Debt Free? then what?!?!?!

keeperbear

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

Well you should use the £1140 to pay off your debt. Why? Because the bank charges are one of the reasons you actually are in debt.

do_it_today!

Hi :hello:

keeperbear wrote: »

Well you should use the £1140 to pay off your debt. Why? Because the bank charges are one of the reasons you actually are in debt.

Keeperbear - overspending, bad money management and head in sand has been the cause of debt but you are right! I should use the bank charges to pay off my debts

Have received an offer (bank charges) of £1140 from the woolwich so I am happy with that 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 MAYBE.... ANYWAY I WILL CLEAR A CARD

waiting bank statements from the others!
have sold about 47 books and CD's (all for debt fund) 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
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?? WELL YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU NEED IT?!?!
Food shop £238(£170) not bad, but have you checkout out Old Style board for getting it down further? AGREED - GROWING VEG MORE ORGANISED COOKING AND MEAL PLANS!!!
Work food £90 (£60) this means your total food bill is still £230 which is a lot! can't you take packed lunch?? BOTH OF US - P.LUNCH 2-3 DAYS A WEEK
Socialising £70
food out £30 (£25) more food bills? i assume this is evening meals out? YES
Bus + £30 (£15)
Car maint £68 does this really happen every month? would be reduced if you sold the most problem car NO PRO RATA
Car Ins £136 3 veheicles (yes yes one has to go!) yes it does!! YES WILL ADVERTISE IT BY THE 10TH APRIL!!!!
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?£10 -AT LEAST - IT MAKES ME FEEL BETTER :rotfl:
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?!? GROOMING AND DOG FOOD
Gym £107 - (£10) well done!
Books & Fun £130 - (£15)
TV license £10.99
Birthday £20
Clothes £80 do you really need more clothes? MY WEIGHT KEEPS GOING UP AND DOWN AND ITS SUCHA A JOY!!!
Accupuncture £8 (£0)
Tax £100 what kind of tax?!? HUBBY INCOME TAX
Mags £30 - (£15) unneccessaey purchases
Hair £15 do you really need you hair doing every single month? U TELL MY HUBBY TO STOP CUTTING HIS HAIR I HAVE SOOOO TRIED!
Dentist £16
£3192.09 (£2580) wow!

do_it_today!

helloo :hello:
THE GOOD NEWS
you will be pleased to know I have used the bank charge cash to pay off some of the debt... I have also had a small salary increase that was back dated - so an extra £500 into the pot!
I have been planting my veggies


THE NOT SO GOOD NEWS
I havent sold the car or the wedding dress yet... just feel stuck about it...
I havent been writing down all I spend
and I have been buying clothes and shoes like there is no tommorrow....
book sales have dried up...
Utilities NOT changed but at lease useage is down...
What I need to do is write down all I have been spending and make some sense of it all.... is anyone else blipping out there? any advice ?

do_it_today!

Progress...
only small - have sold three books

kiwi88_2

What Im saying is I would like to downshift have much less outgoings/ live simply chose the work I want to do, have a little or NO mortgage whatsoever :T but at the same time be able to see places from time to time.


I am cautious about remortgaging to consolidate as it is not really killing the debt - however my fustration at work and keeness to start a family are tempting me to bung some of the 12k in the re-mortgage but this is instant gratification really... a better way would be to make cut backs, sell stuff, get second job and maybe a lodger Thanks all for your comments we wont remortgagae to consolidate for now

I would feel far better though if my net worth was bigger than my overall debt (incl house) at the moment it isnt... but getting rid of the bad debt is a good start! so will plough on! thanks all

Incurred NO BANK CHARGES SINCE NOVEMBER 06

helloo
THE GOOD NEWS
you will be pleased to know I have used the bank charge cash to pay off some of the debt... I have also had a small salary increase that was back dated - so an extra £500 into the pot!
I have been planting my veggies

Thought I would try a different tactic and quote your own words back to you and see if it rings a bell This starts with what you wanted, then ideas on how it might be acheived and ends with positive progress. You have come so far and made some real progress don't let it slip now. Keep you goals in mind. Well done so far :T :T looking forward to hearing more.

do_it_today!

Hi :hello: Break Through!!!!!!!

I HAVE SOLD BELOVED CAR :j !!! I have been finding it very difficult to even begin to do but I managed to put it in Auto Trader and sold it yesterday to a very nice man - who will enjoy it very much.

so in theory we COULD be debt free! (apart from the mortgage!) our low and 0% interest rates wont run out until June so am thinking of boosting our Isa's with some of the cash and continue paying them off from our earnings - I dont know why but I am more motivated to paying off debt than saving... its an odd thing to say but it seems easier(the pressure penalty and interest rates are an incentive I guess!) Will return with SOA shortly :T

chevalier

Well done for selling your car. One of the reasons for paying off debt is that you can then start saving to downshift your life. Good luck with it
chev

do_it_today!

Hi :hello:
Progress so far...
Amazon selling back on track with assistance of DH's CD's!
Lunch to work min of 3-4 days every week!
sold a car so all motor running costs down!
heating on less so lower bills
keeping within mobile call limits
Still need to.....
sell wedding dress
change utilities
fix mortgage payments
claim back other bank charges but will only be about £200 or so
May Update
here is the progress so far here is my debt update:
Mon Jan I Feb I Mar I Apr I May I
(1.9%)1Card £60-£800 - £780 - £580 - £463
(16%) 2Card £1990-£0 - £0
(10%) 3Card £790- £0 - £0[/color]
(0%) 4Card £960 £836 - £265 -£85 - £0
(6.9%)5Card £1700 £1798- £717 £110 - £1900
(0 %)6Card £4600 £4703- £4578 -£4578 - £946
(1%) 7Card £1900 £1800- £1561 -£56 - £0
(12%)Store £140 £130 - £0 - £0 - £100
(0%) Cata £140 £66 - £0
Total £12280 I £10133 I £7901I £5409I £3409 I £

We should be Debt free (well apart from Mortgage) by July 2007 :j now thats exciting :rotfl: thankfully without the £107 gym & £20 slimming world memberships & £50 Slimming world shopping I am still managing to lose weight :T I was just thinking £150 a month thats a nice overnight stay somewhere everymonth or quite a nice annual holiday away!!! wow! when debt free... the next thing to focus on is building savings and tackling mortgage to move closer to downshifting!

do_it_today!

Hi :hello:
I have just read through the whole post - what a journey in one way it feels like I started it ages ago and in another it feels like it has come along so quickly!
Well just about to post a cheque payment so CC's balance outstanding at the mo is.... £2430

do_it_today!

opps pressed the wrong button there... :j not sure I will be debt free by July but possibly august!

The book/CD selling is going well
brother is still with us which is very handy!
have clamped down on the clothing
Remortgage has FINNALLY GONE THROUGH!!!!
payments went up to £770!! :eek: now back down to £620 :T
not much else to report really.....

Except this whole process has got me thinking much more creatively....
like
re-using jiffy bags
growing veg
really thinking do I really have to eat takeaways
not automatically food shopping and using the contents of my cupboards more!!!
do I really need all those mags or books?
My Joanna Hall DVD is a godsend (got it free with a mag) and am probably fitter than when I was going to my lux gym - plus burning less petrol too!
downshifting still feels like a real long way away.... but shifting the £12,000 and reducing our outgoings is definitely a step in the right direction :j ohhh I cant wait for when I can work part time!!! and be more leisurely!!!

Thank you everyone who has chipped in with encouragement and advice please do keep it up!!!! anyone else out there who is working on downshifting please get involved and share your progress on this thread.


post you soon.... :j