Finally reaching out for some help...

Cherryjack

do you just call them and ask? or send like a template letter? i need to be prepared lol .. my debts are old..so i think some of them will be happy to get rid of mex

kerri_dfw

Well last time I called Wecott and asked them what the price would be if I paid it right here, right now, they told me x amount. I told them I couldn't afford that, they said "name a figure you can afford and we'll see what we can do" but I really didn't have any spare cash to offer so couldn't. I'm going to try again next month when I do have some cash available get in there before the car insurance is due

kerri_dfw

I've just worked out my sums, and if I bite the bullet and see if Wescott would accept £800-£1000 to clear the account I could be debt free this evening. I've also deleted my overdraft on my lloyds account that was a happy feeling. Best get my bottom off to work

beanielou

oh exciting ~ heres hoping.

kerri_dfw

Turns out I can't call them this evening as they won't have my £90 from yesterday registered yet, so I think I'll leave it until the end of the month. It's 0% and if my OH doesn't get his funding through for Canada I may need to sub him the money for him to live out there until they do. If I pay them off now then if he gets stuck I won't be able. This hasn't been an easy decision, as becoming debt free ASAP is always going to be the goal I'm racing towards. But one more month won't hurt, especially as the damage has been done, and I'm really worried that when I am debt free I won't be able to keep money in savings. So this will test me to make sure I can keep £200 in my pots and £500 in my savings for a month. If I can manage to not spend that, and work with the budget I've set myself of £50 a week, then anything is possible

I really hate when I go to sleep in the middle of the day and can't work out why. I came over all sleepy and couldn't keep my eyes open, so now I've woken up and feel disorientated. I was half tempted to order in takeaway, but I know in my new thrifty ways that this needs to be a once a month on payday thing, not a once a day because I'm lazy thing. I'll feel so much happier when I have all that cous cous arrive, even if there is 288 portions of it. Mostly because I'll have something easy and simple that I can chuck on the pan without thinking. I think I shall have some museli with yoghurt for dinner, I've got some of that and I don't much feel like having anything huge. I think the reason why I was so tired was because I had takeaway indian Monday, pizza yesterday and haven't had any of what I call "proper food". So a nice big bowl of museli soaked in vanilla organic yoghurt will no doubt sort me out no end 1/2 cup of yoghurt to 1 cup museli me thinks, portion control and all.

MSE wise, I need to reduce my O2 phone contract as the OH is away in Canada and when he is back I should be able to call him from my work phone. I'll do that now. Right that's now £18.15 as I pay for the family bolt on It means I get 300 minutes, unlimited texts and can call both my parents and my sister for free.

Whilst I've been writing this my App0ved Fo0d order has been shipped, so I should get a nice bundle of parcels tomorrow: the food, the heavy duty shelves, the lightweight shelves. Then I've got cous cous galore Or I can make falafel wraps mmm. It's going to be so nice to have stuff that I can make that isn't just flour and oats haha. Although the honey will be put to use straight away to make a batch of flapjacks mmm.

I guess I should start shopping around for Martins' guides on savings and where best to save. I know absolutely nothing about ISAs or how those work, so should probably try to understand them. What I don't understand is how you can save x amount in them one year, then the next you get a new one so what happens to the current one that you have? Do you leave that in the first one on pittance, or can you take that with you to the new one. But if that happens how can you ever have more than the maximum for one year saved? £5k or something isn't it? I'm definitely nowhere near that amount saved yet though, but if I continue to work from home then there's no reason why I can't get that amount saved quickly enough.

Right so first on my list of things to do is to go get some museli
Second: Learn about ISAs
Third: Learn about savings accounts
Fourth: Learn about mortgages and deposits (as I have little - no idea how these work either, they REALLY should teach us this stuff in school!!!)

Hope everyone is well xx

hp48910

Hey,

Have been away again but have loved catching up with your diary. How far have you come in a short time!!!:j

Will get back to posting on my diary very soon but for now I'll leave you with the news that I haven't been shirking at all on the debt busting. Also have 57 items on the bay at the mo which tbh has taken so much of my time:rotfl:Some of these will end tomorrow but they're up to nearly £50 so far:T

Take care x

kerri_dfw

Hi HP, nice to hear from you
Well done on the items, that's an awesome amount and glad to hear you're not shirking too
Look forward to reading your diary when you have time to post xx

kerri_dfw

I have shelves What's more, I have shelves full of food I reckon if I made my own bread then I have enough beans on toast to last me a good month, plus pasta, oats, museli, chopped toms. It looks pretty, or at least I think so anyway Although I am contemplating making a curtain to hide it away, just in case people start to think I'm absolutely barking. It's also mostly stuff my housemate can't eat as she's wheat free you see what I did there...that way stuff can't just wander off on its own.

I've still not got over this "not buying for anyone but myself" malarky. Instead I have tried to tame it. I've put in 3 orders today with DR for meat deliveries over the next 4.5 months for my parents & sister. It's cost me £115 less £9 cashback, but this means I don't need to buy anything else until mid-July, which surely has to be better. It also helps my conscience, as I know my parents can't afford good quality meat, and at least this way they're eating well and I know the animals are treated well also.

I'm going to my first ever book club meeting tonight, I've never been to a book club before, and unfortunately I haven't finished the book due to starting the new job I've made a good attempt at it though and might try to read some more. However, I've found it to be quite predictable (I checked the last few pages as curiosity got the better of me), I'm not really one for predictable books. Anyway, at least it gets me out of the house

I've withdrawn £50 spending/grocery money today. This money has to last me a week and anything leftover goes into my sealed pots. I don't think I actually need anything foodwise though as I've got my AF order coming at some point, the tracking isn't working to check, and I can't think of anything I'm desperate to eat at the moment. Although some fresh veg would probably do me some good, I'm loathe to go to the SM as I'll end up spending too much money then not being bothered to cook *snigger*

kerri_dfw

Ok so first signs of love-sickness have emerged, I brushed my nose with my hand earlier and ended up with the worst nosebleed I've had in ages. I think this was partly due to being dehydrated as I woke up in an absolute sweat as housemate decided to put heating on to dry her sheets, from the smell of the kitchen this morning I assume the dogs widdled on it eugh. Also I think I am slightly stressed about OH being away I put myself to bed soon after the nosebleed as I felt quite light-headed (I think from seeing the blood although not squeamish in the slightest, more than from losing the blood). Unfortunately this meant I couldn't go to book club, the woman didn't bother to text me back anyway which I think is rude, so I might just join the Oxf4m one down the road instead at least that's better organised and I know where it is.

I woke up to find I was cuddling my jogging trousers that were hiding in my bed, so I must be missing my OH I think. Although there haven't been anymore tears since I left the airport and I don't feel sad or depressed. I do feel like I'm a bit fluey but nothing more than feeling a bit cold, which I'd associate with this time of night anyway.

The one thing I have noticed with all this debt busting is that my life is becoming far more organised. I'm planning things a lot better and even in work I'm keeping lists and making goals. I know exactly which bit of work I am doing next and already have a document that I'm reusing for 3 different customers to save myself time, although adjusting where necessary. My room is far more organised than it's been in ages, and I think I finally feel like I've settled into it I just need to get a bracket for the tv to go on the wall, and an ethernet over powerline box and all will be sorted. My housemates OH has offered to put the bracket on the wall for me. Oh and I need a bolt for the outside of my bedroom door to stop the dogs from coming in when my housemate goes for a shower when I'm out. I've noticed this is a reoccurring pattern, particularly when I have left chocolate on the side!

All food items are above dog height on my shelves, and I have far less in the way of meals than I'd like. So my next goal is to start looking out for decent deals on things I can make meals with but that I can buy at bargain prices, or when on offer. I also need to sort out the beans I froze that turned into bean blocks. I think I need to cook these now and then refreeze them ready for slow cooker or crock pot meals. I've still got three boxes of food to sort through and maybe I'll finish that off tomorrow.

I've investigated saving accounts and need to sort out my ISA. I know it's a case of use it or lose it, but I definitely won't have £5k saved before April 5th so I will start my ISA from 6th April with the best buy at the time. Hopefully by then I'll understand a little more about how they work, I think you can put money in them throughout the year as you choose and then on the 5th April they end and you start a new one, transfer the old one to the best highest rate etc... Then anything over the £5k you put into a regular saver until that's full, then anything else is normal saving accounts. Then I need to investigate mortgages. I have it in my head that I need about £75k to have a decent deposit for a good interest rate, so it's going to be many moons before I have this saved, but when OH is working we can start to save together which would bring the date forward. However, I think this is also too high a number to be saving towards and that we will be able to get a mortgage way before then so will have to do some reading.

Tasks for tomorrow:
- Do the clothes washing, it's long due now!
- Sort out remaining boxes of food
- Put away clothes that I've flung on the sofa in my room
- Hopefully make some falafel wraps with the AF order that should come tomorrow morning
- Have a NSD (fingers crossed for this one as I failed miserably today)
- eat breakfast
- eat lunch
- eat dinner (these last 3 might sound obvious but I get into this routine when the OH goes away whereby I stop eating, this then leads to me getting ill which is naughty and very, very bad!)

debtfreewannabe321

morning kerri

I hope you're feeling a little better this morning. I agree with pinot & cherry. It takes a couple of weeks for the missing the OH to subside then by the time they are back they just get under your feet and annoy your new routine :rotfl: Just keep yourself super busy and you will be fine, promise

Well done on getting rid of the overdraft :j:j only one creditor left eh! :T:T how great does that feel huh! By the time your OH gets back you will have savings started and be ready to start the next bit of your journey together :j! Oh and i also made same mistake with couscous. I ordered it in Jan and i still have 2 cases left :eek::rotfl: I've ordered more though which is due today and will give mum some as I know she's saving every spare penny at the moment so she can move ....let's hope she likes couscous as much as us :rotfl: