Betti's debt free diary

betti911

Have just ordered my car breakdown cover with Firstcall after reading Martin's article. Hope it'll be okay and I won't need it though (fingers crossed) It was £42.50.... a lot better than the RAC's estimate of £122!!

Now just need to sort out my car insurance. The broker I was with previously quoted me £485. They were really rude when I pointed out that it was actually CHEAPER last yr even though I have two yrs NCD. They said I was lucky to get a good deal last year. I responed by saying the obv I wanted a good deal this year too and I would go elsewhere if they wouldn't provide it. Have a couple more quotes to get but hopefully will get it for around £400.

dawnybabes

Don't forget to look on Quidco see if you can get some cash back as well !

betti911

Okay have spent a fortune this weekend on my car.

New tyres £116 (not an expected purchase as only found out when I got my car serviced that these were necessary so had only saved £60 out of the previous 2 weeks budget)
New windscreen wipers £10.99
(both the above necess for my MOT)

Hopefully now the car will PASS its MOT. Need to find out tom when thats due up at the car is only a 05 reg but now apparently this needs to be done every 2 years.

Also have my car insurance this month (at the end) I'm going to have a really long and hard look this week. Will check Quidco for that too.. nearly forgot about that Dawnybabes thanks

My parents have given me £500 for bed for my flat. They said that I NEED to spend this money on the bed.... they are taking my sister and her boyfriend away for a week on holiday so I guess I got this in lieu. So have found a bed I like and car get interest free for a year so am going to put the £500 towards my carloan. Its not a cheat though as when I buy the bed I'm going to include that in my lists of debts but it will avoid any interest being paid on that £500.... every little helps I suppose.

betti911

Have still not organised my car insurance. Whenever I go to look at it at lunchtime something always seems to come up. Its not due up until 29th but I really wanted to have it all organised before the end of this week.

Am drowning in work at the moment... nothing to do with money I know but its putting me off my moneysaving as amn't getting back at night until maybe 8 or 9 and am too shattered to do much... then I go to bed and don't sleep :eek: Again nothing to do with moneysaving.

Have just found out that my car doesn't need an MOT yet which at least is a blessing as it'll save me money. My boyfriend said to me at the weekend that I was becoming pennypinching but I really want to get my car loan away before Xmas.

betti911

Have used the £500 my parents gave me to buy a bed to pay a bit of my carloan. When I do get the bed though I'm going to take out the interest free deal and I'll add it to my sig cause its still a debt.

Kaz2904

Just make sure that you pay off the 0% in time to not pay interest.
I've just read your diary through and you come across as a warm and lovely person. People will never understand it when you suddenly change from a spender to a saver but it doesn't make you any less of a person, after all, it was never your money to begin with was it?
You are doing ever so well with your debt repayments. How is your bf's saving going? Is it worth you both moving into the flat and using his mortgage contribution towards paying down your debt? It could maybe give you a way out of debt quicker and mean that you could both save more money towards your house?
I think your Mum sounds like she's feeling a bit guilty as she keeps buying you stuff for the flat- do you think so?
Are your parents expecting 10% of any profits made from your flat? That's quite steep isn't it. How about you work out what it would have cost in interest to have a loan for 10k and give them that ASAP before you sell the flat and then more profit would be yours. Also what would they expect if your flat lost money? Would they want 10% of the losses?
Good luck with the job hunting!

betti911

Thanks Kaz.

My boyfriend is doing really well with his saving. He wants us to be engaged before we move in together and I don't think its fair for us to get engaged before I'm able to pay off quite a bit of my debt. At the moment he's concentrating on finding a new job too.

My house has gone up quite a bit since I bought it. One next door to me sold for over 15k more than I bought it in December. My Mum prob does feel a bit guilty... think she knows that I'm trying though.

I had some bad news over the weekend which really put it all into perspective. My sister's boyfriend has been diagnosed with cancer. He's only 25. She's in England (my family are from Glasgow) and she's meant to be moving with him into their new house on Friday. I feel so bad for them. No amount of money is going to make things better and my family can't really help her as she is far away. He's only 25.

Ches

Thats dreadful news betti911 ((((hugs)))) to you and both families. Hope it can be sorted out soon. My friend has had the big C twice in two unrelated places and has recovered and all clear now so these days its always safe to hope.

betti911

Thanks Ches. We are waiting for the results to come back as they think the cancer may have spread. My sister is being really brave about it all.

Feel a bit pathetic coming back to my money saving now but just have to keep going. I get paid tomorrow and I'm one yr qualified so hopefully my pay will go up. Whatever I get I'll do a new SOA in the next few days as new expenditure like the council tax still has to be added. Even with the council tax I haven't spent too much this month... the big expense is the car insurance which I've got to get this week. Cheapest quote I've found is £414 and I've tried all of Martins options. Still I need it and I need comp and business for the amount I travel.

Fingers and toes crossed everything works out for the best for my sister and her boyfriend.

betti911

I got a bit of a pay rise so am doing a fresh SOA. I am determined to get my car loan and as much of my personal loan as possible paid off by the end of this year. The ideal situation would be to half my origional debt by the end of this year but I know that would be a lot to ask.

Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £1632.08
Travel allowance - £75

Total - £1707

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage- £466 (fixed until Dec 08)
Council Tax - £140 (have applied for my discount am just waiting for it to be sorted out so thats why that figure is high for the moment)
Phone - £28
Car Insurance - £0 Have arranged to pay this off in one lump payment this year
Food- £0 Am still eating every night at my Mum and Dad's I take breakfast from their house too and am able to get lunch at the moment from their house to bring into work (Their way of helping me)
Electricity- £20- not using much at the moment
Petrol - £180
Car loan- £84.00
Personal loan Debt consolidation- £241.33
Gym membership- £33
Cineworld cinema card- £10.99 (I use both of these v reg)
Extra payment towards car loan- £200
Xmas Savings- £50

Total: £1453.32

This month is a bit tight as have to pay my car insurance. Any extra money after this month I'm going to use to clear my car loan. My aim is to get the car loan clear by October. I will them save more for Xmas and concentrate on the personal loan.

No news yet re my sister's boyfriend.