In hell: the B.W. Fox debt journal

B.W._Fox

To kinda/sorta bring you all up to date:

I got hit by a bus in late 2007. Thankfully I was only left with whiplash which took the best part of 18 months to shift. The settlement, however, meant that I was able to clear my Barclays overdraft and get rid of Additions.

In the meantime I became a British citizen in early 2008 and am now on the electoral roll. And I have one more mouth to feed as of December 2007.

I recently applied for the Post Office Platinum card and balance-transferred £3000 to my virtually maxed-out Egg card - thereby all remaining UK debt is now at 0%.

This month I'll be applying for the Abbey 0% BT card to try to bring my US student loan debt over here. I'm tired of sending a cheque every month back home. I figure it'll take two BTs to clear it all and the exchange rate is finally creeping up again, thank heavens.

Oh, and I have held a job for 11 months. I voluntarily took 0.9 so that I could pick up my oldest daughter from school twice a week and that move is starting to look very fortuitous in the current climate - not that my company (in private healthcare) is in any difficulty!

My piggybanks are looking good and I have only to afford a trip to the States in July - which I will include in the student loan BT.

My wife has dropped her 'you must pay 50%' dictum for childminder costs ... so I'm only paying £130 a month for the weeks my oldest child is off from school.

More later, I'm sure!

BW

nickfletcher

Sorry to hear about your being hit by a bus, but congratulations on all the successes in your life. You sound like you are in control of you life.

B.W._Fox

I'm joining the click/cashback sites to see if I can't pull in the cost of an artsy-fartsy mirror that my wife fancies in a craft shop. £200 before Xmas? Definitely worth it.

B.W._Fox

A book that has really helped with organisation at work: Getting Things Done by David Allen. Even though it reads as if it's aimed towards higher management, I find it accessible for a secretary.

I have found that through simplifying my desk area it stays tidier and I can focus more on the things at hand.

B

B.W._Fox

Applied for the Abbey credit card yesterday. I'll find out soon whether I've been successful.

I'm following the stoozers' approach which is to apply only once a month, and never more than ten applications in a year. Well - I only need two or three more cards to move the last £4000 over here. Then I start tarting next February, as the intro 0% on the Post Office card expires in March.

The only problem with waiting on debt is that you forget that you have a life outside of it. Mentally you're waiting for the next paycheque, the next payment ... when you could be investing your energy into your kids and home. I'm more than guilty in that respect.