A sorry state of affairs....

MrsNotAPenny

Morning!

Made a tiny tiny payment towards Bcard this morning, I had used it to buy online £10.74 (birthday present, budgeted for!) then repaid £11 back onto it from my current account. Babysteps!

I've been doing that a lot with online purchases and always made sure I paid it back, I quite like paying money to it - it's got a nice online payment system! So, although I'm spending on it, it's only minimal amounts and always paid back within 24 hours. I think when I am CC debt free, I might try to keep a small limit on one card and use it for little purchases (it's safer to use CC online anyway, isn't it?)

Proud of myself this month, I have bought 4 birthday presents and every one of them had been budgeted for! Sure, they're not as extravagant as I would have liked them to be, but I'm sure the recipients will be happy with them (£26.74 on 4 presents is pretty good I think!) Just cards to buy for one of them, used wrapping paper I already had and looked out the tape rather that just buying a new one (actually found 3 rolls or parcel tape and 6 rolls of clear tape in the process!)

Into the 9's on Tuesday, I really hope I can keep going at this pace for a few months more. Figured I could be into the 6's for October/November time. if I just keep going! How amazing will that be? A huge huge achievement. I think this is it. It seemed so far away when my debt was near £19k (granted just under 3 years ago!) I can see myself without credit card debt for the first time in about 11/12 years. I can even see myself having a little bit of savings, in a few years time anyway.

I'm probably repeating myself with all that ^^^^ Just seems unbelievable that it might actually happen!

April's plan is to pay off my overdraft. Going to pay the minium to CC's (Bcard £87, CC £43 - rounded up) Then throwing £300 to the OD. I know I said I was going to allow myself £400 towards debt repayment each month, this is slightly over but I have the £25 odds eby sales from this month to cover it (even though I really want to buy some new t shirts for the boys and a spring coloured nail polish for myself) We can wait until next month for that, still feels like deepest darkest winter here anyway, no point in buying new season clothing until it passes!

Wow, another epic ramble! Happy Saturday!xx

MrsNotAPenny

Well, today was/is the last day of having debt in double figures :j

Tomorrow my debt will be:

£300 overdraft (plan to be paid 12/4/2013)
£4,087 loan
£3,903 bcard (minimum £87 paid first week in April)
£1,690 cc 2 (minimum £43 paid first week in April)

Total: £9,980 :j

Granted, I'm just in single figures by the skin of my teeth but I'm there!! I met my target I set myself and I'll start my new diary with new targets, bigger ones!

Can't believe I'll be overdraft free very soon and down to 3 creditors (that's more that half the creditors I started with 4 months ago)

beanielou

Good news.
change your siggy

MrsNotAPenny

beanielou wrote: »

Good news.
change your siggy

I'm saving myself until that loan DD leaves my account tomorrow (almost there!)

Oh I'm so so pleased with myself!!

Kantankrus_Mare

Read all your thread and you have everything under control but I know how frustrating it can be when things dont go down as quick as you,d like them to.

Whilst you are bored.........why dont you invstigate swagbucks.?

It could earn you enough amazon vouchers to pay for birthday and christmas pressies or the odd treat for yourself without the guilt.

I have done various survey sites over the years but this has been best and most consistent earner for me.

MrsNotAPenny

Thanks KMare, I will look into it. I'm always a bit dubious about online earning, but a lot of people seem to use swagbucks so it might be worth siging up for.

Oh and did I mention today was the day I got my debt down to single figures? :j:j

New siggy on it's way and I will start my new diary this week

satchmo1

Well done Mrs Penny! You've shown great determination, and it has paid off.

Can I suggest that you now concentrate extra payments to the balance where the APR is greatest?

Some MSE-ers with debt on 0% cards pay off the minimum each month, but save and save and save into an interest bearing account until right at the end of the 0% period then bung everything at the card. That way they earn some interest which can also be thrown at the card.

That only works if you only use those savings to repay the debt.

stripes

Congrats Mrs Penny

MrsNotAPenny

Thanks folks Still a long way to go but I'll get there

Satchmo - I'd love to be able to be disciplined enough to put it away into an account and leave it to grow, but I just can't trust myself yet. Definitely something I could teach myself to do it the future though, maybe when my debt isn't so massive.

Having to have a MSD (Milk Spend Day, comes with living with milk guzzlers!) Also, was updating my Utility readings and it suggested to me that my Aprils DD payment was too high (some reason it was up at £78 instead of the normal £50, I knew about it and had budgeted) So I called up to ask them to reduce it a bit and they've put it down to £24 next month! (last payment of the year before they recalculate the next 12 months DD's) I had budgeted for the £78 so now I'm £54 up

Got a few things I could do with it:

Pay the last £50 of our October holiday
Pay it into CU accounts
Pay it off a debt
Or use some of it to treat the kids to a couple of cheap days out in the Easter Holidays?

Hmm, I don't know. It'll probably take me a week to decide what to do with it!x

beanielou

1/2 to debt & half to kids activities?