Converting Money SPENDING Expert to Money SAVING Expert! The debt-busting mission!

theoretica

Also when you need new glasses have a think about some of the online deals: selectspecs do glasses at £6 + p&p.

katsu

theoretica wrote: »

Also when you need new glasses have a think about some of the online deals: selectspecs do glasses at £6 + p&p.

I got a great deal from speckyfoureyes, 3 pairs for £20, so this is an area you can save on if needed.

MoneySpendingExpert2011

theoretica wrote: »

Also when you need new glasses have a think about some of the online deals: selectspecs do glasses at £6 + p&p.

Thanks Theoretica! Will look into in it.

MoneySpendingExpert2011

katsu wrote: »

I got a great deal from speckyfoureyes, 3 pairs for £20, so this is an area you can save on if needed.

Thanks Katsu!

MoneySpendingExpert2011

Update time, thanks to all the help and advice I received on here, I have started making progress towards my debt.

I would be grateful if you could let me know what you think of the approach I have taken thus far (please bear with me, it's a bit of a long post).

The following helped me clear my Natwest credit card a couple of days ago:

a. Use the bit of cash I had, with the coins etc I had close to £385 (:eek:) as opposed to the £250 I had initially calculated.
b. Due to the Easter weekend and this long weekend, I did not renew my monthly travelcard, so a combination of WFH and holidays has saved in £100.
c. Finally I had a clear out of my cupboard and I think I should be able to cut down my grocery bill to c£75 this month.

Now that I have cleared the balance, I have £50 that I can use towards other debt.

One down, many more to go

It is payday today so I have decided to pay the debts first (don't know if that is sensible?) and then worry about the rest .This involves paying all the surplus identified by the SOA! My SOA indicates that I have £175 spare each and every month, this will go towards overpayment of debt - after all, I can't spend the monies that I simply don't have right?

I checked my 2 BT credit cards, as the accounts were recently opened (luckily) the payments are not due till June (thanks MBNA / Natwest, debt is at 0% ) so I have decided to divert the money towards interest bearing debt. This means combined total of £105

I have also identified the following areas for savings for this month (again being a newbie, I am not sure if it is sensible!?):

a. Don't need to top-up my phone this month (£15)
b. Don't need any clothes, not a priority for the near future (£15)
c. Presents, not required for now (£20)
d. I had a hair cut not too long ago and I can normally stretch it to 5 and a bit weeks max so can have one with next months payday (am I robbing Peter to pay Paul?) (£10)

The combined should save me £60

Summary

I am thinking of paying off as much of the Barclaycard balance as possible, this should give me the satisfaction of making progress when I hopefully clear it next month and also free up cash which I can use towards the bigger balances, so in addition to the normal Barclaycard payment I will also make an overpayment of £390! Comprised of:

a. Natwest repayment no longer required - £50
b. Surplus identified by SOA - £175
c. BT 0% repayments not due - £105
d. Savings for the month - £60
e. Some of the remaining cash - £10
f. Normal Barclaycard repayment - £50
Total available for Barclaycard repayment £450

Whilst I am in overpayment mode, I am thinking of using the last remaining spare cash (£25) to overpay the Barclayloan so paying £400 instead of £375!

This will leave me with just £260, I will need c£125 for travel so leaving me with £135 (plus a lot of tinned food etc in the cupboards) to live off for the next 4 weeks - is this doable? or am I being very ambitious?

I appreciate it was a bit of a long post, just thought it was necessary to lay down my thought process - it will get shorter once I get the hang of it (I also don't write particularly well, just ramble on )

Thanks for all your help!

MSE

ViolaLass

MoneySpendingExpert2011 wrote: »

This will leave me with just £260, I will need c£125 for travel so leaving me with £135 (plus a lot of tinned food etc in the cupboards) to live off for the next 4 weeks - is this doable? or am I being very ambitious?

Sounds like good serious meaningful thinking. Is the £135 just for food or elec/gas/CT/any other bills as well? If the former, then it should be utterly doable.

An excellent start.

Dharma_Bunny

Hair clippers, about £15.

Just did toddler DS hair and it looks fine. I couldn't bare the thought of paying £5-10 every couple of months for the next 15 years.

MoneySpendingExpert2011

Thank you for your quick reply Viola.

ViolaLass wrote: »

Sounds like good serious meaningful thinking. Is the £135 just for food or elec/gas/CT/any other bills as well? If the former, then it should be utterly doable.

An excellent start.

It's just food, meds, going out etc. My rent is all inclusive!

MoneySpendingExpert2011

Thanks for your reply Dharma

I know what you mean about paying some so much every couple of months. However, with respect to your suggestion about:

Dharma_Bunny wrote: »

Hair clippers, about £15

I am afraid I have not got anyone to do it for me and I can't afford to look like a tramp in my job.

Thanks for the suggestion!

ViolaLass

Do you have flatmates? A girlfriend/boyfriend? Friends? You must know someone you could lure round for a meal after which they could quickly sort your hair out.