Finally reaching out for some help...

debtfreewannabe321

Ok well i should tell you off (if that's what you want) but seeing as though my diary is LITTERED with purchases such as the bed (also bought one myself last year :whistle:) ummmmmmmm i think that would infact make me a big fat hypocrite so i will leave the tellings off to someone else who is a good dfw :rotfl:

kerri_dfw

Well it's several hours later and I still don't feel guilty about the bed purchase. I've just laid on my current Swedish furniture shop mattress & wooden slats (one of those on the floor things to keep the mattress off the floor) and it's sooo uncomfortable in comparison! It'll take me an extra month to pay off the overdraft that I dipped into, and being debt free by the end of April instead of the end of March isn't really a massive sacrifice.

kerri_dfw

Actually when I think about it clearly thinking about all my pots, not just that I've gone into my overdraft, but I had £500 saved to offer lloyds a f&f next month, £260 in my savings account which I don't need to replace until June, so my overdraft only contributed £450 towards the bed & mattress. When I think like that, I can pay the overdraft off next month easily and reduce it with my expenses payment of £180 when that comes in. Then lloyds f&f can be collected in April & May for a f&f in May. This is still two months before my original plan of debt free by June. Then I have 6 months to save as much money as possible, and seeing how I won't actually need anymore "stuff" this should be easy. (I say this now... just wait though as we all know what I'm like *rolls eyes*).
Must go to bed, have been chilling with my housemate & her finace tonight, plus a famous dj and it really highlights how the other half live when you have to insist they tell you how much you owe them for the lemonade yet they just brush it away like it's nothing. I am not one of those people that expects them to buy things for me just because I can't be bothered to go to the shop. He never did tell me the price, and I think he thought I was rude asking in the first place. Oh well. I tried.

kerri_dfw

DFW thing I've done today... called up Lloyds and asked them to send me a debit card
What I've been doing so far is to throw money onto my Vanq1s card and then use that as a debit card. However, this isn't reducing the amount of debt I'm in on that account as I always use it all up. So what's the point? Well other than I'm saving myself interest of course.
So from when my debit card arrives I will start by transferring my weekly budget into that account, from there all weekly spends will go out. So if I have £50 a week (this is my ideal target) I can't spend more than that as I don't have an overdraft to spend. I'll just have to wait until the following week if I want to buy anything
I'm hoping this way I'll be able to start to reduce the amount I use the HSBC OD, as I will be more in control of my money and not thinking "ooh but I have an extra £600" when in actual fact I should be thinking "I have £100 and the £600 is debt". I know I didn't want to start banking with lloyds again, but I need to learn to handle my money better and although a new bed was most definitely needed, and a good nights sleep is better than anything in the world I need to train myself to be better with money
So I think I shall select Thursdays as my transfer day, and setup a standing order into the Lloyds account for the money to go in each week automatically. This way I won't need to know how much money is in HSBC as £50 should be enough to feed myself. I will still transfer the full balance to my Vanquis card, but this will only be used for petrol and work expenses.

Today is another NSD, that's two in a row. I'm not counting the trip to the post office as that was paid for by fleabay buyers

kerri_dfw

Right, I think I've had another LBM.

My overdraft is not my money to spend how I want. My overdraft is money that the bank owns and charges me for its use!
My credit card is not my money, it's the CC companies and if I don't pay them the whole amount each month they charge me for the use.
Declaring either of these to as paid off is just a lie to myself as I still have to pay them back each month!

So... credit card has been cut up! It's sat on my bed in two halves. I have removed any dd's to it (my oyster auto-topup was coming straight off it and has put me £6.34 over the limit).
I am adjusting my amount paid/total debt to be £2350/£5030. This means I'm not even 50% of the way to debt freedom yet, and it's taken me 4 months to get here But I really did need a new bed and my room looks amazing now, there's no clutter and it's soooo organised. I finally feel like this place is home, which it didn't before when it was cluttered and messy. I just need to get rid of the fleabay stuff and it'll be perfect!

So, a minor setback but at least I can acknowledge where I've gone wrong and where I need to rectify it

DFW things I'm aiming to do today:
* Eat leftover pasta for lunch
* Maybe go to the WI meeting up the road, I need to collect my car from nearby anyway, so may as well go check it out. However this costs £5 and I was sooo looking forward to another NSD. But it is only once a month.
* Put the washing away
* Take the washing out the machine and hang on the airers
* Sort one box from the shelves of boxes (I have loads that need to be sorted to remove the carp from them)

I feel a bit disappointed that I'm not as far as I thought I was, but if I carry on paying £600 towards the debts I'll still be free by July (My original plan)

f1widow

Hi kerri - a massive girly hug your way - hope you are feeling a bit better about OH now - Im sure it will get easier as the days go by (hoping so anyway)

oooo that bed sounds gorgeous hmmmmmm I would love a new mattress (OH keeps saying no as he likes our mattress - its knackered by the way! he doesnt have bad bones like me so it makes no odds to him!)

he he all that cous cous - which we all love in this house - I really must sort out Approved Foods and do an order

Totally agree with you over getting organised - I do feel as if Im beginning to be a bit better in some areas but in others :shocked:

And last but no means least :j:T:beer::j:T on getting to the point of being DF - what a lovely feeling and well done you!

anyway - look forward to hearing more soon xx

kerri_dfw

f1widow wrote: »

Hi kerri - a massive girly hug your way - hope you are feeling a bit better about OH now - Im sure it will get easier as the days go by (hoping so anyway)

oooo that bed sounds gorgeous hmmmmmm I would love a new mattress (OH keeps saying no as he likes our mattress - its knackered by the way! he doesnt have bad bones like me so it makes no odds to him!)

he he all that cous cous - which we all love in this house - I really must sort out Approved Foods and do an order

Totally agree with you over getting organised - I do feel as if Im beginning to be a bit better in some areas but in others :shocked:

And last but no means least :j:T:beer::j:T on getting to the point of being DF - what a lovely feeling and well done you!

anyway - look forward to hearing more soon xx

I'm not DF yet the bed pushed me backwards, but I'll climb the slippery slope. I think I'm just trying to run before I can walk with it still.

RosaBernicia

Aw Kerri (hug) you'll get there, I think most of us have multiple LBMs! (maybe we need an LB running in each room?!)

Rosa xx

Cherryjack

Right young lady ive been away for a few days and ive come back to a new bed lol!! look.. if it was for your sister you would get a telling off lol.. but you do need a bed, and let me re-assure you the £90.00 divan base is doing nothing good for my back.. so i would tell you to defiently go higher market and spend on a good one. Rome wasnt built in a day.. and think of all the other things you would have purchased without your diary! Lay back and relax the cous cous will see you thru and yl catch up soon
xxHugsxx

kerri_dfw

Bed arrives 2 weeks today excited much! I'm not telling OH until he comes back from Canada, it's going to be a surprise.
Thanks for the vote of hurray Cherry You're right I really do need the bed, so it's not a want, and I'm glad I've spent the money on a really good one and a really good mattress as it will make so much difference to my quality of life. I can't believe how long I've been sleeping on a futon for!

I've had to make one last necessary purchase today, for some more window seals as I've realised the seals are missing on the other two windows. So when these arrive I'll pop them on the windows and hopefully this will aid with drowning out the London traffic. It cost me £16.30, so today is not a NSD but I have had 3 so far this month which I'm proud of. I've also learnt that if I'm careful when peeling back the window film, I can pop it straight back into place afterwards I think I might need to find some bolts from somewhere though as the bolts for keeping the window tight are missing, I might be able to pinch some off my Dad if I can work out what size I need....sneaky One thing is for sure, I am never moving into a single glazed front-facing property again!

Oh and I have been remembering to go through nec4r for every rainforest purchase I make, aren't I good I might pay £10 off my c/c today. It'd be nice to be overpaying something again. In fact I'm off to do that now Hmm it wouldn't let me, no idea why. Will try again tomorrow.