The Giraffe Diary - £30k in 12month - Standing tall, strong and elegant!

spendingmad

I have been thinking of starting a diary for a while - either a written old fashioned one or one on here for the world to see. As you can see MSE won (as I didnt want to go and buy a journal! :money:)

Anyway a bit of background - I am a long time MSEr who generally lurks/spends time on the O/S board. I am married with two kids 8 & 4 and a dog who, at present, is farting whilst sleeping next to me!!!

We have a good family income. DH earns a good wage and I work from home part time and look after the kids. We have however got just under £30,000 worth of credit card debt which after LBM # 3 (I think? may be more) will be cleared in approx 12months.

I am feeling very positive and feel like things are finally coming together which is why this is the right time to start charting my thoughts/plans and achievements.

And why I called this diary The Giraffe Diary? We can do this and we will take each step

standing tall (we created this situation, we can sort it)

strong (together as family we can acheive whatever we desire) and

elegant (well no point being strong and tall and looking like a dogs dinner!! - we will travel this journey showing beauty and elegance from within)

Right of to write about the sums.....

spendingmad

We currently owe

£29162.02 over three credit cards

CC1 - Barclaycard £2,122.22 APR 19.9% - Account Closed
CC2 - Mint £11807.74 APR 17.9%
CC3 - MBNA £15232.06 APR 29.9% :eek:

We have also got a secured loan on the house (but thats another story - and another focus for a different time)

We have just applied for a 0% barclaycard in DH's name and been approved so the MBNA will soon be transfered to 0% saving us over £300 interest per month :T I am then hoping MBNA will offer us a B/T deal so I can transfer the Mint CC across and save ourselves some more £££.

So how am I going to pay off this £29162 in 12months??? Well 'little' white lie - it will be gone in 16months but with a BIG push could make it 12months.

£29162 in 16months is £1822.00 per month average

We are currently averaging £1000 fairly comfortably across the 3 cards - thats covers the min payment on the 2 biggies and pays a chunk off barclaycard. My spreadsheet says I can afford another £300 per month when I stick to ALL budgets. - We will do this.

So £500 to be made - how will we do this - well -

we have recently taken on a student who pays us £600 per month (£500 'profit' after altering the food budget) but this has only been a 1month short term contract. We are hoping to take on another for 6months at some point later in the year so that is 6 extra £500 sorted.

I have also applied and have just got to go through the final training for a Census Collectors job - so hopefully all being well thats another c£1000 around May time.

DH is planning on 'selling' some A/L at work which will earn us approx £800 after tax in April

Come Feb next year My car loan (0% finance) will come to an end and another £200 per month can be throw in the pot. (£800)

So not far off that extra £500 per month - need one or two more ideas ..........

choogirl

Hi Spendingmad

I am subscribing as I am intrigued and inspired by your plans to clear £30k of debt in 12-16 months.
I currently owe £9900 of credit card debt all on 0% and are hoping to pay it all off by the end of 2011. It hasn't caused us alot of grief but its always been lurking around so this year I want it gone once and for all. Hope to start 2012 with a clean slate and keep it that way. My downfall though is holidays so this year there will be no holidays for us, I just want this debt gone.

Good Luck xx

spendingmad

Thanks Choogirl :j woohoo I have a subscriber!

Holidays are our downfall too - so no holidays for us this year (except a ikcle trip to Centerparcs at Easter - but thats a weekend away not a holiday )

We are very much the same as you it hasnt caused us much grief and although it is a hefty amount we have always made the minimum payment etc but now we just want it gone. (the interest payments on that MBNA makes my eyes water!!)

I am 30 in April next year so hoping with a very tight belt we can be debt free by then - We can then go on a lush holiday paid for upfront in Summer 2012 to celebrate being debt free and 30!

Hope you enjoy!

BILLIE

I am right behind you - yes you can do it - just keep telling yourself that. You have a handsome some for paying off your debt so stick a picture up of that holiday you want for your 30th and go for it. Well done you and I wish you all the luck. Billiexx

funnyflipp

Hello
I'm subscribing too well done!

Funny xx

BEAT_THE_DEBT

me to,x(subscribing that is)x

spendingmad

Good Morning!

Just a quick hello to let you know my fantastic bargains I got last night. After the freezer looked very empty I decided I had to go whoopsie shopping to stock up on Meat. Anyway I purchased £100 worth of meat for £28 :T and have enough meat for 18 meals for 4/5people - that should help the food bills for the rest of the month and March

I did spend another £28 on staples for the next few weeks and some treats for the kids (partyring biscuits and mini donuts for lunchboxes etc - also reduced!)

Right of to do some work (or maybe just browse the internet;))

spendingmad

Well managed to do quite a bit of work yesterday so that should keep the pennys rolling in. Not such a productive day today, it was one of them days where you don't get to finish anything! On a more positive note today was a NSD :j and also had a lurvely HM pizza for tea. I love the fact that something so cheap can be soooo nice

Spoke to my Grandma - who told me she had been out spending on a new sewing machine and various other bits. I quickly bagged her old sewing machine (which is a perfect working order just to big for her needs) which also saves her the job of tacking it to the tip!

I have wanted a sewing machine of a while but could not justify the expense. Want to try and custom some cheap waterfall cardigans from asda with a velvet ribbon trim or lace etc. They fit really nicely and are a soft jersey so with a bit of detail added will look like something much more expsensive than the £10 price tag.

Looking forward to half term - got some cheap days out planned with the national trust - will be visiting Tatton Park on Monday with family and then going to a local country park with Friends later in the week, as long as it is not throwing it down!!!

Thats it for tonight - DD wont go to sleep so may have to go a shout/or cuddle her to sleep (um which one will it be!)

spendingmad

OK list for today

Go to town and only buy what I need - couple of cheap presents and go to bank pay in some cash and a small cheque
Do 1 hour of cleaning (need to vac, mop and tidy around)
Make a cake for over the weekend
Do at least 2 hours of productive work

And I'm off........