Xmas "round robin!" A catchup & intro for all!

Brassic

Good thread Lynz, glad to hear things are on the up with you.

I'm doing ok, much more organized since joining here, have knocked about 5k of debt on the head since September - but have a majorly difficult period coming up as I have a month without pay and a month with no shift enhancement in my new job (start 8th Jan) and extra childcare costs. :eek: Am about half way through reclaiming bank charges though so excited about that

Broken_hearted

Well I'm up and down with mood swings at the moment. Mostly up but the bad days still creep in. I'm looking forward to totaling up the figures at the end of the month to see how far I/we have come this year.
I've learnt a lot about life, bills and self respect. I'm a woman who doesn't enjoy shopping much. I havn't missed using credit and despite capital ones pleas about how I will be stuck if I need emergancy money, they are still being shut. I'm saving over £500 a year that would have been the minimum payments on the closed accounts.

bobbadog

Excellent thread, Lynz - you're a star.

Myself and my OH are doing ok, have made good inroads to our debt but not as much as we'd like. We've managed to set up home in London and not get into any more debt, which is a relief. I have a second job now, and all money earnt is going straight on our debts - which means we aim now to be totally DF and saving for a house deposit come September 2007. Am about to start MCOL against Capital One, as they're hideous (they've offered me £152 of £304, but say I owe them £162 despite a full and final settlement several years ago. Boo). Couldn't have got my head on straight and my attitude right without you guys though.

I'm particularly OS now, too.

charitygirl

Well. I am a bit of a lurker but I do post as well sometimes! As you can gather, I still work for a national charity, and I got a small payrise this year which has helped me with my debts!

I managed to sit down with the OH and have a real frank discussion about our joint finances. Result was that OH has sold the house he owned with his ex partner, due to complete on the 21st Dec, so there will be money from that. We have decided to stay renting our little studio flat, and not go bigger, as we can save more money this way.

I am doing AQA in my spare time, sold alot of stuff on ebay/amazon, have been doing Shop & Scan, Test & Vote & Pigsback for vouchers which have been helping for Christmas. Have also started matched betting recently am between us both we are up to £450, with more in Quidco cashback (about £150).

I will be debt free, except for the student loan in April. The OH has £4k on a 0% credit card that he is seriously overpaying, and once the house is sold more will go off that.

Then we are seriously saving for our first property and wedding , as well as both of us being able to pay to do our Certificate in Fundraising Management and our membership to the Institute of Fundraising Management, as this will help our future earning potential hugely. I am tying mine into a BA in Social Sciences and Economics with the OU (have a Law degree, but need to branch out into wider Social Sciences for work), and the OH wants to do a Foundation degree in Leadership and Management with OU as he has never been to University, and think it will help him.

This board has been a lifesaver in times of crisis, has made me laugh, made me cry and generally the people have always been here for me! My next project at work is to be joint author of a new pocket guide for young people on Financial Citizenship, and only through my experiences here have I been able to take this step at work.

Merry Christmas to you all, with much love and luck!

Charitygirl xxx

yung

Hiya lynz first of all I hope and pray that 2007 will be the year for you where everything will be ok, there is not much to say about myself really that the way it is when in retirement except looking forward to my impending holiday. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Dutchgirl_2

Long-time lurker, occasional poster here - posted my first SOA a couple of weeks ago.

In the meantime, I've been busy getting on top of things, which takes long, but it's a great sense of relief and confidence. Budgeting for Christmas and January, making a plan for paying off my debts, arranging all my direct debit payments, setting up online banking and more budgeting.

My OH has got a job for 18 months from February and he will be double-paid for about 6 months (both part-time jobs, so that's why). He is planning to give me a lump sum towards my debt repayments, which means that I/we can be debt free by Christmas 2007. It still means that I have to devote large sums to debt repayment each month, but this site has given me the inspiration and confidence that it's possible.

I'm hoping to start a "packed lunch challenge", with which I hope to save about £20-£25 a week by cutting out unnecessary spending at work. I think this is one of my main areas of overspending.

Good luck everybody!

Gemmzie

Nice idea Lindz

Well, I've been sorting my mum's debts since last March and we have £1300 to go but it's all 0% at the moment so very manageable. Also been tackling my own, got quite a bit to go, but again all 0% so manageable which is a big thing I've learnt here so thanks
Goal for 2007 is to help Dad out, hopefully on a DMP, it's all a bit complicated. But I know it can be done now.

Serialdieter

Great thread Lynz.

First Merry Christmas to one and all.

This is the 1st Christmas in years I haven't used a cc, I'm in control of my spending and although I still owe ££££s I feel in control. There's a long way to go but I feel happier than I have for a long time. I'm looking forward to 07 and getting rid of more debt instead of dreading the cc bill! I now look forward to them.

Jx

GettingThingsDone

Great Idea Lynzpower! I been lurking for a while, had my LBM and then in Oct/Nov started to post and start a DFW Diary.

I've cleared my overdrafts (once I'd seen them for what they were!) and keep a spending diary to put myself back in control. It's interesting as I had kept spending diaries in the past but without having had the LBM it was just a list of things I'd spent money on - so lots of thanks for the clarity and inspiration.

I'm taking on Lloyds TSB with getting my charges back, and boy, are they stringing it out - so the next date for that is 1st Jan (hmmm, I need to find out about bank holidays). OH hates the idea of going to court ('You will be the test case') but I've started , so I'll finish.

Also, finally understood what the point of Quidco et al is - doh! I can't believe I'd avoided such sites for so long for some reason. Got some lovely cashbacks lined up from Barclays insurance and A&L current account. I like the idea of matched betting, but the OH doesn't want me going to those kinds of sites, in case I get lured in I can think of better places to get lured into... (MSE of course!)

Apologies for the ramble, it really has been a 'funny' end to the year. For next year I'm going to stick to my finances, clear some CC debt somehow and sort the rest of my life out. My main tool that has given me a kick up the bum is 'Get Things Done' by David Allen which has totally transformed and organised my life over the last 6 months - highly recommended. And without it I probably would never have stumbled across you lot!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

dinkylou

Morning all,

Been on the boards a long time but don't always post too often. I'm currently in limbo at the moment, was made redundant in November which means that I leave at end of Feb. Redundancy payout is looking very small and its a very bad time of year to be job hunting.
Thanks to MSE (my saviour!) and a bit of foresight, I have managed to save a few thousand for emergency and have cleared a few of the more urgent debts. But I have transferred £1000 to a 0% CC which is now sitting waiting til Jan 08. (I hate to not be attacking the debt, but have to batten down the hatches.)
So not going to be the best of Christmases but doing my best to stay positive.

x