The Challenge - Debt free in two years!

Ceniza

I don't have any weekly money, just my monthly salary, despite me keep planning on using eBay more to clear out some things I never use anymore.

That's a very good way to think of things, more like the interest saved rather than paid! I will try to do that more often

Thanks!!

Ceniza

AdamA9 wrote: »

Also, I cannot remember if I said anything in this thread, but there's been a default put onto my credit report, for something that was completely not my fault I'm still in the process of sorting it out so hopefully I can get to the bottom of it with o2. I will keep you up to date as I hear more

Great news!!! o2 have removed the default for me, as they said they could see it wasn't my fault :D So I've now got a clear credit file again!

:T

Ceniza

Great news didn't last... Aggghhh, I’m such an idiot! I completely miss-judged my finances this month and have just got that dreaded ‘available balance: NIL’ message on my online banking statement. I cannot believe I made such a stupid mistake… Fortunately my OH paid back the £200 that I pay her a month towards paying her off. It’s been such a HUGE outlay of cash this month I just missed things. £700 rent/bills, £300 capital one, £100 Egg, £383 Lloyds Loan, £280 new iPhone (I know really bad L), £200 OH loan, £220 monthly rail card, £200 other small bills & car parts. Still not sure where the rest of my wages have gone this month so I’m going to have to keep a close eye on my account over the next couple of days as Lloyds took away my overdraft after this fiasco with the o2 payment and the default on my credit file.

Humph! Not a good start to the month! Still, three weeks to payday!

Kepp

AdamA9 wrote: »

Great news didn't last... Aggghhh, I’m such an idiot! I completely miss-judged my finances this month and have just got that dreaded ‘available balance: NIL’ message on my online banking statement. I cannot believe I made such a stupid mistake… Fortunately my OH paid back the £200 that I pay her a month towards paying her off. It’s been such a HUGE outlay of cash this month I just missed things. £700 rent/bills, £300 capital one, £100 Egg, £383 Lloyds Loan, £280 new iPhone (I know really bad L), £200 OH loan, £220 monthly rail card, £200 other small bills & car parts. Still not sure where the rest of my wages have gone this month so I’m going to have to keep a close eye on my account over the next couple of days as Lloyds took away my overdraft after this fiasco with the o2 payment and the default on my credit file.

Humph! Not a good start to the month! Still, three weeks to payday!

Oh no! Don't you just hate it when that happens. Try and get it all written down and go over it a few times, see if you can suss where the extras went.

Lovely of your OH to give the money back, sounds like you have a good girl there

Try not to be too dis-heartened. I'm rubbish with my figures too (like getting my DFD a whole year wrong!)

Oh and don't beat yourself up about the iphone, debt busting is hard work and sometimes you need that liitle break with it in order to keep going.

Keep smiling!

Ceniza

Thanks.

I don't normally write it down because my 'normal' bills and repayments are well under my salary, so never normally worry about it - but now I'm clearning more and more debt, I just made an incorrect assumption on the available cash I had

Ceniza

I think I'm going to have to redo my snowball as I think I was too agressive with my plans to clear the debt. I don't think I can maintain £1000 a month on my debt, without going crazy! It's killing me having literally nothing left every month after I've paid my rent and bills.

I'm going to redo at about £800 I think. That's got to me easier to sustain, whilst keeping my sanity!

Kepp

AdamA9 wrote: »

I think I'm going to have to redo my snowball as I think I was too agressive with my plans to clear the debt. I don't think I can maintain £1000 a month on my debt, without going crazy! It's killing me having literally nothing left every month after I've paid my rent and bills.

I'm going to redo at about £800 I think. That's got to me easier to sustain, whilst keeping my sanity!

Think that sounds like a good plan. What changes does that make to your DFD?

You could maybe change it to £800 so you have that £200 spare but then still try not to spend it if you can. Then you could pay whatever is left from it at the end of the month? Even if some months that was only a tenner it woould still help!

It's a hard slog, earning all this money to pay it all off debts but we WILL all get there in the end

Woowoo

I think that sounds very sensible Adam, its important to learn to maintain a realistic budget so that our spending habits are completely changed, then we wont slip back to our old ways.

Like Beccie said, you don't have to spend your £200 but it's there if you want it.

I give myself £10 a week pocket money and what I don't spend gets paid off my credit card.

Ceniza

I don't know what changes it will make to my DFD. I'm guessing quite a big difference

I think I'm going to wait until the balances are updated this month, and work it all out again.

Ceniza

So on £800pm my new DFD is December 2012, from May 2012, a whole 7 months difference with just £200 a month added, however, I stupidly forgot to add the debt from my OH into the snowball (which is where my £1,000 a month error happened).

I've just done a new £800pm snowball, at the FULL lending amount, including the £2400 I owe OH at 0% and April 2013 is showing as my new DFD I think at the end of this month, when interest is added to my CC, I'm going to have to do a new snowball, and work this all out again. What a let down!

Well, that's a good start to the weekend....