How many LBMs does it take to be DF ????

scotdebs

Well to be honest I have lost count...:eek: I think I first started a DFW diary 3 years ago and my total debt has stayed the same . £33.3k :eek::eek:

Don't get me wrong i have paid off LOADS of credit cards - well I should say I have paid off the same 3 ccs about 3 times and yet those pesky critters keeping reusing themselves

So here I am 3 years on and despite a decent pay rise last year and big drop in the mortgage (fixed rate period finished:T) I am no better off.......

So here it is new diary, new attitude and new determination to not pay a ridiculous percentage of my take home pay to credit and store cards -

all slaps to the back of the head and swift kicks to the bottom gratefully accepted to keep me on track

scotdebs

So where did it all go wrong ..... Initially it was just having a grand old time to ourselves, nice holidays not saved for, eating out every weekend, gadgets clothes etc etc then after first LBM it was about keeping head above water and while the extravagant spending was dropped we weren't budgeting properly or saving for things we knew we would have to pay out for (car tax, Xmas, etc etc) and these continued to get flung on the plastic - throw in a couple of periods of mat leave some good old head in the sand denial and hey presto over 30k in cc and store card debt !!!!!

The most frustrating thing is we both now earn good salaries but instead of being able to enjoy it we are now having to pay the piper .......

However I have a budget and I have plan :T- if I can just wean myself off the takeaways and stay out the supermarket it might just work :rotfl:

Claree__x

Hiya!

It's the "little" spends that I need to keep an eye on as well. Tenner here, twenty quid there, out for dinner etc...and suddenly I'm skint :rotfl:

I'm here to harass you into updating though

scotdebs

Thanks claree - harass away am in need of someone to boss me about - oh is too easy going

Resisted the lure of the supermarket today and used up some of the contents of the massive chest freezer which I have not seen the bottom of since about 2010 :rotfl:

Feeling most proud of my wee self :T

Claree__x

I'm the same - I'm not sure if DH has any idea how much money we have at any given time :rotfl:

Mara_uk7

Have you looked at the snowball calculator ? Someone smarter than me can post a link ... We found it really helpful ...and scary when we started out.
Good Luck in your journey !

scotdebs

Hi mara been playing around with the snowball calculator - for the first time in a long time we are in a situation that we can make decent overpayments if we can keep the random ( in particularly grocery and takeaways) spending under control but the debt free date is still a bit depressing calculator says with our planned overpayment DF date of dec 2017 but I would love to have everything cleared by the end of next year :T can only try

Claree my Dh is the same don't think he even knows who our mortgage is with :rotfl:

scotdebs

So coming up for a potentially expensive weekend things I must NOT do

- reach for the takeaway menu I have a chest freezer full of food
- buy a new dress for my nieces engagement party on sat night - I have loads to chose from and a new one is not going to make me look 2 stone lighter (apparently losing 2 stone will do that:D)
- cook enough to feed the entire street when I have some family round for dinner on Sunday repeats to self - it's only 3 extra people...... only 3 extra people

Little things every day will make the difference:o

beanielou

Little things do indeed make the difference

scotdebs

Ok so I have a dilemma I have calculated that with a bit of canny budgeting next month I could throw £500 at the dastardly ccs over and above the min payments
now do I pay the one with the highest apr like a good mse'er:A

OR

Pay off in total another credit card just for the small mental victory it would give me

There is only 3 % difference in the apr and the highest one is def my next target as its also the next lowest in terms of £ owed

Mara_uk7

Id go for the small mental victory myself ... Then phone up and cancel the explosive little empty card !