Here we go again...

PeppermintPatti_2

Life got in the way... two new jobs and a house move later, and I'm still a debt-free wannabe - although I've been working hard at it on my own. I thought I'd ressurect my diary to help me on the final stretch...

Egg Loan [STRIKE]£558[/STRIKE] - Cleared!
Egg Card (through Barclays) [STRIKE]£416 [/STRIKE]Cleared!
Barclaycard [STRIKE]£1900[/STRIKE] £300 left - 6 more payments!
MBNA [STRIKE]£3300[/STRIKE] Cleared!
HSBC Card [STRIKE]£2630[/STRIKE] Cleared!
Money Shop PD Loan [STRIKE]£750[/STRIKE] Cleared!
Natwest overdraft [STRIKE]£1375 [/STRIKE] £250 overdraft as a buffer
Vodafone Arrears [STRIKE]£1009 [/STRIKE] cleared!

I also passed my driving test, which after 10 attempts is nothing short of a miracle :j. I've taken on the repayments on DH's car so that I've got a vehicle to drive - which costs £186 per month, but the finance finishes in March 2017 and it will be mine.

My challenge is to get debt free apart from our Mortgage (that will be the next stage of our journey!).

To do this I need to:
Make 8 x £186 payments on the car
Clear our Next account (£175)
Finish the payments on my Barclaycard (6x£50)
Clear the balance of my two new credit cards (£3750) - the cost of my driving lessons and tests - I really regret using credit cards to fund this, but I had to pass!

From September, my salary is going to be £300 less each month so I need to find some ways to cut some corners to be able to clear these debts quickly.

My plan is:

- To ask for a lunchtime duty each day (£100 per month)
- Reduce my grocery bills (reduce weekly spend by £50 = £200 per month)

This would cancel out my salary reduction.

I'd then like to look at ways to make another £50 per month to put towards debt on top of my monthly payments. I have 20 free ebay listings each month, so I'm going to have a box to put things in to list. I've joined up for swagbucks and I'm a regular Amazon Turk Worker - you get amazon.com vouchers for that, so I tend to use those for a treat every so often!

My aim is to clear all my debts in two years. Then to get started on the mortgage!

PP

PeppermintPatti_2

A few little things that have helped today:

- Did my weekly shop at Lidl rather than Tesco - took some planning and adjustments, but cost £47 rather than usual £120. Feeling chuffed! I usually spend about £150 a week on food and petrol combined, so I've withdrawn that from the bank for this week - anything that I don't spend, I'm going to add to the debt busting pot! :rotfl:

- Listed 20 items on Ebay at 99p... if they all sell, then I'll have £20 to add to the debt busting pot - not sure which debt to tackle 1st!

- Found up a money tin that you can't open that a friend gave me a while back - put some odd change in it to get the ball rolling.

- Cleared out the bathroom - found 5 new air fresheners, 4 new handsoaps and 3 bottles of shower gel. No toiletries shopping needed for a while!

On a drawback today, the dog has a sore in her mouth. Vet has said medicine is going to cost £70. Fingers crossed that the insurance co. will cover it.

PP

PeppermintPatti_2

A good moneysaving day so far. A few small victories:

- I cancelled my amazon prime, kindle unlimited and audible subscriptions today - £24 per month better off.

- I also cancelled my experian credit score subscription - another £15 a month as well.

I've downloaded an app for my credit card which allows me to make payments instantly - I'm going to make this my payment a day focus - I rounded down my bank account to the nearest £10 and made a £7.74 payment to the balance of CC1.

Hopefully a no-spend day today as DH and I have been lazing about and we are going to take the dogs for a walk and have a freezer tea later.

I've also started my ebay box - nothing is safe at the moment as I get another 20 free listings on the 1st August! Bids on current items are up to £10 so I'm pleased with that as it is stuff I would have normally chucked or passed on to someone else.

PeppermintPatti_2

Another no-spend day today, 2 day streak! Not much going on with my ebay sales, but they have a week left, so fingers crossed that I make my £20 from 20 items target!

I found my old ipad up today - checked Mazuma and it is worth £60 - seriously thinking about getting rid of it as I have a new one.

Payment a day: £1.49 paid from CC1.
Earned £7.50 from surveys today - really enjoyed doing them too.

Few spendy days coming up - I've got a parcel to post tomorrow so I'm popping into town. Friday is lunch with my mum and Saturday is a friendly football match with Ipswich Town at home and meal out with DH after. Sunday is my birthday, so a meal out is on the cards too. I've got £75 left in my envelope to last until Sunday - I'm hoping with some careful money management, I won't go over my limit! (I'd really like to have some left over to put in the pot if at all possible).

Finally, I sent a speculative email to the money shop today - I had more payday loans from them than I can count and I've seen a few comments from people saying that they've had fee refunds. Thought it can't hurt to ask!!

PeppermintPatti_2

Been a mixed day money-saving wise. Made my PAD to CC1 - £10 as I went into town with a tenner for parking, groceries and a few treats, but didn't spend it. Spent £2.50 posting my parcel, which wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!

I lease a laptop as I've had terrible luck in the past with them either going wrong or getting nicked - we went into the shop today and it was a nice surprise to find out I've had it for 2 years and am due a free upgrade. It's my birthday at the weekend, so I've told DH this will do for a present - at least it will save him a few quid!

Earned a few more pounds doing surveys and had a look in the garage and found a big box of textbooks - scanned them in to a book selling app and they are worth £45 - a nice bonus as I was going to throw them away!

Off to see my mum tomorrow, lets hope I can talk her into buying me lunch for my birthday

PP

PeppermintPatti_2

Not as bad as I thought today MSE-wise:

- Managed to convince mum to have lunch at home - total cost £0!
- bought bread and milk £1.95
- Ice creams on the seafront for £4.20
- Made a PAD to CC1 - rounding down bank account £4.09
- Paid the deposit for my embroidery retreat in April next year £49.95 - need to replace this amount (hopefully from ebay sales this week).

I'm thinking ahead to next pay packet - DD will need all the usual back to school stuff - thank goodness she's in Y11 and this will be the last year of uniform! I've had a look at her blazer and I think we can get away with a dry clean rather than having to buy a new one, and she can re-use her schoolbag from last year - so it shouldn't be as expensive as normal, fingers crossed! I've budgeted £200 for everything - her shirts and shoes are usually the most expensive items, and I'm shopping around on amazon for second hand revision guides and textbooks.

Last Sunday, I set aside £150 for groceries, petrol and miscellaneous summer holiday expenses to last the week. I've still got £65 left before I withdraw the next lot on Sunday again - unheard of! I'm thinking any surplus left each week I'm going to start to build a savings pot, as shamefully I don't have one at the moment.

PP

PeppermintPatti_2

Had a day off being frugal yesterday as it was my birthday. Spent £53 on a meal for 6 of us which I didn't think was too bad in the grand scheme of things! I told DH that I didn't want any presents and I treated myself to a Cath Kidston bag that I've had my eye on for ages. It didn't cost me a penny as I used my rewards from Amazon Turk. Saved money by not buying a cake as it always goes to waste and had some lovely Danish pastries for breakfast instead.

Today has been a good day MSE wise though. Did a big shop at lidl and spent £71 - way under my usual spend and I filled the freezer! Made a £4.09 PAD to CC1 by rounding down my current account. 2 weeks to go until payday and I should have enough money to whack another couple of hundred pounds from the credit card at the end of the month. Fingers crossed!

PeppermintPatti_2

Not much to report today. PAD a day made to CC1 - £2.12. Balance is coming down slowly but surely.

Had visitors today - would usually spend £30 in Tesco on lunch bits but raided the reduced section and spent £11 instead with leftovers for lunch tomorrow as well.

I'm also weighing up my options for my spare cash once payday comes around. I could have up to £800 left for debts - do I clear 2 smaller ones, or do I get the balance of my credit card down to £300 instead? It's a tough decision!

PeppermintPatti_2

A mixed MSE bag today.

Posted my ipad to Mazuma, but registered post cost me £8 - I could have posted it for free, but I would have lost the full amount of money due if it had got lost in the post.

Dried two loads of washing on the line, and had tea from the freezer.

Spent £11 in poundland - mainly on mailing bags, bubble wrap and tape to send off my ebay items that end tomorrow night.

Made a £10 PAD to CC2 today - only because I had an email saying it was overlimit - not good!

Had a letter from Natwest saying they will investigate my complaint into bank account charges - fingers crossed!

Looking forward to a nice day tomorrow - free pass for swimming at the leisure centre, followed by free pizza express lunch courtesy of nectar points.

Finally, an item I bought for 99p at a charity shop is currently sitting at £26 on eb*y - I love it when that happens!!

PeppermintPatti_2

Well it is half past midnight and I am done parcelling up my eb*y items. Total sales was just a shade over £100 - not bad for 20 items that started at 99p that would have probably ended up in a charity shop! I know there are fees and postage costs to come off, but it is certainly another chunk to put towards the credit cards and pay for school stuff.

I've listed another 15 things, and have 5 more to finish off tomorrow.

A NSD racked up today as I only left the house to walk the dogs, and our chilli for tea was made with groceries already in the house. PAD was to CC - not much today, just a few pound rounded off the bank account.

Finally, mazuma paid out today, so another £90 to add to the pot. Happy times!