There's a Moose Loose About This Hoose - anonymoose's DFW diary

anonymoose_3

Hi,

This is my 1st post here but I’ve been reading for ages. In the last week or so I had my LBM, I have got 3 CCs with a combined balance of about £5k – 1 has almost £4k this is a Barclaycard and stupidly it’s got a mix of 0% BT and a bit of spending on it, about 1 month ago I BT most of my Cap1 to it cos they sent me a 10 month 0% letter and I figured paying 0 interest on most of that was better than paying the interest on it with Cap1. This leaves me with about £700 on cap1 with 25.9% interest and A&L card with £200. I’ve been paying off just over the min payments on Cap1 & Barclaycard and a bit more on the A&L.

Anyway I did a snowball and realised if I carried on like this it would take nearly 16 years to clear them (I don’t spend on them anymore) – I did something wrong first time and I’m sure it came up with a 100 years :eek:
or something... 16 years didn’t seem so bad after this but was still too long.

Armed with this info I did a SOA and apparently I should have c£300 spare each month – LBM no2 really need to do a spending diary cos I don’t have this left over each month!!! I guess it doesn’t help that I don’t budget for things so when my car insurance is due I pay it in 1 go, same with car tax etc... so not sure how accurate the SOA really is??

I now have 2 snowballs saved, 1 showing if I stick to the min payments and the other if for example I pay off £250 a month, I like this one more – it’s showing my cards would be clear by Jan 2012!! With theoretically 2 cards gone by August this year!?! I would then look at switching to a low interest lob card.

This has given me a kick up the bum, and I’ve decided it’s time to keep a spending diary and also do a proper budget for myself. I’ve also applied for a basic bank account which (if I get accepted) I can transfer £X into each month for things like petrol and other essentials. Hopefully this will help me stay on budget better and maybe more to pay off the cards.

You all seem really supportive so I hope by keeping a diary it will mean I really stick to this.


Thanks for reading x

mrsinvisible

well done for posting; they/we are a friendly supportive group. post up the soa and the seasoned dfws will have a look and I am sure will give advice and pointers to reduce this.good luck for the future keep posting,

anonymoose_3

Thanks.
I will post up my SOA, I'll do another one in the week. Not sure of the best way of doing it though?
For mortgage & utilities I pay a set amount amount into OH's account so would I split this down into rough amounts or leave it as the 1 amount which leaves my account?
Car insurance, home & contents - I don't pay for these monthly, just paid in full when they were due (car ins was on CC but paid off over 3 months )

anonymoose_3

I just realised that last week I paid £15 to Kays and that is now at £0 so I've got one debt gone without even thinking about it
Will write to them and ask them to close the a/c so there's no temptation to add back on to it.

anonymoose_3

Got the account details & debit card for my new "spending money" bank account, just in time for pay day Just need the pin no now.
Great timing really cos I'm starting the spending diary from payday (tomorrow) too For now I'm going to transfer the minimum I think I need, so it will be easier to stick to a budget.

I need a few no spend days though, thought I was going to have some this week but have ended up buying a few bits each day, all needed though so at least it's not unnecessary spending!?!

tiny_courageous

Well done on getting rid of one debt already!

anonymoose_3

:jThanks

Going to list a few bits on ebay tonight, meant I had to spend £3.50 on some batteries for my scales so I know what postage to charge though:mad: car needs a new part so anything from ebaying is going towards that at the min:A

anonymoose_3

Well spending diary started yesterday, it was "splurge" day with it being payday. The splurge did include 2 birthday presents though & for one of them I had a couple of bits in my basket which I put back and kept to just the one at £4
Didn't get the pin no for the new account yet, so haven't transferred anything over yet...

This morning I've just written a letter to Kays asking them to close my account now the balance is nil Look forward to writing one to Cap1 whenever that is!?!

anonymoose_3

Salary - £1445.66

Outgoings

Monthly
£445 (payment to OH to cover mortgage etc... )
£202.11 M&S Loan
£50-60 groceries (OH pays the same)
£15 – mobile
Cap1 - £25 min payment
A&L - £7 min payment
Barclaycard - £45 min payment
Petrol - £100
Savings (Various) £60
Pet Food + hay - £30
Overdraft fee - £5
Haircuts - £5
Entertainment – £20
Clothes - £10
Annual
Car Insurance - £330 (due Aug)
Life Insurance - £64.63 (due Oct)
Home insurance (inc contents) £160ish (due Oct) went through Quidco still waiting for Cashback:mad:
Car Tax - £190 due April

_______________________________________
So according to this I should have £415 left for clearing things :eek: but I might have missed something off of my outgoings??
I don't budget for birthdays/Christmas though just buy stuff when it's needed. Also in before Feb my mobile was £25 p/month and I had gym membership at £28 p/month which I cancelled (had to pay 2 months notice though:mad: ) I got a small payrise in Feb too which was backdated to Jan... in Feb this paid for the 2 months notice I had to pay on the gym. I don't usually only pay the min payments on my credit cards, each month it differs. Seeing it like this shows how much I needed a spending diary, long overdue!! I really hope this is the start of something positive for me and I can keep up with this diary.

anonymoose_3

urgh feel like poo today, have a sore throat & a runny nose + can't stop sneezing.
Have done everything I need to at work now too... just watching the clock til home time

Got 3 things finishing on ebay tonight but they don't have any bids yet Fingers crossed there's some last minute action, doesn't matter if they don't go for much as long as they go. I need the money more than the clutter lol

Just paid £10.91 off of my cap1 card though brining it down to less than £700:T

penelopedee_2

Hi Anonymoose, well done on starting your debt busting journey. I tend to set up little savings accounts for things like car insurance and put back monthly for it. I find it easier to budget like that.

One of the things I found really helped was joining one of the challenges on here such as 'payment a day' or the '1 debt in 100 days'. When you focus on one debt and keep blitzing it, it feels a bit more positive (obviously you have to do the other min payments as well).

Keep going, you'll feel so much better when you are saving this money each month rather than paying off a debt. Good luck, Pen.