Debt Free by Thirty!

guisantes

Hi there,

Just wanted to drop by and say 'Hi' and that you're doing a great job :-) I've also recently dropped my 'perks' of my bank account saving me £17 a month, it's a difficult decision (especially with travel /phone insurance) but if you're not happy without them you could always upgrade again in a few months?

Anyhoo, if that's ok, I'll subscribe and keep up with how you're doing. I'm 30 next year, and hoping to be debt-free by then too, (well, hopefully by April/May since we have bubba on the way and will be skint!)

d3mon4ngel

Thank you guisantes. Good luck for your debtfree-ness, and also congratulations on new addition :beer:

d3mon4ngel

Tonight I have downloaded and started setting up MoneyManagerEx, which is budgeting software. It's free, open source, and so far seems quite simple to use. The initial setup of all the recurring transactions etc is a pain in the backside, though that would be the case with any software - it's not just going to know what goes where and when without me telling it in the first place. I've started all the transactions from Oct 1st for simplicity's sake, though might go back to 27th Sept which is when I got paid.

archersluck

Just letting you know you've another follower and to say thanks for reminding me to cancel my fee paying bank account! Well done with everything so far and congrats on the engagement

Empty_pockets

Nice read, similar debt to me. Thanks.

jwil

Hi D3mon, haven't kept up very well recently, I haven't been on here too much.

I have had a rewards account with Lloyds for years, and I have never ever used anything from it. As they are changing their overdraft charges in December, I have opened a new basic account with someone else, and will be closing it. I do think you can get everything that comes with the accounts a lot cheaper elsewhere!

I might have a look at money manager software, I could do with something to help me!

d3mon4ngel

There were quite a few people recommending MS Money, but someone also posted the link for this free one: http://www.codelathe.com/mmex/mmex_download.php so decided to try it first.

I've started this month well. I'm already 2/10 on my No Spend Days (not including today, which is going well so far :cool:), and I've not bought lunch at work on 2/2 days too. My spending diary is up to date, although there's not a whole lot in there at the min

I drew the food shopping money out of the bank so that both me and OH could use it if needed. It also means it's a physical reminder of how much we are spending as we can actually see the amount decreasing, rather than it being "pretend electronic money" . We're also going to save money this month by running all our food stocks down to nothing before we go shopping again. We've got loads of stuff in that just gets left to go out of date which is really not good.

I had bought a pack of 4 chicken breasts with the intention of putting them in a slow-cooker stew, but instead I used two of them last night with most of a pack of mushrooms that were on their way out and a jar of rogan josh I found in the cupboard (best before Jun 10! ). It tasted fine and there have been no ill effects so far! We ate it all rather than split it and save some like I was planning to do, but at least it wasn't more food going to waste. I've put the chicken stew on today, but bulked it out a bit more with potatoes. I also found a packet mix for chicken casserole last night, so put that in with it for a bit more taste. We're having that with bread and butter tonight, and there should be enough left to do another meal later in the week.

jwil

Well done on the NSDs and taking lunch to work. I dread to think what's in my cupboards, since we moved I've got into the habit of using a lot more convenience foods seeing as I hate the kitchen so much. I'm going to try and change that now. I have noticed some couscous dated Feb this year, I can't imagine that will go off! That's probably the least of my worries though

d3mon4ngel

3/10 NSD's and 3 for 3 on work lunches

Going to be spending at some point soon though... my nana's 80th and my step-sisters 16th at the beginning of November, and they're have a joint Disney / cartoon fancy dress party. Still got to decide what we're dressing up as, though the favourites so far are Shrek and Fiona, or Tinkerbell and Peter Pan

d3mon4ngel

Called up Stoke county court, and they have confirmed that they have received the application for the CCJ to be set aside from Severn Trent on 27th Sept :j

The woman I spoke to was really nice, and even got my paperwork out of the pile to move it closer to the front of the queue! It's still got to go before the judge to decide whether to uphold it or not, but she said to ring back at the end of the week and they should be able to tell me more about its progress.

I can hardly believe that it may all be finally coming to an end after fighting so hard! It's taken nearly 4 months of pestering them and that's after they admitted it was their fault! I've had an unfair CCJ on my credit file for just over 3 years, but it looks like it is finally going to be removed! :T

Do you think I would be able to claim some compensation, as basically they have been telling the credit world that I am a bad risk, when it was all completely not true?