Don't want to 'go it alone' anymore!

AllieBallie

josephine82 wrote: »

Hi Allie:wave:

I think you are doing well, you should give yourself a pat on the back for getting so far!

I would second the spending diary- or why not look at your bank statements for the last few months and see where its going?

If you have that £161 left then I would up the payment to the credit card, and just hang in there until it is paid off.

Then when it is paid off start paying OH off and maybe start putting a little away to build up to pay off the Tesco loan?

Just chip away at it, slowly, but surely. You can do it!

Things that helped me:

no spend on work lunches (bought from grocery budget)
No spend day challenges
payment a day challenge

You can do it!

Thanks Josephine, :wave:

I looked back over it and I'm proud that I've cleared so much so far but I know there's a long way to go yet.

I eat HM lunches but often buy silly stuff for breakfast - a slice of toast if I'm peckish, or a scone or something daft like that, so I'm going to stop that! I think having No spend days might help this as before I'd buy something daft and then just think 'oh well, it doesn't matter if i buy this' so having to fess up at the end of the day will be good reminder for me not to buy junk!!

I think, if i get the CC paid off in the next 2 months, then i could split up the remaining £161 and pay some to OH and the rest into a savings/ISA so i can pay off the loan sooner. How do I go about paying off the loan early? Presumably I need to warn them first?

I'm intrigued by this payment a day so going to have a search on here for it and see whats it all about

Thanks again

theoretica

Have you ever considered busking?

AllieBallie

NellyM029 wrote: »

Hey allieballie,

Welcome and well done for your work so far. I've contemplated moving in with the parents to help with the bills, but at 32 I feel too old to do it and may parenst seem too happy being on ther own again after their six kids all finally left xxx

I know what you mean, I'm in my [STRIKE]mid/late[/STRIKE] twenties (lets not say late!!!) and don't particularly enjoy being at home although I'm seeing the bigger picture now and know that as soon as I'm back up and running properly I'll be able to save for a deposit for renting and move out. Moving home has killed my mid-week social life but this is a good thing now i think because the more nights I stay in the more money I save!

AllieBallie

theoretica wrote: »

Have you ever considered busking?

Hi theoretica :wave:

I'll be honest and say I've not...until now! Might look into it, especially over the summer. I might go do a bit of 'research' in town and see what other buskers there are, what they play and where they are. Not sure if I have the confidence for it but I'd certainly give it a go if it's going to get me a step closer to being debt free!

Thanks!

josephine82

Allie

Payment a day is about making one payment every day to reduce the debt- even if its only 50p it all counts! I actually only started using this when I started saving- £1 a day. I just do this first thing every morning when I log onto my online banking, I don't even notice the money going out now!

With your Tesco loan, as they don't allow overpayments, you would be better served to save up a lump sum and pay this off to reduce the term of the loan, it won't reduce the payments. You don't need to tell them until you do it!

also- you might want to up your car maintenance budget slightly- this won't cover service, MOT and tax in a year so better to up this payment slightly.

Josephine xx

Nottoobadyet

Actually wanted to step in and put in my two cents on busking - the Venesualan embassy in london runs regular concerts which are entirely made up of buskers, many performing on stage for the first time. They seem like a lovely lot, and seem to somehow make ends meet. It might at least cover your violin insurance, and be fun as well!

However, cities require that you have a liscence and I dont know how much those cost. Good luck if you try it! Id love it but have no entertaining tallents whatsoever

moneypenny2k

Hi Alliee
You've been given lots of great advice here, I'm sure it's gonna help you get debt free faster.

Thankfully, I'm not in dire straights but I do want to clear off my credit cards and get in good financial shape before I retire in 9 years time, so I'm heading over to the NSD challange for June too. Cya there

AllieBallie

josephine82 wrote: »

Allie

Payment a day is about making one payment every day to reduce the debt- even if its only 50p it all counts! I actually only started using this when I started saving- £1 a day. I just do this first thing every morning when I log onto my online banking, I don't even notice the money going out now!

With your Tesco loan, as they don't allow overpayments, you would be better served to save up a lump sum and pay this off to reduce the term of the loan, it won't reduce the payments. You don't need to tell them until you do it!

also- you might want to up your car maintenance budget slightly- this won't cover service, MOT and tax in a year so better to up this payment slightly.

Josephine xx

Thanks for the description that sounds very managable Josephine - I think I'll do this for my loan, the bit that sounds the best is the not noticing you've done it bit - anything that gets my debts down without me realising is a good thing!

I think I'll try and save a lump sum for the loan, not sure how much I'll have to save roughly but I might just see how it goes!

Good point with the car budget, think i might try and up this by £5 or £10, I knew it wasn't much but I've never realised how little it was over a year if you know what I mean. I'll put an extra bit away this month.

Thanks

AllieBallie

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

Actually wanted to step in and put in my two cents on busking - the Venesualan embassy in london runs regular concerts which are entirely made up of buskers, many performing on stage for the first time. They seem like a lovely lot, and seem to somehow make ends meet. It might at least cover your violin insurance, and be fun as well!

However, cities require that you have a liscence and I dont know how much those cost. Good luck if you try it! Id love it but have no entertaining tallents whatsoever

Hi Nottoobadyet :wave:

The concerts sound fab, I'll look to see if there is anything similar in my area, even a small local group would be good - it's always nice to meet new people. I'll have a search on thr local council website to see what it says for licences for buskers or even if they have general rules for them.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

AllieBallie

moneypenny2k wrote: »

Hi Alliee
You've been given lots of great advice here, I'm sure it's gonna help you get debt free faster.

Thankfully, I'm not in dire straights but I do want to clear off my credit cards and get in good financial shape before I retire in 9 years time, so I'm heading over to the NSD challange for June too. Cya there

Thanks moneypenny :wave:

I'll see you in the NSD for June, think I'll use today as the practise run to see if I can manage it easily or if my head explodes under the pressure of not spending...I hope it's not the latter!!