My 1st Diary - SOA Done, Snowballing Ready

megan01

Hi,

Just wanted to share a tip I had learnt from on here after reading a particular diary on here ...

I noticed you spent £50 on a night out and £20 on a takeaway etc... I completely understand you want a treat, but if you divert away from food with regard to rewarding yourself you will save so much money! And if your treats for yourself must to revolve around food, could you not make some nice pizzas in advance, treat yourself to nice cheeses and toppings and freeze them? It would work out cheaper, healthier, and in the moment, you don't have to make any effort!

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi ecover well done for biting the bullet and best of luck on your journey.... couple of thoughts from me:

ecoverbee wrote: »

GAP insurance is basically for our new car which means that if it were to get written off we would get a brand new one and not be out of pocket. We only pay 10 months and the car is covered for the 4 years we have it.

What happens at the end of the 4 years ....... is there a final payment to be made / is the car 100% yours etc?

Ladybird. wrote: »

Eek, that is a LOT of money to spend on the off chance that you write off your car? Have you considered getting rid of the new car and getting something a lot cheaper? I think it would be the first thing I would look to do in your shoes, you would have so much more money to throw at much less debt every month.

I have to say .... I agree!

ecoverbee wrote: »

Petrol/diesel........................... 80 This is hardly anything! Would probably be cheaper to get taxis (seriously!)
GAP Insurance 10months then free........ 41.67 Get rid ... so not worth the money!(another insurance con that seems to have appeared in the last few years!)
Car Tax ................................ 13.33
Car Insurance .......................... 50
Car maintenance is missing .....breakdown cover etc etc


Assets
Car(s).................................. 0

What's it worth currently?

Unsecured Debts
Mini...........................16500.....276...... .6.8
Total unsecured debts..........43298.46..1117.15...-

The car is nearly 40% of your total debt ..... seriously consider moving to something cheaper

With the amount you're spending on fuel you must hardly use it anyway :eek:

beanielou

The reason GAP insurance is being so pushed is that the car salesman gets commission on it.

Igamogam

Life insurance BECAUSE you have mortgage - you dont need life insurance just because you have a mortgage - its recommended but not compulsory. We have a mortgage but no life insurance.
That GAP insurance is not needed - what does your car insurance cover if not money to replace car should it be written off....

Why wait to get your cards moved to 0%

ecoverbee

Thanks for suggestions, the car is brand new and would probably lose out massive if we tried to sell the car, the car finance is over 4 years but because we are using the snowball we will have enough money to pay the last amount and the snowball method will take half a year of the car.

I'm going to look into the life insurance policy I have this week see if I can get it stopped.

The car insurance will only pay out car value so because the car is new we would again lose out, so its really piece of mind knowing we have this and its only got about 6-7 months letft, then we will have another £40 to throw towards the debts.

As for 0% we did get rejected for 2 new cards so we are going to wait till more of the debts are gone before we apply again.

--
Last night we went a little wild, had a night out which I haven't had for 3-4 months. Was great but also know it wont happen again for another couple of months.

Managed to put £0.88 towards our spare change pot and also put a £2 coin into our sealed pot.

Thanks
Andy

rising_from_the_ashes

ecoverbee wrote: »

Last night we went a little wild, had a night out which I haven't had for 3-4 months. Was great but also know it wont happen again for another couple of months.

Managed to put £0.88 towards our spare change pot and also put a £2 coin into our sealed pot.

Have you thought about making your spare change pot a night out pot and you could use this to fund the odd night out?

amr547

nicp60 wrote: »

Hi ecover,
I've made a few observations on the SOA - hope they help you! We've all been in the dark times on this site, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you'll get there!
N xxx

I'd be mega interested to see how you get your grocery budget so low? We seem to spend an absolute fortune.

amr547

Good luck on your debt free journey! We're quite naughty for takeaways and things like that, whoops.

katydo12

good luck with your journey!

I went on the 'snowballing' website and it worked out that my debt would be paid off within 40 months. We dont have as much as you but we dont have the spare cash to pay as much as you do at the moment.

I'm on this site looking for ways to save everywhwre but my main focus is on groceries etc. We also like to have the odd night out and love a takeaway. I feel like I want to get rid of the debt but 3 years is a long time to be unable to go out and socialise with friends. Althought its going to be better in the long run its up to you to decide whats best and dont feel guilty for enjoying yourself!!

As long as you are comfortable and its working then keep doing what you're doing, you've done well to get this far.

xx

ecoverbee

katydo12 wrote: »

good luck with your journey!

I went on the 'snowballing' website and it worked out that my debt would be paid off within 40 months. We dont have as much as you but we dont have the spare cash to pay as much as you do at the moment.

I'm on this site looking for ways to save everywhwre but my main focus is on groceries etc. We also like to have the odd night out and love a takeaway. I feel like I want to get rid of the debt but 3 years is a long time to be unable to go out and socialise with friends. Althought its going to be better in the long run its up to you to decide whats best and dont feel guilty for enjoying yourself!!

As long as you are comfortable and its working then keep doing what you're doing, you've done well to get this far.

xx

Thanks for the comments,

40 months inst that long really, as long as you know that when the 40 months are up you will be free of the debt. If we don't make a change today then we will probably add more debts and keep living like we used to.

We struggle all the time and I have only just started my debt free journey by deciding to keep a diary, this will help me and get me back on track. I also love some of the challenges.

You will need to find a way to up your income, I've joined swag bucks and starting to see my points rock up but it may only bring in £10 per month but that's still better than nothing.

Keep going with your journey and you will get there, this forum is a massive help.

--

Today we managed to get a few more Christmas presents so now we only need 2 more presents. I've listed 11 items on eBay and we have tons more to list, (didn't know we had so much) so hopefully this will pay for the last 2 presents.

thanks
andy