Cup_Cake's Debt Free Journey...

Cup_Cake

Keeping_Positive wrote: »

Hello :wave:

How are you?

Hi KP,
Everythings good over here! How are things with you?

I know i've been a little MIA lately but to be honest I feel like my diary just turned into me talking about random things, not at all money saving!! I feel bad because I can't pay any off my debts!!

On a positive note DB has an interview in 20 minutes and they have said that if they like him they could have a job offer on the table by tonight. I have everything crossed for this as it would mean paying off the debts, buying a new car and saving a little money. Everyone send some positive vibes for him .

DB gets paid sometime this week and I can then make my first payment to the debts and I will be back with my progress when i've done it. About time ey .

Speak soon,
Cup_Cake xx

Keeping_Positive

hope the interview went well

Cup_Cake

Hi all,

So a few ups and a few downs over the past week or so.

- DB didn't get the job .

+ As you can tell from the signature I have finally paid off some debts as DB got paid today.
I've paid £450 off my overdraft and £50 off my credit card. I also paid £50 onto DB's OD1 as this was getting dangerously close to going over the overdraft limit so I thought it would be best to top that up just in case.

- DB was emergency taxed so ended up paying 50% tax on his earnings which meant that i'm down £400 :mad: and he paid £1500 tax in total (how unbelievable is that!!!!) Fuming is not the word!!!
The reason for this is because he changed umberella companies as the previous one was rubbish and the new one haven't sent DB's P46 to HMRC on time. DB either needs to fill in a tax return in April (which we can't afford yet) or he will get the tax back when he gets paid from his next contract. Next contract it is then...

+ My diet has started again today and i'm feeling really positive about it which is good. I have the exercise bike at the ready so it's all systems go.

+ A couple of contracts on the horizon for DB. One is for £200 to start in 2 weeks time so keep your fingers crossed.
They are all local too which is a double +.

+ My shares have come through and are currently worth £300 which is nice.
I'm also thinking of putting £50 onto some shares which i've been recommended to do. I will do this with my bonus.

+ 9 days until bonus day. I should receive around £750 and this is going straight onto my credit card so that should pay most of that off.

It's good to see that there are more positives than negatives. Especially actually paying off some debts :T.

I promise to make more of an effort with my diary from now on,

Cup_Cake xxx

Keeping_Positive

Whoo hoo on the debt clearing. Really sorry to hear about DB not getting the job though. Im sure something better will come along.

Cup_Cake

Keeping_Positive wrote: »

Whoo hoo on the debt clearing. Really sorry to hear about DB not getting the job though. Im sure something better will come along.

Hey KP,

There seem to be a couple of jobs in the pipe line so we're keeping out fingers crossed for those.

Money is going ok at the moment. I seem to be spending less on rubbish tit tat at work which is saving me a fortune. Only really spending bus fare which must be done!

I've been nice and healthy today and i've done my exercise as well so things seem to be going in the right direction.

DB's out at the moment and im sat here hungry so i'm going to bob and get something to eat before shower and early night for me.

Also forgot to add, my lovely mum has offered to pay to take me away for my birthday this year. We've decided on a girly holiday to Spain from Monday to Friday at the end of June. This of course means that I need to start saving now but as we're going all inclusive I shouldn't need too much spending money. I think i'll aim for £200 but if I don't reach that I will take some out of my savings, after all it is for enjoying. I highly doubt I will need that much anyway as it's only 5 days but better safe than sorry.

I hope everyone is well, Cup_Cake xx

Cup_Cake

Wow, it's been a while. Is anyone still out there?

So what's been going on? (Warning mammoth post to follow)

I managed to save £500 of my bonus, the rest of which paid off various bits and bobs.
Of course that means that I should have £1500 saved which my signature shows I dont. I've been a little naughty which is why I guess i've been avoiding MSE for a couple of weeks.

I've booked 2 holidays in this time .
The first one is the one which i've told you about before with my mum to Benidorm at the end of June. She paid for all but £50 of this. I've paid the £50 out of my savings. I also need to pay for parking which is £26 and i'll need some euros (thinking around £150 just to be on the safe side). I don't know where this is coming from yet but i'm not worrying about this as i'll be paid twice before then and I can use my wage for these.

The second one is for me and DB to Turkey over easter for 10 days. This was £800 which i've paid for with my savings. We're getting the bus to the airport as it isn't far away so it shouldn't cost more than £5. It's all inclusive so we're taking £200 worth of lira but hopefully shouldn't need to spend all of it. The exchange rate on the lira is excellent at the moment as well at 2.4 to the pound. We went to Turkey in 2008 and it was 1.4 to the pound. We also need £20 for visas when we get there.

The MOT is due on the car shortly so we've decided that instead of throwing what we guess will be £500 at it, we're going to sell it while we can and buy another car with 12 months MOT on it. We're guessing this will cost around £300 on top of the money we make from the sale of our current car.

DB still isn't working, although he has a days work (£150) in France next Friday which is quite exciting. I've bought him £25's worth of euros to take with him and any which he doesn't spend I will save to take with me to Benidorm.

The new job is still going well and i'm going away with work the week after next. I will have to buy the food whilst im there and claim it back in expenses but i'll pay for this on my credit card and put it back when I get it.

I don't think there is anything else really. I'm going to make sure I post more regularly especially seen as the next couple of months need to be extra frugal!

I'll need to start posting a spending diary me thinks so i'll start this tomorrow. Mothers day tomorrow so i'm just planning on cooking for my mum as DB is out for most of the day.

I hope everyone is well?
Cup_Cake xxx

Forgot to add, I still have my £300 in shares for absolute emergencies!

Keeping_Positive

Holidays sound great. Dont be anooyed at booking them as you have 1)used savings not cc and 2) planned where most of the money is coming from so no dreaded cc bills.

Glad to hear the job going well/ Expenses can be good but I find it hard to make sure I dont overspend and keep track. I did enjoy my hotel meal the other day though :beer:

Cup_Cake

Keeping_Positive wrote: »

Holidays sound great. Dont be anooyed at booking them as you have 1)used savings not cc and 2) planned where most of the money is coming from so no dreaded cc bills.

Glad to hear the job going well/ Expenses can be good but I find it hard to make sure I dont overspend and keep track. I did enjoy my hotel meal the other day though :beer:

Thanks KP,
You're right, i've been feeling guilty about booking the holidays but at least they haven't meant getting into more debt. I will just have to be extra careful now to budget for the little 'extras' and not stick them on the cc.

I've had a lovely day today, I cooked a meal for my mum this afternoon and then after she left I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house.

Total spends today were £10. £3 on a mothers day teddy and £7 on groceries for the meal. Worth every penny to see my mum looking so happy!

So the house is now spotless so i'm spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Next week is going to be busy so i'm enjoying the last day of the weekend. I'm also going to pop over and see my dad later on today.

Anyway, not much to say today so i'll get going. Hope everyone is enjoying the last of their weekends,
Cup_Cake xx

Cup_Cake

Hi internets, I hope everyones well!

Wow it's been aaaages since I last posted. Money last month was not good but i've sorted this out now and hope to be better this month!

Soo what's been going on?...
- DB GOT A CONTRACT!!!
I'm soo happy for him! It's a 12 month contract and pays £200 a day and even better it's only 20 minutes away! It means we can finally pay off all the debts and start a savings account. He starts on 17th May so I can see an increase in diary activity as the debts begin to get paid off.
- We got a new car!
This cleared the remainder of the savings account but the old car was due an MOT and would have cost waaay more to MOT than the new car was to buy.
- We're going on holiday today!
Yes holiday time is finally here. This is part of the reason I posted as I didn' want my diary to be inactive for another 11 days.
- My new(ish) job is going really well!
Although there arn't enough hours in the day i'm really enjoying myself and it's keeping me challenged which is fab!

They're the main things although quite an eventful couple of weeks for us.

Money is looking a little bit... well... little this month but i'm going to see how much we spend on holiday and do damage control from then on. For now i'm going to forget about money and just enjoy myself for 11 days.

Now I need to toddle off and find a way to get to the airport, have a lovely easter everyone and enjoy the royal wedding if you're going to watch it!

Speak when I get back,
Cup_Cake xxx

Keeping_Positive

So glad to hear things going well for you was wondering where you were.

Have a great time xx