Getting a grip of my finances and getting a better life!

wolveslass

I've just started to use the snowball calculator on www.whatsthecost.com how motivating! I've begun to enter extra payments and regular payments and I hope to watch my debt free day of 53 months come down. 53 months makes it February 2016 (I think!). That seems a long way off, but I reckon if I overpay on what I can and then once those debts have gone I will save a lump sum to make a final payment to my non-flexible loans. It really annoys me that I can't overpay. Still never mind they're coming down steadily.

wolveslass

I've had a slow few days in terms of debt repayments. I haven't added to my debt but my overpayments have stopped as I'm a week to payday and I'm waiting for nearly £100 in cheques/bacs/paypal to clear from surveys and ebay sales.

Once the extra cash clears I can do about £50 of payments and then the other £50 is going towards my car tax for the end of the month. I was also overpaid at work last month so that needs paying back as soon as personell confirm the amount. I've got it stashed in a savings account until they let me know, but I hate having it there and just want to pay it back. I'll phone tomorrow I think - just keep forgetting when I get home.

I've bought quite a few Xmas pressies but once I'm paid next week I'll try to get a few more.

Another good thing is that all of my ebay items have watchers :T so pray for people with lots of money to spend!

wot-a-mess

Well done with the extra £100 earned

wolveslass

Made a bit of cash today on surveys etc (£5.35). I've also joined shop and scan so hopefully thats a bit more to add to the pot. I also have a few lots ending on ebay this weekend, so fingers crossed.

A few of my awaited payments have started to clear so I can hopefully make a few more debt payments soon.

wolveslass

It's been a tough few weeks at home and money saving has been very low on my priority list, however having said that so has been spending!

I have sold a few things on ebay and made £10.49 today, with a couple of things still to sell (hopefully) later in the week.

A few more big debt payments have gone this week so total debt is down to just over £25000. I can't wait for it to drop below the 25 mark. Still, as someone said on their diary it's going to be a long haul and I need to come to terms with that. I really do feel that it is hard to keep going when money is tight - I hate it when the debt doesn't drop for a few days.

I get paid this week so that will help, but I have car tax to buy, a slightly reduced pay packet and 2 days away - so not too hopeful of big strides! Oh and the ever present threat of Christmas - roll on the debt busting new year. Mind you then maternity leave. It definitely will be a long haul!

wot-a-mess

I share these feelings of motivation or rather lack of when the debt remains static for a few days or over a week. Money is very tight with us as well. Looks like the past few weeks have been pretty tough for many of us on here for some reason. Great to see you making progress with the extra £s... really wish I could make progress on this front. I guess it's when the times are tough that we need to keep going thro the debt-busting ups & downs. Keep u're chin up.

wolveslass

Thanks for the reply wot-a-mess. I find this time of year really stressful when trying to pay off debts. I desperately don't want to add to debt but feel under pressure to make Xmas fantastic for the children. God how I regret those frivalous spending years. To be fair some was unavoidable when unemployment affected us bit lots was totally avoidable. Still look forward not back!

wot-a-mess

wolveslass wrote: »

I find this time of year really stressful when trying to pay off debts. I desperately don't want to add to debt but feel under pressure to make Xmas fantastic for the children. God how I regret those frivalous spending years.

This exactly how I also feel just now & could really cancel xmas this year. I guess we just need to try to budget for it & stick to the budget

wolveslass

What a nightmare 2 days in terms of money saving. I've been away for two days with the family, so there were B&B costs, petrol, legoland entry (even with 2 vouchers and 2 people getting in free it still worked out at £115 for 2 adults and a 3 year old!! AND they charge £6 parking!) Still an enjoyable couple of days and we can't live in misery for the next few years.

Just had to pay car tax too, I think I will start buying the stamps to spread the cost for next time.

The up part of it all was that there was no credit card spend, although I may have to dip into my savings to stay afloat this month. The fact that my pay was down a couple of hundred pounds doesn't help either. Oh god how depressing! I should get a lump sum bonus at Christmas though which will replenish the savings and go towards debt repayments.

Chin up and all that!

wolveslass

Today I made another debt repayment which means my credit card debts have now dropped below 10 grand for the first time in a long while. I am avidly using the snowball tool, but because of set loans my debt free day is not dropping. What I think I'll do is as soon as the credit cards are gone I shall continue paying into a savings account and then pay off in lump sums, without incurring charges.

God I'm addicted to this!