wot-a-mess debt crisis

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Thats the way Fail to plan and you will plan to fail!!! xx

wot-a-mess

This year for the 1st time ever gonna write a xmas budget & try to stick to it. In previous years things were just bought irresponsibly. Not gonna let the debt situation spoil the festive season, but also not gonna let it spiral out of financial control.

ani*fan

Well done on the christmas plans. I think it's the single biggest source of financial trouble for so many people. I'm determined to get a handle on it too this year. Best of luck with it.

wot-a-mess

Ani, Yes i think you are very correct with the xmas financial analysis. I would guess MSE is full of new diaries early in the year when people assess their financial predicaments. I've never really liked xmas to be honest cos my view has always been that its THE annual rip-off.

ani*fan

But this year we know better and will not be ripped off. We'll have a budget, and a plan, and keep our heads and not go crazy.

And don't forget that once Christmas is all over our debts will start going down even faster. I'm really looking forward to that. Just a month or two (or three) without any big expenses would be a brilliant boost.

wot-a-mess

Yes Ani exactly. Thats wot I'm hoping for... controlled spending at festive season then a good few months of debt-busting

wot-a-mess

Bought some xmas presents at weekend, but that's probably enough 'til next payday. Means splitting the cost over 2 months instead of all the normal last minute panic buying that costs a fortune by paying top dollar - then sitting depressed early Jan. when all the bills arrive. Managed to get a few pressies from genuine 20% 1-day sales. Plan is to pay for everything before year end, hopefully reduce debt a little, then hit the debt hard from Jan.

Disappointed on the trying to make extra £s front. The 3 main survey sites I do have dried right up. Just need to try to spend very little again this week.

wot-a-mess

Been reading thro a few different diaries this morning & some really great ideas on here . When the xmas pressie buying is outta the way must look at balance transferring some of the target CC to another "not-so-high" APR card, even if it's not 0%... Every little helps in interest saving I guess. Plus the psychological boost of seeing the target CC reducing & eventually being wiped out appeals to me big time.

Have actually stuck to budget very well indeed so far this month & hope to spend very little between now & payday. Hoping £25 gonna be sufficient for daily spends for rest of month.

My LBM started 2nd Oct. & I now know it's not the best time to have a LBM in terms of timing with the festive season unavoidable expenditure, but on the other hand if I did not have LBM at that time then debt would most certainly have continued to increase to an even more unacceptable level.

Igamogam

wot-a-mess wrote: »

Hi Beat, Had a long think about xmas today & have decided to change plans. Originally was gonna try to clear as much debt as possible then buy everything the week before xmas, but that would mean a tough January.

So gonna buy everything within the next few weeks which means that I can start Jan. with a real push on debt-busting. Plus have a stress-free December But debt shall still decrease between now & year end plus xmas shall be paid for. Plus of course waiting til the last minute means that a lot of the sought after items are gone & the pressies bought can be a bit of a waste.

Xmas ain't just gonna go away so just gonna attack it head-on, get it outta the way, then smash a good bit of debt in 1st 6 months of 2012.

Great ideas WAM! We have become very ruthless about Christmas. We are not in the bah humbug category because there will be plenty of good food,a real tree and good company.But there are no presents other than for our 2 children and 2 secret santas for work. We only write about 25 cards- about half will be hand delivered.

Beencounting

Sounds like you've really got your Christmas shopping under control WAM, well done

Been