Finally seeing the right track getting closer

MuffinTops

I checked my bank account today and it's in credit by £1.64 as expected. Although it's still saying that available credit is £1 less which I still can't work out. Pending transactions show tomorrow's salary payment so I'm home and dry! Go Me! But I will make sure I retain the buffer again as I think I need that to keep within my comfort zone!

Lunch yesterday was lovely. We popped out for a coffee and a chat and he did look particularly mmmm too!

Tomorrow is pay day! Oh my goodness how happy I am to see that. This pay day is sort of the start of much better things moving forward. The cc will be paid in full and that account will be closed. That then leaves me some spare funds to "save" for the default CC (the one with no interest that I keep toing and froing on paying it or not) for an offer to be made. I was watching a tv show the other day where a woman was offered a whopping 50% off her debts if she paid a final lump sum, and that rang all sorts of bells on letters I've had in for my ex offering the same thing. So, I'm going to save 50% of the full debt and then phone them and start by offering them a final settlement of 40% and take it from there. I've had that debt around 4 years now so I think they'll be happy to see the back of me as much as I will them. Then the mortgage will get tackled.

I've just realised I forgot my lunch today! I picked up my breakfast, and left my lunch behind! Arrggh! I'll see if I can find a cheap sandwich somewhere at lunchtime. On the plus side it'll be a good excuse to get out and go for a walk!

I'm having my hair cut and coloured this evening. I got an amazing deal on one of the voucher sites so I've booked a half head of highlights and colour for £29 in Knightsbridge. Looking forward to that, as are my poor bedraggled looking locks!

I hope everyone has a lovely day. x

MuffinTops

freebyfifty wrote: »

Hey Muffy,

I am glad the lunch went well and I hope you have a brilliant time on Friday night

I'll be waiting here on Saturday to hear all about it :rotfl:


Have a great day hunny x x

Hello Freeby,

Lunch was lovely. Friday night not happening now as I forgot I had very early saturday plans and he needs to work late because of end of year stuff.
I've heard the weather is going to seriously drop next week so what a perfect time you chose! xx

MuffinTops

Well I got to my hair appointment and the girl there said I don't need my hair cut or coloured yet as it's only about 5 weeks since last having it done! I was really shocked at that. At first I thought she was trying to get around the voucher thing as it's such a good price. But she suggested I go back in 5 more weeks and gave me some tips on what to do with my hair in between times to ensure that it's ready for another bleaching (drying out). So I'm really pleased with that. My hair is very thin but I have LOADS of it, so it gives an eye impression of being quite thick. Luckily! But it doesn't cope well with harsh treatments (and I do treat it harshly), so it's nice not to be used as an experiment on how much you can get out of a customer. She didn't even try to sell me anything! I'm very happy with that outcome.

Right, so I got home and have now decided that my debt explanations need to be sent off to the bank. I've been very lazy with that! But it's because I'm not sure what to write. I've actually written just over an A4 page and on the one hand I think it's right to be open and honest. On the other I'm thinking that I'm giving them enough information to not consider me. All I need is a bank account where I can get Standing Orders paid in and is linked to my business. Why is it so hard??? Or am I making it hard on myself again with my over analysing???

I think I will stick with my honesty rule. Everything about my credit is on my file for them to see, but this also gives them a little explanation of what happened to me to get me into that trouble. It also highlights that there is nothing bad on my credit since the end of 2006. 6 years ago! I hope that means something. The other good thing is that I'm able to list specific and exact amounts for the 2 defaulted cards. One will have been paid off by then, but won't show on my credit report so I'll send them a copy of the latest bill (which is for £196).

Oh God, I hope there isn't anyone I know in the bank! My business name is linked to my actual name! Ho Hum I guess on that!

I also bought myself a few dresses online today! My work wardbrobe consists of 2 dresses that I panic wash on a Tuesday and Thursday night and then wash again over the weekend. I've sold so many items that I literally have nothing to wear. So I went online, selected a few really nice looking dresses from a very good online store and they're now ordered. I paid for this out of the £100 I found in an account a while back. If they don't fit or aren't right for me then I can return them to the shop which isn't far from where I live, so no problem there either. But if anything is wrong I'll swap it for something else rather than get a refund as I need 5 different outfits for work. It feels scummy having just the two and isn't easy keeping up with washing and drying them in time either.

Right. I'm shattered with all that travelling today. I also need to get my bag ready for cycling tomorrow and get myself some much needed sleep before it gets too late. I'm feeling a bit hungry now too, but I have a rule not to eat after 8pm so I'll have a big glass of water and that will hopefully keep me going!

Happy Evening everyone x

MuffinTops

Pay Day today! So I have just paid off my default credit card in full. I didn't phone as they state payment preference is by post or internet. I've also made a copy of the bill and the payment confirmation to add to my business banking application form which is being dropped off at the bank in the morning.

I eventually condensed my letter to the bank as I was getting confused with details and thought that anything I wrote down that was wrong could look like I was covering up so I ended up writing a paragraph on how I'd got into financial issues back then and what I've done to make sure it never happens again. Oh I hope this gets accepted.

So today will be spent firing off payments and sending money to various accounts and making sure I'm organised and up to date on everything. I need to call the car insurance company tonight and confirm I want to renew with them, as their renewal quote is the best one! How rare!

Anyway, have a great day everyone. x

debtfree2015_2

Well done on clearing that debt Muffin brilliant news!

Hope your dresses are to your liking.

Im following your kind of thinking, Ive decided 7 outfits, some of those will have to be interchangeable ie summer to winter. I was going through my wardrobe, most of my black things have faded, cheap tshirts I got last year now look tatty....maybe Il have to accept its true that you get what you pay for!

Good luck with the banks

xx

MuffinTops

Well, I took the business account details off to the bank yesterday morning. From what customer service told me, the "national" number I'd dialled had actually gone to their upstairs department that deals with all of the calls! I did think it odd that I was directed to that bank (which is still very close) when I had 2 more slightly closer, and one next to where I work! Oh well. At least I know they've got it all now and that if they need to see anything else I'm 10 minutes away.

For the first time I feel really excited. As though now really is the right time to launch. Maybe it's the weather or just that I feel a much higher level of control over my life in general but I'm really hoping they come back to me with a positive answer and that I can start advertising.

Then after that I went off to a craft place, taking my Mum out for the day. We had a lovely time wandering around and being as frugal as possible! But, I have also realised that early Spring is a spend trigger too. Wandering around seeing the new collections in clothes store windows just had me wanting so much. The good news is that today I'm glad I didn't buy anything, but the desperation I felt for a spending frenzy was very uncomfortable. That feeling of "I need this to make my life feel better" was overwhelming. But I did reign it in and conquer it, but I do also realise I only conquered yesterday. There will be many more days like that to come, I'm sure.

So, I need a saving plan so that I can have some nice things. I've already ordered work dresses though so that's more than enough for a while. I need casual stuff too, but I'm not desperate yet so that can wait.

Right then, today is a busy day as I have so much that I want to get done indoors. I'm doing a boot sale next saturday so I want to start getting things prepared for that too. Have a lovely day everyone and I'll be back on this evening to upload my shop and scan. x

LondonGirl252

Best of luck with the banks, I agree honesty is the best policy so I hope it works for you,

That spring feeling is definitley, here we all get those urges so try to focus on how well you did to not spend and focus on that. A new shop opened down my road recently and she changes her display ever day and every day I see something I like, it is SO hard not to go in! Be strong!

Fingers crossed for you
x

MuffinTops

I've just been through my website to make sure that all the information on there is correct, in case the bank take a look. Probably a little much as I doubt they have time to do things like that, but I need to know that I look as professional as possible.

Today was a really nice day. I managed to get all of my housework done, including a really thorough clean of the bathroom.

I just need to upload my shop and scan and then that's my chores finished. I also need an early night as I have a breakfast date in the morning and I'm feeling shattered already.

I'll be back on my bike for a permanent commute next week and I need to incorporate gym trips too. I've set myself a goal of 2 decent gym/weights sessions this week. I've also bought some really good foods for myself to help with the energy levels. I'm also not drinking nearly enough at the moment so need to cut out hot drinks and make sure I get plenty of water and squash if that helps.

Anyway, I think I'm done. I hope everyone has had a great weekend. xx

MuffinTops

Well, this morning my bank account has been checked, phone app is reconciled and spreadsheet is happy - even smug!

Although, I received a discount for the shop I saw a pair of shoes I loved on saturday. The discount takes 1/3rd off and I've spent nothing the last 2 days, so I'm going to order them and use today and yesterday's NSD's to pay for them. I actually feel really pleased with myself at the moment as I worked out a plan to buy them and got them for £10 off the price I would have paid on Saturday. I hope this feeling lasts although I'll take them back if it doesn't.

Breakfast date didn't happen. He's not great at getting up 2 hours early just to have a coffee with me!!!! So we're meeting when I finish work as he can come and go as he pleases during the day at work. My times are much more rigid!

One of my really close friends is on a course around the corner to where I work so I'm hoping to see him tomorrow evening. It depends on what time the course finishes, although I'm happy to wait around for a while. I never spend a great deal when I'm out with him as neither of us like to spend more than we need to so a double bonus.

Tonight I need to create another whirlwind. I'm doing a boot sale on saturday and I have a lot of things I want to take. So when I get home I'd like to get things wrapped up and put in a box so that I'm ready and good to go without spending my bank holiday Friday panicking around getting everything ready. I'm also going to be really organised and go through my amazon inventory and anything labelled for 1p will go in the boot sale box to give it an extra chance of selling.

I've seen that Santander have an ISA that looks appealing to me. Once debts are paid off I'm thinking about how to get my mortgage down. I do want to see a noticeable decrease in how much I owe, but I also need to be as savvy as possible about it. So I thought that I'll put as much as I can in an ISA if there's anything left I'll do a decent % regular saver. If I still have extra mortgate op funds I'll just add those to the mortgage payments. The Santander is a 2yr one, but that's ok as the minimum my mortgage will be is 3 years. I have to set it up by 5th so I'll pop in there on my way home tonight I think, if they're still open when I go by. If not, lunch tomorrow.

This isn't a whim thing. I've been looking at ISA's for a little while, since Martin's last email about them and this does look the best one for me. But, I won't pop in there tonight, I'll do more research this evening just to be sure nothing else had appeared since my last check.

MuffinTops

I cycled in to work this morning, despite the weather reports stating heavy rain later! I'm meeting a friend for a coffee after work so i'm hoping that this afternoon's rain will be finished by the time I'm ready to go. I've got my waterproofs, just in case and am very very high viz! It's nice having cleared out so much stuff as I have legitimate choices of what cycle gear to put on based on the weather etc. Before I was a little overwhelmed with choice.

I've checked my bank account and I can't get it to reconcile again with what my app says. Yesterday it was fine but today after just 3 direct debits coming out there's an odd discrepancy! I'll pop out at lunchtime and get a statement so I can go through it all easier.

I'm feeling really anxious about a letter from the bank! I know it won't happen just yet, they have a list of things to do before letting me know, but I keep checking the email address I gave them in case they have any further questions! They won't, I know, but it's just my way of trying to keep in touch I guess! It just feels so important that it goes ahead that it's constantly on my mind. But that's normal I guess so I'll try to relax. Worrying won't change anything, but it will have a negative effect on me, so I'll take deep breaths and mix them with positive affirmations!

I popped into the bank yesterday about the ISA. But I didn't realise that a fixed rate ISA meant that you can only put in once and then that's it. You can't top up over time. I thought fixed rate meant you couldn't withdraw cash, but anyway, it wasn't the right account for me so I'll start looking around for one that is. It's quite exciting now to be in a position to look into and put in place things that will help me pay my mortgage off as fast as possible. I feel all grown up and responsible!

I'm about to start a really intense workout plan with the date man! We've been talking about a challenge together for a long time, and seeing some of his results in pictures i'm really impressed. I'm also impressed at how much he can actually do (my fitness levels are shocking) so I'm going to go for it. We both belong to the same gym and I obviously won't be able to whine and cry when it gets difficult if he's there, so watch this space .....

I'd best get on with work now. Have a lovely day! x