2011 - the year of no spending ?

Flat_Eric

Hi. this will be a short and sweet post just to introduce myself (Hi, I'm Flat Eric :j lovely to meet you ) and to record in black and white that I want to return to this post in a year's time to report that I don't have anything on my credit card (If I do, I also have the money to pay it off) and that when I get paid, it won't get eaten up by my overdraft.

I'm not sure what 2011 will bring nor am I sure I will succeed in my aims but I will give it a damn good try.

I will pop back regularly to let you all know how I am getting on.

see you soon :j

fingersxed

Hi flat Eric

I also want to get out of the overdraft circle. Started on it nearly 3yrs:eek: ago and although we sometimes get it down abit theres always another crisis to boost it back up again. Last month was the final payment on one of ur 2 loans so i am hopin for miracles. hopin to clear my credit card, get out the overdraft AND save some money. Pigs might fly haha

Good luck n look forward to readin more from u:beer:

pointypenguin

Hi Flat Eric

I have just read your other threads and want to echo what others have said that imposing too many rules and being too strict seems to be setting yourself up for failure. I think you have now realised this. Hopefully this challenge will be one for you to get you where you want to go.

Have you thought of doing the challenge on a month-by-month basis that way you can account for any things that come up like birthdays, big nights out or holidays?

Happy new diary and I wish you all the success in the world, just remember you can do this and one set back doesn't mean you have failed you only fail if you stop trying.

patman99

Well, you've made the first step. Just keep us posted.

Flat_Eric

Some last minute present buying on my credit card has seen the balance increase by almost another £100.00 making a total due and owing now of £985.90. By the time the payment protection and interest get added at the end of this month then my balance due is going to be over £1000. if I had been following my money [STRIKE]spending[/STRIKE] saving plan that I had in my head earlier in the year then I should be credit card debt free, not facing 2011 with a balance of over £1000.

Anyway its done now and there is not much I can do about it. Well there is actually, I have frozen my credit card. :j. Its in a little lock n lock box snuggled in a bed of frozen water and has taken up residence rent free in its new home . It will only be allowed out when I have reduced my credit card balance to zero.

Once all my amazon purchases have been received then I will be deleting the credit card details from amazon so that no more can be spent on my credit card until I have achieved the zero balance.

I know its probably quite unconventional but I am going to make the minimum payments on my credit card until I have cleared my overdraft which I think will take a couple of months. I know this will mean more interest etc but its the first step in getting myself financially sorted, once I am overdrawn, I seem to lose the plot and spend more money ? So the idea is that I clear my overdraft then work on my credit card. This time next year, I won't be having the financial hangover of the credit card in 2012 that I am going to have in 2011.

Flat_Eric

Will use this post to keep track of reducing my credit card balance to zero while my credit card resides in its new home :j


Balance as at 18 December 2010: £985.90
Balance as at 31 December 2010: £1015.94
Less payment made 31/12/10: - £60
balance now : £955.94
Balance as at 27 January 2011: £1031.00
Less payment made 30/1/11: - £150.00 :T
Balance now : £881.00

comment - 30 Jan 2011 - must make decent payments rather than stupid little ones - even if this leaves me overdrawn. I think I pay more for my credit card debt than I do my overdraft facility so makes sense to utilize overdraft to ensure a decent payment is made.

Flat_Eric

I haven't posted much recently but thought that since 2011 is almost upon us that I should pop on and update you all as to how I am getting on.

Not very well is the simple answer !

I seem to have this mad obsession with buying stuff so when it comes to birthdays and Christmas - it just isn't the same. When I was little, I didn't get much pocket money (£10 a month off my parents and £1.50 a week off a neighbour) so if there was something that I wanted, I had to wait for it. Fast forward to now and I simply dig out the credit card.

This Christmas, I repeated my usual trick of finding stuff I wanted, ordering it (despite the fact that my credit card is at an all time high / I was already overdrawn) and justifying to myself that I am going to be getting some cash for xmas - will buy now and the cash received can pay me back ! except when I got said cash, I found more stuff to buy !!!

The previous threads I started listed rules I was to abide by and with this new thread, I haven't set any because if I don't have any rules to follow, I can't break any. my only aim is that this time next year, I will be in a much better financial position than I am now. I.e. - there will be nothing on my credit card, I will not be overdrawn when I get paid at the end of December 2011 and I will have some savings / a rainy day fund.

I'll keep you posted !

DawnW

Flat Eric, you mentioned payment protection on your credit card - are you sure you would ever be able to claim on this? I understand that many people can't, eg if on fixed term contracts and they don't get renewed etc. Have you read the small print? I know things have improved more recently (probably in some measure due to this site) but at one time the banks were pushing everyone to take this out, even if they would never be able to claim on it if things went wrong for them.

Good luck with your challenge. Another thought - of you are always buying 'stuff' you must have lot of it - is there anything you could sell to give you a head start on the overdraft?

Flat_Eric

DawnW wrote: »

Flat Eric, you mentioned payment protection on your credit card - are you sure you would ever be able to claim on this? I understand that many people can't, eg if on fixed term contracts and they don't get renewed etc. Have you read the small print? I know things have improved more recently (probably in some measure due to this site) but at one time the banks were pushing everyone to take this out, even if they would never be able to claim on it if things went wrong for them.

Good luck with your challenge. Another thought - of you are always buying 'stuff' you must have lot of it - is there anything you could sell to give you a head start on the overdraft?

I haven't read the small print but will look into this = thank you. umm yes intend to sort bits and pieces out so may have stuff to sell :j

Flat_Eric

It day 1 of 2011 and I have already been tempted into ordering some of those soft grip pegs from lakeland (well actually I thought about ordering some the other day but I have avoided the site because 2 packs of pegs would turn into £59 + of stuff just to get the free item/free delivery ?:mad:?

I have also been looking at getting some new stock pots today ?! umm why ? I have two big pots already that I use for my batch cooking and just because I overestimated the chilli today (the pan was full to the brim!) I don't need to waste £25 odd on more pots when I can just be a bit careful next time and put less in the pot !

I spent the last part of 2010 not buying many toiletries but did treat myself to some half price original source shower gels in wilkinsons the other day and I also treated myself to some lush goodies as well as getting some for xmas also so I'm sure I have enough to keep me going probably until the summer !

As for my crafting stuff, well I definitely don't need to buy any more and it will be interesting to see if I can resist the temptation to add to my stash in 2011 and instead make do.

If I am to sort my finances out then I need to think hard about all my purchases and whether as the title suggest simply make do/use up

Are any of you giving up something in 2011 ??