Paid off £30K, about £6k more to go!

muffin74

I wonder if anyone else saw Come Rain Come Shine on ITV last night? It was a drama with David Jason about a family with money worries caused by his son getting into debt and living beyond his means. I enjoyed it and thought it was good that an issue like that was the subject of a prime time drama. I recognised the characters as the values of the parents were similar to my parents, older people who bought their council flat and have always lived within their means. For a while I was in danger of ending up like their son, buying stuff on credit cards and living the high life.
Thankfully, I have changed my ways and am back to treating money with respect.

Another money surprise, I received an email telling me I had a betfair account with money in it. I am not a gambler apart from the odd Lotto lucky dip now and again but I opened a betfair account a year or so ago because I had seen some special offer online about getting a free bet for some big race or other. I had totally forgotten I had even done that as I had only put one bet on. It turns out I have £27 in the account! I must have won the bet I suppose. Not sure as I have completely forgotten about joining. I transferred the money into my current account and am going to close it. I would NOT encourage gambling though, it can ruin people's lives. I think that is the end of my gambling career.

Anyway, they say things come in threes so I hope there is some more unexpected good news about money this week. I have already discovered two forgotten little bits of money this week - credit union and betfair so I am now hoping for a third!

muffin74

PS it may not sound like I am "treating money with respect" as I said earlier re. not keeping track of my credit union savings and forgetting about a winning bet but I am generally very careful and check my bank statement online every day or two. I try to "forget" about any money I have saved because I want to act as if I don't have it and not spend it. As for the bet, that was a one off and as I could not even work out how to check my winnings I will not be repeating the experience!

The main thing is, I don't use credit cards anymore, I know how much I have in my current account and anything I buy is bought with cash or a debit card. That took me years to achieve.

I can't wait for my DFD in 2011!

muffin74

Back from a Christmas visit to my parents. It was very emotional as I was sad to say goodbye to my Mum and I got upset. I have lived away from home for half my life but I still feel sad leaving my Mum, especially at Christmas. I also spent part of my visit worrying about the future. There are lots of changes coming up in my workplace and I don't know whether to leave, go for a promotion internally or just stick in the same post. I was worrying about not having a nest egg and feeling reluctant to get back on that rat race treadmill after the New Year. When I was younger I was excited by living in London but now I want a quiet life and only stay here because of my job and partner.

My parents did make me feel welcome and are very kind. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my hometown and live near them but jobs are not as easy to come by there and I don't know if I would be able to earn a decent living there.

Got home to discover a letter from Nat West re. Credit Card Charges only offering me a small partial refund of less that 10% of the charges I want refunded. I think I might follow Martin's advice and send a second letter asking for more but I am going to check the Credit Card Charges Refund forum for advice before doing anything.

I hope everyone out there has had a peaceful and happy Christmas and hope we all have a healthy and wealthy 2011.

muffin74

Happy New Year! 2011 is going to be my debt free year, I can't wait.
Last year I started contributing to my pension again after a 10 year gap and also started saving a bit every month too. I went from owing from around £11K to about £2K as well so I made decent progress.

This is the year I get debt free and start being a super saver!

Ok, I don't normally talk about shopping because I don't do much of it these days but I did do a bit after Christmas. I took advantage of 50% off in the sales to buy a couple of things. I am not much of a clothes shopper these days but I buy one or two items each month, mainly replacing things that have worn out. I don't have many smart dresses for going out so when I saw a really nice, smart and flattering classic black dress in the sale. I bought it. It was from House of Fraser and was originally £80 reduced to £40.

The other purchase was a birthday present for my fiance. His birthday is at the end of this month. He has bought me some nice gifts in the past so I wanted to get him something nice but not too pricey. He got me a lovely perfume for Christmas which I know cost £65. I was in Space NK (lovely perfume/cosmetics shop) and I saw a Space NK Men gift box with a large bottle of aftershave, shower gel and I think moisturiser. Normally £62, it was half price at £31. I bought it for his birthday. I got him a good quality present but at a price I can afford.

Anyway, after that I am going to keep the shopping to a minimum this month!

muffin74

Still plugging away, working towards my DFD. I have had no alcohol since New Year (not that long ago as it is only Jan 10th now!). Hopefully my bank balance and my health will benefit from cutting out the booze!

Nat West offered me a small partial refund of credit card charges but I didn't accept it, I sent out the second template letter from the MSE site and hope I get more. It was worth the risk as they only offered me £17! I am also still waiting for news from the ombudsman on my PPI as well. I can't wait to get it all sorted.

Choc-addict

Hey!

Hope you are well? Good find for your OH's present, sounds lovely! I think it's important to remember what you can afford rather than just spending because you like it.....I was like that and probably still am to a point but I am learning. My OH is great at reminding me when I spend, not in a bad way but just to remind me that I can't afford things and people shouldn't expect me to.

Will be amazing once you become debt free this year, wishing you all the luck and best wishes!

Choc x

muffin74

Thanks Choc for your message. It is tricky getting the balance between saving and spending and making sure you spend the right amount and not too much!

I got a letter from the Finacial Ombudsman today. The adjudicator has upheld my PPI complaint, Nat West has not replied to her so she is handing it over to the Ombudsman to make a final decision. However, the letter said due to the large number of cases they are dealing with, it may take some time to do that. It could be months, I hope it doesn't take too long! I made the complaint in April 2010 so it has taken almost a year to get this far. It will be good to get it settled so I can move on.

Still working, doing private tuition and trying to save a little bit when I can. January is a bit of a boring month and the weather is rubbish but we are all getting through it one day at a time slowly but surely!

LollyLou_2

Hey Muffin74! Am following your thread (I need to subscribe but not sure how to) and just wondering how you're getting on? Think you're such an inspiration...keep up the amazing work!

muffin74

Hi Lolly

thanks for your message. I am plugging away. I mentioned earlier that Nat West had charged me £160 in credit card charges over a period of several years. When I complained they offered me £17 but I didn't think that was enough. I printed out the second complaint letter template from this site and sent it to them saying I didn't want £17, I wanted the lot. Last week I got a letter offering me roughly £172 which is the £160 with interest. I sent off my acceptance to that offer the other day so hopefully will be getting a cheque for £172 from Nat West soon!

Also I got a letter from the Financial Ombudsman Service. The adjudicator has upheld my complaint but Nat West (this time it was a PPI complaint) did not reply so the adjudicator is passing it on to the Ombudsman to make the final decision. The letter said it could take some time for that to be completed which is a pain because I put the complaint in ages ago in April 2010. Not to worry, it is in the pipeline and hopefully I will get money from that too at some point.

I am working and living within my means, trying to save a little bit too but most spare cash is going towards my last loan which should be paid off at the end of March I think. It has been a long slog, I am getting near the end!

I am already planning my debt free future, planning to put the money I currently use for debt repayment towards savings etc. I can't wait until I can say those magic words "I am debt free!"

LollyLou_2

Thanks so fantastic...you should feel so proud of yourself. Congratulations with reclaiming the CC charges and I'll keep my fingers crossed for the same result with the PPI.

Keep us posted with progress - you're only weeks away from being Debt Free!!! HURRAH!!!!