A Budgeteers Quest to be Debt Free & Mortgage Free By 40

DedicatedDFW

Hi everyone

Well, it was a good thing I didn't transfer too much over to my bill and leave myself short.

I have put a plan in place and aim to clear TARGET 1 - in my sig in 2 mths - basically I want it gone by 04/03/11 :eek::eek::eek: I CAN DO IT!

Typically, as soon as I had sketched out my plan, and even left a bit of wiggle room :cool: The phone went and I have lost some hours in my p/t work Then my transport costs increased Eep! These things come in 3's - turns out a final payment to a utility bill some time ago was in fact not a final payment :mad:

However, I am determined :cool: So have my plan all sketched out and want to start seeing the difference in the next few days. To reach the target - which is today £2038.52 ( as this will alter as payments are made and interest is added) I need to be ruthless and aim to find and e-bay 130 items in the month of Jan and again in Feb. Alot of things will be 99p start and then there will be a few more expensive things so that if everything doesn't sell then it should even itself out to £260. I currently have made a start with the 30 items i re-listed but these didn't sell previously so i need to be realistic So, starting now, as I head up to bed I am going to rummage about and put 5 things in a box each day to give me 30 things for the weekend I will keep this up right up until the end of Feb - though may need to get the final batch on before then so I can get the funds in :rotfl::rotfl:

So this is £260 of £2038.52 - this £260 is the uncertain budget - the rest is from regular payments over 2months, p/t income, MS (slightly uncertain), cut-back on shopping and other items I have listed on my plan but its not here Gah! lol

Night all x

InaPickle

Wow, that's certainly a plan Dedicated! Best of luck!

As for your relisted Ebay things, some things do sell a second or even third time they are listed: I guess it's just a case of the right person looking for the right thing at the right time!

DedicatedDFW

Evening everybody

- a quick post before bed - and finding the next 5 ebay items

Pickle - hope you're right - have a couple of watchers on things but these are all only 99p start price items that i will be happy to receive 99p for and have been listed several times already

Nice to 'see' you pickle - will have a look out for your thread

So this is more of an update so I know where I am at :rotfl::rotfl: Did some p/t work today so was transferring this amount over to my Target 1 and then saw the balance had gone up from the other day :eek::eek::eek: Some investigation showed the interest being applied So I am not sub 2k on this as I was hoping to be. However, I will be making another payment to this tomorrow and also a couple of the other Targets so my total paid will increase and I will be below 2k at long last. :j:j

The good news, and part of the reason I need to post to keep track :rotfl::rotfl: is that I picked up a sale item for someone else, they were due to give me the money but then changed their mind which is fine so I returned the item and had forgotten about the refund I was expecting This meant I could transfer a bit more off Target 1 which is fab

DedicatedDFW

This week I have not managed to pick up a single extra paying MS - but have got a nice meal lined up

Had a totally long and bleurgh day but the Good Things are:

Got re-paid a couple of pound which I am owed but was not expecting

Got to see my OH - only briefly mind but still

Received a £5 voucher as requested

Enjoyed some reading

AND

Drum Roll...

I made a further payment and am now sub £2K on my 1st target! :j:j:j I cannot remember the last time it was at this level

InaPickle

Woo hoo, Dedicated - good stuff!

DedicatedDFW

Hi all - Thanks Pickle

I will try and be good and do a better update this weekend - though I will be busy listing away on e-bay :cool:

Just popped in to keep track of where I am up to - further payment made to a/c as required yeesh! and somehow I managed to set up a savings account at the same time :eek::D Well, if I don't start to budget for the more expensive stuff then I'll never get the hang of this budgeteering It is / was part of my resolutions for the New Year so really do need to pop on here and do a progress report for week 1 :j

jwil

well done on getting below £2k - those barriers are so motivating once you break them!

Good luck with the ebay sales, you have set yourself some challenging targets but you can do it!

I need to get some more listed on there, I've only done relists recently, and they are not going particularly well. I'm hoping for a free listing day soon too!

DedicatedDFW

Thanks Jwil

Okay, a more detailed post as promised.

This week has been work, work and more work. Coupled with not sleeping very well at all this has made me feel very tired.

Today I have been very slowly making progress by:

Taking control of pot mountain
Sorting all the rubbish for the various bins
Now up to 36 listed items on e-bay - most are re-lists but am hopeful I had sorted more items to list (make-up) but seeing the prices are very low I may as well keep it and use it as it is nicer than my usual stuff and the amount made from sales would not even cover the £8 I usually spend on a replacement. :cool:
Moved 4 items to their correct place :A
Ah well much to be done!

I have made progress on my resolutions by ordering wool ready for next month and working on knitting though I am not as far along as I'd like to be.

I have opened my saving account.

I have reduced some debts

Hmm, had wanted to work on the CV this weekend but will have more time - and hopefully energy - next week :cool:
I have been reading away for my OU course

jwil

You've been busy DDFW. What OU course are you doing out of interest? I've studied with them for years, but haven't done anything for the last two. I should really as I'm one course away from a 2nd degree, but I just can't afford it at the moment.

DedicatedDFW

Hi Everyone

Been a while since I have posted. I have been reading most days but have had very little time to myself in the week so have not been posting.

Hi Jwil - i am studying literature - what did you study?

Well, I have a huge list of things to accomplish over this weekend - best get cracking then :rotfl::rotfl: