Getting shut!

DD265

I fully intend to get shut of all my debt. I have a plan, and when I find some income I'll put it into action, too.

The gist of it:

1. No Spend Days
2. Financial Fasting
3. Giving Up
4. Payment A Day
5. Ebay, Ebay, Ebay

No Spend Days
The theory is that I set a target of say 50% a month to be no-spend. In practise this means that I list what I've spent and what day I spent it on. I usually find myself trying to beat a certain "score" and being smart with my shopping so that all of my expenses come on one day a week etc. It also makes me think twice about an impulse purchase because if I don't want to ruin a No Spend Day.

Financial Fast
Call it what you like - this is just sticking to the essentials. For me right now the essentials are horse's rent, horse's feed (inc vegetables and supplements), petrol, loan and card payments, and a small expenditure on fitness. This all said, I will permit myself a treat a week - nothing expensive, but a reward and motivator. Obviously once I've paid off my debt I can have several treats a week!

Giving Up
This isn't so much giving up spending, as giving up things like chocolate that I frequently crave, go to the supermarket and spend a fortune on. I'm going cold turkey, and in a few days I'll not be bothered about chocolate at all. I'm also cutting out crisps and fizzy pop - sugary things I crave!

Payment A Day
I saw this concept on these boards and think it's great. I already made a payment of 73pence to my credit card today. Right now it will be pence for me, and some days it will probably even be just a penny but it will still be a payment. I noticed that I felt more positive just for doing that one little thing, even if it is such a minuscule amount. I have a weekend away this month but once that's done, any spare change I have will be used to put against my credit card.

Ebay Ebay Ebay
As it says - sell things on ebay! I have some really good quality clothing, including a leather jacket and two suits (one pair of trousers still has tags!) plus some ball gowns and random horsey stuff. I doubt I'll get much for a lot of it, but it will all help.

Go me! :T

In terms of the order of debt, this is my plan.

1. Credit card paid off (keep it)
2. Loan paid off (get rid of it completely)
3. Overdraft paid off (get rid of it completely)
4. Build up an emergency fund of £1,000
5. Get rid of the credit card
6. Pay off student loan
7. Pay off student "grant".

Ultimately I do want a mortgage, and I know it's going to take a long time to amass the deposit I'll need. I may end up leaving the student loan on minimum payments - it might be low interest but low interest on £20k is still a hell of a lot - until I can afford to pay more than the interest that is accruing each month.

DD265

No Spend Days for January (November 2010's result and the one to beat - 63%)
01/01/11 - Spend (clothing and naughty treat!)
02/01/11 - No Spend
03/01/11 - Spend (petrol)
04/01/11 - No Spend

Financial Fasting

Here is my list of essential payments:
1. Daffy's rent
2. Daffy's feed
3. Petrol (and car maintenance)
4. Fitness
5. Loan, car insurance and credit card payments

Giving Up

Here is what I've given up so far - better for my health and my bank balance!
1. Chocolate
2. Crisps
3. Fizzy drinks
4. World of Warcraft (I rarely played it anyway, no time these days)
5. Take aways
6. Buying books
7. Paid DVD Rentals
8. Buying lunches

Payment a Day - January

01/01 - £5.16 into Piggy Bank
02/01 - £0.20 into Piggy Bank
03/01 - £0.00
04/01 - £0.00

Ebay Ebay Ebay & Other Sources of Income - January

Total raised so far through ebay and online sales:

£50.00

[Deleted User]

Hi DD265,

Looks like you've made a good head start there, welcome to the boards.

Tea
x

DD265

Fingers crossed I have a job. Just waiting for a call back to confirm my acceptance of the offer. Best not jinx it! :shhh:

I sold a couple of items on ebay last night so I need to post those today. I also need to list a few more things for sale (OK, lots, but small steps!) and I'm going to transfer some money out of my paypal account.

So far I've made more than enough to cover off the hotel expenses for the weekend away next week. I'm hoping to cover off the petrol too (will be about £40) and another £20 for food. After that, £5 out of each £50 I make (after fees and postage) will be spending money and added to the change that's currently in my piggy bank.

DD265

Ok so I've taken £58 out of my paypal account and put it into my main account - the one with the overdraft. This £58 covers off the hotel for next week. My plan is that when the money is cleared (hopefully Tuesday) I will ring the hotel and ask them to take payment immediately, then it's one less thing to worry about.

I've also listed another 9 text books on ebay (that's the lot, hurrah!) and 3 items of competition gear on a different forum.

I am gutted to be selling these three things but I figure that a) my horse isn't going to be rideable for months (if at all), never mind able to compete, b) by the time we're out competing again I'll have lost more weight and c) by the time we're out competing again I should be debt free and able to afford to replace the gear anyway.

I know that I'll be happier for having the £250 to pay debts/bills than I will for having the stuff in the wardrobe taking up space. Plus I still have a £100 hat (who needs £250 worth of riding hats?!) and a pair of boots that do fit if I happen to ride somebody else's horse.

DD265

Still waiting for that call back - I hope it comes today because otherwise I'm going to be in limbo this weekend! Maybe I should chase it up, but she's a difficult person to catch in the office.

I sold more on ebay last night, bringing my total-sold to over £100. The petrol for the trip next week is now (unless I grossly underestimated petrol prices, distance and fuel economy!) paid for and almost too is the £20 I wanted for food. Really I need to transfer the money across to my account no later than Monday, but I'm hoping to raise a lot more over the weekend.

The downside is that the payments for postage of these items is coming off my credit card right now - if I waited until I had all of the money cleared in my bank account for an item sold I'd get dreadful seller ratings on ebay. Still, with the help of Quicken I'm mostly keeping track, although there is a difference between my online banking credit card balance and my Quicken one. I'm hoping to get to the bottom of that this afternoon, as I'm tidying up my desk which is a tip.

So far this week I haven't had any unnecessary spend and although I haven't yet given up chocolate or fizzy drinks, I haven't bought any which was the aim of the game. So the financial fasting is going well, as are the no spend days - if tomorrow is no spend as well that puts me at 50% for the month so far which is my base line target.

As for my payment a day, I haven't decided what I'm doing yet. 50pence off the credit card I imagine.

[Deleted User]

Hi DD265, well done on the e-bay sales that's fantastic stuff.

Where are you going on your weekend away?

Tea
x

DD265

Thanks.

We're going down to Birmingham - there's a collectors convention where I'm going to catch up with a lot of friends. Really looking forward to it, and next year I hope to have a bigger shopping spree budget, but this year I'm sticking to the change I've amassed in my piggy bank which is about £20 thus far.

DD265

I'm still waiting to get confirmation on this job.

Rung twice on the person's direct dial number, then left two messages with other employees. I'll be giving her until lunchtime tomorrow and then chasing again. A simple yes or no will suffice - at least I'll know whether it's necessary to continue applying for jobs!

In brighter news, my textbooks seem to be selling quickly. Not only do I benefit from the money, I benefit from the extra shelf space - I'll be saving it for all the books I'll get for Christmas.

I've also made an additional £50 through online sales after making enough (£118 by my reckoning) to cover the cost of hotel, petrol and food for the trip to Birmingham. I've added £10 of this to my piggy bank which is where my weekend's spending money is. The rest of it is going to be split between my overdraft (although no reduction in the limit) and to cover the payment for my credit card.

Still got 11 items listed and at least that many again to put on. I'm mostly only selling for £15-25, but it adds up very quickly.

DD265

I start my new job on Monday. October/November, and probably December/January as well, are going to be tight but at least I'll be on the right track.

Today was a no spend day, and my PAD was £1 from my main account against my credit card. I haven't sold anything but I do have somebody from NZ wanting to buy a pair of boots so I walked to the post office to get a quote (and they still want to buy them!) and amended the listing to allow them to buy the item.

DD265

So I was away last week, and then came home to no internet - nightmare!

I've started my new job and that's going well. Whilst it's only minimum wage there is plenty of overtime, and I'm paid by the hour so will probably be doing as much as I can get as there is plenty of work to be getting on with.

The downside is that my finances are very, very tight. I had forgotten (having worked in this company before) that it pays on the 26th - so I got paid for Monday, but not the whole week like I'd expected and unfortunately, been kind of counting on. I have, however, been able to pay the first instalment of my car insurance which is one less thing to worry about. So I don't have enough to last through November right now with the bills I have to pay.

Unfortunately I didn't sell any more ebay items - lots to relist and lots to list. This may be able to provide the income I need to take me through to payday otherwise I'm kind of stuffed! I really don't want to increase my debt any further, however I was able to get a repayment holiday for the loan for November's payment which eases the pressure a little.

Over the weekend I need to work out exactly how much money I need in November - most of November's wages will probably go on bills (inc insurance, horse rent and loan repayment) and the cost of taxing and MOT'ing my car in December - and then work out how I'm going to acquire it!

ETA - I've just made a bit more than the minimum payment on my credit card and feel a bit better for it. I'm still in the position of being up the creek with a broken paddle (better than none at all mind!).