Time to get honest with myself, a proper SOA!

vintagegirl

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

Thanks for that, i already am part of the nsd challange, i did the payment a day thing before but it ended up costing more in phone calls as they are all 0845 numbers, and takes like 3 minutes each to process a payment of just £1.

I can't get out of my phone contract, it's not up till march and i have unlimited text and internet, i never use any minutes i don't phone people, i always text so i can't go over my allowances.

As i said before i'm not going to give up the gym, i've thought about it and decided against it, i'm making cuts everywhere else but i am not prepared to stop that. I go 4 times a week, and planning to go to some of their classes next month when i can book them online.

I don't actually think my xbox live is a waste of money, i spend around 3 hours every night on there, and if i am not going on anymore nights out then i need something to do. But i am planning on asking for a year subscription for christmas from my mum, as i've looked around and can get one for about £23! Which will be good news to her, as she also pays £7.99 a month for my brother live account.

sorry i know i keep hijacking but regarding you phone bill, use https://www.saynoto0870.com
you put in any phone number and it gives you a landline for it. saved me a fortune

littlepinkstars44

climbgirl wrote: »

What you said was "as long as it was going down, you were happy". Which doesn't exactly show good motivation in getting rid of this debt as quickly as possible.

Let me just reiterate the point in case it's missed the mark - you are young and you are in the very lucky position of being able to live at home for a very low amount of money. Which means you have a LOT of luxury expenses that can easily be cut and put towards clearing the debt.

Not many people in debt have this as an option. Trust me, when you get older and move out into your own place you'll suddenly be faced with a whole world of bills and things you have to pay - electric, council tax, rent/mortgage, water, you name it.

Take the advice on these boards, cut all the luxuries you're currently spending on and clear the debt as quickly as possible. Learn good money habits while you can, while it's still easy for you. Set yourself up for the future. Don't keep giving us weak excuses!

Maybe i didn't make it very clear in my original post, but i was stating that i hadn't ever thought of how long it would take...that in the past i used to think as long as it's going down every month it was ok.

And as i have said before, everything is going. Driving lessons, zumba, ciggs, nights out, cinema, xbox live everything except my gym membership. While a do appreciate all the comments and advice about it, i am not willing to give it up, and to be honest i don't feel like i need to explain on here why, there are some very personal reasons why i will not budge on this one.

And again, as you state i am at home, and to be honest don't plan on moving out for at least another 2 years. So i have a full 2 years minimum to pay everything off (which it won't be i have snowballed i know when roughly everything should be paid off), and it if it means adding a few more months onto my debt free date because i won't cancel my gym, then so be it. I know i am not going to wake up tomorrow and be debt free, it will take time. That fact does not bother me, at the moment i am only worried about getting as much extra income as i can, to throw at them, as well as all the money from the "luxuries" i am cutting out.

littlepinkstars44

FREEZ wrote: »

Hi
I've added some comments above. I don't agree with others that are more or less shouting at you to get rid of your gym membership. It is very cheap gym membership and if you are cutting down everything else and stopping smoking then you should keep this as your 'entertainment'.
I am only commenting on this post and if you are serious about getting out of debt if you make the cutbacks then you can do this. Make the cutbacks and then first month you could pay off Capital visa then move on to the next low balance high interest card and so on. When you pay it off cut up the card and close the account!! Just think how much better off you will be once you've got rid of these debts and high interest store cards.

Thanks for your comments, i really do appreciate them. And yes i have been a bit defensive on this post, but earlier today i did feel like everyone was ganging up on me kind of. I know i have had a lot of false starts, i wasn't even being honest with myself about the exact amounts i owed, but the fact it that i am now. I came here for some advice, which i'm really happy to have found, but also recieved a few home truths which i now realise i need to sort out about myself, and well from my point of view, some quite nasty responces. But to be honest, i can understand their points of view. I have been on here numerous times trying to make a go of things, then dissapear and come back again in even more debt. I know the only person that can get me out of this is myself, but i am ready and willing to take on that challange now, and hopefully get some support along the way from the members here.

Anyone, enough about all the drama, that is the last i'm going to say on the matter.

About your comments, the £35 groceries are going, made myself sandwiches to take into work tonight with me, and i have some tune pasta in the fridge for my lunch at uni tomorrow!

Clothes are also going, i have a ridiculous amount of clothes, ranging from a 12-16. So even when i *hopefully* lose the weight again, i have clothes sittin in my wardrobe that will fit me!

Presents are going to be cut, hopefully going to make handmade stuff for everyone this year for Christmas, materials for it will cost about £10 max i think. Then for birthdays in Jan, they will get a little something from the sales and a handmade card! After Jan theres no birthdays till June, so after Jan this can be cut to 0!

Entertainment i have cut to £20 a month in my new budget i made this afternoon. Which allows me £5 a week to play with, or keep it all for 1 night out during the month.

I am going to stop smoking, my mum came back from Spain on Monday and brought me back 200, so when those are gone thats me, i'm off them! Going to try and get my mum to stop with me too!

Zumba is gone already, usually go a mon and tue night and to be honest i didn't miss them this week at all, i mostly missed the social aspect of it.

Driving lessons are going until i can properly afford them, been learning on and off for 2 years now, keep stopping and starting again which is doing me no good. I dropped down to 1 lessson a week during summer, which was the worst choice ever as i didn't remember anything the following week. And to be honest i have lost interest in it for now. I do want to learn, but sometime in the future i have too much on my plate just now with my last year at uni, and all my new debt busting plans.

As for the gym, oh god this is what started it all. Yes i am keeping it, i feel if everything else is pretty much gone i am clinging onto the gym for dear life at the moment! Plus i do have another personal reason for wanting to go. So that is staying.

Again thanks for your comments, sorry for the massive post but i wanted to respond to all your comments. And if you managed to get through all this, you deserve a medal!

littlepinkstars44

vintagegirl wrote: »

sorry i know i keep hijacking but regarding you phone bill, use www.saynoto0870.com
you put in any phone number and it gives you a landline for it. saved me a fortune

Thank you for that, i don't phone any 0845 numbers on my mobile, but i do using the house phone to make minimum payments on my store cards every month, and my mum does get a bit angry about that!

MFWannabe

Hi
You seem very determined and well done for cutting loads out.
I understand totally about the gym. I have weight issues and would hate to have to stop going and mine costs a lot more than yours!! :rotfl:
Plus i vary rarely drink, don't smoke and we don't really go out much so that is my one luxury; so i can completely understand why you want to keep it and those were my reasons for suggesting you should.
Good luck on your debt free journey and keep posting; there are plenty of us here who will be with you along the way offering support

littlepinkstars44

FREEZ wrote: »

Hi
You seem very determined and well done for cutting loads out.
I understand totally about the gym. I have weight issues and would hate to have to stop going and mine costs a lot more than yours!! :rotfl:
Plus i vary rarely drink, don't smoke and we don't really go out much so that is my one luxury; so i can completely understand why you want to keep it and those were my reasons for suggesting you should.
Good luck on your debt free journey and keep posting; there are plenty of us here who will be with you along the way offering support

Thank you so much for that, i really appreciate it. While i do want to shift a bit of my extra weight that i put on over summer, thats not the only reason i go to the gym. I've had a few mental health problems over the years, mainly in my teens, but i can still have my moments here and there. I'm pretty much okay now, but going to the gym, even if i don't really do to much that day it makes me feel really good and positive about myself.
Thats why i am not going to give it up, it means more to me than just exercise.

MFWannabe

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

Thank you so much for that, i really appreciate it. While i do want to shift a bit of my extra weight that i put on over summer, thats not the only reason i go to the gym. I've had a few mental health problems over the years, mainly in my teens, but i can still have my moments here and there. I'm pretty much okay now, but going to the gym, even if i don't really do to much that day it makes me feel really good and positive about myself.
Thats why i am not going to give it up, it means more to me than just exercise.

And that's precisely why people shouldn't judge you for not wanting to give it up; they don't know the full facts.

dancingfairy

Hi LittleMissPinkStars
basically you know what your income is - subtract your fixed bills ie phone, rent etc (essentials only) - subtract your debt payments and what's left is up to you what to do with - you can either try and pay more on your debts or spend it on going out or a mixture.

When you work it out like that you should have quite a bit to spend on what you want.
Good Luck
df

Katie-Kat-Kins

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

No i've got no idea how long it would take to pay everything off, never really thought about. Just as long as it was all going down every month i'd be quite happy i think.

Right then that is your job for today, put all your debts and your minimum payments into the snowball calculator. Have a look and see what you DFD is with making only minimum payments each month and then do a budget where you take all the suggestions made on this thread and work out how much extra you could pay and see what difference it makes.

Also see how much extra you have to pay in interest if you take longer to pay the debt back, and think about what that could buy you, a nice holiday or a second hand car perhaps.

Thinking about your debt free date and the interest you save by repaying early is your motivation everytime you want to spend money on non-essentials.

You need to do this to truely face up to your debts.

You also need to think about what this debt means for your future. The effect it will have when you want to move out of home in a few years, or when you want to buy a car, or get married, or take time off to have a baby. These things may sound years away now but if you don't face up to your debts and deal with them now they will affect these things in your future.

That is why people are getting a bit shouty with you. They see themselves in you, they see the problems their debts have caused them and they want to try and prevent you being 35 with £50k of debt and considering going bankrupt.

Act now, as your debts will only grow and get harder to tackle the longer you leave them.

Tete_en_l'Air

littlepinkstars44 wrote: »

to be honest don't plan on moving out for at least another 2 years. So i have a full 2 years minimum to pay everything off

Further to Katie's post above - you shouldn't just be thinking about paying off your debts by the time you leave home, but also building up some savings for when you do - moving is an expensive business. The once you have moved out it's really hard to save money for anything else! So don't make paying off the debt the only thing you want to have achieved in two years' time.

The only other thing I have to add is that going on your previous threads, you must have a LOT of clothes and toiletries and I bet a good proportion of them are brand new with tags/unopened - you could make a fortune on ebay and pay off at least one of those store cards in one fell swoop - why not challenge yourself to list three things a day? What's the old adage when it comes to clearing out clothes? - If you haven't worn it in six months, you don't need it and won't miss it!