We need a bigger house so the debts have to go!

mrsmoneybee

Well hello 2012, I'm back with a new name and a new diary. The old name revealed me to too many people (family) and the old diary... well I fell off the money saving wagon, kicks up the backside welcome all round

So here I am, once again assessing the fact that:
1) my house is too small
2) I have a serious hoarding problem!

I am working on resolving the first by knuckling down on the debts or we'll never be able to move and the second by (bravely) getting rid of things I don't use/wear/need.

So here are my New Year's Resolutions, some are money saving, some are just sorting me out!!
1) Work out my current debt status
2) Move all the bills to a separate account
3) Re-do the snowball calculator and STICK TO IT!!!
4) Use all the smellies in the house before buying any more
5) Stop putting everything in the tumble dryer just cos I'm lazy
6) No wine till Feb (eek!)
7) Worry less about my weight and more about my health
8) Declutter declutter declutter!

So ta da! The signature will need an update but at least I've made a start (sips diet pepsi pretending it's celebratory wine)

mrsmoneybee

Ok well day one was a success I think - no money spent and no wine drank :j

I've added another resolution - to allow myself one bought lunch a week. If I say none at all I'll soon fall off this wagon! However like much of the population I'm still using all the excess food we bought over Christmas so it was onion bhajis for lunch today yum!

Weekend should be a declutter I hope - the decorations (about 10 boxes, oops) need to go back in the loft so might as well take the opportunity to shift some of the junk out of there, then it's kitten hunting! Now this will be a spend I will justify no matter what anyone says, I can't wait!

I've updated the signature a little bit, it's nice to see it's come down some, I'm hoping by the time I've checked the other balances (car/credit card/ODs) that it'll be under £25000, that'll be a nice corner turned. Have just been convinced by a friend that my £500 rainy day fund should actually be paid onto my Barclaycard, suppose she's right really, I just worry about the fridge/washer/car packing up!

Little_Miss_Frugal

I think it would be a good idea to pay the £500 off the CC than then tuck the CC away. The £500 is still there if you need it for emergencies but at least you're not paying interest on the money:)

Muffin86

Hiya and welcome! I am in the same position in that we desperatley want to move - was hoping to get our house on the market this summer but think im looking at the back end the year, if not next year now - booo!! good luck with you debt free journey!! xx

mrsmoneybee

Little_Miss_Frugal wrote: »

I think it would be a good idea to pay the £500 off the CC than then tuck the CC away. The £500 is still there if you need it for emergencies but at least you're not paying interest on the money:)

That's exactly what my friend said. I think I need to take the card out of my purse, it's too tempting! Thank you.:)

mrsmoneybee

Muffin86 wrote: »

Hiya and welcome! I am in the same position in that we desperatley want to move - was hoping to get our house on the market this summer but think im looking at the back end the year, if not next year now - booo!! good luck with you debt free journey!! xx

Thank you, we've wanted to move for a while but I know that the equity we have in the house is half cancelled out by the debts we have, and the house needs to be finished (married to a tradesman, everyone else's house is great but ours is half done everywhere!). Hubby is so laid back about everything that I have had to start putting everything into the context about getting a new house - eg he gets paid o/t and says 'lets book a holiday', I say 'yes, great idea but it'd mean we could move x months earlier if I pay that off the credit card'... it's slowly sinking in now as he wants to move so badly (aka, new house project he can make 'perfect'!), hence the title of the new diary.

Muffin86

Hi, I thought I would pop in and say Hi and realised i already had lol - i read so many diaries i sometimes forget whose is whose! but i have subscribed now when do you hope to move? ive told hubs we have 12 months to pay debts and improve credit, i want this house on the market this time next year!! He sounds very much like yours tho and thinks what can i spend with the money right now rather than well if i saved it i could do so much more! xxx

mrsmoneybee

Muffin86 wrote: »

Hi, I thought I would pop in and say Hi and realised i already had lol - i read so many diaries i sometimes forget whose is whose! but i have subscribed now when do you hope to move? ive told hubs we have 12 months to pay debts and improve credit, i want this house on the market this time next year!! He sounds very much like yours tho and thinks what can i spend with the money right now rather than well if i saved it i could do so much more! xxx

Pretty much ditto, originally the plan was to look at moving when number 2 started school, however that was back in the days when I had my head in the sand and sleepless nights over debts! The reality is that's now in 9 months time and there's no chance, so if I can at least spend this year tidying the debts and improving our credit score (which is currently 'poor' according to equifax) then come next Jan we know where we stand.

I've still not done anything new to the debts this last week as I've been a bit under the weather, so I'm setting a challenge a day to find out what I really owe. Tomorrow it's the Santander OD, I knew the day would come when they pulled it and the text message to call them pretty much confirms this. For peace of mind I'm taking this off the mortgage (flexible at 0.99% so not really damaging). It's the only one that's actually stressing me out at the mo so I'll be glad to move it over.

mrsmoneybee

Afternoon all,

Well I know I've been awol for a month but for a nice change I have been keeping most of my plans and tackling the house and the debts!

Santander pulled the OD as I suspected, however instead of taking it off the mortgage as I thought I would, I have just paid it out of the current account, unbelievable that it was there but I did it on the day hubby got paid O/T and so far haven't missed it, we would have quite easily wasted that so fingers crossed I've done the right thing!!!

Oh, and I forgot the PIN to my credit card so I can't do any damage on that!

The house is getting clearer too, lots more to sell but so little time, especially as we now have 2 gorgeous kittens added to our family _party_

mrsmoneybee

Well you know the day just gets better, I've just worked out what I still owe on my car and it's brought the total debt down to under £24k. Also just paid more off Next too. Next month I'll pay them both off altogether and that's 2 more struck off the list :j

mrsmoneybee

Aaaargh, boiler packed up today. Not sure if the tiny little needles drilling into my head of an ice cold shower was more painful or the £150 part required to repair it. Yes, I know I should be grateful hubby could fix it himself as a heating engineer would really break the bank (and my heart) but still...

Oh well, this time last year I would have had to borrow money off mumsie to repair it, thankfully we could find the money ourselves, yes it means the month will be tighter but it won't give me sleepless night like it once would have.

Decluttered a little more as a friend took a futon out of the way for me, what's more she unexpectedly brought me wine for it! Happy days!