*wave*

Blue_Elephant

here's a bit of an update - hope no one minds but I'm going to record progress on here. it helps me see how things are going at a glance and I can see what I'm doing well, what I need to improve etc, and means folk can give me advice if I need it, or indeed the kick up the proverbial.

Since the 1st May, I have spent a grand total of £58.85

Board £40.00
Work shirt £5.00 (this is needed as work has recently changed the dress code. However I would normally have bought the slightly different one at £12.00 and stuck it on the CC - I paid cash for this!)
Supermarket £1.40 - milk and bread for the house as we'd run out
Taxi for work £3.20 - (This week I have started to walk to work - it's a 35 minute walk but I used to get a taxi every day, this week I only did it once when I didn't get up in time. I always used to walk home anyway)
Coffee at work £0.25 - I used to buy coffee from the machine at work all the time. On Tuesday I took coffee/sugar/coffee mate/mug from supplies at home as parents don't drink it anyway. I only bought one cup this week)
Birthday club £4.00 - I'm tied into this until the end of the year and it costs me £38 for the year (£2 per person on the team that isn't me) On my birthday I'll ask for cash and so I'll get it all back, and I'll opt out at the end of the year)
lottery syndicate £3.00 - (I'm sort of signed into this until December too because everyone pays £0.75 per week so it's not a simple case of pulling out and taking my line with me if that makes sense)
Chocolate £2.00 - FAIL.

I also always used to buy lunch from the canteen/pasty shop every day costing between £2 and £4 a time. I hadn't factored coffee/lunch spends into my SOA as I had no idea. this week has been a real eye opener! - I have started to take lucnh from home every day - I'm sure my parents are wondering what on earth is going on!

The Spending Diary is working in that I have Martin's money mantra written into the front, and I carry it around in my handbag and so have to write things down straight away, and when I pick up things, I think to myself "what am I going to think when I read this back?"

There is lot's of room for improvement, but I would probably have easily spent an extra £50 this week just on odds and sods inc lunch/coffee/taxis.

I have also been keeping half an eye on the no spend day challenge, and though I haven't posted on there, my NSDs this week were 02/05/11, 05/05/11 and 06/05/11. And so far so good today, though I will have to give mum board. I don't know if that counts? Although the £32.00 I lent to a friend at work made it's way back to me this week, so I'll need an extra £8.00 to cover the board

I haven't bought cigarettes this week as I bought them in bulk at the lower "pricemarked" price last week, however I'm on my last packet.

Soooo I have set a Quit Date of Monday, rather than buying any more. *and breathe*. I mentioned this to a couple of reformed smoker friends and they have kindly donated the odd bit of nicotine replacement stuff, so will attempt to do this with them. I will need to buy more If I stay off the fags, but even though it costs quite a lot, it should still be less than the cost of cigarettes. Wish me luck!

Googlewhacker

you should be proud of what you have done!

Keep going!

Blue_Elephant

Hey all just a quickie. Bit disappointed with myself in that the not smoking failed miserably although I'm trying to cut down, and I didn't even manage to keep up with the spending diary - however I am still thinking more about purchases and about whether I really need to buy things. I fell off the wagon last week though, when I was being grumpy and miserable and blew £20 on toiletries I really didn't need. Still see this as a plus though - a couple of months ago this wouldn't have even registered :S

Just wanted to say though that through not spending as much and skipping a trip to London, since the 30th of April I have shaved £922.68 off the debt!! Admittedly some of this is not replacing debt paid off the CC with more iyswim but still

And the DD for the bed hasn't even been taken yet. So sort of pleased with myself, still got a long way to go, but least I'm not thinking the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train!

Actually I wanted advice on something else too. My mum has given me £1000 for "safekeeping" as she wants to buy dad a new old car for his 60th birthday in January and has said that she will give me more to top up in the run up so that a) she knows at a glance how much she's got, and b) means that dad doesn't notice when the cash randomly goes missing in the run up to his birthday. At the minute I've stuck it in my ISA given I've no chance of using my allowance this year and it keeps the cash out of the way. I've been wondering whether to use it to pay off part of my debt to save on the interest then *repay* it, or to leave well alone?

Mum isn't aware of my debt issues and I'd like to keep it that way. She saw my brother struggle with thousands of pounds worth of debt and although comparatively mine isn't that much, it would really disappoint her, given my parents are from the "any debt other than a mortgage is bad debt" school of thought. And before anyone says anything, yes I wish I'd listened to them!

ladybez

Hi Blue Elephant,
You've done well so far!! Giving up smoking is vary hard, my motivation, many years ago!! was to refuse to pay more than £1.00 per packet, what I saved paid the rates on my house!!
DO NOT TOUCH THE MONEY YOUR MUM HAS GIVEN YOU FOR SAFE KEEPING. At least that way if you hit any financial problems, you would not be in the embarassing position of not being able to give your Mum her money.

rdchick

Hi Blue

I am very much like you with the thought of 'I'll repay it' DON'T DO IT!! don't even go there - forget about it! It'll bite you on the bum! clearly your mummy trusts you with it so don't blow the trust with something silly xxx

Blue_Elephant

Thank you guys - I know it was a silly thought but you know when something occurs to you and you think it's a good idea?

Anyway will steer clear Thanks.

Ladybez - £1 a packet???? I wish! hehehe

Blue_Elephant

I've completely fallen off the wagon in terms of spending diaries and advance tickets and things, but have been able to pay more than i used to off the debts. Had a laugh today though - letter from Barclaycard doubling my credit limit... ::headdesk::

Spending Diary starts again tomorrow and I will be looking for other ways to keep my out of trouble

And I'll be ringing B'card tomorrow to tell them to put it back!

Blue_Elephant

quick updatey thing - current debt balance = £3051.18 - Since 30/04/2011 that's shaved off £1515.75 from my total.

Verdict: Could do better, but moving in the right direction

Blue_Elephant

As at 30/04/2011

Unsecured Debts
Description..................Debt........... Monthly.. .APR
Natwest loan............... 1531.76...... 160.68...... .7.9 Fixed payment
Natwest Overdraft 1500 (£3000 limit) 100 18.9 No minimum payment
Barclaycard 635.17 (1600 limit) 150 29.9 Min pmnt 2.25% or £5
Ikano FS 900 30 0 fixed payment
Total unsecured debts..4566.93….... 440.68.......-

As at 29/10/2011

Unsecured Debts
Description..................Debt........... Monthly.. .APR
Natwest loan............... 619.37...... 160.68...... .7.9 Fixed payment
Natwest Overdraft 682 200 18.9 No minimum payment
Barclaycard 0.00 0.00 29.9 Min pmnt 2.25% or £5
Ikano FS 750 30 0 fixed payment
Total unsecured debts..2051.37….... 290.68 (this is minimum subject to extra funds).......-

£2515.56 paid off in 6 months - not massively amazing maybe, but I'm in control, and that feels awesome And the Barclaycard is cleared!!!!!!

amorge

wow that's a fantastic amount paid off in 6 months. I'm only just starting my debt free journey but am 100% focused on doing it, to the point that instead of buying the winter coat for £170 I really wanted I went to H&M online, used the 50% off and got one for £24.99