Whisper it, but I think I might be cured....

powellypowelly

So my days of debt may actually, genuinely, be numbered. And this is why.

My OH and I have been moaning about our computer for a while now, our current one is an old netbook which can only just handle basic browsing, never mind watching Youtube or other such clever things. For us the famous "Fenton the Dog" clip is more like "Fe....(make cup of tea)....nt...(do washing up)...on". And so on.

To do some research on a replacement we popped into Comet over the weekend and were looking at the low-end netbooks as a straight replacement. Whilst wandering the aisles my eyes fell on a stunning aluminium-cased compact laptop that was absolute perfection, other than the price, which was a good three times what we were thinking of paying.

Now historically heart would have overruled head at this point. We would have bought it there and then, probably on credit, and not regretted it one bit. It would probably last much longer than the other ones we were thinking of, and would certainly have been more future proof. It would be easier to sell should we need to and if it somehow got damaged the house insurance would cover it. All of these reasons would have been supplied by my heart, to my head, in order to justify buying it on the spot.

But as I stood there drooling and pointing like a five year old, and as we went through the process of convincing each other what a good idea it would be to buy this masterpiece of design, I started thinking about what it would do to our budget, and more importantly the savings account. I've built up quite a pot over the past 6 months or so by paying the minimum payments on my 0% balance transfers and storing up the rest ready to pay off big chunks of debt when the 0% ends. Was I really going to waste all that effort and careful planning by blowing it on a whim?

So, there in the middle of Comet, the belly of the beast, a strange and unfamiliar set of words marched their way down my tongue and out of my mouth...

...wait for it...

"We can't afford this right now, we'll have to save up for it".

And there it was! No randomly increasing the debt. No justifying it with flimsy excuses. No putting back my DFD by another 6 months, as has happened on so many occasions in the past.

I've always been good at making plans for paying off my debts, and in the past few years I've started to become good at budgeting and sticking to it for utilities and day-to-day expenses, but I think I now understand how I got into this situation. It's the big stuff. The big stuff that I've funded through 0% credit card deals, and then refinanced, and then added other big stuff to, and refinanced again, and lost track of, and refinanced again. I never saved for anything. I always acted on impulse.

But this time I didn't. And it felt good. And I'm planning to keep it up. And to remind me, I'm starting this diary.

Watch this space.

Powelly.

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Well done that is such massive step forward and true determination x

jwil

well done!

powellypowelly

Thanks guys!

So, if the point of this diary is to remind me to stick to my plan, I'd better tell you all what my plan is so I can't change it later.

My light-bulb moment: Many many false dawns here, most of which failed because although I got my borrowing costs down as low as possible (lesson #1), I didn't have a full and proper budget to ensure I was living within my means (lesson #2). I finally got a grip on this in late 2009.

Highest Debt: Unknown, but well over £50k, and when the credit crunch hit and interest rates went up this very nearly pushed me over the edge. Fortunately those days are behind me.

Current Debt: According to the Spreadsheet Of Doom, my debt on 31st Jan was £27,922, offset by my savings pot which is currently at £4,056, so that's a net total of £22,866.

Next target: I've got some 0% balance transfers coming to an end in July, and in preparation for looking for a new deal I'm planning to have got the debt down to £18,642, including savings.

Debt-free date: This is a little dependent on how successful a tart I can be, and no big unexpected bills coming in, but I'm currently looking good for May 2014.

So there we are. No hiding now. Please keep me honest!

Powelly

powellypowelly

Time for this week's update.

The first thing is that writing a diary really does seem to help with willpower, things I haven't bought this week include:
- New laptop - see above.
- New dishwasher: Our current one is increasingly pointless, we have to clean many things (especially pans) twice, but I'm determined not to replace it until the debt's gone. It's hardly an essential now is it?
- New cooker: I did start a mini kitchen fire whilst cooking Christmas dinner last year, was making homemade Yorkshire puds and put a bit too much oil in the trays... now we can't really use the grill as we get acrid smoke coming out as soon as it warms up. Never mind, the oven still works.

Positive things I have done this week include:
- Paying off my Barclaycard (balance £5280) with my savings and £60 from the groceries budget, which is too high anyway. Total debt now £22k-and-a-bit. Have kept the Barclaycard open in case I need it for tarting later this year - it currently has a 6 months BT offer on it. Not sure that's the best idea, but I want to make sure I can keep the interest at bay when my MBNA 0% deal comes to an end in July. When it does, there'll still be the thick end of £9k left on it....
- Cancelled Sky Sports 1 from our Virgin package, that's £14.50 a month back. As a bonus, they gave us the XL TV package free for 3 months, which I will absolutely definitely CANCEL before the 3 months is up.

In next week's update we'll find out how much I managed to save in Feb towards the debt - hoping for a big number!

Powelly

jwil

Well done on clearing the card and good news about the TV package!

powellypowelly

Well it's been a mixed week on the debt front, I'm feeling a bit disappointed as things haven't quite gone to plan.

First let's do the good news, when I downloaded all the bank statements into the Spreadsheet of Doom it told me we'd had a very good February, with a nice chunk of money left to throw at the debt (~£800). I also decided I was being spineless by not having cancelled the Barclaycard, so instead I fought the good fight with the loyalty team ("But sir, wouldn't it be a good idea to keep this open just in case of emergencies? How would you feel if we gave you 6 months interest free on purchases too? In the next few months we may have some very good balance transfer offers for you. No? Well I don't know how I'll break this to my children sir...) and now it's gone. Which feels really good.

On the downside though, BOTH our cars got damaged this week, and seeing as they're lease cars we're probably going to have to shell out to have them fixed. It's minor bodywork damage in both cases, and I'm going to try Chipsaway etc first, as the spectre of a bodyshop, or worse still a dealer, sends my wallet running for cover.

Not only that, but I found a hole in my budget, and I'm absolutely gutted. We have 2 dogs which we pay my sister-in-law a small amount look after during the day as we both work, and I discovered we haven't paid her since November. That meant £160-odd bad news. Learn from my mistake - a budget should include EVERYTHING.

It's going to take hard work to get March back on track, especially as it's birthday month in my family, but it's got to be done. Wish me luck!

Powelly

powellypowelly

Time for a diary update.

These days I normally feel very much in control of our finances, with the Spreadsheet of Doom watching our every move, but this week I've felt rather at sea due to a couple of big unexpected chunks of spending (see above) masking what our real spend has been. I think we've reigned in some of the issues with a couple of (almost) no-spend days, but I can't be sure and it's alarming to see how quickly a well-managed plan can go sideways. And I've still got the car repairs to deal with

Had a nice weekend though, spent most of it in the garden enjoying the first really warm weekend of the year, including prepping some of the Thompson & Morgan seeds I bought after seeing a post on the Grabbit board. MSE does indeed run my life. We also used the firepit for the first time this year, I sit firmly in the camp that believes there's nothing better for the soul than sitting around a fire.

On the money front, I got an email through from MBNA with a T&Cs change, 5% is now the standard balance transfer fee. Not a good sign, I've got to look for a new deal in the middle of the year and it looks like fees are generally heading in the wrong direction. Unfortunately it doesn't look like I've got many options; I already have an MBNA card and I've just closed a Barclaycard (formerly Egg) account, so I guess I can't reapply there for 12 months. In the past 12 months I've tarted onto a Santander and a Natwest card, and I got turned down for a Halifax card towards the end of last year when I stupidly applied just after having got approved for the Natwest card. In short, I think I've been through pretty much everything on the MSE best buy-table, apart from HSBC, which is now Plan A.

Also heard this week that 50% of my pay rise will be deferred to October. Can't really complain about this as I feel lucky to be getting a rise at all in the current climate, but it does put a dent in the debt repayment plans. Will have to see where I am at the end of March.

That's all for now, thanks for watching!

Powelly

powellypowelly

How funny to come back to this diary! A lot has happened in the last 6 months, but on the plus side I had a one-off that's helped me pay off more of the debt than I'd planned - My current total is a whisker under £11k.

I really do think I'm cured. I still haven't bought a replacement laptop!

I also hardly think about my credit rating these days, as I don't need/want any more credit. Funny how something so crucial to me for so long is suddenly irrelevant. I probably will need one more BT before my DFD (now before the end of 2013), but that will be it. Just as long as I keep focused on that budget...

powellypowelly

Again, funny to come back to this diary after another year!

Unfortunately things haven't quite gone to plan this year, I'm currently down to £7.5k, which is a whole £7.5k higher than where my last diary entry thought I was going to be....

Why? Well to be honest I'm not sure, which is a bit worrying - maybe I'm not quite cured yet. We have had some big expenses (car repairs, been to a couple of weddings, etc) and we did buy a laptop in the end, a "sensible" £270 Windows 8 touchscreen one*, My OH also changed jobs, and although she's getting paid more on the face of it, she actually takes home less and has much higher travel costs

* - Don't buy Windows 8, it's rubbish, we were tempted after my wife got a Windows phone as an upgrade (free, obviously) which is really good, but the laptop is awful.

Despite all of that, it still feels like this year didn't go to plan financially, and I'll have to spend some time looking back through the Spreadsheet of Doom to work out what happened, and how we can change it.

On a more positive note, I've got a really solid plan to get to £5k (maybe even lower if we stick to the budget consistently) by next April, and I've just successfully tarted again which will keep the interest at bay. I must be looking healthier financially as they've given me a stupid £13k credit limit which doesn't seem to be responsible lending to me. I'll be reducing it as soon as I get the card. I went for a 0% purchases card again but I did wonder if going for an ultra-long balance transfer might be better giving the murmurs about an interest rate rise. Of course, no-one knows the answer to that one.

I'll leave you on a positive note, remember I started this with over £50k of debt, and I'm now only £7.5k from victory. I'll get there eventually!

Kate_fixing_it

Really inspiring diary, thank you

Kate x