Debt Free by 2013 (not a typo)

Decadent_Debtor

Right, time for a quick update I guess seeing as I've been reading all the other diaries...

Had a bit of a nightmare yesterday. It is my sister's birthday next week, which I knew about and had budgeted for, but I didn't put 2+2 together to realise that it's her 30th - which put a swift end to my cheapish card and present plan (before I get too much grief, we have a family agreement to spend more on the kids than the adults). Anyway, managed to get her a really nice gift (v.unusual for me) and keep it within my 'general spend' pot so all is good.

Picked up some Lacura (i.e. Aldi) anti-perspirant today as a bit of an experiment. 89p vs. £3.26 for my usual one, though the jury is still out as to whether it will make me smell A) fine, sweaty or C) dripping in Old Spice. Hmm... will update accordingly *watch this space* :-)

Had a great (and cheap) night over at a mate's last night. Soooo much better than going on a big night out! I'm too old for that stuff :-)

Still thinking over the dilemma with the car. Ultimately, I know that I will have to get it repaired, but will probably have to sacrifice a planned weekend trip to London to pay for it. This debt free lark is all about the compromises eh? :-(

PinotGrigio41

Sounds like you are really getting into this debt free lark Mr Dec, but I will interested on the reactions you get to the A£di anti perspirant !
If it smells good, I may spoil Mr Pinot and treat him to some ! ALthough, he is lucky enough to have a bathroom full of Molton Brown goodies still, I'm sure he just looks at the lovely bottles and doesn't use any of it !:rotfl:

Would you be handy enough to do any of the repair work not he car yourself, then maybe still having enough money left for your trip to London ?

Hope you have a good day today x

Decadent_Debtor

Well Mrs P, I am happy to report that the anti-perspirant experiment was a resounding success! I went for the orange one (can't remember what it was called, it had some esoteric, stereotypical name like 'vivid breeze' or 'forest rain') and I have been fresh as a daisy all week. If I buy one can a month then I will be £30 a year better off vs. the named brand! Result! Maybe enough to buy some fancy Molton Brown like Mr P :-)

Car repairs. I normally do all work on the car myself but this job has 4 spanners (out of 4) for difficulty in the Haynes manual. Sounds like a job for the pros! My next mileage claim should more than cover the cost of the repair though so that's all good.

In other good news, I am lucky enough to get an annual bonus with work and found out this week that the payment will be 6% more than I had budgeted! Means I can clear more of those pesky debts next month and might even bring my DFD forward a month or two!

Given all of the above I should really be feeling pretty happy for myself... but for some reason I'm on a real downer :-( Work is super-busy at the moment and I haven't been sleeping very well lately - plus I had to tax the car today (ggrrrrrrr). Anyway, going to head to the gym in a bit to try grind some of the stress out.

Until next time...

rictus123

I am getting closer to debt free and starting saving. What you have left to pay, i hope to pay this amount off debts then save by the end of the year so i go into 2013 debt free with some savings. How much is left to go now then? I will challenge you. I am so eager to keep going at current rate i am going at. You are doing fantastic, will be a great xmas if you can clear it all by then.

PinotGrigio41

M Dec, I am so pleased you smell wonderful, and I bet they were grateful when you were at the gym last night !! Mr Pinot has been very spoiled with his Molton Brown goodies, he seems to always be brought them for Xmas and Birthday presses and he makes them last forever. I though am very jealous as I have received no such goodies recently !:D

4 Spanners does sound a bit like hard work on the car, but I am glad you have the cost covered, and well done on receiving the bonus . great News and as you say may bring things forward for you.

Sorry to hear you were feeling a bit low yesterday, we all get like that though. Hopefully the gym helped and you came home feeling bouncy and cheerful. Just think if all goes to plan your debts will be gone in a flash !!

Decadent_Debtor

Evening everyone!

You know that old saying about not going shopping on an empty stomach? Well, I can confirm that wisdom lies in those words!!!

Managed to drop £30(!) in Aldi earlier on, although plenty of freezer stuff so a lot of it will last more than one week. Bought some treats for myself too, as I've been feeling a bit down this week. Nothing serious, and certainly nothing that a bit of Nutella won't sort out :-) Anyway, it's still in budget so all is well.

Not much else to report - other than that I did a shameless 'update and run' of my signature yesterday without stopping to check any other diaries. My sincere apologies fellow debt free wannabes.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Mine is going to be chilled and cheap. Best way.

Decadent_Debtor

Quick update. Barclaycard DD day today so that's another £200 off the total. Updating my signature is proving to be such a motivation! I'm going to pay my parents off at the end of the month and snowball that payment (£200) to my Barclaycard. Very exciting!

In other money news, the DD for my water bill has been reduced by £7 to £23/mth, and my council tax has stayed the same (£98/mth). I've really enjoyed the last two months of no council tax payments :-(

Ordered a really cool card and gift for Mother's day over the weekend. Just got to hope they arrive in time :-S Still got £40 in my 'general spend' pot and 2.5 weeks to payday, wonder if there will be enough left for a bike-related treat for me?!

Decadent_Debtor

Evening all. Hope you are all well and ready for what is no doubt another well-deserved weekend ;-)

It's been a bit of a quiet week at this end. I got the car fixed on Weds. £300 but I see that as a small price to pay to essentially guarantee another few years out of it. Shouldn't be any other major bills on the horizon *touch wood*.

Felt a bit sad today as all my mates are going for a weekend away but I had to pull out due to money and generally being really busy at work. Oh well. Picked up a highly commended bottle of red from Aldi so at least I've got something to keep me company :-)

My mortage lender (Yorkshire Bank) has announced that they are upping their SVR today. Won't affect me as I'm on a fixed deal, but I was beginning to question the merits of my fix given the lack of change in the base rate. Looks like I may be proven right yet! (on a serious note, really hope that none of you guys are badly affected by this!)

Right, off to catch up on everyone's diaries. Until next time...

PinotGrigio41

Just dropping by quickly Mr Dec to see how things are going for you ?

Decadent_Debtor

Forgive me fellow Money Savers for I have sinned. It has been three weeks(!) since my last update...!

Sorry! Work has been crazy busy recently so the last thing I wanted to do when I get home was fire up my laptop, but I am happy to report that the debt-free stuff is all going remarkably well (still)!

I got my bonus this month which was great as it meant I could pay my parents off! Felt sooooo good transferring the money over to them and having that "one down, three to go" feeling. Unfortunately Mr Taxman took a little bit more than I was expecting, so not sure if I'll be able to pay off the AMEX too, but should be able to take a big chunk out of it.

Also got quite a reasonable payrise (all things considered) so going to snowball the payment to my parents into my Barclaycard direct debit and throw everything else at the AMEX for a couple of months.

Bit of a tough call really. I know I *should* pay off the AMEX ASAP but I also have a huuuggeee list of things I want to get done in the house. So not sure whether to go 100% at the AMEX or take a bit longer and go 50% AMEX, 50% house? Will do some numbers, see what looks best...

In other news, feels great to have the sunshine back! It's not all great news though. Spring always brings a frantic last-minute attempt to shape up for summer which means my food bills will go up for a couple of months as I need more meat and shakes etc. Thank goodness for that payrise!

Right, going to catch up on all the other diaries and I PROMISE I will NEVER leave it this long to write an update again.