Brainfreeze's DFW diary

cookie9

Well done -you are off to a good start. Fingers crossed your Council tax gets amended in your favour.

hesjane

Hi Brainfreeze

Many thanks for posting your story re. debts etc. I have been through something similar being off work for 13 months with stress and cancer, but have been back at work for a while now. However, my job has changed and I only have 3 years guaranteed protected salary so have decided that I have to straighten myself out to get to a point where it won't matter if I don't have such a good income (hope this makes sense!).

I'm going to phone my council as well - I'm enjoying reading everyone's diaries and picking up on the tips. It's amazing the things people think of that can save or reclaim money.

Excellent advice everyone. Off to read some more posts:T

Update: phoned my valuation blokey and they will look into ours as well but are quoting 14 weeks for a response time. Still it's something to look forward to - hopefully!

brainfreeze

Oh wow:j :j :j :j

I've just done my first update of my signature and crossed some figures out and reduced the debt:T :T :T

Really they are just the monthly payments off loans, but I've never been so excited about paying them before:rotfl: I couldn't wait to log on and strike the amounts out and reduce the figures.

Minimum payments to all the CCs until the end of the month and then the balance of the current account will go towards reducing the Lloyds TSB card (highest rate) - should be able to pay at least £600 off that:T

I'm loving this - I can't believe that until a week ago I was hiding my head in the sand and now I can't wait to log on to the bank account each day and check the figures:T

oops_a_daisy

Hi there Brainfreeze and well done on your achievements so far (hope you dont mind me nosying into your diary). Just wanted to thankyou for writing in your diary about the council tax re banding. I hadnt bothered looking into this but after reading your diary I have just had a quick check on line and it seems that I may be in the incorrect banding too :money: . I shall be looking into this tomorrow.

All the best - OOPS

hypno06

Hi Brainfreeze - see what a difference a few days can make with the help of these fabby people!!

I never cease to be amazed at the positive suggestions and support that these threads generate, and to see it making a difference in people's debt signatures makes me smile inside, which in turn makes me want to go and make even more of a difference to mine!

I too could not enter into DMP or IVA etc because of the risk to my career (not the one I am in at the moment, but my last one that I may decide to go back to in due course) so am doing it the snowball way, but with a bit of focus and a lot of help from the guys here I am making progress and seeing that all important debt free date coming forward :j

So yes, you will get slow days, or low days, but you will get back on here and we will help you along, and in return you will do the same for others. Each step is exactly that, a step, and some are bigger than others, but they are all heading along the same direction!

Stay strong, you will get there (and hopefully have a laugh or two along the way!).

dawnybabes

Its wonderful when the balance starts going down. I'm doing lots of mystery shopping at the mo and I log on to my bank account every day to see which companies have paid me and then I instantly transfer that off my Cahoot loan - I will have paid it all off by the end of the month ! Thanks to this site - I was happy paying it monthly @ 6.9% then they just whacked the rate up to 14.9% and I hadn't noticed if I hadn't read on here I wouldn't have known or have understood the snowballing principle.

brainfreeze

brainfreeze wrote: »

Minimum payments to all the CCs until the end of the month and then the balance of the current account will go towards reducing the Lloyds TSB card (highest rate) - should be able to pay at least £600 off that:T

See how useless am I I totally forgot that I MUST MUST clear the HFC loan in full before 1st June as it is 0% til then but from then on it accrues 29.9% interest:eek:

So that'll be £600 towards that one then!

Updated: just paid £344.99 off HFC to leave £1,000 to be paid before 1st June.

brainfreeze

Just coming to the end of week 1 in my journey to be debt free.

The strange thing is I can't believe the change in me - I now want to look at my debts instead of hiding the letters away in drawers. I've been phoning the CC companies up instead of avoiding the phone calls from them (phoning them to see if I can negotiate better rates - no luck but I'm trying:T ). And even more surprising - I talk about my debts:eek: especially with my DH. I used to be very silent on the subject of CC balances etc. Now I admit I'm in debt to anyone who will give me the time of day;) (well almost anyone!)

I couldn't wait to strike out the figures and show a reduction on the signature line.

I am avidly reading practically every thread on this forum for guidance and advice.

The dinner menus are planned, the shopping list is itemised and THAT IS IT!!!:rotfl: No unplanned purchases.

Am having a life laundry and hitting ebay big time. The house will never have looked so 'show home' - no more compulsive buying of useless things I have no house room for:rotfl:

I'm cycling to and from work....and what's more I even cycled to and from the shops today rather than get the car out. It wasn't a main weekly shop, just the fruit and veg from the market in town - small enough to let me put it on the back of the bike.

I'm dipping my toes into matched betting - think I understand it (read the introduction thread several times and know that it's not about winning money it's about releasing the free bet cash that gambing sites offer). Also making sure that I benefit from Quidco if they have links to gambling sites as well.

I'm clicking like mad on Pigsback. I've signed DH up as well and click for his account as well. Those vouchers will save up for Christmas or birthdays.

I'm sure I will fall of the wagon or get disillusioned at some points on my journey to becoming debt free....but at the moment it's the biggest buzz I've ever had;) - and if I do fall or get disillusioned I will make sure I come back and read this particular post:j

Thanks to everyone who's given me advice, but also to everyone who's contributed to this DFW forum....reading all the threads, both asking for and giving advice, has been inspirational and I am so glad to be part of THE TEAM:T

hypno06

Wow, what a fab week then! Just be careful that you don't go and get DFW burnout! Sometimes when people make such a powerful start, they then feel that things grind to a halt and the progress doesn't seem so much.

But of course things are getting better for you every day, so keep posting, keep reading and keep adding your support for others and every day you will be closer to your DFD one way or another!

brainfreeze

I thought about signing up for mystery shopping to help bring more income - but decided I will put that thought on hold for now.

I think the family are all really supportive at the moment and to keep adding extra at this time will potentially give us DFW burnout as pointed out by hypno06 above.