Lisa's Debt Diary - The Beginning!

lvm

So, I have had a mega productive day today so I'm very happy!

Went to the bank and put £183.80 gas/elec refund cheques in and £340 cash (leftover from holiday). Did lots of little transfers to bring my Car expense savings up to £900 (target of £1000) and holiday savings up to £501.62 (way off my target and have put holidays on hold anyway so that's ok!). Have changed my Crimbo savings account into a "Betting Profit" account which I've put £250 in but won't report that as some of it is my Mum's profit and will be using it so often it will change all the time.

I've requested a new Direct Savings account from RBS and this will be my new "Virtual Savings" account for 2012. Will make sure every other account I have is rounded down to nearest £10 and any surplus will be put here.

And the most exciting news of all today - I phoned up Halifax and increased my mortgage from £220 to £250 commencing end of December :j:j:j. I know this still isn't a lot but with an interest rate of 3.5% and with my Dad giving me 10%, I shouldn't really be increasing it at all. But it makes me feel better knowing that I'm doing something useful .

I've also accepted a mystery shop for Sunday - another blooming eye test!! What is it with me doing these eye test assignments?!? Only get £8 for it but the thing is, it's the same place I went to last summer and they've been writing to me constantly to tell me I'm overdue. And also, apparently I have a little mole at the back of my eye so at least they can check their records and see if it's changed.

Got to put some wee expense claims in next week (after ANOTHER drive down South) and that should come in around £350 I think.

Crimbo pressie update:

Mum and Dad - all sorted apart from a £26 DVD player I need to buy (still not got the Amazon voucher I wanted to use)
2 friends completely sorted
1 friend half sorted - need to find some cheap Nails Inc stuff (wish I'd bought the ones I saw in TKmaxx last week!)
Another friend - still no idea what to get but hope I'll get some hints from him soon so not worried about that.

I've got my Motorbike CBT this Sat/Sun so I'm really excited about that. Hope the weather stays dry for it. Still hoping I'll be able to sit the full tests in the next 30 days to avoid the big car insurance premium. Will see what the instructor says at the weekend!

As the insurance is now due in under a month, I'll be able to check out some accurate quotes so going to get on to that just now. Going to also have a look for some good second hand bikes available as well.

I've been doing a bit of research into buying 3/4 bed houses or flats for when I eventually have a good enough deposit and can get a mortgage. There are some quite good value places available and I should be in a better position than I am now by letting out the other 2/3 rooms and renting out my current flat. Just wish I could hurry up and do it!

Anyway, this post has rambled on enough I think so I'm going to go and do a little bit of work then check some insurance stuff out!

Til later! xx

lvm

Payday has arrived and all my little transfers have been sorted and it's more good news...

My main savings account (the one where I'm saving for a house deposit) has broken the £10k barrier and now stands at £10, 130! :j:j:j

A few other little transfers means my car savings are now at £1200 - this is likely to be used to buy a motorbike and insurance. Saying that though, I think I would be able to get around £1200 for my car and my parents will transfer me my insurance money (not knowing that it's for a bike and not a car!). My holiday savings are up to £618.79 although I really don't know what I'm doing with this. I've kind of lost all plans for a holiday - suppose it'll come in handy at some point.

On the down side, I've gone a little "Black Friday" crazy and have spent £24.99 (Zumba set for Mum) + £18.10 (Olay stuff for Mum) + £20 (Skechers trainers for me) = £63.09. I have stuck it on a credit card so I don't need to think about it til next pay day.

So with the higher than usual CC payments next month, I'm going to have to rely on some expense claims to be able to pay my first £1k monthly savings payment. Bit of a bummer and will need to get my spending down a bit. Haven't even finished Crimbo shopping yet.

Got a little email from Sky telling me that my vouchers are on their way though - no idea what to buy with £100 though as I don't shop there and won't be buying xmas pressies there. Don't really wanna sell them as I want the full value. I suppose xmas dinner is an option.

Seem to have received a few good betting offers over last couple of days so that's maybe about an extra £50ish I could be getting myself.

Anyway...off to stick the heating on (gutted about that!) and catch up on some TV.

Laters! x

Cherryjack

wonderfull news on the house deposit!! its so worth it, ive got a 3bed rental property it was let in May and im now starting to see a nice return and its very exciting.. so keep going it will hopefully get me out of debt shortly..
Xmas im there with you aswell.. i have a budget left but its so hard with loved ones to put a cap on it.. i keep thinking mum has to buy us 3 lots of presents compared to us just buyng for her.. the guilt sets in! im off to B & M this morning to see if i can find some top up stuff for her

Have a good weekend

lvm

Just back from a full day of motorbike lesson and I'm freezing and tired. Just a wee 3 hour lesson tomorrow morning - soooo hoping that there are no problems because if I fail the thing, it's another £60 to do it again and I definitely don't want to be paying that. Some of the stuff does seem a bit confusing - and driving around pretending cones are pavements and corners doesn't help! Apparently the leather gloves I bought aren't adequate either so have had to put up with the school's ones. At least I'll wear my own when I eventually get a bike.

Got home to find my £100 M&S vouchers arrive already so well chuffed about that!

Off to put something on for my dinner now - I'm starving!

lvm

I PASSED

I PASSED

I PASSED

:j:j:j:j:j

Motorbike CBT done and dusted and have my next bit of training and tests booked for January. I'm thinking that I won't be going on any long drives or anything during the awful winter weather so still slightly tempted to get rid of the car - not 100% sure though.

Been looking for bikes in my area but nothing really suitable at a cheap price (don't want to spend a fortune as I reckon I'll end up selling it on and getting a bigger bike after I pass the next tests).

So, that's my exciting news of the weekend!

Off to do some packing for tomorrow.

Night night x

weebear

Hi - well done you have done amazing!!

Can you explain the betting and shop and scan to me?? Sounds good Thanks x

lvm

weebear wrote: »

Hi - well done you have done amazing!!

Can you explain the betting and shop and scan to me?? Sounds good Thanks x

Hey, thanks!!

Shop and Scan - register here and you've just got to hope that they invite you to join http://www.volunteer4panels.com/ You just scan your shopping every week and upload a picture of your receipt and that makes you £1.60. When you get to £10 (10000 points) you can withdraw it in vouchers (Debenhams I go for but they do Arcadia, restaurants etc).

Betting - check out THIS thread. I didn't actually find that the easiest to understand and thought the Freebets4all website was better. You need to have a good ready through everything before trying it though but it's definitely worth it!

Good luck! x

girlatplay

Breaking the £10k barrier and passing the CBT!! :j Well done!! :T:D

lvm

girlatplay wrote: »

Breaking the £10k barrier and passing the CBT!! :j Well done!! :T:D

Thanks GAP!

Just wish I was having more luck in finding a bike now! That's just not as easy :mad:

lvm

So, after a couple of days away at work, I got back to find a letter from Halifax confirming my increase in mortgage payment. They have somehow decided that instead of taking the £250 I asked for, they've said they're going to round it up to nearest £20 so taking £260 instead. Then they've mixed up some other numbers and are telling me they're only going to take £190 from January. Phoned them and seems to just be a written error and it will be £260 that's taken. A bit more that I'd wanted but I've decided not to complain and just go with it for the time being.

Just checked CC balances and I've gone overboard a bit. Going to need to put some expenses through and maybe make an early payment towards one of the cards before the next payment. This does not feel good.

My Skechers arrived today (from Amazon's Black Friday promo) and they are gorgeous!! Got another parcel at post office so will get that tomorrow then just one more to get. (No wonder I'm not happy with CC balances!!)

I'm absolutely exhausted after all the driving (9 hours in 2 days isn't fun) and even worse, the whole trip was a complete waste of time. Not only that, I've got another one in 2 weeks. The only reason I agree is for the extra dosh. Just need to find a way to stay awake when driving - I was sooo close to sleeping and having done that before, it's not something I want to be doing again!

Think I've decided that I need to have a bit of a clear out this weekend. I'm getting fed up with the mess about my house - boxes of toot and too many clothes and shoes, books and random junk! Would be good if I could make a little bit of money in the process.

Anyways, off the bed before I fall asleep on the sofa! Night night x