MrsB83's Debt Free Diary - it starts here!

mrsb83_2

I'm an occasional lurker turned first time poster.

I'm 27 and married, own my own home (hello negative equity!) with no kids.

DH and I are fed up of cruising along, just payng the minimum on our debts and not making any progress towards our goal of moving home. We both hate our current house and we'll do anything to get out of there!

We're in the process of making a budget together, and hopefully we can find around £350.00 to pay off our debts every month.

Current debts (for us both):-

Capital One Credit Card - £381.00
Barclaycard - £252.83
Mint - £1470.61
Overdraft - £2000.00
Natwest Credit Card - £124.51
Natwest Loan - £16473.22

Total - £20702.17

It's so scary. That's more than a year's GROSS salary. But there's no point denying it's there, I guess.

So, I'm officially a DFW! Here goes...

mrsb83_2

We've set our budget and started a cashbook to monitor spending.

We're hoping to save £225 left over after all payments this month, which I will be using to clear my Barclaycard.

DH is a bit overwhelmed, so I've had to take the lead on most of this, but I'm sure he'll get in the swing of it soon.

beanielou

Hi & welcome to MSE.
Happy shiney new diary.
Keep posting!

mrsb83_2

Thank you

I think regular posting is going to help.

So I have a money box for my £1 coins on the go, and we haven't had a takeaway in 3 weeks!

I had an unexpected expense today, and there was money in the bank to pay it. That never happens.

I've bought me and DH a cashbook each so that we record all our spending, and that seems to be making a difference even before we try and consciously cut down.

Feeling good.

mrsb83_2

Things have gone really well this month.

Setting a budget really helped us figure out where our money was going.

We had to pay £600 on unexpected items this month, but still managed to stay within our overdraft, the allocated budget on other things, all the repayments were made, and we set a bit of money aside for car/house repair etc.

It's been a real eyeopener to log where every penny goes. Also, we've been thinking a lot more about what we do want to spend our money on, what we enjoy and what isn't necessary.

Added to that, DH just found out that he's getting a 30% pay increase staggered over the next six months. It's amazing news :T

Hopefully next month the increased debt payments will start (including all of DH's increased salary).

Exciting!

mrsb83_2

Capital One Credit Card - £229.97
Barclaycard - £237.39
Mint - £1459.66
Overdraft - £2000.00
Natwest Credit Card - £110.83
Natwest Loan - £16172.93

Total - £20,210.78

mrsb83_2

Doing well!

Had a takeaway last night and we both enjoyed it more than we ever did when we were having one every week!

Also gearing up for a homemade Christmas - I've spent about £10 and have loads of bits to get started. DH used to buy Hotel Chocolat gifts for his secretaries (6 at £8 a pop) but this year they're having homemade. They love it when I send cakes and treats in during the year, and I'm sure they'll love it even more at Christmas. What were we thinking spending nearly £50 we couldn't afford every Christmas?! Oddballs.

I've done the Snowball calculator too, and look at it every so often. It's incredibly motivating, and our DFD is now fixed at 1st August 2013. I hope we'll get there before then, but we're both 30 that month so it'd be great to be debt free.

We've talked about a trip to Palm Springs for ages, and I'd love to go for our 30th birthdays using money we've saved.

mrsb83_2

So I've been updating my signature and seeing the % paid going up all the time is fantastically encouraging.

We've reduced our debt payment this month to just above the minimum, so we're still paying off but not accruing any more debt over Christmas. It seems to be working out well and we are well within budget for the month so far. I really don't know what we were spending our money on.

Our debt payments will go back up in January and we'll really start to see some movement.

So far, we've paid off one credit card. Only three more to go before we can start tackling the overdraft!

fizzypops

mrsb83 wrote: »

Doing well!

Had a takeaway last night and we both enjoyed it more than we ever did when we were having one every week!

i know exactly what you mean about the takeaways, they become a bit of a habbit dont they!!! :cool:

i have managed to stay away from them for about 3 weeks now which must be the longest since i was 16!!

mrsb83_2

They really do, fizzypops.

I like to cook, but I'd gotten in a really bad habit of just ordering a takeaway when I didn't fancy cooking, instead of having easy things in the freezer which require no thought or effort!!

Are you a Chinese or Indian lover?!

Lemon_Tree

takeaways are one of my biggest problems. before i moved to where i live now i never had a takeaway as there were no options in the village. sometimes think going back there would be the best option, but then i would be spending 50% more again on petrol. Swings and roundabouts hey.