Stepping out of debt and into the light!

LunaLady

I hope newbies are allowed to post diaries.

I am writing this in the hope that it will keep me motivated on my journey. I have a long way to go but I need to get rid of my debt so that I can start saving for a house for myself and my 3 children.

I am a single parent. I work 30 hours a week.

I have a catalogue account with Very, which has built up over time but its killing me. I pay nearly £200 a month in repayments and I really need to free up that money.

So here goes nothing. I have 2741 steps (or pounds!) to go

sunshinesquirrel

Hi Lunalady

Just a quick note to say hello and welcome! These boards are great - they are full of fantastic hints and tips to keep you motivated and you'll get some great encouragement from the members here.

I'm sure there will be someone along fairly soon to give you some advice on your Very account (I'm not very good at that - I'm more of a lurker really!) so hang on in there and keep up the diary.

SS

LunaLady

Thank you Sunshinesquirrel.

This morning I have made a small payment to my debt to bring it down. I am hoping I wont spend anything to day. I have bought lunch to work so only popping out to get my sons prescriptions which are ready for collection. I am going to leave my purse behind in the office so I am not tempted. Am also going to look at changing over my Gas and Electricity. I have looked on Uswitch and there seems to be a better deal to save me £200 a year (and £30 Quidco cashback) so will get onto it.

Emzilla

Hi Luna Lady

Good luck with clearing your debt. It sounds like you have made a good start already.

I'm off to subscribe.

Emz xx

sc1_2

Good luck clearing the catalogue debt. You're not in a bad position if that is all you owe.

I recently cleared catalogue debt that was £3000 at one stage. It felt really good. No more catalogues, ever!

LunaLady

Thats exactly how I feel - once this evil catalogue is gone then I am never taking out another one again.

In fact Very sent me a letter the other day saying they had missed me as I hadnt placed an order for a while. I am confident that I will never be placing an order again

LunaLady

So according to my SOA I have £100 spare a month.

If I add that to what I am paying already I should have the account paid off next April, but I would like it gone by my 30th Birthday, which is the beginning of March so thats what I am going to aim for.

I have already paid off 4.9% of it, and the more I pay, the less interest is going to keep pushing the balance back up.

LunaLady

Did very well and despite leaving the office at lunch time not a penny was spent so I am very happy. Have enough food in the house to last until Friday when we are going on holiday so I dont think I will have to venture to the supermarket at all - all I will need is milk and the milkman delivers that.

Have budgeted £300 for holiday spending money - we have breakfast included and I have Tesco vouchers for Pizza Express and Bella Italia so I am hoping to come in under budget. Not planning any expensive touristy things, just lots of time at the beach, by the pool and have got a little guide book for local walks.

Have started packing but I am putting it off. I hate doing it

LunaLady

Had a really bad nights sleep last night so feeling very sleepy in the office this morning.

Made another small payment off my debt today. I am trying to get as much off as possible so that when the interest is added back on it will still be under £2600.

Have to start packing tonight and stop putting it off. Children are out tonight with their Dad so I dont have any excuses.

Brought lunch to work again today and dont plan on spending anything before the end of the week (except my pension DD which comes out on Friday).

LunaLady

How I am going to achieve my goal
- bring lunch to work every day.
- Stop going out of the office at lunch
- Having a supermarket day (which will be Friday) where I get enough food for the week. I only ever need to top up milk and banana's. The Milkman brings the milk and I can pick up banana's from the greengrocers on the way home from work, rather than going to ASDA and being tempted by the special offers.
- stop buying the children clothes, they dont need them at the moment and we have plenty of stuff.

Thats it for now - will be back with more ideas.

LunaLady

So much for not spending until the end of the week. All three children have come home from school needing things for a the schools Jubilee party, all with a specific item to take so looks like I will have to pop into Sainsbury's tomorrow.