What is your winning formula for 2011?

2011_will_be_debt_free

well done Nads - you must feel great! What a strat to 2011! :-)

Mama_G_3

WOW Asiacat...what an impressive formula! I wish you well in your 2011 journey.

I am new to MSE but I am determined that 2011 will be the year that we sort ourselves out financially. I want to be able to have cleared some CC's, overdraft and get out of the dreaded Barclays Reserve Cycle!

I aim to be more organised in the home and financially. Anything that can be sold will be sold. I will de-clutter the house once a quarter and either put things on eBay / give them to charity / throw them in the bin.

I will make lists for everything. I will make sure I make a shopping list for the supermarket and stick to it! I will also cut down on the takeaways (and lose weight too!!).

I WILL be happier!

All pretty basic really, but this year I am determined to stick to them!!

renovation.girl

Sticking to my nine areas, then nothing gets neglected xx

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2188047 if anyone wants to look

Your list is impressive asiacat xxxxx

Gemmzie

renovation.girl - I love your idea of splitting things into days - I could do with assigning finance, studying and OH a day each. Great idea!

Love the debt diet month idea earlier in the thread too.

My plan for 2011 is to hand my parent's accounts back to their control, buy a flat, get credit card debt free and sell everything in my parent's loft that they'll let me get my hands on!

BusPass_2

Retire.

I have paid off my debts and laid my plans. 2011 is the year it all comes together.

I will be time rich, cash adequate.

If it hadn't been for this board I don't know what future I would have been looking at.

david_hellier

Do a spending diary in 2011 to prevent overspend. The encouragement of overspending by the banks is the main problem with the economy, and they will look for ways to perpetuate this, for example by the introduction of contactless cards. The complete elimination of paper money is their long term aim so we as consumers must pay hawkish attention to exactly how much is available to spend.

One of the best ways to tackle this is to use the weekly subtraction method. Firstly work out all your income. If your income is monthly then divide this by 4.33, this will give you your weekly income. Note it.

Then work out your monthly essential outgoings, but exclude food (more later). Divide this by 4.33 to give you your weekly out goings. Note it.

Take the outgoing figure from the incoming figure. This is the weekly Start amount available to spend on anything else including food.

Get any little notebook ( a spending diary) and write the Start figure in it at the start of the week. As you spend or withdraw cash deduct it as you go. Try to get to the end of the week with some left in it and carry this forward to the next week and add it to the new Start figure.

Using this method ensures you do not overspend. I suggest you include food in the Start figure because the amount we spend on it can vary widely. My personal experience shows allowing a specific amount for food is impractical, however, it's up to you.

This method also requires you to effectively ignore your bank balance, because it is meaningless on a day to day basis. What you should see is it increasing steadily.

Also remember to include any OD charges, interest or other fees in the essential outgoing list, otherwise overspending will continue.

Other top tips: stop using credit cards for further spending and make FIXED repayments, never the minimum.

I have an excel spreadsheet which can work out the Start figure if you PM me with an email address.

Wishing you all a happy new, prosperous, debt free New Year.

Dave

2011_will_be_debt_free

Hey david you might like eager learners spreadsheet. If your interested I will look it out for you and post the link? (to their thread with link to download there)
Ren girl, I might nick your 'days' idea after Iv made more progress in some of my own formula....