The 18k Challenge

Mirtos

Mirtos wrote: »

Ok. So my goals for next week?

1) Get the balance on my barclaycard down to under £100! Done
2) Chase Tax office again. Done but still no sign of the cash :mad:
3) Regular quidco and pigsback visits. Done
4) List the rest of the stuff in my ebay 'to sell' box. Done

Balance now: £13,144.31

Phew! Busy week!

I'm aiming to clear my barclaycard before I begin serious saving to cover my voluntary unemployment in June. So Goals are as follows:

1)Keep bank balance in the black all week so Friday's pay cheque does not get snaffled by the overdraft imps.
2)On Friday, pay off Barclaycard. Also pay additional amount of M&S card to bring total to under 13k and give myself a cheery boost!
3)By this time next week, have at least £200 in savings account, and then DO NOT SPEND IT!
4)Once Barclaycard paid off, talk to Lloyds about raising the amount I save each month in the 8% account to reflect equivalent payment.
5)Do not buy lunch, but take tasty stuff from home. All Week.
6) Do not buy theatre tickets or similar luxury items.
7) Chase Tax office again!

Mirtos

Wooooooo HOooooooooooo! It would appear that somehow I have managed to overpay my barclaycard, which means that the balance isn't as high as I had thought, and I've already paid it off! :rotfl: as soon as this current payment clears, I should be about £50 in credit with them! That's good though, because it means I can pay it straight off M&S! yippee!

Can't imagine how that happened - must have forgotten I'd made a payment!

DontDoDebtKids

Hi all,

Just got to a different hotel and it's got WiFi (in the lobby admittedly so I am being passed by lots of Japanese people looking oddly at me!) so I thought I'd check in before I go for dinner...

This place is expensive...but not as expensive as it could have been thanks to my Nationwide account as I've been getting money out at Post Office ATMs for free and at te exact exchange rate - my girlfriend got £300 of Yen out at the post office and got a full 18yen to the pound less than I am getting and is seriously impressed with Nationwide!

Also, thanks to our friend here, we've not spend anything on accomodation in Tokyo (most of our stay) and we've found their equivalent of a £1 shop - the 100yen shop (which is less than 50p) which is absolutely great for both souveneirs and things we need for home anyway!

Great place this, Japan, and well worth a visit. The food can be a bit odd though!

Hope you're all having fun back home and I'll check in with a financial report on Monday.

PS My car is now officially broken again - clutch has gone - so I am considering leasing a new car and just not having the hassle!

Mirtos

Wow. Sounds great. I've always wanted to go to Japan and am so so jealous - am going to see if I can pick up some freelance work out there!
xxx

Mirtos

Sub 13K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooo Hooooooooo!!!!! :T:T:T:T:T:T:T

Am very pleased! Now, all my debt efforts are going to switch to saving for my unemployed period, and then for throwing at debt once I'm employed again. I've added a new saving total to my sig, and that will be what I work on most! Yay! :dance:

Mirtos

Mirtos wrote: »

1)Keep bank balance in the black all week so Friday's pay cheque does not get snaffled by the overdraft imps. Done.
2)On Friday, pay off Barclaycard. Also pay additional amount of M&S card to bring total to under 13k and give myself a cheery boost! Done :T
3)By this time next week, have at least £200 in savings account, and then DO NOT SPEND IT! Done.
4)Once Barclaycard paid off, talk to Lloyds about raising the amount I save each month in the 8% account to reflect equivalent payment. Done.
5)Do not buy lunch, but take tasty stuff from home. All Week. Done, except one day when I had a lunch meeting!
6) Do not buy theatre tickets or similar luxury items. Ermm...:o
7) Chase Tax office again! Done. Correct tax code for next year received, but still no refund as yet! :mad:

Debt now? £12,999

It is becoming obvious that I'm not going to be able to make my savings target of £2100, but I'm going to get as close as I can. My new goals are as follows:

1)Save at least another £200 pounds this week.
2)Do not buy Lunch while at work.
3) Do not purchase any silly fripperies like theatre tickets or similar.
4) Do not spend any more than the £10 currently in my purse. Do not withdraw cash. Do not use debit/credit cards. Basically, just DO NOT SPEND.
5)Chase tax office again.
6) Begin to sort out annual self employment accounts.

I'm feeling really glum today. I have no money. We're trying to get a mortgage again, which basically just makes me want to jump off a cliff. Because I'm a temp, no one will count my income, even though I make about 24k, not counting income from my self employment. Arghhhhh! I'm sick of this. I've been working so bloody hard for nearly a year now, and have cleared more debt than most people ever have, and it's made no f****** difference - we still can't get a mortgage and I'm still chucking away £6k a year in rent. We could move out of London, and pay cheaper rent, but then my income would fall to around £15k, and my debt payments would stay the same, so I'd actually be worse off. Stupidly, I've agreed to do a months unpaid freelance work as a way to boost my profile and draw in more paid jobs, but it couldn't come at a worse time. Now I've agreed though, I can't back out. All this is exacerbated today because I'm off sick - which means I don't get paid, which means that I'm £90 down this week, which just makes everything harder. But the more I worry, the sicker I get! We can't even move somewhere cheaper, as we're currently paying below market rate. grrr. Bloody London. Bloody Debt. All my fault though! Whay didn't anyone tell me this was what debt was like before I got in to it????????????????????

DontDoDebtKids

Hi all,

Been working very hard this last week and so have had little time to post! Have done an update on my diary but not here really, so will soon.

DDDK

Aj_eye

Hey Mirtos,

Keep your head up !!!!! You can't let this thing beat you..... I know exactly how you feel. Mrs Aj_eye and I really want to move but can't because of our debt......even if we found a house no-one will give us a mortgage in our current state....

Just be cool and remember you're living like a pauper today, so you can live king tomorrow....:beer:

DontDoDebtKids

Mirtos wrote: »

Debt now? £12,999
I'm feeling really glum today. I have no money. We're trying to get a mortgage again, which basically just makes me want to jump off a cliff. Because I'm a temp, no one will count my income, even though I make about 24k, not counting income from my self employment. Arghhhhh! I'm sick of this. I've been working so bloody hard for nearly a year now, and have cleared more debt than most people ever have, and it's made no f****** difference - we still can't get a mortgage and I'm still chucking away £6k a year in rent. We could move out of London, and pay cheaper rent, but then my income would fall to around £15k, and my debt payments would stay the same, so I'd actually be worse off. Stupidly, I've agreed to do a months unpaid freelance work as a way to boost my profile and draw in more paid jobs, but it couldn't come at a worse time. Now I've agreed though, I can't back out. All this is exacerbated today because I'm off sick - which means I don't get paid, which means that I'm £90 down this week, which just makes everything harder. But the more I worry, the sicker I get! We can't even move somewhere cheaper, as we're currently paying below market rate. grrr. Bloody London. Bloody Debt. All my fault though! Whay didn't anyone tell me this was what debt was like before I got in to it????????????????????

Don't give up! It's really hard when you get stuck in a rut about it but you have to admit that you're doing really really well.

It sounds like you've got exactly the right idea about spending - i.e. clamp down as much as you can.

You can do it!

DontDoDebtKids

Right. That's that done.

My flat is on the market. The tenant is moving out in a couple of weeks. Now we wait...

:think: