Debt Free? then what?!?!?!

doodah

well done

do_it_today!

Hi All :hello:

Feeling abit at the moment - my momentum has slowed and the spending is steadily creeping back in... I am still committed but my drive is waining and the urge to spend has been beckoning for things I need of course! but bordering more on the I want

March Update
here is the progress so far here is my debt update:
Jan I Feb I Mar I
(1.9%)1Card £60-£800 - £780
[COLOR="rgb(0, 255, 255)"](16%) 2Card £1990-£0 - £0
(10%) 3Card £790- £0 - £0[/COLOR]
(0%) 4Card £960 £836 - £265
(6.9%)5Card £1700 £1798- £717
(0 %)6Card £4600 £4703- £4578
(1%) 7Card £1900 £1800- £1561
(12%)Store £140 £130 - £0
(0%) Cata £140 £66 - £0
Total £12280 I £10133 I £7901

there were quite a few things I wanted to do but are taking longer than I thought:
anyway have sold about £200 worth of books and Cd's on amazon :j
not done any mystery shopping yet... :rolleyes:
Reclaim bank charges contacted 2 of 5 banks one bank I have written requesting £1700 worth of charges and the other took my tenner and have NOT responded so need to get back on that one :mad: and start the others!
remortgage applied got sent confirmation of wrong product so am abit dubious - need to sort out!
Waived goodbye to luxury gym and aim to swim at least once a week at local leisure centre and home dvd at least once a week - take dog out on longer walks
aim NOT to get anymore library fines :rolleyes: whopping £4.60! however less book buying! (I would be lying if I said I had not bought a book since december but have bought bargain books on amazon & with x-mas vouchers) btw your money or your life is excellent but need to re-read and do all the exercises!
Have bought loads of veg seeds, apple/pear tree & bulbs for the garden - preparing beds for planting :T
have been avoiding supermarkets - bulk buying toilet roll & washing powder at wholesalers
been abit slack on the meal planning but takeaways are greatly reduced to every 6-8 weeks :T - need to get back on track
utillities STILL need sorting!!! :mad:
Incurred NO BANK CHARGES SINCE NOVEMBER 06 :T :T :T
Havent sold a car yet :think: am struggling.... knowing that summer is coming (top down whether) but I should!!!!
Wedding dress still not sold or advertised even!
swearbox is up and running £80 so far! :eek: having a foul mouth is costly!!! but costing a £1 a swear motivates us not too

motivation and tips welcome

do_it_today!

hi all :hello:
help.....
some motivation please

roxy7699

Hiya,

Congrats on doing so well so far, youve taken out a huge chunk.
Get on with the reclaiming the others as there was something I read about you may not get as much after april - may need to look that one up.
Wheres the swear jar money going too? Why dont you try challenge yourself to make what you get at the takeaway, but 6-8 weeks works well as a treat. Do you keep a spending diary at all?

I think as long as your able to keep getting it down how you are your well on track.

Ali-OK

Yep, Roxy is right - Martin was on tv last week saying that the report on charges will be out tomorrow and that it is likely a £12 fee will be lawful from 1st April.

This means if you don't get your charges claim in before then, they may rightfully hold onto £12 per charge and not give all the charges back.

I've read through your thread and think you're doing amazingly well. Drum up some energy to get going on the other 3 banks and chase the one that hasn't responded. Have you been sending them by recorded/registered delivery? This is advised so you know they've been signed for and can't be lost.

Remember to ask yourself if you're going to spend - Do I NEED this? 9 out 10 the answer is no!

MSE_Martin

Hi Ali

Thats not quite right

If you go to the reclaim board you'll see my thread "the impact of the OFT announcement" which explains it in detail

Martin

Ali-OK

MSE_Martin wrote:

Hi Ali

Thats not quite right

If you go to the reclaim board you'll see my thread "the impact of the OFT announcement" which explains it in detail

Martin

Oops..sorry

do_it_today!

Hi All
thanks for the support... I have been keeping a spending diary but Iam having trouble stopping :eek: and will start using the new budgeting tool that disects the treat spending etc. After your words of encouragement I have started charge claims for barclaycard and abbey. Halifax I havent heard from but they cashed my cheque :mad: so will write to again and now I must chase woolwich who I have submitted claim to but they have not responded in 14 days I have also filed loads of paper work and stuff so feeling abit more motivated now. my next big thing is to advertise wedding dress

thanks all :T

do_it_today!

hi all :hello:
Have received an offer (bank charges) of £1140 from the woolwich so I am happy with that :j but dont feel like using it to pay off boring cc
waiting bank statements from the others!
have sold about 47 books and CD's (all for debt fund) :j got to tackle my junk and unwanted's now...
when we remove cc payments and a car that will be about £500 for the investment fund!
anyway here is original SOA and (new amounts)
Income
Moi - £1710 - about to go up slightly
DH - £1613 (£800)- can be more or less - less at moment
temp £200 - end in APRIL
other £300 - regular
£3010


Mortgage £661 (£671)- soon to come down
Over limit fees £140 (£0) ha ha ha :j
House stuff £35
Building ins £36 (£24)
Ctax £80 (£94)
Water £32
Gas £80 - Key meter need to change
Ele £40 - key meter need to change
BT £20 (£30)
Internet £0 - will go up when brother leaves
Mobiles £65 (£55)
Pet ins £21.67
Food shop £238(£170)
Work food £90 (£60)
Socialising £70
food out £30 (£25)
Bus + £30 (£15)
Car maint £68
Car Ins £136 3 veheicles (yes yes one has to go!)
Car tax £38
Parking £16 (£10)
Petrol £120
Isa £10 - was £50
pension £91.43
critical ill cov £20
Credit cards £330
Loan £132 (£60)
Slimming wor £20 - (£0)
pet costs £25
Gym £107 - (£10)
Books & Fun £130 - (£15)
TV license £10.99
Birthday £20
Clothes £80
Accupuncture £8 (£0)
Tax £100
Mags £30 - (£15)
Hair £15
Dentist £16
£3192.09 (£2580) wow!

current balance is about £7500 0% deals to run out around june so am v keen to halve the amount before then!
ta for taking a look and as per - your comments and encouragement v welcome...

findingmyownway

do_it_today! wrote: »

hi all :hello:
Have received an offer (bank charges) of £1140 from the woolwich so I am happy with that :j but dont feel like using it to pay off boring cc Now now - thats not the attitude to take! Come on, think of what a massive difference that will make to your debt free date! If you waste the money on something else you WILL regret it

waiting bank statements from the others!
have sold about 47 books and CD's (all for debt fund) :j got to tackle my junk and unwanted's now...
when we remove cc payments and a car that will be about £500 for the investment fund!
anyway here is original SOA and (new amounts)
Income
Moi - £1710 - about to go up slightly
DH - £1613 (£800)- can be more or less - less at moment
temp £200 - end in APRIL
other £300 - regular
£3010


Mortgage £661 (£671)- soon to come down
Over limit fees £140 (£0) ha ha ha :j
House stuff £35
Building ins £36 (£24)
Ctax £80 (£94)
Water £32
Gas £80 - Key meter need to change
Ele £40 - key meter need to change
BT £20 (£30)
Internet £0 - will go up when brother leaves
Mobiles £65 (£55)
Pet ins £21.67 - do you really need this??
Food shop £238(£170) not bad, but have you checkout out Old Style board for getting it down further?
Work food £90 (£60) this means your total food bill is still £230 which is a lot! can't you take packed lunch??
Socialising £70
food out £30 (£25) more food bills? i assume this is evening meals out?
Bus + £30 (£15)
Car maint £68 does this really happen every month? would be reduced if you sold the most problem car
Car Ins £136 3 veheicles (yes yes one has to go!) yes it does!!
Car tax £38
Parking £16 (£10)
Petrol £120
Isa £10 - was £50 why are you paying into savings when you are so much in debt?
pension £91.43
critical ill cov £20
Credit cards £330
Loan £132 (£60)
Slimming wor £20 - (£0) well done!
pet costs £25 this is in addition to the insurance? what do you buy them?!?
Gym £107 - (£10) well done!
Books & Fun £130 - (£15)
TV license £10.99
Birthday £20
Clothes £80 do you really need more clothes?
Accupuncture £8 (£0)
Tax £100 what kind of tax?!?
Mags £30 - (£15) unneccessaey purchases
Hair £15 do you really need you hair doing every single month?
Dentist £16
£3192.09 (£2580) wow!

current balance is about £7500 0% deals to run out around june so am v keen to halve the amount before then!
ta for taking a look and as per - your comments and encouragement v welcome...

There seems to be still plenty of ways you can cut back. I know its not fun, but just has to be done if you want to be debt free.

Please please please DON'T blow the bank charges you have reclaimed - its extra money that you should put towards debt. If you don't, you're making a big mistake, delaying your debt free date and letting yourself down after all your hard work.