I'm Going to Reduce My Debt

Hallam_Macca

I've had quite a week so far. Can't believe it's Wednesday only! Feels like I should be winding down for the weekend.

On the job front I'm now registered with a couple of agencies and after passing the telephone interview I've got a face-to-face interview for a job at CIS in Manchester on monday afternoon. It's for a Customer Service Advisor. It would have been the next step up at where I am now so I'm hoping to get this.

Just before learning of this job my team at work apart from me were called into a meeting. They've all been told that their jobs have been made redundant and they're going instead to an office in Somerset. There are jobs available still here but they have to reapply and be interviewed for each one they apply for, I've been told that my job at the company is safe however but my team is being broken up entirely so if I do end up staying I don't know where I'm going to be within the company. This was exactly as I predicted would happen a couple of weeks ago but I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

The mood is awful at the moment, all I hear about is these redundancies and are they ok etc? I can't wait to get out of there now!

On spending money I've spent a lot! Probably too much!

Today I've made a shopping order with Tesco costing £75.11 before discounts. Also spent £2.30 on lunch and 45p on a newspaper.

Yesterday I spent £34 on petrol. I owe my mum £63.50 so the money spent on the petrol is taken off this figure. Also spent £1.35 on food at the garage.

Monday I spent £2.70 on parking whilst I was in a meeting at an agency. The bill for my season ticket left my account for £23.89. Also paid £10 football subs, paid for a mate as he had no cash, he is paying for me next week.

Sunday was a killer for me, Oldham were away at Northampton so the travel to the game cost me £16, pre-match meal and pint £5.75. Spent £2.50 on a programme as well as around £10 on snacks and papers. Spent far too much on stuff on over-inflated service station prices.

I've made just £3 so far selling stuff on ebay, not really done that well selling my stuff on there, bit disappointed with that. But with all that I've got very little left to spend until pay day on tuesday. I've let myself down near the end of the month, thought I'd have a bit of money left but I've squandered it really.

angelavdavis

Hiya Macca!

Don't get down - the job prospects sound great! Ebay sounds quiet for everyone (see the auction forum).

So, have you kept a count on the total you spent???

Good luck with the interview next week!

Don't allow yourself to throw precious pennies away! Keep a spending diary!

You are still weaning yourself off spending - don't be too hard on yourself. Wishing you lots of luck:T

Steedandpeelcats

Hi there - sounds like you're doing well, especially with the prospects of a better job. With regards to selling ebay, have you thought about batching your programmes into runs of 5 or 10? These may sell better than individually, but you'll get more than selling in really large quantities. Good luck!

Hallam_Macca

Thanks Angela. I'm trying to keep a diary of what I'm spending but recently I've not done too well and guessed one or two items.

Cheers for the tip also SteedandPeelcats. I'll give that a go as well.

Over the last couple of days I've spent 45p on a paper, £4.50 on a couple of pints while watching the merseyside derby and then £2.50 on a programme.

Feeling slightly more optimistic today, only got to wait until tuesday for payday and then I can pay some more debt off.

Hallam_Macca

Since the last post I've had my interview at the CIS, unfortunately I didn't get the job, messed up at the end of the interview. Not letting it set me back though and I'm looking for other jobs to apply for.

That day I spent 79p on a cheeseburger, £2.55 on a latte at Starbucks and £4.50 on parking. Too many temptations in the city! I also got a pint in later after my football match costing £2

I got paid £834.01 on tuesday by work and since then spent £20 on petrol, £22 on contact lenses for the month and around £5 on lager as I was watching the dire England game last night.

First of all tonight I've gone to pay some of my Barclays Account off so it stays at my overdraft limit. Normally I have to pay £11.50 as a charge just to have an overdraft and then a bit more in interest but I've gone into my account and there's no more monthly charge! Instead of paying £15+ just to keep my overdraft at £500 I only have to pay £3.20 this month. I've not had any letters from Barclays confirming that they have done this but the charge is normally taken out the 1st of the month and nothing so far.

A BIG thank you to AndyR for that tip.

£26.44 has gone off my Capital One Account debt which is the minimum payment for the month.

I've also taken £100 off my MBNA Account for now. I intend to pay more off this month at a later date but I want to be sure there aren't going to be any problems that will leave me short near the end of the month.

Hallam_Macca

Yesterday I headed down to South Wales with my mates to watch Oldham play Swansea. It was such a fantastic day with the blues winning to go top of the league as well as other mad antics on the journey there and back!

Spent a load of money again though! I'd already bought my ticket for the game last month. Bought some booze for the journey £8.50. Transport cost me £15.50. On the way down we stopped to have some breakfast, came to around £3.15, bought a paper and a drink £2. Got to the stadium and spent £3 on a programme and then £4 on food and a pint. On the way back we stopped off at pizza hut, another £5.35! The trip including my ticket as well cost me around £60. Think this is definately something I need to reduce in the future, wasting my money on overpriced stuff.

I also bought some lemonade and some chewing gum 75p later on that night.

Today I've had to buy some cat food and I got a paper as well totalling £4.60. Apart from that nothing much happening. I might be going to Turkey for a week in June. My mate has got a cheap deal so I need to be saving for that.

Hallam_Macca

I've not spent a lot this week. Apart from £25 going out of my account today for the gym I've ended up spending £4.55 on a pub lunch today. I went to the dentist today but turns out they made a mistake with their letter and my appointment is next month! Something though that I haven't budgetted for before. Not sure how much the fees are with the NHS though.

I got my mobile bill for last month a few days ago, not sure of the exact amount but it came to over £95! :eek: I blame that on using it too often when I was in Bulgaria and it shouldn't be as high next month. Still quite a lot though.

My finances are doing ok at the moment, I've got to a point where I don't think I'm wasting a lot of my money on needless things. I'd like to see my debt reducing quicker but without me having to give up on stuff I'm doing now. You still got to be able to live rather than exist whilst getting everything sorted.

Has anyone got any ideas that I could try?

I'm applying for jobs at the moment but not heard anything back yet.

Sea78

Hi

I had a check up with x-rays and the fee is £15.50. I save £5 a month (CCCS recommendation) so that I can have a yearly check up and then have a clean if no work required.

Sea xx

firesidemaid

hi there!

i've just read your whole thread - well done you for strating to sort out your debts!

there are a couple of things that stand out though. you don't seem to plan ahead always for footie/food etc. you could save a lot more money by buying tickets/travel in advance and not buying so many exta-curricular snacks etc!

it might be interesting to see how much money you have 'wasted' just on your postings on this thread?

also, your mobile bill seems really high. follow the leads on this site about reducing it.

also, you can set up direct debits for all your c/cards etc for the minimum amounts so you never forget and get charged. you can then pay more off on top.

think of the mse mantra each time you buy something - 'can i afford it? do i need it? can i get it cheaper anywhere else?'

also, save some money every month for your hols and for next christmas also.

good luck with the job hunt:D