Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

Siouxsie32

Evening everyone :wave: How's everyone doing? Some great tales of moneysaving here :money: Thanks for sharing!

Inspired by your end of 2013 deadline Kat, I've updated my signature! 2012's target got thrashed last week so I've worked out a plan to take me to the end of 2013.

In the process of working out the best way to do it, I noticed that one of my credit cards's minimum payment policy is £5 plus the interest charged that month. This particular credit card has a semi-decent interest rate compared to the others so I pottered about with the figures and noticed that if I just paid the minimum amount each month, the debt actually went up :eek: Based on my last statement, the minimum payment is £193.37 (£5 plus £188.37 interest). I currently pay £250 to this debt each month and wondered what would happen if I reduced it to £200 and paid the other £50 to another debt. I thought I knew pretty well how debt works but this was interesting! The credit card balance would continue to rise, so would the interest, so would the minimum payment and it would take until August 2058 to pay off :eek::eek::eek: My LBM came about a year ago so there's no danger of my debt rising, but if I was an ostrich, I'd be happily paying off the minimum amount thinking my debt was manageable! I think I need just one more :eek: just to show how shocking this story is!

Back to the good stuff:

• Listed a few books on Amazon and Green Metropolis
• Lined up a few more things to photograph for ebay listings - hopefully get them online tomorrow
• Received £20 A5DA Vouchers from Maximiles so free grocery shopping this week
• The chair guy's coming to pick up the chair tomorrow so a quick trip to the bank will see me £15 richer
• Will photograph remaining 2 chairs landlady told me to dispose of and place adverts on Gumtree to see if they can raise any more £££s
• Had a NSD by default - went for a nap this afternoon and woke up at 7pm :eek:

Must also do a bit of homework on claiming back credit card charges for late payments and over limit fees (pre LBM of course!). There are template letters and threads on this forum I'm sure that'll help me.

Well done on claiming your £25 Motormate cashback Kat, I'm still only halfway there. However, I have a bit of running around to do over the next few days so I'm not too far behind you......

Happytogetdebtfree

Hi :-) credit card interest is absolutely disgusting I can't wait till mine are cleared and credit card companies start to feel the pinch muhahaha x

NinjaSavingKat

Well good evening to you Chickadees... Your all up very late!!

What a day for you Siouxie!! Well done on all the juggling..AND even more so on you're wee list!! I have had a busy last four hours at a meeting and have not been able to reach my entire day's schedule. I swear there are not enough hours in the MSE day!!

I have another cuppa beside me though despite needing to be up at 0500 to head to work! Thrills! I might be able to get in a few MSE hours in there tomorrow...

Siouxsie I am going to juggle a few things like you and see where money can be conjured from regarding my bike service....Herewego . and yes maybe you are right in looking about. But I have not had it serviced in over 12000 miles. They are saying its £60 an hour ( ex VAT ) and there are parts I need to ensure I get through my MOT... and parts that should have been done 5000 miles ago...was your's a full service and where are you based?

New tax disk arrived and is fitted to my bike...YEAH!

Going to list my plasma screen, a very heavy box of trio vintage teacups ( maybe ) and some Vanity Fair magazines featuring Marilyn Monroe.. that's my three items for eBay..

Still not sure how to get rid of the box of books with weird ISBN's....anyone for "The Art of Sensual Massage"...arf arf arf.....

I did not have an NSD today - having went out and about on my motorbike earlier today and was having what I call a "day-dreamer" day. Took a few wrong turns and turned in front of a car on a roundabout when I shouldn't have... so I decided to get the train to my meeting. I never take risks with that bike. But this cost me £13.50. Not impressed. I will re-coup this..( guess this means the teacups are a gonner )..

Sexy Scottish man in a plaid shirt ( cliche alert ) grinned a sly naughty grin at me this evening.. made me feel real special that did..lol!!

Well I have lots more to write, lots more to add, I am so full of beans but I MUST sleep now. Lots more later I promise..

Keep up the good work ladies - get those signatures completed so its staring you in the face and most importantly ...Onwards and Upwards!!!

NinjaSavingKat

Well greetings to one and all on this bright and breezy morning!!

I have been having a little look over my finances and recalculated my amounts keeping a very close eye on interest and then re-calibrated how much per day I need to save or earn.

This gives me ( as stated previously ) a better scope on things when I think I want to buy something and exactly how many pennies I am wasting.

So this is the break down..

• Ex-Boyfriend - £350
• Overdraft - £1000
• CC - £188
• Student Loan - £2436.56
• Nationwide Bike Loan - £3030.18
• Northern Bank Land Loan - £9158.96.

TOTAL = £16163.70 - £1538 = £14625.70


My ambition for New Years Eve is this... £1538 GONE! This is the Ex / CC and OD... GONE GONE GONE!!! These are what I call the "small ones" and I want rid of them so I can concentrate on reducing the larger loans - with a snowball calculator telling me the bike loan @ 12.9% should be gotten rid of first. I agree with said calculator...


The last loan will be the hardest as this would then mean adding around £700 on top of the already £297 ... basically £1000 a month to get rid of it. Considering I am paying £133 towards the bike once that is gone, as the CC will be full I will channel all funds towards the largest loan @ 7.9% APR around May - giving me 5 months to shift £3030.18.


Now - the good news! I have made £115 of my £155 target for "£5 a day in October".. This will be sky-rocketed to £10 a day in November. BUT more importantly overtime is now available to me at another building and I will be working every Sunday to cover this. I HOPE this will accomplish another £700 in the month of November. I have a very handy calculator to work this out thank goodness so I don't over-do it..



Above I mentioned I want rid of £1538 before 01/01/2013... I could add another £625.70 if I work hard and start the year on a well rounded £14000. But I also want to cover all possible interest hikes... as the interest per month on the LAND is currently hitting around £150 a month.. and the bike only around £30... this is at least another £200 to be completely sure...


So my grand total is £1538 + £625.70 + £200 = £2363.70. I have already instructed my bank to take back the following amounts at the beginning of Nov / Dec and Jan - £350 / £325 / £325... So I KNOW this is going no matter what...


There are a lot of people on my eBay items - 2 watching a £50 "home Theater System"... 10 watching a £9.99 handbag... 6 persons on 4 separate £3.50 cosmetic face wipe things.. 1 person on a £3.99 item of clothing, another 1 on a £2 Wine voucher code I got free.. 4 on another cosmetic item ( used ) at £5.. so if these sell at there base fee I stand to make at least £80 - which is better than nothing..


I still have time to play with the snowballs and see what I can do but its imperative that I get as much overtime under my belt before I get too excited - as its never a given - its a privileged and not a right!


Sorry this is so long - I believe its good to keep eyes on things and changed now and then going by circumstances.. as mine have since changed for the better it seemed right to re-jig things a little.


I am now determined about a few things..

• No more books.
• No more Kindle books.
• No unnecessary make-up.
• No more body-care products.
• No more bottles of water.
• No more lingerie.
• No take-outs and no meals unless budgeted for.
• No more food at work.

Now then...Missy happy is right. LOTS of tea to go around in here although virtual.. so rant away . This is what this forum is kinda about. I am not shocked regarding living together... I have heard that from a few people. Is your OH an MSE addict as well...?


Listerbelle did you get any notification via Swagbucks??.. I am going to out you as you were the first and ONLY MSE'er to think to send me a referral and earn some points. Of course I used it....:D


Millysg1.... with having your own house -does this mean you are DEBT FREE??..


Alana71.. hows the eBaying coming along. Any more sales to share..?


Bess I forgot to welcome you I think so WELCOME... ...


ECO.. I only just saw your post. I thought of a barge once I really did. I could easily survive on one but apparently its very expensive.. people still charge about £700 a month for one due to moorings etc... did you ever do this..?


Well ladies keep me posted.. I best go do some actual [STRIKE]work[/STRIKE] snowballing.


:T

Herewego

[QUOTE=

Siouxsie I am going to juggle a few things like you and see where money can be conjured from regarding my bike service....Herewego . and yes maybe you are right in looking about. But I have not had it serviced in over 12000 miles. They are saying its £60 an hour ( ex VAT ) and there are parts I need to ensure I get through my MOT... and parts that should have been done 5000 miles ago...was your's a full service and where are you based?

QUOTE]

My bike was well overdue a service and was full one including parts, was referred to him by a bike MOT garage and hes been a god send. Im in South Yorkshire so little far unless you fancy a long ride out
Cant believe £60 an hour :eek: im in the wrong job if you have a local bike shop try chatting to other bikers they may know some gems in your area

Listerbelle

***Waves****

What a detailed post - you are sooooo on the ball! WELL DONE!

Thanks for using the referral link.

It took me about six weeks to get the hang of Swagbucks. You'll always earn more money working or doing other things, but it you are at home you can have the videos running on the computer in the background and do a few searches plus the occasional survey, you'll find that the vouchers and/or paypal cash adds up.

I'm watching/listening to ebay's youtube channel right now, getting a few ideas...and contemplating a cup of Earl Grey

NinjaSavingKat

My bike was well overdue a service and was full one including parts, was referred to him by a bike MOT garage and hes been a god send. I'm in South Yorkshire so little far unless you fancy a long ride out
Cant believe £60 an hour :eek: I'm in the wrong job if you have a local bike shop try chatting to other bikers they may know some gems in your area

Hello again... I think our different area might be the issue here. I just rang another guy who said that it would cost me just under £300. He went through what I apparently need to check which was in line with my current servicing guy said. Do you ride yours everyday too. I commute like a right eejit into London - always fun! NOT! :rotfl:

NinjaSavingKat

It took me about six weeks to get the hang of Swagbucks. You'll always earn more money working or doing other things, but it you are at home you can have the videos running on the computer in the background and do a few searches plus the occasional survey, you'll find that the vouchers and/or paypal cash adds up.

I am so glad you said that ... I just took a look at it again and got annoyed! . I will try again when I am relaxed - perhaps Saturday night when I am in the house instead of out like normal people who don't care about their debts...:rotfl:

bess1234_2

Yes swagbucks is very odd at first. Just pick one thing till you get the hang of it to ease yourself in, and don't do anything that involves money lol! Lots of special offers will be self defeating.

I started just running the videos on my front page and reading the first post in the swagbucks thread on up your income. Only a few points but when I started to understand it , I wizz about in half an hour a day for £30 this month. And I'm still a beginner lol. I can follow what people are talking about on the thread now, though I don't understand all they do.

And your right, wait till you have space and ignore the zombie vampire thing. It will be over soon . Good luck

NinjaSavingKat

Bess sweetheart.. Unless your planning for the Zombie Apocolypse like I am please explain that last sentence..lol!!