Hi From a Newbie

Hamwic

Hi Everyone,

I had my light bulb moment this week when I tried to pay for fuel on my cc this week and it was refused as I'd hit the limit. It was at that point I realised I'd had no idea how much I owed on it and was spending more than I earned each month. Thinking about it now, I can't believe I was so stupid and nieve(sp) to let it go on for so long. :embarasse

Anyways, I called the CC company that day and they agreed to cancel the card and allow me to continue paying it off month by month. Maybe its a bit presumptious, but I feel I've taken the first step :j

I've started working toward clearing the debt by listing unwanted items (I'm starting with things which haven't been used in at leaxt 18 months) on local classifieds - in the space of 48 hours this has allowed me to pay 1.1% of my debt (I have a ticker for my signature but can't add it yet as I'm new!!). I'm also taking a car load of stuff to a car boot sale tomorrow so fingers crossed this is successful. I've made sure that all the cash I've received from sales has gone straight off the card and plan to carry on doing this in the future.

My husband thinks this is a knee jerk reaction but I feel I need to do it like this. I know I can't keep on selling our things as we will run out of unused items, but I just want to hit it head on so that when it comes to paying what I can afford to each month less of it is swallowed up by interest payments.

So that's me and my plan, so if anybody has any ideas I can try they'd be greatly appreciated. I am gradually reading the posts on this forum but its taking a while!!

psychopathbabble

good luck Hamwic! Remember, patience is the key and keep that lightbulb flickering! Don't really have any ideas for you at the moment but good luck with the car boot tomorrow (we made £70 at the last one) and fingers crossed for the ebay stuff. Lots of advice all over the forum that can help you x

Nargleblast

Hello Hamwic and welcome. What you need to do is sit down and list all your monthly income and expenditure, including minimum payments on all credit cards and loans. Then you will see if you have any room to manoevre. Keeping a written record of every single penny you spend for a month can be an eye-opener - a coffee and toasted teacake every Saturday, 3 0r 4 magazines a month, 2 or 3 takeaways instead of cooking - it all adds up to a lot of cash down the drain. If you want help with sorting out your budget you can do a Statement of Affairs using the sticky at the top of the threads list (help for first time posters/SOA) then post it on here. We will then be able to suggest ways of cutting costs for you.

Wee_Jo

Hey Hamwic! :hello:

Welcome to the boards! You will find loads of friendly people and useful advice on here. Nargleblast is absolutely right, the first thing you need to do is do a Statement of Affairs http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html which is a bit scary at first but will help you figure out where your money is going to each month.

Also just wanted to say well done on posting here, but also for calling the credit card company straight away and cancelling - good work!

Jo

savingwannabe

Hello Hamwic, Welcome.

I kept a diary of all my daily spending and discovered how much unplanned spending i was doing too. I occasionally have lunch at work but realise it is far cheaper to take my own. Also i allow myself a certain amount of cash a week (eg £20 spending) and try not to spend over that amount. I have stopped buying clothes and am finishing off old beauty products and cosmetics. I cannot believe how much i have wasted over the years. Good luck, keep posting as there is a real incentive then to follow through on your objectives plus a tremendous amount of friendship and moral support on these threads.

Goodluck.

Hamwic

Thanks everyone. I can definitely see the stong support network on here and it obviously works. :beer:

I downloaded the excel budget planner from here last night and have completed it and then had to make some changes so have currently got it that I'm spending exactly what I earn which I admit is less than ideal but is better than the spend being higher than the earn as it has been for quite a while now :eek: My aim is to see how I get on at that level this month and then look at changing things so I can cut down a bit more and pay more off of the credit card each month I'm currently reading Thrifty ways for Modern Days and also have a copy of the money diet both of which hubby bought me for Christmas - I think he could see where I was headed long before me :wall:

I'm pleased to say that since I posted earlier today I have sold some more things I had listed on a local classifieds which brings my total pay off to £121.24 in just this weekend!! I'm really hoping for a good car boot tomorrow, if I could bring that level up to the £200 mark I'll be well pleased.

Who knows, maybe this will help me lose a bit of weight too, as I won't be putting takeaways etc on my CC...

fi76

Hi Hamwic,

You've made loads this weekend already and it's not even Sunday, well done, hope the car boot goes well, I should do that but never had the guts, I'm not the best sales person in the world! Have you looked at reducing all your expenditure, switching to cheaper suppliers etc, I did and it's allowed a bit extra each month to go towards debt repayment. But the one simple thing you can do that always saves loads each month is packed lunches.

I like the sound of Thrifty ways for modern days, who is the author? I shall look out for that - second hand of course, haven't bought a new book for a few months and that was for mothers day so it wasn't even for me.
Good luck with everything.

Wee_Jo

Hamwic wrote: »

I'm pleased to say that since I posted earlier today I have sold some more things I had listed on a local classifieds which brings my total pay off to £121.24 in just this weekend!! I'm really hoping for a good car boot tomorrow, if I could bring that level up to the £200 mark I'll be well pleased...

Hi Hamwic!

Wow! £121.24 is a fab amount for one weekend!! Well done you! :T Would you recommend the books you've got? Like fi76, I was thinking about getting them too, was going to check if my library has them.

Good luck at the car boot sale today!

Jo

doodledo_2

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Well done on making some extra money this weekend, hopefully you will have done well at the car boot too.

I would definately recommend posting your SOA up on here using one of the links above. You will be amazed what you haven't noticed or bits of advise you get on here.

Good luck with your journey and keep posting

Firewalker

Good luck Hamwic. Your comment about losing weight is not a joke - spending and weight are two areas of our life which need control. Mastering one often promotes changes in the other. I have lost weight by taking lunch to work and cycling there.

I admire your drive.

Firewalker

savingwannabe

Hello the book is by Martin Lewis (:j:beer::money::p:D:o:rotfl::T:T:T) who set up MSE. He has written several i have them all in paperback. Thrifty ways i think is the best one. We can apply it to everyday life. Good luck.