Debt Free by THIRTY!!

debtfreeby30:S

Ooh and checking my credit report wasn't too bad, don't know why I thought it would be bad as I always makes every payment, it's just sometimes the minimum which is more my problem than credit companies! I have far too much credit available though, my Natwest OD is still showing as available but I'm guessing its just taking a little while to update. I need to clear the Barclaycard and get rid of it as quite frankly I don't need it for anything in particular! It's just a home for a chunk of debt at a relatively low interest rate (compared to other rates anyway!). I have Next and Very accounts too but I've only used them a couple of times and pay them off as soon as I decide to keep the stuff (not used since before Xmas) bit annoying that they amount to £1650 available credit on my file. I should definitely look at reducing those first of all! I'm not planning to apply for anything new anytime soon so come 2014 when I get rid of the Barclaycard I should be heading from a "good" rating to an "excellent" one... Fingers crossed anyway!!! Happy Sunday everybody :beer:

debtfreeby30:S

Come into work early and the office is a tip, :eek: aaaargh!! Plus we have some builders in who are making an absolute racket and to top it off my internet connection keeps dropping out. Definite signs I should go and work from home today!! On a more positive note I have just called Next and reduced the limit on the account to £200. I only ever buy bits and pieces so this should be plenty. Think I will do the same with Very or just get rid of it completely... I have been eyeing up some lovely shoes on there though Convinced myself yesterday that I needed some new shoes as I couldn't find any in my stash I wanted to wear last night. Think that was only because I was faced with a 15 minute walk to the restaurant, much of which is down hill! BF did mention about buying me a pair as I was mid moan, I'll have to see where I can get with that... or instead I'll insist he uses his £450 winnings to pay off his credit card like a good money saving GF
Direct debit for my loan went out today so got to update my signature yey!! Wondering if it's worth finding out the settlement figure on the loan as there's only a year left and forgoing paying the barclaycard for a couple of months to get the money together, not sure how much that would save me although it would be a nice chunk of £200 per month left in my bank account to throw towards everything else. Hmmmm... I'd just convinced myself that I was going to have to pay it and that was that, it just took care of itself. £200 would be useful. Time to get the calculator out I think!! I hope this banging stops soon

debtfreeby30:S

Took my own advice after yesterday and stayed at home to work today. Done far more this morning than I would have sat listening to the building noises :j
Got my expenses through so need to fire that over to the Barclaycard, that'll be an extra £85, plus the cashback I claimed the other day should be arriving in the my account soon which is another £15. This plus the £150 I sent on payday is before my £150 direct debit so not too bad at all this month. Good job really as my overspend on groceries mean I won't have much for overpayments next month :mad: Must must plan better throughout March, may do an online shop so then I can see everything added up. Before that I need to work through all the items in my freezer though and make it last as long as possible to make up the deficit.
Need to call Santander and find out the settlement figure on my loan and then I can figure out which is the most cost effective way of dealing with the debt. I'm thinking the money difference in paying it off or sticking with the Barclaycard payments won't be large enough to make it worth doing. Need to change the address on Santander anyway, I've been ridiculously tardy with that! There were a couple of my accounts left listed at my old address which I noticed on my credit file so need to sort that. Little list making time I think...

[STRIKE]Change Santander address and check settlement fee - still to do[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Make Opticians appointment[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Sort tickets sold on eBay (from a couple of months ago so no money to show for it now!) [/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Prepare Sausage Casserole for slow cooker[/STRIKE]
[STRIKE]Pay £85 off Barclaycard - still to do[/STRIKE] - paid off £120!!!

debtfreeby30:S

Hmmmm... just looking through my current account statement and the £25 minimum payment for the 0% BT cc hasn't gone out on its usual date, strange as I've not touched a thing to change it on either end... perhaps it's just taking longer than normal to update as it was over the weekend?? Must keep an eye on that!

PinkPepperPot

Just thought I would pop over to your thread and say hello and keep up the good work! It is lovely having a job where you can work from home isn't it

debtfreeby30:S

Hey PinkPepperPot :hello:

Thanks for dropping by, I've been reading your diary, think I should adopt the positive thinking thing you do!! Definitely nice to stay at home to work sometimes, feel so much more productive. Don't do it often though as I get pangs of guilt for sitting in my lounge trou rather than being in the office!


I keep getting loads of emails with discount codes for loads of items I would love to own (mainly clothes - DO NOT NEED ANYMORE!) Just keep deleting them off my phone as soon as they appear on the screen. Hard but I'm managing to not be tempted at the moment. Need to pay some more off the Barclaycard instead! Got £25 from my sister today, she owed me for my mums present, had totally forgotten. Away it goes, need to add it to my signature!! Yey to overpayments!!

Was chatting at work today and one of the girls (she's only 20) revealed she had a crazy year when she was 18, started uni and blew her loan plus overdrafts and payday loans to the tune of 4k in 4 months. I was amazed. You couldn't tell by looking at her! She's only got £500 to go to pay stuff back and was asking me about credit cards, as soon as I heard her back story I said NOOO!! Save your money, I wish someone had told me at 20 to save my pennies! Just goes to show you never can tell who has debts hiding in their closet. Tried to tell her how proud she should be of herself too for dealing with things!!

Here's to being debt free one day!! :beer:

debtfreeby30:S

Hmmmm... not much has happened recently, still need to make overpayments on the Barclaycard, thought I'd leave my current account in credit for a couple of extra days. Not sure why! I have a fee free £300 overdraft for the moment but Hfax are removing the free part of it in May/June, it'll mean an extra £5 on top of the current £10 fee, not sure what to do about that just yet, I'm so used to using it it's become part of my normal spends. I may just take the hit while I continue to throw money at the Barclaycard. Otherwise I will be majorly behind on my pay off 3K by the end of the year target! Will have done 4 / 7 NSDs this week :T which I don't think is too bad, coasting through to the end of Feb now for sure - got my Opticians appointment tomorrow which I'm hoping I don't have to pay for as it should be part of my aftercare following laser surgery a couple of years ago, got two sets of friends visiting for lunch and tea so will need to pick up some salad and some pasta for the two meals I am preparing. Not going to beat myself up about that though. Will be interesting to see how my first proper month of the spending diary has gone, I've definitely written everything down just think there is a bit too much actually being spent! Only 6 days to go until the month end now, will review and set March targets accordingly!! Must spend less on food!!!

debtfreeby30:S

Just chucked an extra £120 over the the BC, really wanted to update my signature!! haha!! £150 DD goes out at the start of next month too so that will be another increase on the payments. Helps when you get to make numerous changed throughout the month I think! Don't like things being static for too long!!

debtfreeby30:S

So spent £1.30 on parking and £7.10 on the shopping extras for the day. Not too bad as a spend day. Still not going to have anything for extra payments next month though from my wages Checked my DFD with a little app on my phone - currently at February 2015 which is before I'm 30 and is with the current set levels of repayments on everything so doesn't count any overpayments I make. Need to see how true this is and how much time I can shave off it!! Got a spag bol in the slow cooker for tonight and made flapjacks this afternoon with my friends gorge little kiddlywinks. I like playing host and haven't spent too much on the food!! Should be an NSD for the next couple of days. Need to smash my 10 February NSD target!! Boom!

debtfreeby30:S

Yesterday was an NSD and today will be too, woop!! Had a lovely weekend with two lots of guests on Saturday and then went for lunch at a local pub with BF on Sunday afternoon. Used my taste card so got our main meals for half price - I had a yummy chicken kiev and BF had a HUGE shoulder of lamb, plus two drinks and we were fed for £19. Can't complain at that as the bill should have been around the £35 mark. As usual BF paid for the meal out. He's started keeping a spending diary too although he went through his bank statement for February and his main obvious downfall is the wayward cash withdrawals he makes. He has nothing really to show for it, think he'll be trying much harder to budget next month! We've been looking at our expenses and me buying the majority of the supermarket shops is leaving me out of pocket comparatively even though it's generally (ish) within mu budget (apart from when I blow it like the other day) This is the main area I can make savings and overpay my Barclaycard though so need to look at it, think BF will start making more contributions too as we don't spend equal amounts on going out. I see it as more my fault though as I cook everything so I should be much more careful with the budget - big aim for March is to come in at £150 MAX for two people's shopping. Shouldn't be too difficult as I know many people feed more for less. May as well give myself an achievable target and try to reduce it the month afterwards. Will tot up the spending diary on Thursday and report - where did February go?!!?