Get a grip girl! - a DFW diary

TeamNicholson

So I guess I am writing this as motivation to keep going and rid myself of this debt monster. For some reason I keep starting with all the right intentions but never follow through, unfortunatly this is a personality trait that has followed me around for years. I'am pretty sick of it now. I have about £16000 of debt and although we are servicing our debt, its not reducing. I don't want this life, I want to take my children on holiday and be able to attend weddings & parties without the constant worry of 'can I afford this'.

SO... I have acknowledged all debt, made a plan, joined several challenges and now I have started this Diary. I hope this will keep me motivated. If your reading this feel free to post anytime, share any words of wisdom and help me keep going.

Piquant_2

I'm not known for my words of wisdom, but hello and welcome!

You've made a good start and with all the encouragement you'll get here you will clear your debts.

Piq

jwil

Good luck

GreenSaints

Hi,

Welcome to the world of DF Diaries

Good luck with your journey - don't worry, we've all been there, I still am!

TeamNicholson

Ok, so true to form I posted once....4 months ago. I could never keep a diary, I get bored so quickly!

Anyway, time for a change. NEED to keep myself motivated. OH seems to have gotten on board with the debt free mission which is a huge relief. Don't feel as if I am doing it entirely on my own now, although most of the planning/administration will be left to me (I don't mind though, I am a bit of a control freak. Obviously not with money haha)

So here is the plan....

1. [STRIKE]Join 1 debt vs 100 days chp 8 and clear Littlewoods account (£400).[/STRIKE]
2. [STRIKE]Add up every single debt and stop excluding ones that 'don't count'.[/STRIKE]
3. [STRIKE]Create a plan for overpayments.[/STRIKE]
4. Join 1 debt vs 100 days chp 9 and clear Next account (£500)
5. Give birth. (5 weeks to go)
6. Do not dip into emergency savings for 'take-a-way emergencies'
7. Clear storecard debt of £1900 :eek:
So that's a start.

sistafromanothermista

TeamNicholson wrote: »

Ok, so true to form I posted once....4 months ago. I could never keep a diary, I get bored so quickly!

Anyway, time for a change. NEED to keep myself motivated. OH seems to have gotten on board with the debt free mission which is a huge relief. Don't feel as if I am doing it entirely on my own now, although most of the planning/administration will be left to me (I don't mind though, I am a bit of a control freak. Obviously not with money haha)

So here is the plan....

1. [STRIKE]Join 1 debt vs 100 days chp 8 and clear Littlewoods account (£400).[/STRIKE]
2. [STRIKE]Add up every single debt and stop excluding ones that 'don't count'.[/STRIKE]
3. [STRIKE]Create a plan for overpayments.[/STRIKE]
4. Join 1 debt vs 100 days chp 9 and clear Next account (£500)
5. Give birth. (5 weeks to go)
6. Do not dip into emergency savings for 'take-a-way emergencies'
7. Clear storecard debt of £1900 :eek:
So that's a start.

wow!!!!! you probably have enough on your plate to think about then.

Well done on you LBM, i cleared my Next acc this month and i was :D:D just to have one debt gone.
Good luck.

TeamNicholson

sistafromanothermista wrote: »

wow!!!!! you probably have enough on your plate to think about then.

Well done on you LBM, i cleared my Next acc this month and i was :D:D just to have one debt gone.
Good luck.

Yeah I suppose I have been pre-occupied! Well done on clearing next :T, the minimum payments are like 10% a month :eek: Cant wait to have it gone!

TeamNicholson

Well, 1 week down only another 140ish to go! Whoop whoop! ::rotfl:

So.....debt busting so far,

Littlewoods buy now pay later £400 - PAID!!! :j

Next - Balance reduced from £500 to £400.

Baby steps but steps none the less. My main focus will be paying off next by the end of August. Then move on to my Argos card. Gutted I can't pick up any extra work at the moment :mad:. Really want to keep making small extra payments but I think this baby will make an early appearance.

As I'am not expecting any more extra money to make payments with this month I am going to have to try and make some savings on an already shoestring budget. I have £120 for the next 3 weeks grocery shopping, so £40 a week. Think I'll have a look on the oldstyle board for some inspiration. Minus £50 for fuel leaves me with about £80 till July 20th. I am going to try keep that to £10 a week 'spending money' and hopefully use the other £50 for an extra payment before payday.

Fingers crossed :money:

TeamNicholson

Well I have decided to take a couple of mystery shopping/auditing jobs this week so should have about £50 come in towards the end of the month :j If I can manage to hang on to that £50 I've stashed away in a savings account then that will be another £100 paid towards next. Don't know how likely holding on to that £50 will be though.

Still need to budget for my husband to take a weeks paternity leave. We will loose £200 from his wage so that will mean no overpayments in August unless I find money from somewhere else.

Going to try make dinners from freezer stuff this week and next so hopefully save a bit of money on next weeks grocery shop. Did my shop in Aldi on Friday. Came to £36 which I thought was great , trying to stick to a tight budget of £40 a week.

TeamNicholson

Well that stashed £50 didn't last long. Must have forgot to account for a bill somewhere along the line On the upside I THINK because July has 5 mondays I will get an extra weeks maternity pay which is about £135 so I should be able to stick to my plan of making a £200 overpayment this month. I was starting to think it would be impossible due to road tax being due

I have been making amendments to my budget the last couple of days to try and eeek out extra money for debt repayment. After my bills are paid my plan is to have:

£150 - Food shopping
£50 -Tolitries including nappies/wipes for 2 children
£20 - Fun Money (For whatever)
£40 - Family spending money (£10 each weekend to do something small with the toddler)
£100 - Saving (Need to save for xmas/birthdays maybe camping holiday)
£100 - Emergency savings (For car maintenance, repairs, lifes unexpected!)
£300 - My debt attack fund (At the moment its £200 until September)

Do you think this is do-able?

Debt stands at about £16,000 (will recalculate end of month)
Savings account balance £100

A total of £60 a month spending money is pretty dire but I am hoping if I do this whilst the kids are too young too understand or 'WANT' anything, I can provide more for them when they are older. I feel a bit !!!! about it, but I am hoping as they will have clean clothes, are well fed and truly adored by their parents that they will cope with being a bit poor for a couple of years. That, or they send me their shrinks bill when they hit 30

Anyone reading in a similar situation?

never_too_old

Hi
good luck,we all need support in this difficult journey.:)