One Day I Will .... get debts below £8500 (Debt Diary)

onedayiwill

Hi Storm,

Thanks!

No water bills on budget as we don't get them ... (scotland).
Prescriptions - OH pays as we always get them when we go for our big shop!
Haircuts - OH & I have been cutting each others hair for 2 years now (I was struggling to pay for haircuts so I suggested it. OH initially reluctant but now it is part of our routine, and no one ever believes it when I tell them my hubby cuts my hair!!!! )
Birthdays ... forgot about that. Normally I make something - due to not having any cash! - but sometimes I do buy, so I need to put something in the budget for that.

Can't get out of the mobile contract unfortunately, but will try to switch to lower tarriff. PAYG was not cheaper for me, hence the contract.

Gas & Electric...yes, will keep an eye on the switching traffic lights. We live in a very cold area so we do have the heating on a lot. I'm off work sick today so snuggling in the duvet instead of putting on the heating. But my hands are getting frozen just typing this!! I try to keep it off as much as possible, we have it on a timer so it is never on when we are not in the house, but every time I switch it off when we are home OH switches it back on. He hates to be cold. :rolleyes:

Don't know what is running up the electric so much ... need to look into that. I try not to leave things on standby as more than the cost of electric I am a bit paranoid about the fire risk!

Thanks again for your help ... I really appreciate the support.

onedayiwill

It's Saturday. And there is nothing much for my diary. Had two letters to post today ... sent them 2nd class saving myself 26p which when into the piggy bank.

Received the card for my new A&L account today, so celebrated by going to post office and paying in £7 of assorted change I gathered from around the house. So I get to see my first +ve bank balance in years Won't last long once everything gets transferred across from my Smile account (inc OD) but it's still nice to see! :rotfl:

angchris

hiya:hello: i just want to congratulate you on the progress you have made so far you have done really well and you seem to have a great positive attitude towards tackling this head on...well done you!! :T :T
a few comments i`d suggest...you say your house is always cold, have a go at putting up curtains behind doors and making a few of those sausage draught excluders to place at the bottom of doors to keep any heat you might have in the room and cold out, i know they dont "look" great but they can be hidden quickly if guests are due lol :rotfl: make sure theres no draughts from windows etc too. in the winter/colder months i very rarely put my heating on im lucky i guess as a: i dont like heat and b: im mid terrace and absorb heat from either side :money: the thing i find really helps heat the house is if i have my slow cooker on it kinda has a dual purpose of not only being able to batch cook my meals and freeze them it also really does heat up my kitchen and living room if its left on all day to do its thing :j also try turning your thermostat down a few notches for when oh puts it on with regards to your £50 top up shop i`d try and wangle out of that one if it were me, its another £50 towards your debts without your oh realising. convince oh you need a chest freezer and make sure he buys enough bread and milk for the month which can both be frozen also buy fresh veg to last a week or 2 then live off of frozen veg for the rest of the month so hopefully you should be able to manage without popping to the shop and spending £20 when all you need is milk. also i found that my tumble drier was the thing that was really bumping my leccy bill up and i havent used it for 18 months now and really notice the difference as it was on daily before, now i just throw it on an airer and it still dries its just not instant lol but for all the dosh im saving its worth it :j
best of luck to you, im sure you will work this out...angchris

angchris

just a thought:idea: (it doesnt happen too often!:rotfl:) are you paying for any ppi on the loan that you could cancel?

WISHIWASRICH_2

Good luck ....looking forward to seeing you on this forums debt fee roll of honour:money:

onedayiwill

WishIWasRich - Yes, look forward to seeing myself on the debt free roll of honour too!!!

Angchris. Thanks for your messages. I do have PPI on the loan but not sure I can cancel it .... I will give them a call on Monday and see what response I get.

Your other suggestions are also great ... I like the draught excluder idea (I have lots of old clothes that I need to sort through so I'm sure I can fudge something up for free from them), and OH & I have been talking about getting a heavy curtain across our front door which is definitely one of the culprits for sucking the heat out of our house. We will have to stop talking and start doing!

A chest freezer would be a good idea except we have really not got anywhere to put one. So I'll stick to buying the fresh veg etc but see if I can cut down/buy cheaper. We have a LIDL that I have never explored ... is it cheaper than ASDA? Well, I'll go look next week.

I hadn't thought of the tumble drier! We didn't have one until a year ago ... will go check out how much the electric bills were before we got it. If there is a difference ... minimum use it is!

Today I will have an NSD and I also went online to get a break from my BT payments. I looked at the last bill (never normally look!) and we were actually in credit so by taking a break for 2 months I will get an extra £28 off my overdraft and still be fine with BT.

Thank you for all your help

onedayiwill

I forgot to bring my Virgin loan statement to work so I don't have the reference number to find out about the PPI. Whoops. Will have to defer that job until tomorrow.

Yesterday evening I found a cashbook for an old Nationwide Cashbuilder account which I had completely forgotton I had! It is easy to see why ... when I looked at how much was in it, the last entry - from May 1994 - says £1. I reckon with interest that must be at least £1.20 now. :rotfl:

When I am next in town I'm heading to the Nationwide to close the account and claim that money!!! Pennies make pounds, pennies make pounds, pennies make pounds!

onedayiwill

OK, so I "forgot" to bring the loan statement to work again. Knowing I have to make this call is really stressing me out - I have had problems with speaking and the phone as part of the anxiety associated with my depression. But I will get there - if you feel I need it, please give me a boot up the backside. Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it doesn't and I just need to take the time I need.

Today is a big spending day for me. A whopping total of £4.78!!! I have had 8 NSDs since finding this site on 16th Feb and just writing ANYTHING in my spending diary now seems like a crime to me. I think that is a good thing!

Also, tomorrow is pay day. Hurrah. I have worked some extra hours this month so hopefully I'll be surprised by the amount. Also tomorrow is piggy bank day. I get to open my piggy bank and pay the contents into my bank account. I'm looking forward to that ... I think there is around £30 in there (since 16th Feb!) so that'll really help with the overdraft.

onedayiwill

My no spend day was ruined by a necessary trip to a public toilet ... which cost me 20p!!! But desperate situations ....

Anyway, today was payday. It is also the last day of the month which for me means it is time to open the piggy bank and pay the money into my bank account (£46.10). So today my Smile overdraft stands at £40.33.

I wish I had another £41 to pay in so I could enjoy the sight of two positive bank balances for the rest of the day (my shiny new A&L account has a balance of +£7 ), but alas, despite my best efforts I have only managed to raise £29 cash today by selling stuff to work colleagues.

Of course tomorrow most of my DDs and SOs go out so ... I hate money. We should all go back to bartering.

tigzem

Well done... you're doing really well so far. Love your motto - it's true!