Debt Free by Thirty!

d3mon4ngel

jwil wrote: »

That sounds like a good plan! Must be very exciting to be able to see the end, well done with what you've done so far!

Thanks jwil

It's so good to be able to see the end, but as always I want to be there NOW lol :rotfl:

I had convinced myself to leave my mobile provider, as I was paying about £20 a month and not using close to the minutes, and was sending about 20 texts a month although I could send unlimited. I was all set to go onto PAYG, but they called me on Wed evening and convinced me to stay. I've got the same plan as before, but with 500mb internet allowance, but now I'm paying £12.50 a month for it instead. So got a bit more for less money. Not too bad, though I'll see how I feel in 12 months time when it ends.

I've taken the car for it's MOT retest today and it's passed :T As it was outside the 10 days, they had to do a full test again so were going to charge full fee. But the tester had a word with "the powers that be" and came back saying that they would charge for retest because they hadn't been able to fit me in within the 10 days :j

So total for car this time:
- MOT - £40
- Parts for replacing failed bits - £85
- Retest - £25
Total: £150

I've got one warning, but I'll ask my dad about that tomorrow as it's some clip is loose somewhere.

I've also paid the arrears on the mortgage, so that's one less thing that I need to worry about. I asked them about making overpayments, ready for when all this is other is paid off, and they said to overpay each month, I need to send in a letter signed by both me and the ex, and then they will decide if I can afford to pay extra! !!!!!!?! I mean, seriously?! I wouldn't be offering overpayments if I didn't think I could afford it would I? It also !!!!!! me off that I have to get ex to sign too. I know he's still on the mortgage, but I don't want him knowing how much I'm earning now or anything like that. It's none of his business! :mad:

Oh well... breathe in.... breathe out... breathe in the good thoughts... breathe out the bad thoughts... my mind is a calm lake... it will all be sorted in the end... :A

d3mon4ngel

My poor OH is quite sick. He was sleeping on the chair near enough all day yesterday, and the same again today... poor lamb

While I had some quiet time last night though, I spent the evening looking at my finances. I've loaded the planned transactions into my money manager for nearly the next four months, up until just before May payday. By doing this, I've been able to see what my balance is likely to be, and it also discourages me from incidental spending as I want it to be like it says it will lol. I've still got my "spending account" which I can spend as much as I like from as it doesn't affect the figures for paying bills, but once it's gone it's gone.

On the basis of my analysis last night, I called up my credit card with the outstanding balance, and asked them to change April's direct debit to full balance! What's even better, is that I can do this and still not touch my overdraft again, even if I pay my car insurance in full! So that will be me out of unsecured debt before May :dance:

d3mon4ngel

Argh! My OH is such a frustration sometimes. :mad:

I've got £10 left to last me until payday next friday. It's not a lot, but I can make it work. There's nothing I absolutely need to buy, and I've still got some of my (self-imposed) allowance left on my groceries credit card. (Feel like I need to justify this: this is my 2nd credit card that gives 1% cashback. It's used sensibly for food shopping and petrol, and I pay it back in full each month)

I have had my LBM. I've got all my money incomings and outgoings worked out pretty much down to the penny right up until just before July payday. I know that I'm skint now, but I also know that in 2 months time I'll have no outstanding unsecured debt because of it. I know that in 5 months time, I will have enough to pay off both the family debt and the debt to my ex. I know that I will have real savings put away by the time Christmas comes.

He, however, has about £150 left until payday next friday... and it's not just burning a hole in his pocket, it seems like napalm in his bank account!! :rotfl:

We're going to visit his family next month, which is a 200-mile each way trip and normally costs anywhere between £60-70 in petrol. No matter how I put it to him, he just doesn't seem to get that he should put as much of what he has left this month away as he can, so that he has some money towards the trip. He'd much rather spend it all now, then worry about next month, next month! Though, as he's told me time after time, he never lets money worry him.

I wish I could make him come round to my way of thinking and get him saving for the future, but I don't think I'm ever going to be able to. Sometimes it does make it feel like I'm doing this completely on my own, but I wish it didn't

d3mon4ngel

In readiness for my imminent debtfree-ness, I've been looking at the savings and investment board... oh my god I would seriously be over my head with that lot! :eek: I've got so far as to decide that once I have spare cash, it will go into a cash ISA first and foremost, but over and above that, I think I would feel completely out of my depth!

Hey ho... I've had a lovely couple of days. OH has taken me out for a meal last night, then to the movies tonight... and I've been trying to ignore the amount he's spent and just enjoy it . It's been a long time since we've done anything like this, and it has made me look forward to that debtfree time even more! Can't wait to be able to look into my account the day before payday and still have positive figures in there, though I suppose everyone here wants the same thing!

Well... it's very late (early?) and I've drunk half a bottle of wine. I feel slightly merry and think it is now time for bed. Apologies for any spelling mistakes (although I have done a lot of typing and deleting during this post lol)

Night night all x

d3mon4ngel

Was supposed to be away this weekend, visiting OH's family, so wasn't expecting any NSD's again. However, life sends things to try us and it didn't quite turn out as planned!

We got just over 100 miles from home, when part of the car engine decided it was no longer happy doing it's job and made a break for freedom, punching a hole through the bottom of the engine in the process! "Never fear" I thought, "I'm covered by the AA through my bank account!" So I called them up and after a chilly hour of standing up on the embankment, wrapped in blankets and wishing we'd broken down *after* we'd pulled into the service station that was less than 200 yards away, rather than just on the turnoff for it, the very nice AA man turned up. We got to sit in his absolute godsend of a toasty warm cab, while he went and had a look at the car and attached it for towing. He came back with some bad news, and then some more bad news

First, he told me about the damage: a new engine will be required, which could cost into the thousands! :eek:
Then he told me that the cover I have through the bank is only roadside, so he can't tow me anywhere without me upgrading my membership :mad: I ended up having to pay out £225 to the AA to upgrade and cover the mileage to get us home! :eek:

As the initial reason for us travelling down there was for OH to see his son for his birthday, I booked him train tickets once we got back so that he could at least still do this. Another cost, but the way I see it, I will get more money at the end of the month, but he can't get back missed moments with his kids. There's more important things than debt-busting, and to me, this was one of them!

I stayed the weekend with my dad, and visited my grandparents and mum too, so had a really good time, and actually got 2 NSD's out of it, so alls well that ends well

My car is still sitting outside my dad's looking very sorry for itself, and we'll be having a look at it next weekend to see what surgery we can perform to see if we can fix it, but until then I'm walking, so at least I'll get fitter too

jwil

Eek! Sorry to hear about the car, that must have been a nightmare. At least you still managed to have a nice weekend though. Hope the news about the car is not too drastic.

d3mon4ngel

jwil wrote: »

Eek! Sorry to hear about the car, that must have been a nightmare. At least you still managed to have a nice weekend though. Hope the news about the car is not too drastic.

Thank you jwil.

It was a lovely relaxing weekend, and I'm kind of glad of the way it turned out, as it meant I spent time with my family that I wouldn't have otherwise

In other news, I had a health check yesterday. They measured my height, weight, blood pressure and BMI. Apparently my BP is really good :j, I've shrunk an inch from what I thought I was, and I'm seriously overweight :eek: My BMI was 33.2 when it should be between 18.5 - 25

Still, I'm getting more active, and not having the car means I do at least 1/2 hrs walking every day, so that side should start to improve soon... I hope... *crosses fingers*

d3mon4ngel

Had the council tax bill yesterday, so I set up the new standing order to make sure it was ready. However, in the past I've been able to set them up with one amount as the first payment, but then a different set amount for the rest. Since my online bank service has changed, it seems they no longer have this facility when setting it up I'm just going to have to set a reminder to change it once the first payment goes out.

I've been thinking (don't everyone panic! ) and I've decided that we will be better off without a car. It's currently costing us about £250 a month, once you add up all the petrol, insurance, etc on top of the payments! I'm planning on getting it fixed, which will hopefully be next weekend, and then selling it on.

I've come to realise that owning a car is a luxury for us, not a necessity. It's nice to have, don't get me wrong, but we don't really *need* one. We both work relatively close to home: he can walk to work, and I have a bus that stops right outside. My family lives about 25min drive away, but we can get a bus or the train over there easily. Even if we hire a car to go visit his family every month it would only cost about £100 at most, plus about £60-70 petrol, and we'd have a brand new car to drive each time and not have to worry about it breaking down.

I've talked it over with OH and he's completely in agreement with me on it. He's even talking about getting bikes to get to work instead! I honestly thought I would have a fight on my hands to convince him of my reasoning, but he agreed straight away. I think last weekend made him realise how expensive owning a car is.

It's also a good thing for us health-wise, as we will be doing a lot more physical exercise through walking, carrying shopping home, etc. Can't say I'm looking forward to rainy mornings, but who does?! :rotfl:

d3mon4ngel

Monday was a good day! I paid off my credit card balance :T just got the interest to go and then that's that particular burden removed from my shoulders :j

With any luck (and some careful spending!) May should be the last time I go into my overdraft, and I should be able to start putting money away in an ISA by June! :cool: Obviously it's not going to be mega-money but it's better than nothing

jwil

Well done on clearing your CC! :T