The October Awakening!

rumblytum

Signature updated

I am 36860.00 in debt :eek:, and just making minimum payments in descending interest order will give me a DFD of May 2018.

My debt repayments each month are 1074.24, which entirely consists of minimum payments, but as the minimum payments reduce I will increase the snowball to the highest debt, which will happen for the first time in December.

I can't pay more than the minimum at the moment, but will get some ebay listings underway.

Have donated £3 from food budget to Trussell Trust.

rumbly x

mrso2b

Interestingdiscussion here re food banks, donating, etc. We had a drop box in our localTesco but it seems to have disappeared.

I like theanalogy that £1.40 wasted could’ve fed two people a dinner… food for thought….

I wanted toadd something as this thread has really made me think. Me and hub are in debtafter buying our house and getting married. It’s been hanging over our head forthe past few years. So this thread made me think that if we knuckled down forthe rest of the year and only lived on my wages (which is totally doable) thanthe majority (if not all) of the debt could be cleared by the new year, and endof Spring by the latest. It seems easier to say ‘let’s be good for the rest ofthis year’ rather than facing a whole new year of trying to pay the debt off!So thank you NSK!

NinjaSavingKat

Now here are some interesting thoughts indeed. Clippy_Girl I have down-graded the Moggy's food. Her £26 pack of Orijen food is amazing but so expensive. This is for 2.5kg and because I am a loving mum I want her to have the best.. but she is getting fat cause she eats so much of it. When I am at work I need to put it out for her in case she starves - yes there is the issue of a timed feeder but I sold it 6 months ago, don't want to buy another ugly thing for my room and think down-grading her food is more sensible.

This month from Sainsburies the best cost £5 something. This is poor quality food so I will be aiming for Natures best which is a little more acceptable @ £14 for 2KG.... so money saved there.

Thrifty you are right about instant money splurges... definitly food for thought..

RumblyTum I know you can do this repayment thing. It might seem like a real slog but am wondering if this is just yours, are you supported by an OH, are you on a DMP etc and am wondering how hardcore you could go...?

Mrso2b.. am glad you have rethunk things so to speak. If you refocus now you can clear everything and set about saving instead of worrying about paying off the wedding that already happened and the expences of setting up home... so glad your mindset has changed - now spill the beans - how much is the debt and when you say only live on wages - what are you actually living on...CC perhaps..??

rumblytum

NSK - it's not just me, also OH and DD. He is on board with debt repayments to a certain extent, but finds it difficult when our standards of living are impacted. By standards of living, I suppose I mean he will suddenly start looking at prices for travelling to visit his son in a different country, or want to fix the shower, or will suddenly look at the prices of Sky boxes etc. Most of the time, he lets me plod on with trying to sort it all out, without impacting too badly on it.

Not on a DMP. Am teetering - budget just works with minimum payments, so haven't frozen anything and have been keeping up with everything. Because of over-commitment, can't apply for a 0% balance transfer or anything, so will be stuck where I am until I can bring it down, but am feeling determined

How hardcore can I go? Truthfully, I would say only medium hardcore, rather than full on. One, because of DH as outlined above. Two, perhaps more importantly, I am recovering from a several year bout of severe depression. Off medication a few months ago, and seem to have been coping well with life, and with my father dying in May. However, I have a crash and burn personality, so I fear if I went too hardcore I would embrace it fully, but then abandon it after a crash, and turn into an ostrich. Does that make sense?

rumbly x

mrso2b

NSK - we have around £10K debt all on 0% interest. £6K of it comes off 0% by the end of the year. My husband gets paid quarterly (around £6K a quarter) so we could pay off the debt that's coming off 0% on his next payday which is next month. That leaves the £4K (interest free till next October) which could be paid off on the next time he gets paid.

To do this though, we would have to solely live on my wages, which is doable, it just means we can't do anything else (home improvements, etc). But I'm happy to do this for a few months and get rid of this debt that's hanging over us.

We're both due a bonus at work next month (not sure how much). I said wouldnt it be nice that next year's bonus could go on a holiday rather than clearing debt?

roxy7699

Spending day today as needed to get petrol. Dd1 is off at youth club later too.
Leftovers for lunch.

mrso2b

SFDs: 2/20 – spent today
Food budget: £57.10/£180
Donation: £0/£3
Take lunch to work: 2/20 – had lunch out today
Beauty spends £0/£10
Make £100: £8/£100 – sold something on ebay

his_missus

Yet another quick check in:

SFDs: 1/20
Food budget: £52/£240
Donation: £0/£3
Planned outings: 0/4 - carvery meal with bessie, night out at other bessie's, prepaid meal with Hubby (voucher deal) trip to wildlife park (to use up clubacard deal vouchers)
Take lunch to work: 4/20
Beauty spends £2.75/£10
Make £100: £0/£100

Cancelled gym membership yesterday, saving us £40 a month from November. Desperately needed to buy deo and other toiletries but earned some boots ad points.

clippy_girl

That's a great position to be in mrs o! Will be worth knuckling down to know that then the bonus is all yours!

I currently free kitty Felix wet (tins as is cheaper) and go cat dry as that's what he had in the centre and they said to feed him it for a few weeks. Don't really know about changing it as not sure what type/brand etc.. Is best. Will be joining a scheme at my vet next month where I can see nurse for free diet advice so will get some recommendations!

Fmess

Having another spend day today I am awful at SFDs!

Friend offered to cook dinner whilst we catch up later, thought this was a great idea and free, until I realised this morning that I don't have enough petrol to get there and back and she asked me to bring pudding today

I need to be more organised!

I did get free lunch at work and won't eat out