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

wolveslass

Just posted my final total for "Make £5 a day in October". I made a grand total of £233.56 which isn't too bad, but a way off the £10 a day that some people make. I need to get some more practice in I think, but I will go for the £5 again in November.

wolveslass

Well the first week of november is gone and I'm on my way with the new make £5 a day challenge. I want to have a go at the next 1 debt in 100 days challenge when that starts as these little steps keep me going. Otherwise it all seems never ending.

I'm awaiting some vouchers from survey sites and payments from ebay. At the moment I'm ordering Amazon vouchers and using these to help out with the Xmas pressies, I am determined not to put a penny on credit this year!

I go on maternity leave in a couple of months so I am also trying to save a bit to act as a cushion. I won't be able to snowball as much off my debt, but as long as it keeps dropping steadily I guess that is the main thing.

wolveslass

I seem to having a slow month on the debt-busting front as I was down on my pay so I've been unable to throw as much at the debts as I usually like to. I have however spent hardly anything as well so that's good. Next month my pay should be back to normal and I am due a bit of a bonus at Xmas so that will help. Just find that Xmas is so stressful as I feel really under pressure to be buying loads and have hardly anything! I've sorted out the kids pressies but not much else!

wolveslass

Today my debts dropped to below £25000 :jI can't remember when I was last below this. It has taken a long time to clear the approx £5000 but I had a good 7 or so months where I lost my way.

I've just done a large chunk of Christmas shopping and I stayed within my means with no credit card spending, so this was a success. I got lots of bargains, 2 for 3, 20% off etc. All now wrapped and ready to go! I've only got a few bits left to get and I've cut the number of people I buy for dramatically.

Hopefully I should have some extra cash coming soon so I intend to use some for debt and some for my maternity leave fund. When I'm on my maternity the debts may only fall by the minimum, this depresses me a bit, but needs must and as long as they keep falling it must be good.

wolveslass

So Christmas is over and I have had my second year of not buying anything on credit so I'm really pleased with myself. Sh*p and Sc*n have just given me enough points to cash out a £10 next voucher so this goes towards paying my account. I now need to work hard to keep paying a bit over the minimum and cut outgoings as I'm on maternity leave now, so money will be tight.

LuckyLouise

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chevalier

Well done on paying off as much as you have. Tricky I know, but can your OH get any extra work to help you pay things off quicker?
chev

wolveslass

Hello to you both. Thanks for your replies. My partner does a bit of extra work here and there and that goes to debt repayment so hopefully he'll be able to continue this during my maternity.

The last few months we've been paying off £780 a month, so not too bad! The reason it has taken so long is that a year ago I lost my way for about 7 months and I didn't make any in roads on my debt. Now we're focused again it is dropping quite quickly.

wolveslass

Today a balance transfer went through for me which means my Barclaycard debt (which was due to go off 0% at the end of Jan) is now moved to virgin for a 0% deal until Aug 2013. :T

This has now been put into my snowball so hopefully this has saved me quite a bit in interest payments. I have dropped the credit limit on my now clear barclaycard so I feel better all round. My only concern is do I cancel the barclaycard. I don't know whether to keep it in case they offer me some promotional offers in a few months, like 0% again. This has happened in the past. Or do I cancel and hope to be able to transfer my cc that finishes 0% in October, to another card later in the year?

Oh, I don't know. It is also very scary to get rid of the safety net of the barclaycard in case of emergencies! I know I should, but going onto maternity means that my little savings nest is probably going to be swallowed up. I have got rid of every other card that I have cleared but always hung onto this one. The good thing is that I haven't used a cc for a purchase in over 2 years now so I hope I've learnt from previous errors.

wolveslass

Well I am now officially over the 25% of debt paid off. This was always a big target for me, so my next one is going to be 33%. I also have a little target to pay off a small credit card in the next 2 months so roll on. I am on maternity leave but I'm still managing to pay off a little bit over and above the minimum payments.