New Life, My DFW Diary!

Lucy1982_2

Well last night was interesting. I had ordered Sky broadband which was due to go live on 20th. Last night it still wasn't working, I spoke to Sky technical help (A lot of good that was!). I have now cancelled Sky Broadband, after spending at least 1 hour on the phone to them. :mad:

However, I have managed to get the £40 I paid for the broadband box and a further £15 as a 'good will' payment! So I am now internet-less. I think I'll try using the library for a month and see how I cope with that, I have access at work so I'm hoping I wont need to reconnect myself.

My sale's from Amazon are up to £11.70 :T . Which isn't huge but every little helps!

I am aiming for another NSD today and hopefully will make the third in a row! Well I need to post out an Amazon sale, but that's included in the sale price.

Lucy1982_2

Hi Guy's.

I thought I would pop my updated SoA on here to see if anyone can come up with and more ideas:

Incoming:

£1,044.58 per month.

Outgoings:

Rent: £207.50 (this includes food, council tax, services etc. Parents are wonderful people!)
Loan 1: £242.82 (APR 7.8% and runs until Sept 2010)
Loan 2: £101.85 (APR 16.9% and runs until Feb 2008)
Store card 1: 4% (APR 17.9% balance of about £28.00)
Store card 2: 4% (APR 24.9% balance of about £450.00 :eek: )
Bed Repayment: £22.67 (APR 0%)
Contact lens: £10.00
RAC Cover £9.90 (I've managed to get this down from £12.92)
Car Insurance: £63.40 (I can renew in May/June so shopping around)
Petrol: £80.00
Mobile: £25.00
Savings: £50 (I'm going to bump this up once my overdraft has gone and use it for my car and birthdays/christmas etc)
Film rental: £7.99 (I know I can get rid of this but it saves money on drinking!)
Living allowance: £60

I'm trying to boost my debt repayments and hope to spend about £450 a month total, including the above.

I am also in my overdraft although if I stick to my budget this month it should be about -£392 by payday :eek: The limit is £500.

I think that covers everything. Once I've sorted out my overdraft and given myself some breathing space I'm hoping to throw more at the debt!

Any idea's would be happily recieved.

Thanks :A

Lucy1982_2

Just managed to sell some more stuff on Amazon so I am up to a running total of £16.68. Not massive, but in 3 days not bad.

Just need to post a couple of things out and get one ready to go tomorrow.

Feeling really good about everything today.

ifstar

Personally I would stop putting the £50 into your savings for a little while and try to get rid of the 2 store cards. You could get rid of the £28 one in one go and it will probably give you a bit of a boost. Even if you only did this for a month then it would get that card paid off completely.

Lucy1982_2

Hi Ifstar.

That was my thinking for next the payment on that card. I'm still wating for a balance on the second and I'm going to try and pay off £100 a go, to get it gone! If I stick to my budget, this shouldn't be a problem. I've cut the payments into my savings by half, but I worry about my car (which is daft I know) But thanks for the advice, I'll see how I get on this month and maybe only pay into my savings every other month or something until the store cards have gone.

This time I'll cancel them and cut them up.... Can't do it again that way!

atypicalblonde

Hi Lucy

Still loving your thread - it is so inspirational! Totally agree with the above - those store cards need to be focussed on 1st as the APR on them is so high. I know what you mean about saving - I like to have a bit put aside , but I have put it on hold for now to attack the debts with.

HTH hun x

atypicalblonde

Also, do you drive to work everyday? If not, can you limit your car usage and walk to save on petrol?

Do you have a special contact lens prescription? My monthlies are Boots own brand, £6 a month, I know its only a small saving but it's a saving nonetheless. x

Lucy1982_2

I do drive to work every day (it's 8 miles, I'm not walking it!!). It costs more (and takes longer) to get the bus. I don't have a special prescription and I'll have a look at Boots. I'm currently with spec savers and get all of my lens checks thrown in for free. Do Boot's do this?

ifstar

Your new SOA looks good, don't think there is much more you can do in the way of cutting back although as you have mentioned, you will be able to cut back on car insurance (and probably get something back off quidco) when this is up for renewal. I would agree with you about your film subscriptions, it's not a huge amount and yes it would help pay off the debts slightly quicker but if you do cut right back to the bare minimum then you might end up losing some motivation so I do think it's not that bad a thing for you to keep.

The only other thing I can think of would be "to drive like a grandad" as mentioned on post 20 here - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=4456573
Basically if you cut down your speed and how fast you accelerate you should use a bit less fuel so should spend a bit less.

Lucy1982_2

Thanks for that.

The insurance quotes I've look at have knocked up to £30 off my monthly repayments. I'd love to pay for it all in one go, but realistically I'm not going to be able to do that this year.

Your right I do need to keep motivated. But it means that OH and I stay in on a Friday night rather than go out. Saves beer money! Another thing is if I ever get into the situation where the bare minimum is going to help, I still have something that will give. Although as I have found my way to this site that isn't going to happen!