Blinded by the LBM...!

Beencounting

I've been 'online window shopping' for the last few days, merrily popping new clothes into my N3xt basket, kitchens bits into my Arg0s basket and yet more clothes into my M&S basket...but not buying them!! The good thing is, that when I return to the sites the next day, they've all disappeared out of my baskets and I can choose more stuff..:rotfl:

It's payday tomorrow , and my pending transactions are showing all credits and no debits :T. Two lots of pay (mine and OH) two small lottery wins and £25 from Av0n.

I've started getting my plans down in a spreadsheet for what I want to achieve in 2012 and will post this up later, but just working through it is exciting and motivating!

Been

debtfreewannabe321

Beencounting wrote: »

I've been 'online window shopping' for the last few days, merrily popping new clothes into my N3xt basket, kitchens bits into my Arg0s basket and yet more clothes into my M&S basket...but not buying them!! The good thing is, that when I return to the sites the next day, they've all disappeared out of my baskets and I can choose more stuff..:rotfl:


:T:j I love this idea!!! :rotfl:may have to try this myself

It's payday tomorrow , and my pending transactions are showing all credits and no debits :T. Two lots of pay (mine and OH) two small lottery wins and £25 from Av0n.

fab! I love it when this happens :A:T

I've started getting my plans down in a spreadsheet for what I want to achieve in 2012 and will post this up later, but just working through it is exciting and motivating!

Been

Can't wait to see your targets for 2012

Beencounting

Thank you to DFW321 who has inspired me to write a list of good things for 2011...well not quite all of 2011 as my LBM was in September, but you know what I mean .

So, here goes....Good Things About 2011

• Haven't used CCs since LBM.
• Have reduced debt by approx £4,000 since LBM
• Have sold our second car and we're managing with just one car
• Have learned to mealplan
• Have learned to budget, and now feel much more in control
• Have got OH on board with MSE ways
• Have (in process of) decorated two bedrooms, one from scratch, using cash only
• Have had a CC-free Christmas :T
• Have reduced/eliminated a number of bills, eg, Sky, travel, phones, food
• Have started this diary
• Have set up an Emergency Fund and am adding to it regularly
• Have learned to convert T3sco points to rewards (for train fares)

Not bad for three months! I'm not going to list any negatives, there have been a few, but least said and all that .

Now it's onward with 2012 and my forward plans

banwa

Beencounting wrote: »

I've got a few ideas, just need to clarify them in my mind and then get them down on paper. I might even put a Vision Board together to remind me and keep me motivated .

Been

What is this Vision Board you speak of?

Sorry I haven't posted in ages, can't understand how I missed your updates in fact. Can't wait to see your ideas for 2012 either.

banwa

Ooh crossed posts.

Fab list of achievements, well done Been:T

Beencounting

So, I’ve done some numbers and have my plan to reduce the CC balances in 2012.

I’m planning to pay off three of our cards in full by the end of 2012. To do this, I estimate that we will need to make payments of around £5.5k :eek: which should cover the interest too. I will still need to ensure that minimum payments to our (non-target) cards are paid too, so the total payments to CCs will be much higher (I don’t even want to know what that number is, otherwise it will be too demotivating – payments to the non-target cards will continue on DD in the background).

I’ve broken my planned payments down into months to make it more manageable, and it looks like this:

Jan - £100
Feb - £150
Mar - £250
Apr - £350
May - £400
Jun - £475
Jul - £525
Aug - £579
Sep - £605
Oct - £645
Nov - £671
Dec - £755

These amounts are made up of planned (budgeted) minimum payments (using the snowball method), money earned from Av0n and ebay sales plus a rather large figure (£1160) for which I haven’t yet worked out where it will come from . However, there’s nothing like a challenge to get me motivated!

I’ve set up a new spreadsheet to record my progress against this plan which I can then use to make adjustments if/when things don’t quite work out. I’ll also record monthly progress in my signature. If all goes to plan, the first CC should be settled by the end of April.

I want to treat this as my MINIMUM plan – I will attempt to beat this plan if at all possible .

There's no car to sell this time, so it's just going to be grit and determination and right now I have bucket-loads :rotfl:.

Been

debtfreewannabe321

I have every faith in you that you can pay it all off and more car to sell, or no car :rotfl:

A little positivity & determination go a long way on mse lol, oh and a bit of de-cluttering for ebay :cool:

debtfreewannabe321

Beencounting wrote: »

So, here goes....Good Things About 2011

• Haven't used CCs since LBM.
• Have reduced debt by approx £4,000 since LBM
• Have sold our second car and we're managing with just one car
• Have learned to mealplan
• Have learned to budget, and now feel much more in control
• Have got OH on board with MSE ways
• Have (in process of) decorated two bedrooms, one from scratch, using cash only
• Have had a CC-free Christmas :T
• Have reduced/eliminated a number of bills, eg, Sky, travel, phones, food
• Have started this diary
• Have set up an Emergency Fund and am adding to it regularly
• Have learned to convert T3sco points to rewards (for train fares)

Not bad for three months! I'm not going to list any negatives, there have been a few, but least said and all that .

Now it's onward with 2012 and my forward plans

That list is great for 3 months :T you've paid off as much as i have in a quarter of the time :rotfl:(best kick my butt into gear me thinks )

And the fact you haven't added to your debt has to be the biggest boost of all I know it is to me


dfw x

Beencounting

banwa wrote: »

What is this Vision Board you speak of?

Sorry I haven't posted in ages, can't understand how I missed your updates in fact. Can't wait to see your ideas for 2012 either.

Hi Banwa

A Vision Board is a visual representation of your goals, well that's my understanding and the way I like to use it. I'm quite a visual person, so having pictures stuck to a board/piece of paper/in a scrap book helps to keep me motivated and heading towards what I really want.

Apart from the CC stuff, I'll also be adding pictures of things I'd like to experience, eg, a different type of Christmas, although not sure what that is at the mo, some motivational or inspiring sayings or poems, maybe pictures of beaches, which to me, means relaxation etc, etc.

It should be very personal to you and should act as a reminder to your goals.

If you g00gle it, you can find loads on the web.

Been

caeler

Hi OP - Just been reading your diary. It sounds like you and your husband have a united front and are clearly supporting each other despite your challenges. Well done and keep up the amazing work! :-)