Crivvens Jings and Help Ma Boab

j-style_2

Right then folks, where will I start??? Hello I suppose is always a good one so "Hello" :hello:

I've been registered on here now for about 2 days or so, I'm getting on a bit so the old memory isn't what it used to be, also somewhat alcohol :beer: infused nights recently have had the detrimented effect the doctors say it does, 1 - 0 to them.

A good friend of mine got me involved on this site and I have to say I have taken a good few things from it, although only recently joining I have been snooping about a bit for a while. So LynsayJane :wave: reckoned I would beneficial to start a wee thread like this, even to just get some advice on certain things so this is my story;

I have been Debt Free since about February 06. But before....

....as with a lot of people on this site I definately had financial problems, not so much to lose my flat or anything but I was getting close, even though I have always been a bit of a penny pincher I had a few runs of bad luck and the hole kept getting bigger. now, fortunately for me I met my girlfriend who basically, more than anything else, provided a good steady base for me to work from, helped me out a bit and gave me a kick up the a**e if I needed it.

I was scraping by with a lot payments, deferring on some to pay others and vice-versa so I was kinda caught in a vicious circle. I started my run into debt freedom by working my bo****ks off for a while, I was working two full time jobs, one in the gym and one on the doors, I did this for about 6 weeks and managed to pay off about £1800 in mortgage arrears and payments in that time, from there on I just knackered myself out and I knew I couldn't do that for much longer so I started looking into re-mortgaging as I knew the flat I had bought years earlier had risen in value significantly. Once I had found a suitable lender it all happened in what seemed like an instant, I applied, filled out forms, signed some papers, waited a couple of days and voila! I had a new mortgage provider and enough extra money in the bank that paid off all of my debts within 2 days. Although I now have higher mortgage payments than previously, I am still a whole lot better off than I was before and I still have a good bit of equity as I wasn't greedy, I just extended the mortgage for what I needed to cover my debts.

So my current status is this: I am debt free other than my mortgage and I have never been happier. I am also still with the same girlfriend who helped me through a very difficult time.

Now I know this was a fair read but I thought I would share my own little success story, but it won't all end there. I am still up for ideas on ways to save money that I haven't already implemented, ways to earn a bit extra etc etc so please feel free to post up whatever. I will be posting up my currents incomings and outgoings soon, but they are under review and are changing so not just now, and yes, they are changing due to things I have gotten from here :T

I look forward to hearing from you all.

angchris

morning :hello: nice to see you here using mse..welcome to the dfw board! well done for the progress you have made so far, it looks like you have put alot of effort into it! well now you have managed to get your debts all centralised (is that a word? )on your mortgage the key for you now is to never get into that debt again and to change your spending habits so chop those cards up cancel the accounts and pay your way with hard earned cash that you have earnt and if you have your sights set on buying large items save up for them! also now you are in a position to be paying extra towards your mortgage which is very worthwhile as it can save you thousands and knock years of it.
keep up the good work...angchris

MinnieSpender

Hello j-style!

Welcome to the boards. Any friend of LynsayJane's has to be worth knowing!

lynsayjane

MinnieSpender wrote:

Any friend of LynsayJane's has to worth knowing!

you realllllllly sure about that min???


welcome along j, one thing you can do is check out the old style forum for advice about shopping and cooking, you'll find out on there how I can manage to live on £10 a week food budget and why I'm cooking a huge curry at 11am!!!

j-style_2

Cheers for the welcome folks, Min and angchris, much appreciated. And Lyns, that sounded like an offer for dinner to me

As for the dinner and food budget, I think I am on the lowest one at the moment, since I have only just got my cooker working again (flat renovations), but once I get everything up and running again I will be making up big meals and doing the old freezing thing.

Well so far, in the past two days I have started the change over of my utility suppliers, a saving of £106.00 a year according to Uswitch so that'll be a wee boost, it could have been more but there was no way I was going with NPower, neighbours have had too much hassle with them in regards to false bills and such like.

Lets keep the savings coming (I'm a Fifer btw so saving is in my blood )

itsarichmansworld

:wave:

Fellow scottie here see my sig I'm doing the same !

j-style_2

Sweet, another Jock to help out, nice one.

Looks like your doing a pretty good job, I'm not quite going for mortgage free just yet, I'm going to save up to get the renovations finished on my flat before I can sell it and then I plan on a move to somewhere else, I'm not sure where yet but I am going for the maximum sale profit I can from this place and like yourself, my valuations are looking good.

itsarichmansworld

We bought our house 5 years ago for £15k now worth ...... drum roll pleeeeeaaaassseeeee £65k!

j-style_2

Okay, a very delayed little update here.

I know I have not kept this wee blog up but I have been mad busy at work, my boss is lewaving and taking all his holidays as per usual so myself and the deputy manager have had to plod along and do all the cover with a lack of staff. We managed though.

Okay, new news - Money wise, not a huge amount being honest with you. The switch over of energy suppliers has taken a thump, apparently my current suppliers are telling the new company I have a type of meter that the new company will not accept unless I get a new meter installed!!! This is all rubbish though as I have spoken to them all and apparently suppliers are very bad for adding numbers etc to accounts to make them seem different, I'm having a word with my current supplier tomorrow and getting it sorted.

My saving plan hasn't been going well at all, my girlfriend moved over to Ireland a couple of months back so spare cash has been spent going over to see her a couple of times, plus the usual spend when visiting ie restaurants and sightseeing etc.

On a big plus side though, is this;

"We are delighted to let you know that your application for an Alliance &
Leicester Premier Current Account has been successful and we are now in
the process of setting up your new account. You will receive written
confirmation from us through the post within the next couple of days."

I have finally set up another bank account, I am now going to post off the first letter in the whole reclamation of bank charges. I have two accounts I am reclaiming on, one will go back 5 years, the other 4 years as I closed that account last year. The accounts are with the Royal Bank of Scotland so I am not expecting an easy ride, but I will perservere and see it through.

On other aspects - I have built up about £22.10 in rewards on pigsback so far, yet to win anything, a measly 590 points on lightspeed but best of all so far, I opened up the aforementioned account through Quidco and should therefore in time get £50 cash back for the priveledge Happy days.

That is about all for just now, I'm not the best blogger on the planet but it'll at least give you something to read for a few minutes

Doing a breakdown of my expenses in the coming week as well.

beanielou

Just wanted to say hi.
you are off to to a flying(Scotsman!)start.