This year I have a plan - Getting DF in 2011

debtbegone

Well 2010 turned out to be not the greatest of years for me. I've ended up in the most debt I've ever had, as well as a whole lot of personal stuff that I won't go into (at the moment anyway!) A wee link to my last, rambling diary: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2057327

So New Year, New Start for DBG. I have a little 2 year goal-list to help me crawl my way back out of the hole I've got myself into:

1. To be out of debt
2. To not be living at home
3. [STRIKE]To have my own car and have it on the road![/STRIKE] Achieved Feb 2011 _party_
4. To have a full time, regular paying job that I love
5. To be doing 2nd job p/t (taking in at least £400 a month from it)
6. To be saving for a decent holiday - Paris/New York/etc
7. [STRIKE]To get my weight to around 10st and maintain it[/STRIKE] Achieved Spring/Summer 2011 _party_

Keeping a diary on here is mainly to keep myself motivated, but I love a good yarn about nothing in particular so feel free to join me

This evening I'm going to blitz my room then sit down and work out exactly what it is that I'm planning to do to achieve my goals. At the moment I've got two p/t jobs as well as se work, ideally this year I'd love to have a full time job again so I need to work out a budget based on income at the moment (which will hopefully change soon!)

I've also finally reached upgrade time with my contract phone so I've hunted about, found the best deal for me and am ready to bargain. Aiming for a phone that I like and a decent plan for £15 a month as I'm currently on £25, fingers crossed.

Here's to 2011 being my year

beanielou

Heres to 2011 being your year

[Deleted User]

Hi DBG
Good luck with your DF quest for 2011
P
X

debtbegone

Thanks beanie & palema! Certainly hope 2011 is going to live up to my expectations

Unsurprisingly I didn't manage to wade my way through the mess in my room last night, so it's going to be tackled again tonight. I was back to work today, could really have done with another couple of days off but nevermind!

I've decided I'm going to attempt to earn an extra £5 for every day in 2011, giving me £1825 to aim for. Moneymaking plans include using quidco, jpj, surveys, taking any extra hours at work, and ebaying/amazoning once the madness of the festive season calms down.

And as I'm back earning regular dosh I'm going to get back into padding, stashing it away in my "savings" :rotfl: account and paying it off the hbos card at the end of each week.

Oooh, just checked my bank account and I've been refunded for a bus journey I was unable to take at the start of the month, £37! Fab, as I thought I'd lost that completely.

Doing well at avoiding splurging in the sales, I've got everything I need so just because it's a bargain does not mean I've got to have it

Hope everyone's having a nice lull before the Ney Year crazyness begins!

Purpleroses

Happy new diary me dear! Good luck with your goals. Hope you are having a nice xmas

debtbegone

Thanks purple, quiet one for me here. Hope you're having a good one yourself, must be exciting to be bringing the New Year in with no debt

Today's been spent at work, then starting to sort through bits for the ebay/amazon/car boot pile!

I'm hoping to have my new-to-me car this week, if all goes to plan (it didn't last week so I'm not getting myself too excited yet) It needs work doing to it before I get it on the road, but once the work's done it should be worth a fair bit more than I paid for it and would also be number 3 on my list ticked off. Plan for it is to have the car on the road by the end of January at the latest, relying on buses/walking/cycling in the howling wind & rain/lifts from others is starting to take it's toll after 6 months without a car of my own, silly rural living :rotfl:

Tonight I'm going to get 5 pics and descriptions drawn up ready to list stuff once the weekend is out of the way. Really tired tonight as I've not been sleeping properly the past few days so I don't want to do millions that I know I won't get done.

debtbegone

I've listed myself a few wee bits on bin's, stuff that should be ok at the time of the year & with the weather but we'll see!

More sorting through stuff for me today, making piles:

*To wash for selling
*To chuck
*For selling (books etc)

I've got a long day at work tomorrow and my NYE will most likely be spent sleeping. No plans for heading out and I'm really not in the mood for celebrations of any kind, even seeing the back of 2010

Anyone got any plans?

david_hellier

Plan 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

debtbegone

Thanks Dave, I've got a wee pocket diary already for my spends, have £20 for "myself" each week, leaving the cards at home etc. Hoping 2011 will be the year I'm free

I've got 4 hours overtime today but I really, really, really don't want to do it. I'm so tired, I need a bath and I'd just like to hibernate till teatime tomorrow. Still it'll be an extra £20ish in my pay packet next month (if they get my hours right!)

I managed to make more than my minimum payments this month to the cards, not by anywhere near as much as I'd hoped but an improvement all the same. Can't wait to total it all up afresh in Jan and really get going with the attack of the hbos

Have a great NYE everyone!

Purpleroses

Happy New Year when it comes. I hope 2011 is a great year for you

debtbegone

Thanks purple, hope you had a great hogmanay and that 2011 will be a fab one

I've spent the last couple of days just lazying about as I've not got "festive" holidays from work at all, today's the first real day of the New Year and I'm planning to get cracking with some more sorting through stuff, I don't have a clue how I manage to amass so much rubbish!

My hbos card currently stands at £4775.70 (before interest is added for this month) and I'm GOING to have it below four grand by the end of the month so I'd better get cracking.