Ok, so let me introduce myself....

kerri_dfw

lashley82 wrote: »

A quick summary of everything outstanding as at today to the penny in the order I think they need to be cleared...

Wonga - paid £0/£763.33 - But Earmarked to be paid on the 28th Feb
Pounds to Pockets - paid £141.60/£1557.39
Money Shop - paid £0/£150
Orange Card - Balance £905.44/£1000
Barclaycard - Balance £745.02/£750
Overdraft - £800 (Current Bank Balance £503.35 Overdrawn)
Creation Finance (PC) - Paid £108.75/£1305
Zebra Finance (Season Ticket) - Paid £228.06/£325.80

Jesus thats horrible to look at.....

Right spending. I starting logging everything I spent on my phone from the 20th January so this is the result

20/1/12 - £18.46. I paid my £8 darts league fees. £5 on the oyster card. A drink and some snack bits £5.46
21/1/12- £30.74 £14 taxi fares to and from a friends across town for dinner, £16.74 on bit from the shop for dinner
22/1/12 - £16.86 Nipped the pub for Sunday Dinner
23/1/12 - £1.40 on the Oyster Card
24/1/12 - £26.42. £6.60 on the Oyster. £8.42 on lunch bits at work. £10 to attend a gym (support for a friend whos doing personal training)
25/1/12 - £22. £21 driving lesson. £1 on the oyster card
26/1/12 - £21 Driving Lesson
27/1/12 - £48.89. £2 on the work bonus ball. £20 I changed up in the petty cash tin for my £2 savings. £26.89 Out with a friend for farewell drinks
28/1/12 - £42 Driving Lesson. £22.50 at the football
29/1/12 - £25.65 pub on sunday
30/1/12 - £75 Driving Test (That explains all the extra lessons!)
31/1/12 - £27.19. £5.19 lunch, £22 Megabus tickets to see Miss Lashley

Once again writing it down like that makes for hard reading.....

I will say the same thing to you as I said to my friend that's £32k in debt... you cannot afford to get taxis in London, use the bus/tube/train it's cheaper. It might not be as fun, but it's much, much cheaper.

What are the £2 savings going towards? Should you notbe putting this towards the payday loans instead?

£22.50 at the football? what's this? tickets? bookies?

The one thing I note mostly is that you spend quite a bit on food in the 2 weeks, is it possible to reduce this whilst you get debt free?

Well done for writing it all down though, took me 3 months to start that :T

lashley82

kerri_dfw wrote: »

I will say the same thing to you as I said to my friend that's £32k in debt... you cannot afford to get taxis in London, use the bus/tube/train it's cheaper. It might not be as fun, but it's much, much cheaper.

What are the £2 savings going towards? Should you notbe putting this towards the payday loans instead?

£22.50 at the football? what's this? tickets? bookies?

The one thing I note mostly is that you spend quite a bit on food in the 2 weeks, is it possible to reduce this whilst you get debt free?

Well done for writing it all down though, took me 3 months to start that :T

Cheers for the reply matey. Your right about taxi's I very very rarely use them in London. My missus basically lives up in Norwich and it was there it was used. Its a rarity really for us to use one.

The £2's well I joined the challenge where you get one and you pot it. Admittedly changing up a note probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, then again I prob would have just blown it so its better off locked away! I'm paying Wonga off at the end of Feb so that will ease things up on the payday loan front considerably. It mean March will be tough (probably even tougher than this month) but thats a necessity really....

£22.50 is a couple of rounds and a bite to eat, I very rarely gamble and if I do its a quid here and there (never had the nerve for betting). Looking through again theres a lot more pub going down than I thought. I really thought drink was an area I had cut back, but obviously not cut back enough! That needs addressing big time

I'm taking lunches in now and walking where I can. I've started doing shopping in bulk to keep here, tinned stuff and sundries and the like to keep here in the office. I got bits today, soups, fish etc for my draw (and some mixed dried fruit and nuts! Good to graze on) so I will be getting my shop outlay down in that regard

Just trying to start doing a few positive things, I joined in the NSD challenges which will help keep things going for certain, leaving my wallet at home if I know I don't need it at work or if I'm out so I'm not tempted to get a Wispa or a tinny....

bbfc

Hi lashley82,

I was in the same boat as you with regards to the Wonga (£960) - paying it back and then taking out another one to keep me afloat that month. Every month I would say 'next month i'll take out less' but that never worked. It all came to fruition when i was talking to my best friend about it all and they were horrified. They agreed to lend me the money to pay the Wonga off and I would pay them back over 15 months. I paid the Wonga off a few days ago, and saved £80 in interest also. :j

I have a loan for QQ which is due to be paid next month (it's only £300), but its been extended 5 times. With the Wonga mess gone i can afford to pay that back and not have to taken out another loan to repay it all.

I have a good job and a decent wage but this all started last year when I overspent during a few months and took out a payday loan, thinking it was the best thing to do. Obviously it was not.

I've set up a budget on Numbers on my Mac. (for anyone who uses a Mac and has iWorks, Numbers has a budget spreadsheet all setup for you, you just need to enter all your stuff!). This month will be the start of me clearing my debt. Thankfully I don't have an overdraft.

Hope you get everything sorted.

Learning2Budget

Just wanted to wish you good luck. Certainly seems like you've started on the right track.
They are a good bunch on here for support and ideas.
L2B.x

Gettingtherequickly

kerri_dfw wrote: »

I will say the same thing to you as I said to my friend that's £32k in debt...

To make you feel a bit better, it is not nearly that amount of debt! Well done on confronting before it escalates completely out of control

jonjamie1970

Hello mate, like your attitude, your gonna go far in this debt clearing business, but like me, when I'm in Liverpool and I go to all the Everton matches its hard to not mix it with the lads for a bite to eat and a few bevvies.
Thats where your money is going, pub for a meal, few jars for a mates leaving do, another meal out etc.

You need to stop this for a while, get the Wonga loans sorted and then you can re-evaluate what your doing. Tell the lads your off to see the GF and skip the money spending bit.

jayss

Do you always go to the other half or does she come to you some weeks?

You need to sort out a proper budget which includes your 'entertainment' budget, so you know what you can have each week - if anything.

lashley82

jonjamie1970 wrote: »

Hello mate, like your attitude, your gonna go far in this debt clearing business, but like me, when I'm in Liverpool and I go to all the Everton matches its hard to not mix it with the lads for a bite to eat and a few bevvies.
Thats where your money is going, pub for a meal, few jars for a mates leaving do, another meal out etc.

Hit the nail on the head there mate. That pretty much exactly where my spending has got to stop. One of the things I've decided to stop is getting involved in rounds. I find if you do to go out and you stay on you own, you drink less, and logically you spend less.

lashley82

jayss wrote: »

Do you always go to the other half or does she come to you some weeks?

You need to sort out a proper budget which includes your 'entertainment' budget, so you know what you can have each week - if anything.

We do spend some time here but most of the time we are up round hers, mainly because I'm at the moment living with the family, and she's got a daughter and her own place.

But I recently discovered Megabus and I take that to see her rather than the train and its so much cheaper. I booked 2 weekends worth of travel a few days back for £22. Even with tube back to the east end from Victoria its far cheaper than the £16 each way National express are wanting each way at the moment....

But your right too about sorting a proper budget. For my sins its something I've never done (probably half the reason I'm in this mess at the mo!) but is something I really need to start doing if I'm to get this sorted

lashley82

Well I wouldn't say a prodigal son returns.....

If I was shaken up before, it obviously wasn't enough as I fell away from the community, away from the straight and narrow, and as the signature quite blatantly details, back into old ways. To say I feel like a complete prat is the tip of the iceberg......

Best try to start from where I left off before and with some good news. Around the end of April I got out and found a new job. Sadly not up near the missus, still in the capital, but a new job is a new job and it works out a little bit more cash a month to the tune of 200 nicker (although I do have to travel now whereas I didn't before). When I left my job where I didn't get a full months pay and lost even more money from having holiday days recouped, instead of taking the hit and toughing it out I spoke to the snake and shook hands with the devil. I took PDL road with the attitude "one won't hurt I guess"

Big mistake as the habit snowballed. I'm back in the same position I was before, having to retake the steps I took in the first place. Call it back to square one, square zero even. As detailed in the sig, you can see the breakdown of what I owe everywhere, a fool I am indeed. But its a simple choice, leave the pints alone, leave the evenings out alone, go to work and keep yourself busy and focus on the prize at the end of freedom. April Fools day for being a fool is apt a target

So some minor good personal news, as well as the job I also passed my driving test at the second go. I got a cancellation and went for it. Luckily the pennies I'd saved from doing the £1 and £2 saving challenges here paid for that, so while it was an unexpected expense it meant I ended those challenges prematurely but without having too much of a personal cost there to myself ( a small victory). My father has also been kind enough to insure me on his car so I don't have to worry about lumbering myself with the cost of a motor just yet. just paying for my own petrol. I have also been fortunate enough through groupon to have been bought by Mrs Lashley the Sage study package, which I am working through. I have always worked around accounts and billing etc, I kinda fell into it but have never had any letters after my name proving it. This is another positive step on the ladders first rung and I love her dearly for doing this for me. (And I'm well aware of what I'm opening myself up to with that, the 'how can you work in finance if you can't manage your own' argument. I have no answer to that, its fair criticism)

So where do I go from here. Use this page as I originally intended as a blog of what I will do. Maybe writing things down in general about everything will help, thoughts, actions, etc

I apologise for rambling nature of this first post after so long. I guess there was no real structure to it, I blurt things out as I do. But the be all and end all is this. I'm now 30. Its a mess. Time to grow the f'up and sort this out before it takes over my life. I'll want shooting if I'm saying the same thing next year, or where will it end? The same position when I'm 35? 40? 50?