The "Pay ALL your debt off by Xmas 2012" challenge - PART 2!!!

Credit-Crunched

mf0u1098 wrote: »

Yay!!! So good to hear from you! I was wondering how you were doing as the last we heard, you'd only spent 75p in the first week or so of January

xxx

Lol - I did sooo well in January, still not spending unnecessary. However fixing a leaking roof was necessary took a hit on the savings!

Still on £30 a week grocery spend, Aldi is my new best friend, cut back all sky magazines etc. So looking like debt free come end of the year is still very very real option!

eddi

rubywhatashmoo wrote: »

If anybody fancies having a squee over the dress...
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/rubywhatashmooo/Dress1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/rubywhatashmooo/Dress2.jpg

Oooh that's pretty :happyhear

HelenPie

rubywhatashmoo wrote: »

Well I'm looking for wedding dresses - and I *think* I've found The One - and knowing that I can just buy it and it won't affect my spending money for the month - that my bills will still get paid and me, OH and the cat will still get fed is amazing - but really weird!!

I know how you feel - we just booked our honeymoon and I posted somewhere about that strange feeling of having already allocated money for it!! :rotfl:

mrso2b wrote: »

Money is so tight for us at the moment

Was so depressed on Friday I nearly took out a loan to cover our debt. it meant we would be in debt for 6 months longer than planned (although I doubt we are going to be debt free by the end of this year anyway) but it would save us so much in interest. The catalyst for this was Barclaycard putting our interest rate up and therefore my interest going UP from £50-odd a month to £75! So I called them and cancelled the card (we weren’t using it anyway). They have reverted it back to the 16.9% rate which is still loads but I can't BT anymore and even if I did, the charges will bump up the balance by a few hundred quid! the outstanding balance is about £4,500. So was very depressed at the weekend!

Decided to overpay this Barclaycard by bumping up the min payment from £100 to £200 – can't really afford to do this but will have to try and cut back somewhere else – MORE nights in, hey?!

My Egg card has now run out of its 0% deal and my Santander one will run out in May! Feel like I'm drowning…

New total below:

152 mrso2b £1200.83/£12,000

Hey mrso2b. We're all here to support you. If a loan would make you feel more secure and reduce your interest, you should do it, even if it takes a little longer. Even if you can't overpay, why not put any extra that you would usually overpay into a savings pot, and then make a lump sum payment off the loan further down the line.

Whichever you decide, remember your peace of mind is the most important.

H x

fallenwiccan

mf0u1098 wrote: »

Right, tonight I'm going to add Kerfuffle's list to a post on the front page with a list of all Kerri's weekly challenges. I'm also going to have a post for SAVINGS seen as it seems a popular (and really good!) idea. Will keep everyone so motivated and I think it will also help those who become debt free throughout 2012 to stay focused on a new goal with all the great support on here xxx

Thanks for letting us savers stay I have paid off my credit card (£2000) and a £2000 student over draft since I graduated in June by only using £600 savings (which I'll pay back on top of what I want to save) so I do feel much more at home here.

Plus with finally getting into my own (well me and OHs) home I'm terrified bills and things will pull us into debt. Hopefully I'll just think of you lot and that'll stop me instead :rotfl:

loubie_lou

I hope we get to see more people who we haven't seen for along time

karenann76

rubywhatashmoo wrote: »

If anybody fancies having a squee over the dress...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/rubywhatashmooo/Dress1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y15/rubywhatashmooo/Dress2.jpg

Beautiful!

antonia1

Afternoon all! Been awol for a bit cos I was sick and spent the weekend in bed in Middlesbrough with the boy running around after me. Just done my accounting for the month and I'm not very impressed at all. I have spent £245 on diesel going to see the boy and mum, £70 on my mobile phone talking to the boy and £90 on new tyres for the car :mad::mad::mad:

However, I have managed to still save a little money to make a payment for the end of the month, so my new total is:

011 :j antonia1 £1,195 /[STRIKE] £3,895 [/STRIKE] 30.68%

I have also made the decision to stop paying in to my pension for a couple of months while I get myself sorted. It was a difficult decision, but I'm only 26 and I've been paying into a pension (at 5% of salary from me and an extra 5% from my employer) since I started here 3 years ago, so I reckon I can afford to take 6 months off to clear my debts.

I have also spoken to the boy and agreed that I will drive to him once a month cos I really can't afford more, and he can try to remember to call me as he has millions more free minutes than me. I have also cut down my phone tariff to £8.50 per month (from £39 per month:eek:), but I'm keeping the same amount of calls.

My own personal challenges for March - selling stuff on that well known auction site, and not buying food!

mrso2b

Thanks for your support guys x

HelenPie

antonia1 wrote: »

Afternoon all! Been awol for a bit cos I was sick and spent the weekend in bed in Middlesbrough with the boy running around after me. Just done my accounting for the month and I'm not very impressed at all. I have spent £245 on diesel going to see the boy and mum, £70 on my mobile phone talking to the boy and £90 on new tyres for the car :mad::mad::mad:

However, I have managed to still save a little money to make a payment for the end of the month, so my new total is:

011 :j antonia1 £1,195 /[STRIKE] £3,895 [/STRIKE] 30.68%

I have also made the decision to stop paying in to my pension for a couple of months while I get myself sorted. It was a difficult decision, but I'm only 26 and I've been paying into a pension (at 5% of salary from me and an extra 5% from my employer) since I started here 3 years ago, so I reckon I can afford to take 6 months off to clear my debts.

I have also spoken to the boy and agreed that I will drive to him once a month cos I really can't afford more, and he can try to remember to call me as he has millions more free minutes than me. I have also cut down my phone tariff to £8.50 per month (from £39 per month:eek:), but I'm keeping the same amount of calls.

My own personal challenges for March - selling stuff on that well known auction site, and not buying food!

Sounds like you're on the right track Antonia xx

PedroMatias

Afternoon all! I hope everyone is feeling ok after a shocker of a month for lots of us.

I don't know why, but I've found a renewed vigour for scrimping. After yesterday's cancellation of £80 worth of standing orders/DDs, I decided to scrape together every penny/pound/note I could find around the flat and in my pockets. I've managed to find over £50 :eek: And, while tidying up, I found an M&S gift card which has over £25 on it which I'd all but forgotten about. Posh food, here I come!

I reckon I might even be able to make it to payday (three weeks away) without spending ANYTHING from my bank account with the exception of bills. Car is full of fuel (no long journeys planned), cupboards are stocked with cupboard essentials, I'm fairly well stocked with toiletries... March could turn into a very frugal month! :T

It's a good job, because I'm skint after a very expensive February... :rotfl: