Newbie Debt-Free Wannabe

HeadAboveWater

You're doing really well so far Keep up the good work!

Can you hide your cards again? I find the best thing is to work with cash so you know exactly what you're spending. Plus when you can actually 'see' the money you're handing over it makes you think twice about spending any!!

SinSTAR360

Thanks Kathy!

I have been thinking about putting my cards away in a safe place so I don't have easy access to them - I can most certainly see the benefit of paying for things using cash rather than my debit card!

billinghamfan

Put your cards in bowls of water then stick them in the freeze. If you have to use them you'll have to wait till they defrost which will make you think twice about using them!

HeadAboveWater

billinghamfan wrote: »

Put your cards in bowls of water then stick them in the freeze. If you have to use them you'll have to wait till they defrost which will make you think twice about using them!

ha ha :rotfl: brilliant!!!!!

SinSTAR360

Signed up for the 1 Debt vs 100 days challenge and have made my first payment to my Lloyds OD today - used the few quid I have left in my bank as I won't need anything else until pay day on Friday.

Next month I should have £140+ left at the end of the month (unless an emergency crops up!) so will try and match this and pay a little more off my overdraft.

NatWest OD should be paid off in full next month & also the £100 I owe my mum.

Really proud of myself - I've conquered something I thought would never have been possible - being +500 into a unplanned overdraft at the start of the month, with £150 worth of bank charges and managing to keep everything to a minimum and finishing off the month still in credit and not using any of my credit cards to pay for things...I'm so so Happy with myself

reallyAnnoyed_2

hmm setting a "zero balance" limit is a good idea.

How much you spend on fags? Have you tried those electronic cigarettes? I switched to them two months ago and saved £170/month. (don't do it if you don't have strong self-control, otherwise you can easily double your nicotine intake with them.).

SinSTAR360

Hi reallyAnnoyed,

I smoke roll ups so probably only about £60 a month if that!

I'm looking to give up very soon, I have cut down a bit recently so that £60 probably isn't accurate any more.

I'll take a look into the electronic cigarettes though - I've heard good things about them and have been meaning to give one a try!

Thanks,

SinSTAR

SinSTAR360

Officially cleared my Natwest Overdraft on payday last week, so that is one debt out of the way!
Paid my mum back her £100 that I owed her, and also made a payment to my Lloyds TSB overdraft of £54 in total!

Drawn up my budget for this month, and got everything in place.

Hoping to be able to pay off another £110 off my Lloyds Overdraft towards the end of the month, providing no unexpected costs crop up.

Very happy and proud with myself. The feeling of finally having my spending under control and knocking down the debts is awesome.

Want to thank everyone on this forum once again who have provided great advice and support.

rdchick

Well done SinStar

I am 23 and in about £9K. We should have a under 30 club for people who are proud to be dealing with their debts! xxx

BluePumpkin

Hi, I'm 28 with £21k of debt, so I'll join!

SinStar I just wanted to say well done for making such a difference in such a short space of time! I read through your thread and it has really made me think I'll be able to make a difference to mine!