so shouldn't have problems really - I don't budget, and easily get carries away with spending. So, I am now doing my best to sort everything out. Any tips, and support, would be greatly appraciated!

Thank you!

debtfreewannabe321

Bonglecat wrote: »

But the most significant thing I got from this process was looking at my life and the way that I have spent in the past. I was always buying things for the lifestyle I aspired to (or at least thought I should aspire to) and not the one I had. Why else would I have all the equipment for a hectic social life when I hate having people over, I'd much rather see friends out in restaurants or pubs? I also had loads of evening clothes for glamourous occasions when I go out to that level about once a year. It's suddenyl very freeing to think I don't need that and it also means that I can look at things in the shops and say to myself "that's pretty/fun/would be useful for...." without thinking I must have it, because now I say well when would you actually use it?

Hi BC, I was just having a read through your diary and your comment really struck a chord with me. this is EXACTLY how i spend my money (or should i say waste!) I buy things that i like because i want my life to be a certain way, when really i should be buying things that i NEED and will USE. I also have half a wardrobe full of evening clothes from days where i used to go out, previous to the last 2 kids!! I probably go out maybe 3 times a yr max now! Perhaps i should stick my things on ebay too!! Good luck with your debt busting sounds like you are doing a fab job so far!

debtfreewannabe321

Hopesprings2011 wrote: »

Hello Everyone,

Have just joined - had my 'lighbulb' moment. Sounds stupid, but I've known for ages my approach to spending and money need to be sorted. Just turned 30 and met a lovely guy - we're talking about moving in together etc, which has prompted me to really start loking at stuff. He's talked about us buying somewhere together in the future. Lovely, but I need to sort out my credit rating and my finances. Just been turned down for a loan...

I earn a very decent salary, so shouldn't have problems really - I don't budget, and easily get carries away with spending. So, I am now doing my best to sort everything out. Any tips, and support, would be greatly appraciated!
Thank you!

Good luck! I had my lightbulb moment only just over a month ago also, and have found some great tips on here