Losing 25lbs and Gaining £25k all by Aug 2013......EVIL DEBT

garfield44

Hi nice new sparkling diary,

Okay so here it is. I am only planning on doing this once and once only!! and by the time I am finished I will have shifted over £25k of debt and over 25lbs of weight.

Heres my story. I have lived well beyond my means since I was 18. I am just about to turn 30 in April and feel well weighed down by all this debt I am carrying (no wonder I am overweight! lol). I honestly don't think there has been a single moment in time since I turned 18 that I have not owed any money to anyone and this is really getting me down.
I would like to mention that I have been a lurker for a long long time and have read through many inspiring stories and would like to thank all these diaries for pushing me to do something about my own debt.

I earn £26k a year and have a second job earning approx £25 per week plus I also have the option of doing a third job but there isnt much work on the go for it at the moment.

My monthly bills come to £1383.20 per month and £581.60 of this is the payments to my loan1, loan2, cc1 and next account. I take in £1,753.94 per month so realistically I have a whopping £370.74 free every month to pay off debt. This doesnt happen every month but if I am careful with my money it should work. I transfer £140 per month to another piggy back account so I have this money for lunches, diesel, nights out etc per month. Once it is gone then tough!

I get paid monthly so it can be very frustrating only seeing the totals come down monthly but the days seem to be flying by soooo quick just now that I very rarely worry about it.

I should also mention that I have no kids, I would love one or two, but due to this debt I couldnt afford it just now. My OH is lovely and is soooo good to me but unfortunately he doesnt know anything about my debt....well he knows about £4k of it. I have made the decision not to tell him about this as if I can hide it for maybe two more years I can be free (I've hidden it for the past 9-10 years feel terrible about that but hey ho I look forward to buying him a nice holiday).

Okay, on your marks, get set................................GO

garfield44

Hola,
Well I've managed to go another whole day without spending any money, other than the diesel to drive my 12 miles round trip to work!
I'm going to tackle my debt by:-
1) Paying OH off first - Due him £300 at end of this month + £330 end of Feb
2) Pay off Next account - I will pay the extra £70 to this at the end of this month + £40 end of Feb
This means I can then clear it by the end of March - I am going to aim for the end of February though so I really need an extra £113 (once I account for the £25 minimum payments Jan and Feb) by the end of Feb.
3) Pay off Credit Card - As at the end of Feb both OH and Next will be paid off so from March's wage I can throw £370 + £100 minumum payment = £470 towards my credit card debt every month. Therefore by the end of this year I will hopefully only have the two loans left! That is my goal.

I've put a few items on ebay tonight so I am hoping this can start me off towards the extra £113 I will need to clear my next account by the end of next month.

Wish me luck

garfield44

Didnt spend a single penny yesterday

I am annoyed at myself today though as I didnt have time this morning to make my lunch so I have just had to go the shop and get a roll, juice and marshmallows. All this cost me £2.90 - argh! and will not do the diet any good as it was chicken tikka.

I checked my ebay account and I have nine bids on my clothing which I listed - woop woop - some money coming in plus also clear some space in my cupboards. This money will go towards the extra needed to pay off my next account. It won't be a lot but it will be a start. The auction finishes tomorrow so I will keep you posted x x

garfield44

I've managed to make my lunch this morning so fingers crossed another day of not spending any money. This has been a lot easier than I expected. I was terrible for nipping across to the shops and buying lunch etc etc every day which was costing me about £5 a day!!

Car still has just under half a tank in it so if I dont have any unforseen journeys to make then it should do me until payday next Thursday.

Ebay items ending tonight and all 4 items now have bids on them - woohoo. There are quite a lot of watchers too so hopefully they will try and outbid each other a bit more.

I've been watching the news the last couple of mornings and cant help but snigger at all the retailers who's profits have dropped over the last while. I cant help but thinking its because all of us on here have decided to stop spending on non essentials!! Its great!

On the down side my mum's car is due its mot the end of this month and she is completely skint and has asked to borrow from me for a change. She doesnt know the extent of my debt either and at the moment she is on a DMP so just doesnt have any money at all. She just has another year of this though. So I have said I will give her my credit card........but am thinking I would be better asking OH is he minds if I postpone his payment for a month and give her the £300 that was originally to be paid to him

HannahIOW

Just read this and noticed you haven't had a single reply yet. It would probably be a better idea to loan your mum the £300 which was intended for your OH, rather than lending her the CC and then paying interest ontop of that.

We are now bringing in lunch for work too... I can buy the ingredients to make lunch for both of us for a week for around £5-6, whereas it was costing about £6 per day to buy lunch from the little Tescos up the road. Plus I think the quality of their sandwiches etc has gone downhill anyway.

Well done on making a start and good luck

garfield44

Hi HannahIOW,

Thanks very much for your reply. Yes I think I have decided that I will speak to OH tonight and pay him the following month instead. TO be honest he probably won't even realise I am still due him the money but I am terrible for making sure I pay back every last penny of what he has lent me.

Yeah I noticed that with tescos sandwiches aswell. I have started buying a pack of six rolls and some ham or chicken for the week and using that plus a bag of skips from the multipack everyday. I used to drink a lot of diet coke at work but have substituted that for water so good for the money saving and for the diet!!!

I see from your signature you are doing well with the £2 savers club, especially since its only the 19th Jan. Are you saving for something inparticular?

HannahIOW

garfield44 wrote: »

I see from your signature you are doing well with the £2 savers club, especially since its only the 19th Jan. Are you saving for something inparticular?

Thanks, I haven't had any in a couple of days now though, mainly as I haven't spent any money (that I can think of). Not saving for anything in particular really, I have a seperate websaver account that any 'extra' money goes into, so once the pot's full it'll go in there. More saving for a rainy day I guess, I don't have any debts to speak of really but I have very little savings at the same time... wasn't too sensible when I was younger and pretty much spent my cash as soon as I got it. So want to make sure I can actually get a house in the not too distant future, and beyond that make sure I have some money to fall back on when I'm old & wrinkly :rotfl:

Kepp

Hi Garfield,

Found you and duly subscribed! x

DebtFree2012

Hi garfield - just caught up on your diary as promised - as you say - so much I can relate to too!

In it together

I too am making lunches for me to take to work, I tend to do them the night before and leave in fridge as I have 4 lots to do. It's still just as nice and saves me time on a morning which I don't have spare (bit like my cash lol). I buy a gammon joint and roast it for sarnie meat as I find it's cheaper (don't like the processed ham) and I can make it go such a long way so find it economical.

I also get paid monthly and this month has taken an age for me to go past but nearly done as paid on 25th.

I have a next account as well but I am not paying this off first as I am happy to pay the min on that as it's my only way of getting clothes if I need them (need being the operative word as i don't buy for want anymore).

Hope you are well and having a good day.

xx

garfield44

Hi Beccie and DF,

Glad you's managed to find me. Have eventually worked out how to post a link!!! Its nice to know there are people following the diary as it gives me the push I need to keep posting about whats going on most days.

DF thats a great idea about the gammon. I love gammon and as you say it would work out even cheaper but also tastier. I will remember that when I go for my shop at the weekend.

Hannah - thats a really good idea. Saving for a house is something you can really look forward to. Good luck with that. Once I am eventually debt free I cant wait to start saving and watch the balance in the account grow and grow (wishful thinking I know but I am determined to do it)

I had to buy a birthday card this morning and also post it so that cost me £1.40 but I can live with that. I also managed to get the ebay items sold so will package them up today and post them. I'm hoping that I have charged enough on postage and packaging or will be really annoyed with myself!

I am soooooooooooooo looking forward to being debt free. I know its a long time away, but I keep dreaming about the holiday I am going to have and the feeling that it must be to wake up one day and not have it to worry about. 2 years isnt that long as the months are flying past, I can hardly believe in is nearly the end of Jan already.

I turn 30 in April and am also trying to think of ways that I can celebrate my birthday without it costing any money (or too much money!) so if anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated.

Hope everyone has a lovely day. I'm off to package these clothes for sending.


x x

Kepp

Well done on the Ebay sales, that's a great start.

What date is your birthday in April? Mine's in April too!