StarCrossed's Journey on the straight and narrow

StarCrossed · 15 November 2011 at 11:20AM

Hello!

I am almost, completely debt free after several years. I'm left with a £100 overdraft (which I'm decreasing by £50 pcm so only 2 months to go) and a personal loan from my m-i-l-2-b which is at around £3,000 and I'm paying that off at £100pcm.

This year we bought a house and I have started to save! At the moment I have a N&P account (thanks to this site!) which is a 4% regular saver. I only set it up this month and put in £200 and set up a standing order for £100 (Will up this by £50 pcm when my overdraft is cleared)

I also got my first credit card after the massive falling out I had several years ago with my Lloyds TSB platinum card (honestly who gives a 19 year old student a £4.5k credit limit?!) It's a Capital One and is 0% at the moment. Plan is to spend a little on each month and put work expenses on then clear the balance in full every month. I think beforehand I never really understood that it had to be paid back and now I do!

This month I've put my fiance's birthday presents on it and my Christmas party dress. I've then put it on a really high shelf so I can't reach it. Luckily my older, more informed self, seems to have understood this concept now and I've not been getting the "urge" like I used to.

In addition I've been doing OnePoll surveys (At about £21 with this), cashback on WePromiseTo (At about £21 with this as well) and a couple of Retail Eyes assignments. Might cash some of the WePromiseTo points as Amazon vouchers and use them for Christmas presents.

So yes, I will continue to be good.. and try not to spend too much. In terms of my cash I'm getting better at spending, my bills and mortgage get paid to my partner in a big chunk each month. This way everything is covered and we've built up a joint buffer saving. It's just the bits I buy at the shop on the way to and from work that kill me!