Deliciosa’s DFW diary

LookingAhead

Hi Deliciosa. That's great that you have registered with GM. Things may be a little slow at first as SF says but, if you don't register with them, then chances of selling are reduced to zero of course!

I hope you like the NERO lattes as much and it'll be good you'll get a reward too after buying 9. I mean if you are going to buy them anyway then you may as well get something free at the end of it right?

I'm so glad you won't be giving up.

Of course it's not as easy to get out of debt as it is to get *in* it...if only!

Just keep plugging away, be smart & selective about what you spend your money on, find out what's in it for you whenever you do part with your hard earned cash (as lynzpower so rightly points out).

Look upon this as your challenge every day. What can you do today that helps you get Debt Free? If you can do one small thing every day, even if it is putting small change into a piggy bank or getting a free sample of something that delays spending cash on something, selling something on EBAY or GM...anything at all...then you might get that little buzz every day when you know you are taking steps every day towards your debt free date.

You can & will clear this debt (albeit not overnight) if you stay focussed and realistic.

Then you can start saving the big money and focussing on your other goals without the burden of debts.

Good luck and remember to take one day at a time although of course keep an eye on the long term vision.

HUGS!

xx LA xx

LookingAhead

Just a thought, is there anyone you are close to and trust (and they trust you as well) that could sell on your behalf via Amazon? That's if you are willing to try again.

All you need to do this time is always make sure you get the free "Proof of Posting" certificate when you post an item (which takes seconds to do) and you could have another outlet there.

Something to think about.

scaredy_cat_2

Deliciosa - please don't give yourself such a hard time - you sound like a very lovely person who is working v hard BUT also there are times when it is harder and you want to buy things - it doesn't sound like you are out of control - its good that you have posted your diary still and people have said some v lovely things about you and helpful tips to you!

Do you know i am new to this but i am just about to write in my diary about how i am craving emma bridgewater stuff to go in my kitchen!! can you imagine having to report in your spending diary £4.99 for one spotty tea towel!!!

and you have to eat - or you will not feel good or energised! pasta does give you energy and as long as its not as la said 'a bucket ful deep fried with chips' you'll be ok

deliciosa

Updates.

I have just spoken to Orange about my crazy spending on my mobile. I asked for a better plan (I actually got a good offer from O2 but wanted to stay with orange..)
Now since I spend more than £90 a month, they usually treat me like visiting royalty, which I quite like.

Right now I was on the following plan:
£25 per month, 100 inclusive any network any time minutes
£13 for a bundle of 250 uk text messages

And the rest of the money was that I called abroad and texted US, plus tax, plus non-direct debit fee etc…

Now I got a free upgrade to a phone that costs £199 usually (Can I sell it on ebay??? Where and how can I sell it? Im happy with my present, super phone!)
Basic plan: £20 for 9 months, £25 for another 9 months thereafter, upgrade possible after 15 months (tried to negotiate but they said 18 months is the shortest they can give with this…
For this I get : 500 any time any network minutes
Plus 450 free uk text messages
And a magic number.

Well, I think I deserve a pat on the shoulder - this is just too good to be true! My new phone will arrive tomorrow!!!! What do you think? I think this is a great deal and Im certain my bill will be less. And all it took was a little commitment… yay….

Other updates: food: made pasta this morning and yummy! Thanks miggy and everyone who gave me the idea!!! Only spent £0.35 on lunch !! A little treat!!!
Today: I am going to earn £20 because I teach someone… of which £5 will be the train ticket to where they live but still, that’s £15 plus!
GreenMetropolis: miracles and wonders, I sold a book! Shouldn’t forget to post it this evening. Yay! Only I cant withdraw under £10 but I might sell another two and then voila! It’s a slow service though, takes ages to clear, but hey, I'm not running anywhere.

LA: well, thank you again for the useful post. What can I do every day to do a little money saving, that’s a good question, I will try to set my mind to it… I was thinking about banking in my loose cash. I only have like one p, 2p, 5p etc, but an awful lot. Yesterday I summed them up and Im at £13!!!! So when I have a day off I will take them to the bank - I can only imagien how much the person who counts it will hate me but oh well…. Lots of 1ps worth loads! YAY!!

If I really stay focused then I wont need to pay interest on amex anymore because I will pay it off each month. That’s absolutely amazing!!!!!!!! If I stay focused I will be debt free by September. It would be better than anything!!!

As for the amazon selling, I really don’t want to talk to epopel about it, I am still not as open about my debt situation as I would like to be.., oh who am I fooling, I don’t want to be open about it, I don’t want people know… so that’s a no for now, and maybe this greenmetropolis thing works out fine, I mean, who knows???? I already sold a book!!! So lets see.

I am also plannng to put more samples on ebay and also another 5 dvds I have (that’s the last five actually….) But first I need to pay my ebay fees (ouch) and I need to collect stamps (ouch, ouch) and I need to decide whether its worth to pay the fees for new samples, oh whatever, I'll see, first I need stamps.

Scaredycat: that was funny, thanks for coming in! The tea towel must look absolutely pretty and I totally get what you mean… )) can you psot a link to your diary?

And finally, some interesting numbers that I have just calculated:

1.) Since November 2006, I reduced my debt by a stunning £1700.
2.) My highest ever debt was £5325
3.) At highest, I paid a horrifying £92.78 in interest per month!!! Now this has been reduced to £32.
4.) In February I have earned £77.81 on ebay minus fees so about £70.
5.) I have bought a plane ticket since December for 15000 BA miles (paying only £54 in taxes as opposed to the usual £115 price) and have another £6490 miles!


Yay! Thank you for your support, life is looking nicer again!!

Seaxwyn

Hi deliciosa

Glad you are sounding more cheerful today.

Eyebrow shaping is £4.50 at my local salon, but that is not much use to you I know... look for a salon on a quiet street away from Oxford Street. Selfridges is bound to charge a premium because of its prime location and well known name.

I thought of you yesterday actually as I walked along Oxford Street. I saw a couple of guys holding signs pointing to walk-in waxing and tanning salons - have you noticed them? No harm in going to those salons just to pick up a price list.

I wondered if your budget is till too tight. If you need to take presents when you visit your family, and if eyebrow threading is important to you, you do need a budget that includes those, so you dont need to end up starving yourself, which is bound to make you feel demoralise.d

You have a good salary and debts that are quite manageable, so it would be a real shame to give up now.

Best wishes

seaxwyn

slowlyfading

Good afternoon
Well done about the phone contract! I would be feeling so good myself. You can sell the phone on ebay if you dont want it, and maybe put a reserve price so that you get a minimum of say, £50? good to see you being so productive, and you'll be debt free in no time I'm sure
Nicola x

deliciosa

Hello Nic & seaxwyn (and everyone else whos reading!!!)

Thanks for the good tips, I will def. check ou those oxford street salons!

And yes I tend to agree that my budget is too tight, but thats just my old shopaholic me...
Today: latte (bad, bad), lunch (£1.35) and dinner for free, yay!!!

Nic: I see if i can sell it to anyone I know... that would be better than ebay and Im sure paypal would take a lot of money if I sold there.. sooo I'll see. but I can see that the same phone goes for at least £120, so yay!!! (check it out, sony ericcson w850i!!!) ones just selling for 122 and still an hour to go!

Today's good news:

received a £10 pret voucher because I complained about the service (!!!) and another £50 cheque from them. I think its great!!! I will cash the cheque tomorrow. Together with the £20 I earned by teaching!!! fantastic!!! another £70 to throw at debt. And £5 pret voucher means at least two meals!!

amazing.

However, HSBC replied to my charges reclaiming letter. What they say basically is that blahblahblah we wont be able to refund charges. What do do now, do I threaten them with going to court? How come they dont offer half straight away? Last time they did! hmmm I dont really know what to think...

greenmetropolis update: still only one book sold, thats funny, that one sold an hour after I put it on, and the rest dont sell... but Ill put on more today. I posted the one I sold so the payment of £4.50 should clear soon. Maybe another 7 days.

Oh and I am a 32 yellow star on ebay! niceee. at 50 I get another star.

Im sorry this is not a really composed message but so many things to do - I need to list books etc.

x x x x be back later! thank you for reading my diary :j :j

deliciosa

Update: I had 36 books on greenmetropolis , one of which have been sold, total earnings: £4.50 (yet to clear).

Skint_Catt

:hello: Not been online much today but thought I'd say hi. Off work tomorrow, but the temp postition I was starting on Monday has now turned permanent if I want it! And hopefully will get £2k more a year than my last job! :j

Anyway, well done so far and keep going. I stopped using GM as I found it VERY slow sales!!!

Catt xx

LookingAhead

Hi Deliciosa.

You can but try with Green Metropolis. Whilst they are sitting on there, you have a chance to sell them.

Unless you can do a car boot sale with a friend or anyone else who does them, I can't see many other options for selling books right now, so just leave them on there and hope for the best!

Well done on all the positive things you have brought about recently. The debt you have paid since November *is* stunning so do be proud! And the minimum interest rate is reduced by nearly two thirds! That's good progress.

If ever you are feeling down, please re-read your whole diary and remind yourself of your progress, it will pick you up!

I thought of you yesterday, I was watching "Ready Steady Cook" (I was off sick) and they made a salad with cous cous, beetroot & rocket. Think there was some goats cheese in there as well but I remember thinking "I wonder if she has used cous cous for making pots of lovely salad with...?"

So...have you?? I can't remember!