My diary - getting rid of my debt deamons!

Kei

Excited for pay day tomorrow!!!!

Queenie2012

Hi Kei

Just came across your diary. You are doing really well.

I got into debt at 18, if I knew what I know now I would have never got that first credit card and to think my limit was only £200.

Since my LBM i've got our monthly shopping bill down from £450 to £120 a month. What I found helped me was not doing a large £200 shop on payday then another 100 trips to Mr T's throughout the month, also meal planning is excellent.

Keep up the good work,the weather is awful so you are better in doors completing your assignment I'm hoping to be debt free in December, then in January a holiday to celebrate :j

Kei

Very pleased with myself today for a couple of reasons;

1. last night finished my 2 assigments, :j then this morning printed them and drove to uni to hand them in!! So to celebrate, I haven't started any other uni work yet and had a nice relaxing day doing normal things!

2. went to lidl instead of Tesco and worked out (by comparing online) that i saved just over £10 buying the exact same things! I do have this habit everytime i shop in lidl to go online and compare the prices after to find out what i saved, and it reminds me why we should make the effort to shop there weekly! If I saved £10 every week that would be £520 in a year, so its worth doing.

Queenie, thank you for your post. I agree, meal planning and not making small trips to the shops really do make sense. I meal planned and wrote a list every week when i first got into money saving, but lately with the rest of life being hectic, i have been taking the easy but expensive route of stopping at the shops on the way home and not watching what we spend. However, as you can see this week we have got back into it and will try to keep up the good work!

My plans are similar to yours - pay off the debt then have a holiday! However, we are thinking about getting down to 3k then saving up for a holiday this summer, then attacking the debt again after. Not sure, but just feel that we need something to look forward to.

Payday was on Friday :D:D and i have transferred £500 to a savings account ready to pay off the card when i get a bill. Target per month from now on is £750 (from the 27th when i get paid until the 26th of the next month), which means that in just over 5 months the debt will be paid if we hit this every month and delay a holiday until after.

Queenie2012

Well done on finishing your assignments I bet you are relieved.

I know what you mean about having something to look forward to and holidays, I really want to book a holiday for my 30th Birthday in September like really badly, I keep going onto Fir*st Choi*ce and looking through them then battling with myself to keep going with my repayments until December. When I think about it holidays got me into some of this debt in the first place, last year we went on holiday to Florida even though I wanted to pay off my debt. So this year I am being strict, I say to myself imagine the feeling to go on hoilday debt free, oh the freedom. But I can totally undestand your plans and having £3k to tackle when you come back is not so bad at all and if you lump sum it over a few months you will be debt free in no time.


Oooh I must have a look at Lidl, I tried Aldi but I must be the only person who didnt like it!

Kei

Hi Queenie, I know, i am torn between waiting to book a holiday until i am debt free and then being able to go on holiday feeling all smug and safe in the knowledge that i dont have to scrimp and save like i am doing right now, or to give myself a break and book one for when i finish the first year of this course, hmmmm.

I have calculated that I can be debt free in 5 months if I set myself a target of £800 a month - which is tight but do-able. This would mean that by the end of September 2012 we could have paid everything off - then we would need to save up for the much needed holiday. On the other hand, if we put £800 towards a holiday fund one month then it would buy us a nice little 10 day break abroad and we would be debt free one month later - October 2012.

OK - so new target to add to my signature of hitting £800 every month. So far I have £575 put aside ready for when the bill hits the doormat. So that's £225 to go this month.

Oh, and just to say that I am wishing next weekend to come around as soon as possible (yes i know, its sunday and tomorrow is BH Monday so why am i wishing it away??) well, i have a horrible week next week; Wednesday I have a 3hr unseen exam, Thursday and Friday I have stuff in my diary for work which I am really not looking forward too, and v early starts both days. This weekend I am cramming for my exam and its not fun and I am forcing myself to do it very reluctantly. Next weekend I don't have any assignments due or any exams that I need to revise for, so I am just looking forward to chilling and doing nothing.

However, I hope everyone else is having a great BH weekend, and the weather is even a little brighter here today so hope it is where you are too!

snozberry

Good luck for the week ahead. I'm sure that you will do really well in your exam.

Kei

Thank you Snozberry, I just want to pass so that I don't have to do it again!

Kei

Last week I signed up to Graze, so thanks to Boots I am expecting my first free graze box to drop through my letter box this week! Then the following week is half price, then I might cancel (depends if I get addicted!!) I think it might be a nice thing to snack on when I am working from home once a week, but can't really justify it when I am in the middle of paying off all this debt.

On a positive note, might be able to add another £200 to the monthy target tomorrow!

Just done the weekly shop at Lidl and spent £55, then farm shop for meat, so about £65 - £70 in total. Not as good as last week but still better than I have done previously.

Exam time is creeping up so best get on with the revision.

Kei

I can see light at the end of the tunnel - very faint but it is there!

Just added some more towards my monthly target and looks like I will be able to get rid of CC2 this month!!

chevalier

hi Kei well done on refocussing on your debt busting. Lucky you have your OH on board as well. Nice one.

chev