I Will Will Will Do It This Time!

cakelover_2

After some inspiration from people on this site, I have decided now is the time to start my own debt busting diary. I haven't really considered it before but after realising some things about the money I owe and through being inspired by people on this site, I've decided that I must stop procrastinating and get my debt cleared. I'm very good at starting things like diaries and not finishing but if I have a debt busting diary here I will feel more inclined to keep it up.
I have over the last few years been paying a bank loan, which will be paid off in April 2012. I also have a credit card which is going to be the main focus of my diary - as there is no set time to pay off credit cards like bank loans, I want to pay it off as quickly as possible, with my aim to be April 2012 to coiincide with my loan, however I would love it to be as much before then as possible! I'm not sure of the exact figure as I need transfer a balance (as we seemed to have got a bit conned on holiday with our car rental. We paid before we went but when we got there we had to pay approx $108 dollars more for breakdown cover. This wasn't in the notes when we paid for the rental and it said it was optional, but one of those things I guess where if we didn't take it, we would have broken down!). The approximate final figure on my card will be £2729.20, but when this bill comes in, I will add it to my sig. I am currently on 0% on the card. My OH is very good and doesn't have any debts, so I will only be referring to my own outgoings in my diary.
I will be starting slowly until the new year when the I have more cash after the festivities. I have a budget spreadsheet which I have had since about March and I have already set it up for the whole of next year. I will also be transferring this to a diary to keep in my bag so I have it on hand incase I need to refer to it. I am very good at budgeting normally but at the moment I am actually buying food on my credit card then paying it back out of my bank with our allocated food money, just so I have enough for the minimum every month, however come January I will have enough in my budget to not have to do this.
I have ideas to help me make extra money - largely ideas from this site such as cashback sites, free bingo (though I may be giving up on this, it doesn't seem to want to give me the free scratchcards anymore so I may take my £20 that's in there and forget about that), survey sites (started that a long time ago and haven't logged on for a long time!), ebaying/selling stuff I own that I no longer need/want, saving my 5ps, 2ps and 1ps and paying them off the card. I want to start comping too and I will be trawling this site for more ideas. I am also taking a cake decoration course next year as eventually I would love to have my own cake decorating business. I would also love to start a cottage industry and I am hoping that I can start making money through this. I just need to decide what I want to make and sell. I am already set up as self employed as I have done some mystery shopping, which is one of the things I need to get back into. I am also going to look into our food shop and about making dinners from scratch. As OH will be home later from work than I am now, maybe it will be nice for at least half the time to make him some nice fresh hearty dinners which I can prep whilst he is on his way home. I've heard making meals from scratch can be cheaper which sounds good to me.

So as a start today, I decided I would go shopping at Somerfield instead of Waitrose as this should be cheaper. OH wanted pickle and I found a big jar that was approx 20p cheaper than the smaller one, don't really understand why but now OH has a large jar for less money After getting my shop I did realise that the pasta I bought was about 75p, whereas Watrose is actually about 55p, so maybe the shops work out around the same in the end? It's my birthday next week and normally we go out for a meal, however we are watching our cash extra at the mo due to Christmas and OH starting a new job which means instead of walking he needs to drive. It's more money though and there is a possibility of him car sharing but we just need to monitor the petrol cost and budget accordingly, so instead of paying to go out for a meal I am thinking of using our Tesco vouchers to get a nice free meal.

I will will will clear this debt!!!

haz08

Hi cakelover!

Just wanted to wish you luck on your debt busting quest!! I started my diary today too. At the moment I am feeling really focused. Cooking from scratch is definitely cheaper. I often try to cook double what we need too so I can feeze some for nights when I don't have as much time. The 'old style' board on here is full of ideas. I need to go through some of the posts on there and refresh my memory of what I should be doing!

Good luck!

Little_bit_dizzy

Good luck cakelover! Will pop back for updates, so see you again soon!

Sea78

HI!

I think that Waitrose is generally more expensive than other supermarkets - have you any other supermarkets nearby? Maybe Asda or tesco?

Look forward to reading more from you. You seem very motivated! Perhaps a slow cooker would be an idea - you could set the meal to start before work and then finish it off with the extra bits before OH gets home?

Sea xx

bluejeans53

Hiya Cakelover,

Thanks for popping onto my diary. Good Luck on your plans. I will be popping in and out and watching your progress. I find writing in my diary keeps me focused.

mom23

Hi Cakelover
Keep focused and really stick with your debt busting.

I had my LBM in jan 2006 and joined MSE full of good intentions ,(i had debts but nothing like i have now) if i had stuck with it i would have been debt free in 2011 now i am prob going to be drawing my pension:eek:
Good luck and keep posting x

cakelover_2

Thanks for all your replies, it's great to hear that people are reading, it's very motivating too!
Haz - I forgot about the Old Style board so I will have to take a look over there, thanks for reminding me.
Sea - We have a Waitrose, a Somerfield/CO-OP (will call this SC to save writing) and Iceland here. We normally do our monthly shop at the beggining of the month at Tesco's which is about 15mins drive away, then we go to Waitrose, SC or Iceland to get the bits we need in between. I was always pretty against Waitrose as it can be pretty expensive, but SC has gone down a bit, at least the one here and now Waitrose have brought in the Essentials range some things are actually cheaper there, like pasta. However, Iceland can be very good for cheap brand stuff like tea bags, so I think I am going to have to hunt around for the cheapest things. I've never really considered a slow cooker either but someone at work has also said they are great and can cut down your electric (is this true?). Have looked them up in the Argos catalogue and they are not as expensive as I thought. If I get any Christmas money am thinking I could get one with this, though I do like to spoil myself with Christmas money
I forgot to mention yesterday that I was savvy and bought my Dad's birthday present, a DVD, through a cashback site we get through work. Only saved me about 30p, but every penny helps!:T
Today I was a little naughty a bought a donught, I completely forgot that I was trying to be good, so naughty me! However I have brought in the rest of my lunch and will be eating dinner from what we have at home tonight. Tonight I am meeting the girls for a catch up. It's so hard to get all of us 7 together when we are free, so I am looking forward to that. I will be driving and therefore drinking soft drinks, so it will be a very cheap night.
Does anyone know where we could get a cheap (or even free?) carbon monoxide monitor? Our's seems to have concked out on us.

CL

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi Cakelover,

Popped over from my diary to wish you luck on your debt busting journey.

I have just bought a 6.5l Morphy Richards Slow Cooker from Argos reduced to £20 and it is brilliant. A good idea is to make chilli or spag bol in it, 450g of mince bulked out with grated carrot, lentils and oats as well as the usual ingredients easily feeds 5 of us for 2 meals!! Even better as I got whoopsied minced pork in Morrisons the other day for 15p, made a lovely chilli. So definately recommend you get an SC. If you get one like mine you can cook a whole chicken in it (cooks beautifully) or a leg of lamb etc.

Give all of the value brands a try too, chopped toms are chopped toms whether they cost 31p or 99p and the value pickle is great for sandwiches as the chuncks are smaller and it only costs pennies.

321

cakelover_2

Thanks 321.
There is only OH and I in our household but if you can cook whole chickens or legs of lamb in it and if I can make enough to freeze some it sounds worth having a bigger SC (I have seen 3.5l and 6.5l and wasn't sure which to go for). :beer:

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

ALways better to go for the biggest size (you don't HAVE to fill it after all) you can batch cook then and freeze meals for another day when you don't have so much time (and would have perhaps opted for a takeaway or ready meal in the past). SC's are also great if you have friends round as you can put it on a forget about it. Also means you can cook cheap joints of meat and they taste great and turn out really tender.

Good luck with everything, this is such a great site and everyone is so helpful and supportive and there is so much great advice on here.

321

cakelover_2

Made some positive steps towards the debt busting today, nothing major, but some small steps to being able to save and bring in the extra cash. Had a look on Ebay to see when the next free listing day is, couldn't see it so decided I should log in but didn't know my log in details so I have now changed them and can get into my account. Still can't find when the next free listing day is but at least now I can keep my eye out for it. Next up is sorting out my paypal account which I know has about £8 in it and has done for a long time due to not being able to get into my account, even after making every effort to sort it! I will try again and this time succeed!
Got some Christmas cards today, was very pleased as originally I saw 30 for £3 which in itself I thought was pretty good. However we went Tesco's (after having a pretty much free meal at Pizza hut curtesy of someone at OH's old work who gave him a voucher when he left - all we needed to pay was £5.20) and I saw they were doing 3 for 2 box sets of cards and managed to pick up 100 for £4, which could last us next year as well :T. Also looked at slow cookers to see if there were any we could get with our clubcard vouchers. Had some in there but none we wanted so we will keep looking, may wait till we have a little more money to get one we want. I think I should see it as an investment so want to get one we want and not just the cheapest that doesn't have as many settings. That might not sound very DFW, but I want one we can use lots and that will hopefully last for a long time.
So small steps today, but it all counts.