Lisa's Debt Diary - The Beginning!

lvm

The day has finally come!

I have a motorbike! Bought it today so this has been a very expensive weekend. £800 bike, £185 insurance, £20 bike cover and £22 bike chain. Also bought a £60 helmet last night. I am sooo poor now

I'm so not used to riding it - went all the way to Halfords in it and was buying the chain and cover then the guy said "do you want a bag for that?". Then it hit me - I had no way of getting it home! So ended up having to wrap the chain around the seat and putting the cover on the handlebar (probably the first thing you're told not to do!) Last time I'll make that mistake!

Was sooo terrified riding - it's scary to think all I've had is about 2 hours on the road (most of that pulled up in streets) and I'm allowed out on the streets now. I'm an accident waiting to happen!

Nowt much else been happening really - apart from...my lodger is always putting the heating on and it's doing my head in! Does he not realise the cost of gas!! My bills better not be going up because of this.

Anyway, that's it from me. My next post will most likely be entitled "My Bike Accident"...keep an eye out! Lol

girlatplay

No no no!! :eek: Don't say things like that!

Happy new bike Hope you have great fun riding it. Just remember not to take it to the supermarket for your weekly shop :rotfl:

lvm

girlatplay wrote: »

No no no!! :eek: Don't say things like that!

Happy new bike Hope you have great fun riding it. Just remember not to take it to the supermarket for your weekly shop :rotfl:

I'll let you know when I'm heading to Mr M's so you can avoid

I was about to head out to Asda just now and then thought I sooo can't be bothered getting helmet and jacket then taking chain and cover off - good thing is, it's saving me buying any food. On the other hand, I could just jump in the car!

weebear

Hi LVM

Thanks for info on shop and scan......my clicker arrived today Can you answer a few things please?? Do you scan your weekly shop or everything and anything? If you do more than one do you get extra points or just the one load per week??

Thanks...Weebear x

lvm

Hey weebear!

Congrats on getting your clicker! Stick with it...it soon becomes really really easy and so worth it!

You need to scan absolutely everything...the odd pint of milk, bar of chocolate...everything!

You don't get any extra points but the easiest thing to do is keep your book and clicker in the kitchen and you only need to transmit everything once (I usually do Sunday night).

Good luck! X

lvm

So, I don't think I've been very good of late! Over a week since I've been here...not good!

December is not turning out as cheap as I thought it would...even my Mum keeps commenting that she thinks I'm getting back into my bad money habits! Can't deny I've been spending a bit much...a £166 digital camera (it was reduced from £249!) and some Gossard undies (they're really nice!) and probably loads loads more!

Good thing is, I've managed to get my car insurance down to £305 and that money has been transferred to me (Christmas present) so I'll put that on my credit card and the £300 into my car savings fund (bringing it up to my target amount ) and hope that I can find more money to pay the credit card when it's due end of February. Looking forward to getting paid tomorrow so I can see exactly where I am financially! Not looking forward to waiting over 5 weeks til next pay day though!

I've only managed to get out on my motorbike properly the once...was trying to ride to work (45 minutes away) but it ended up waaaay too cold so had to turn back round and get the car. I really hope I get some financial benefit out of this bike at some point - even if it is during the summer!

So, that's me for now! I'll need to make sure I'm here a bit more often the next few weeks!

lvm

Good Morning!

So, payday arrived yesterday - nice and early! Have done all my usual transfers and everything looks quite good. Chuffed that my car savings are full now and I brought my holiday savings up to £750 (although still nothing to spend it on and think I'd grudge spending it when the time comes!). Transferred my newly increased property savings to my Dad - £1000! This has all brought my bank account down to £0.00 - although I still need my lodger's rent which will help a bit. Also, haven't paid the full balance on my Vanquis card - I have until around 16th Jan to pay it all and got about another £329 to pay. Hopefully some expenses will come through and maybe I'll sell some stuff on eBay to get that amount.

Also, haven't bought my new car insurance yet and that needs done today. Got enough balance on the CC to pay for it though then got a while before that'll be due.

I've nothing left to buy for Christmas - I had to buy starters so fishy stuff and got that using my M&S vouchers. And still got £61.25 left. Thinking it's probably best to try and sell them actually but wouldn't be letting them go for much less than they're worth and certainly not using eBay for it. Or I might just be tempted if they have anything nice in the sales - can't say I'm much of an M&S shopper though!

After going ages without having any issues with debt collectors and the like, I've received a letter from Mackenzie Hall saying they want full payment of just over £300 by Boxing Day or "they will not hesitate in taking such further action" blah blah blah! Stalling tactics here we come!

After today, just 1 more day of work until the 4 day holiday. Trying to get away with having a half day as well (after going out for lunch!). Going to see We Will Rock You at the Playhouse tomorrow night which should be fun!

Anyway...best be off and do a little amount of work before the holidays!

Merry Christmas to all!! xxx

lvm

Well, I can't believe that tomorrow will be a year since I started this diary! Happy Anniversary diary

Quite please with what I've done in the last year.

Debts - reduced from £10, 176.11 to £3, 625.06
Savings - increased from £0 to £12, 095.15

I've joined the "Save £12k in 2012" challenge and the "Virtual Sealed Pot" challenge so should see a further £12.5k of savings this year.

Although I'm always clearing my CCs off in full, I'm struggling a bit this month and will be the same next month. Will be glad when March comes and hopefully my spending will be back tomorrow. Saying that, my lodger wants me to go on holiday this month - I could use my holiday savings for it but kind of wanted to keep that for summer. We'll see what happens.

Would still love an extra part time job - couple of evenings a week or a Sat and/or Sun but still nothing coming up. Saw a food delivery job I could have done nearby but not sure that's for me - I'm being way too fussy I know!!

Anyways, a BIG Happy New Year to all and fingers crossed this will be an even better year financially that it was last year

xxx

Cherryjack

Happy New Year , keep up the good work

lvm

Just back from a ride on my motorbike and it was sooooo fun! Was a bit of a hassle getting it started though and there's no way I could do it myself. Ended up going to buy a can of petrol and my lodger had to put some on the spark plugs then put a lighter to it...was a bit scary but he's a total genius. Now just need to make sure I go out on the bike every day or so to stop the engine getting so cold.

It's got me thinking about looking for a house with a garage. I know my next house will need one but I'm going to have to save up so much money and I'm not even half way there yet. Doubt my credit rating would help me get another mortgage either. Still, won't stop me looking!

I've applied for a part time job but not heard anything back yet - think there's always loads of people apply for jobs advertised on Gumtree so not holding out much hope. There's been a few adverts for take-away food delivery drivers so might try applying for one if a goodun' comes up - the ones there just now are too many hours or every day of the week and I just want a few hours really.

Think I need to knuckle down and get some stuff on eBay - old books that I've read and some odd bits and pieces around the house. If I was really good I would do this tonight and put them on 10 day listings but chances are I'll sit watching the TV all night instead. I really need to get a life!

Off to try and think of some new money making ventures!

Cheerio! x