Arctic's roll to liquidity

Arctic_Sky · 2 September 2011 at 7:23PM

Ey up all,

Feel a bit silly having to make a diary to give myself a metaphorical kick up the a***, but having had about 5 'flickering candle moments' (i.e. LBMs on which I've acted for all of, oh, 3 weeks

), I think i might have finally had my LBM.

It's all because of August. Well, actually, it's all because I am (WAS, past tense Arcy!!) a financial nitwit... See, having your anniversary, going to a (awesome) festival in Germany for a week, having your sister's hen do and your sister's wedding all in the same month adds up, financially, and I was left in a bit of a flap towards the end of last month, thinking that I might go over my overdraft limit (£1000). Even though I'm with barclays and so have a 'reserve' of £250, I don't like to count that, and so *flap flap flap* went the synapses of my little blonde brain.

This spurred me into action, trying to raise enough funds to keep me in what I deemed 'the black' by selling all the games and dvds I could to a certain well-known 'pawn shop' of sorts whose name is a hononym of, erm, well, you know - THAT!:p

I managed it, just, but poke me with a ferret's tail and call me Timothy, I never want to be that stressed about money again. Hence why, from now on, I shall control it.

A little background on me and my debts (and the reasons thereof):

I'm 23, live with 3 housemates in a terraced house in a nice area of Sheffield. I earn a decent wage for my age and level of education (no degree): £15,000. My partner (seems stupid calling him my boyfriend, given that we're basically married) is a bit younger than me, is trained in a trade that he can't currently get work in (we're working on that though!) and lives with his Mum and step-dad.

I've had so many chances to get myself back into a good financial state in this past year, but somehow have always managed to screw it up: I got £1,000 into my overdraft through starting a monthly-paying job halfway through October, having previously been paid weekly, thus not getting paid 'til the end of November, but then got a £1,000 tax rebate earlier this year (worked in Scandinavia, 'nuff said).

My problem is thinking 'oh, what the fudge' when it comes to deciding whether I can afford something or not. As Mr A is currently on the dole, if we go out and do something, I usually end up paying, as I have a job. I think it's just this, and quite a few 'fudge it' moments, that have lead to this situation.

I have a £1000 overdraft to clear, along with a £260 credit card balance. The snowball calculator says I'll be debt free by December 2012 - let's see how much I can beat that

clippy_girl · 2 September 2011 at 9:51PM

good luck

Arctic_Sky · 3 September 2011 at 8:48AM

Merci bien, Clippy Girl! I think I'm going to need it!

A bit the worse for wear this morning, as I went out to my friendly local heavy metal club last night - I maintain that, at £1 entry and £1.20 drinks, it counts as a DFW night out

. Plus, you know, a girl's gotta have some fun! Nevertheless, the spend is duly logged in my filofax's financial section.

Checked my online banking this morning - a £40 payout from OnePoll had cleared into my account, so that's £40 off the credit card.:T

I've realised this past week that arbitrary numbers don't really work for me with regards to my cc; £40 paid to/from it is just a number, so I've written down all of the purchases and charges that have ended up at this £256 balance, and am paying crossing them off when I pay off the amount for that particular thing. For example, the £40 I just paid off meant that 'Fireball Whisky - £23.54', 'Prescription - £7.40', 'Groceries - £8.53' and 'Interest - £1' could be crossed off.

Have also decided to take a two-pronged approach to tackling my debt - I'll throw any extra money I earn at paying off the credit card, whilst also monitoring and curbing my expenditure in order to gradually reduce my o/d. Then, when I've paid off (and cancelled!) my credit card, any extra money I come into will go to reducing the o/d

Right, I'm off to get me another cup of much needed tea!

Best wishes to all who read this

xA

Arctic_Sky · 4 September 2011 at 7:04PM

End of weekend update - had a lovely, cost free Saturday night and Sunday watching dvds with my bf. Off to the pub in a bit - sticking to the diet coke, and, with any luck, might even win the pub quiz! (haha, yeah right...)

My DS Lite sold for £36 on eBay earlier, so as soon as I receive payment for that I'll post it out, and pay off another £36 of my cc :j