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

Dead_Eye_Jones

approaching 30 far too quick - blimey where did the last 10yrs go??? Quick - where are the brakes....!? Bought a house this year. Thinking about proposing - shhh dont tell the misses! Managed to stay debt free, mortgage aside, since paying off the student loans, but I think im just a natural MSE - I have my parents to thank lol! Or maybe Im just a bit of a scrooge :P

merry christmas all, take it easy. yu dont have to splash the cash to have a good'un, remember whats really important...

immoral_angeluk

Well I'm currenty a month and a half into my maternity leave and expecting our 2nd baby girl in January (Due date 22nd.). Feel fat, in pain and generally fed up of being pregnant but glad the end is in sight. Since joining in October we've paid off 4 debts which feels great, but we're currently on hold this month debt wise as my work messed up my maternity pay which means we're just surviving this month/christmas etc and going in head first again with paying off our debts next month. Christmas has been paid for with our own money as all the credit card etc have been cut into tiny little pieces so no more debt for us. We're having a 'budget' christmas, especially because of the !!!! up in my pay, but luckily I planned ahead and got all our little girl's presents before I went on maternity leave which mean's she's not going without. It's out last christmas with just the 3 of us so we wanted it to be special for her!!

In general looking forward to christmas, the new year and our new baby. As well and fighting our debts head on again come the new year.

kev84

Dear All

My name is Kevin i'm new here- have been moneysaving and trying to clear my debts for a while along with my girlfriend. Our ultimate aim is to achieve around £6000 of savings this year for a 5% deposit on a our first home!!!!:j

Currently renting, I have got rid of my £213 a month car in March, and are have cut my debts from around £10,000 down to around £3500. I am preparing to hammer these in the new year and hope to have them all payed off by June!

I have started claiming back charges from bank, but no word yet i only sent the letter on Tuesday.

I am currently off work right now (appendix out) so my spending is very minimal, can't drive so im saving £100 a month in fuel!!

Anyway merry christmas everyone and i must say this a great online community and hope it continues to grow at the rate it has been.

Kevin

gettingitsorted

well lets see
due to circumstances beyond our control i had to declare myself bankrupt in november this year and husband (makingendsmeet) has gone on a dmp , i was a lurker then like most of the people on here became a mad poster too!
We are hoping to finally get our tax credits just after christmas so hope then to be able to sort our a budget and start to save a bit .

This site and the people who post here are worth their weight in gold so Happy Christmas and a great 2007 for us all.

angeldeelite

hi

i've posted a few times but never formally introduced myself. this site has answered so many important questions for me so thanks to you all.

it also helped me find quidco, amazing! i'm due £70 soon and just found i can make £100 on my car insurance when it's up next year so keeping that in mind.

as for debt, well i do have some but it's manageable over the next 3 years then i'm planning to buy my first home. currently thinking of taking on a second job to boost my funds, sure i can manage a couple of shifts a week on a checkout somewhere.

Anyway, it's my bday next week so forgetting about the cash for a while and splurging on a trip to prague!

have a great xmas all x

tiff

Had our LBM in Oct but already had a holiday to Florida booked and paid for (some on credit!) so havent been able to pay much back since then. Didnt have any money saved for Christmas so told everyone we were buying a token present from our kids only. Have started the process of reclaiming bank charges and moved all the debt to the cheapest rate. Have applied for a second job. Have worked out a budget and have been living within that but big bills seem to jump up and bite our behinds! The main cause of that is our car which is 5 years old but seems to need expensive jobs doing that only Renault dealers can fix. Have set up a standing order so that we are actually saving money for next Christmas which will be a first

Really looking forward to 2007 because I feel we have everything in control, even if we dont make extra payments towards the debt its at the cheapest rate and minimum payment is 3% of the total so we are paying back a good bit per month anyway.

Good luck to everyone, here's to 2007

emylou

bananakinz wrote:

Got a part time job interview tomorrow morning, working from home - admin so fingers crossed as they say - every little helps!

OOhh good luck bananakinz, hope you get it!

Well I have recently become a daily poster on the "what have you spent" thread as it keeps me on track of my spending & I really think about whether I need something or just want it or if I can get it cheaper/free/through quidco!! :rotfl: Before that I was a bit of a lurker, with 3 loans & about 4 cc I was only making minimum payments thinking that I was doing ok & often paying for petrol/meals out on cc; this site soon made me realise how much money I was throwing away in interest :mad: After posting questions/reading posters' diaries and being introduced to quidco I am pleased to say that I have cut up all my cards, I am snowballing so that I pay off highest interest first & I have set up 2 savings accounts and I love watching my money grow!
Not too sure what I'll be doing in 2007- working abroad or saving for own house but I know I will be debt free asap.

Merry Christmas & happy moneysaving New Year to all of you!!

La_Tristesse_Durera

Howdo?

I've been away for a few weeks. Well, I've now made my first two payments to Payplan. I feel damn good for it, although I still have a long way to go, I'm really up for it, plus I do have spare money for going out and buying clothes still. My last cars crank went so I've also downgraded engine size - 3.0T to a 2.0, saving £40 pm petrol and cheaper insurance. Still getting hasseling calls from Halifax, but not as many. I'm looking for a cheap hol for next year, trying to organise my Xmas, had work Xmas bash last week. Fallen head over heals for a laaady and also looking forward to the January transfer window!!

oops_a_daisy

Hiya Lynz - great idea

Since joining MSE I have cleared approx £8000 in debt, saved up approx £4000 for a 'rainy day' fund and taken control of my finances. All outgoings were looked at and reduced and I dont buy anything before checking it out here first!. I still have £732 on a 0% card which I had hoped to pay off by Christmas but I didnt get my expense claim form in in time so my DF date will be January 07 . Next year I will be increasing my 'rainy day' savings to £6000 and start to overpay my mortgage. I am also saving up to buy a VW campervan for the summer by raising money outside of my normal job. A lot of work needs doing on my house too so every extra penny is going to be spent there. This site has been a life saver for me - I dont know what I would do without it.

Have a lovely Christmas :xmastree:

Willsnarf1983

Well i have been here for 18 months, debts at worst about 10k and i did get them down to just under 5 but one thing and another put these back up to just under 7k which i then got under 6 k only to be hit with the fact my company !!!!ed my payroll up and i havn't been paying company car tax for 18 months which now the government obviously want and has added another £1000 tops onto my debt soooooo my debts are now

£2900- Bank of Dad
£250- Barclaycard
£2701- Lloyds loan
£1000- Car tax

Plan of action is by end of 2007 i will only have what i owe my dad left and this is whilst playing lots of golf and watching lots of football( well its Norwich so not sure what its called at the mo!)

other than this i am fairly alright, cud be better could be worse

Will