My 1st Diary - SOA Done, Snowballing Ready

ecoverbee

Just got our wages (overtime money) this week for both of us it totals £170. It's my wife's birthday less than 2 weeks and we were planning on staying in family caravan which was £50 for 2 nights. However we decided that as Christmas is soon we will use the £50 already saved and go out with the family for a meal as it's her 30th birthday.

We don't plan on spending all £50 but if we did that would be OK since if we would have gone to Skegness we would have then had to pay for food, petrol, and other stuff which would probably make us spend around £150-£200 or even more.

We are going shopping this weekend for Christmas tree lights and decorations so will use some of the overtime money.

I've also got another £120 in overtime for next week which is going into the Christmas tree pot for both of us but this may still be used for debt, as we haven't decided how much we are going to spend on each other yet.

I've also just earned my 1st £5 in Swag bucks from doing a few surveys, last one I did was on a film trailer. Really enjoyed doing it.

I'm going to wait till end of December before I update my total debts so I can see for 2013 and put some goals down.

Thanks
andy

ecoverbee

Had a bad day yesterday as we had a puncture in our car so we had to send the car in for repair and was told it may cost around £150 for a certain tyre.

I had £100 sat in our Christmas fund and the spare tyre cost us £108 so was a little relieved that it was way under £150. We have a Mini Convertible but still reckon we have paid way over the odds as it was just a normal tyre and not one of those (runflat tyres).

The only good thing about this is that we have paid cash where as in the past we would have put it straight onto the cards.

specialkaye

Gosh that is a heck of a lot - im kinda glad mine only cost £3 as i have a bicycle!!!

Its defo a good thing that you could pay cash and i guess its always good to have an emergency fund for these occasions.

Your doing really well and don't let lifes little speed bumps veer you off course

ecoverbee

Today me and my OH went and had a look at the new gym PUREGYM and it was amazing, lots of space, tons of machines and a few bigger machines like TRX and Stairmaster which only the really expensive gyms usually have. I have only ever found the stairmaster in David lloyds but that was over 4 years ago I was a member. I loved the stairmaster so was chuffed that PUREGYM has one.

We have to pay £10.99 per month for the 1st year and £15 joining fee, then it goes to £17.99 but still a bargain.

Also PUREGYM has no contract so can cancel anytime. Looking forward to going now on 6th December when it opens.

rising_from_the_ashes

ecoverbee wrote: »

We have to pay £10.99 per month for the 1st year and £15 joining fee, then it goes to £17.99 but still a bargain.

Each! :eek:

That's £22 / month that could be going to debts ........ need to keep the LBM thoughts to hand so you're not tempted to take on more stuff :eek: - you really need to pay off what you've accumulated before taking out any new contracts for anything!

Sorry .... but .....

ecoverbee

My OH used to have her eyes and nails done every month which has now stopped so £50 saved. Joined the gym so £22 leaves us adding £28 towards the debts from the leftover. We still need a life and gym is cheapest and will keep us happy so £28 is better than nothing towards the debts. Since starting we have already managed to up the snowball funds by £50 and another month later even more towards the snowball.

Thanks
Andy

beanielou

Agree with rising.
I do worry that you havent actually had your LB moment yet.
Have you thought what would happen if either of you lost your job?

ecoverbee

Ok so heard it a few times now that people think we haven't actually hit rock bottom or had our light bulb moment. Been thinking about this and realized that perhaps your right we are not at rock bottom but we have had our light bulb moment. Just because we are not throwing everything at our debts doesn't mean that we are not trying hard to get rid of these debts.

We do realize that if one of us were to lose our jobs then yes we may struggle which is probably the same as everyone else in the world who are struggling financially.

We have never defaulted on a payment and continue to rid the debt while keeping ourselves happy.

Sorry for the rant.

Other news we have added another £7.55 to the PAD challenge.

Thanks
andy

specialkaye

Hey ecoverbee, I must say I agree with you.

£10.99 is amazing value for a gym (as long as you use it), its great for releasing stress and allowing you to focus and very often it stimulates cravings for healthier eating habits.

Maybe you didn't have a rock bottom lbm but tbh surely thats a good thing as now you don't have to be so extreme and still have a life you enjoy. Plus like you said there isn't a contract so you can cancel it at any time.

Its a lot easier to make small adjustments and steer yourself back onto the road before you've completely ran off into a ditch!!! I think its great that you've realised how to do that before have to default or things get out of control.

Keep going

ecoverbee

Just earned my 1st £5 from swagbucks, was really easy actually, I know its not much but its a start.

Also just paid £100 to my credit card and the monthly snowball payments will be £507 each month, shouldn't take too long for it to come right down from just under £7000, which will lower my min payments and means that it may offer me 0% offers to help remove some of the other debts.

It will now be 1 month earlier than planned (March 2015) if I don't spend more on the debts.

Thanks
andy