2014 - The Final Furlong

LAM2011

I found this site new years day Jan 2011. My finances were in a mess and I couldnt believe how much debt I had on credit cards that was just not getting paid off. MSE forums really did have a huge impact on my life not only because there were so many other people in my postion but it showed how with determination and hard work debt can be conquered! I spent 2011 paying off my various cards – I had spreadsheets notebooks the lot! In 2012 I moved my loan to a lower interest provider and have been cracking on with that.

Beginning of this year I felt that finally I could see a light at the end of the tunnel and had I gone at the debt like I had the previous 2 years I may have cracked it however life sent a few curveballs and it was not meant to be. I have however managed a small savings pot and pay cash for everything. If i use the card – it is paid off by the end of the month.

In a short space of time we lost a beloved family member and a close friend which after the initial shock and grief has made me realise life is too short – you need to make the most of it! I then spent the summer enjoying my horses dogs and trying to help my OH crack on with our building project. Along with losing one of my horses and a job change - 2013 was not the debt busting year I had intended but I am ready now to knock it on the head in 2014. You can find you start wishing your life away from pay day to pay day just to watch the numbers go down.

I paid off just over £7k this year without too much extra effort so I am hoping to clear the final £7k by December 2014 if not sooner.

I cant get on the internet at work and our broadband connection is so slow at home I could probably mail a letter faster however I am going to try and keep at my diary as it definately helps you to focus!

Eyebright

Aha, I have found your diary (I knew you must have one around here somewehre)!

You have done fabulously LAM! I'm sorry to hear 2013 has been such a difficult and sad year for you. Here's to 2014 being a kick-a$$ year :beer: You sound so motivated, perhaps I can hang on to your coat tails and get dragged along too? :rotfl:

Piquant_2

Now here's a diary I'm subscribing to! Welcome to diaryland LAM :wave: You've loitered on mine, now I'm loitering on yours.....

Sorry to hear what a rough year you've had, no words of mine can make it better for you.

Piq x

LAM2011

Eyebright wrote: »

Aha, I have found your diary (I knew you must have one around here somewehre)!

You have done fabulously LAM! I'm sorry to hear 2013 has been such a difficult and sad year for you. Here's to 2014 being a kick-a$$ year :beer: You sound so motivated, perhaps I can hang on to your coat tails and get dragged along too? :rotfl:

hiya and thanks. I will probably get going properly in the new year - I have a few ideas.

Piquant wrote: »

Now here's a diary I'm subscribing to! Welcome to diaryland LAM :wave: You've loitered on mine, now I'm loitering on yours.....

Sorry to hear what a rough year you've had, no words of mine can make it better for you.

Piq x

hey Piq - no need for words, you have been through such a lot yourself - hats off to you my friend - you have come out the other side hopefully now with a smile and soon Captain and Noah will complete the journey.

LAM2011

Right so today got my new 2014 spreadsheet up and running. Made some notes and jotted down some ideas and lists of what I want to ebay and which avenues of extra money I want to use my energy on.

My Survey has been good in the past and Valued Opinions but I get sooo bored with surveys. I make about £10 a month off MS at the moment.

My favourite is still Swagbucks - I currently make £5 a week with not much effort. OH has arranged for our broadband to be upgraded on 27 Dec to fibre optic (he pays) so cant wait because then I can whizz through stuff that swags has to offer.

I have used my points from adpoints (nectar) to buy some Christmas Presents this year (made £25 in points on my Sainsburys card).

Ebay can make money but I find it so tiresome photographing, listing and then you have to take into account the fees and postage costs. I see now they also take some of the postage as a commission. I just need to focus - will wait till Feb when the post delivery has settled again and people are ready to spend again

Was also asked today if I can manage any overtime in Jan (will be paid) as we are expecting a larger workload. I said yes of course! :rotfl:

Eyebright

Can you give me some tips re: your spreadsheet? Any help would be greatly appreciated in creating one for myself!

I keep trying at surveys, but I find working full time knackers me too much. I have no enthusiasm for surveys in the evenings :rotfl:
I am hoping to sell a few things on ebay though once I've had a good sort out after Christmas.

LAM2011

my spreadsheet is very basic - I have a tab for each month and I list my outgoings from my salary and then I have a section of what I hope to achieve as 'extra'. On the same page I used to list all my credit cards with the opening balance for the month - the basic amount paid off and then the interest amount - I had a line for any extra payments and then a balance at the bottom that I carried forward to the next tab (month)

If you can do formulas in excel - it works it all out every time you make a change. With the credit cards I used to check my bank account weekly and if I had anything left from my budget even if it was £1.25 I would pay it into the credit card.

Fortunately now I only have my loan so my spreadsheet is quite tidy

Eyebright

Wow sounds very high tech!

At the moment I'm thinking of all my outgoings/categories, and giving each one a budget. The fixed outgoings (bills), will be easy enough, but I have so many categories at the moment I'm not sure my wage packet contains enough to go around them all :eek:
I don't know whether it would easier on my sanity to lump things like clothes/fun/entertainment etc into one "mega" budget and cleaning products and toiletries into a grocery instead of food budget. Then if I underspend on any of my budgets the extra can go towards paying off a debt or saving for something urgently needed. Hmm...

roxy7699

Lurking wishing you great 2014.

LAM2011

Eyebright wrote: »

Wow sounds very high tech!

At the moment I'm thinking of all my outgoings/categories, and giving each one a budget. The fixed outgoings (bills), will be easy enough, but I have so many categories at the moment I'm not sure my wage packet contains enough to go around them all :eek:
I don't know whether it would easier on my sanity to lump things like clothes/fun/entertainment etc into one "mega" budget and cleaning products and toiletries into a grocery instead of food budget. Then if I underspend on any of my budgets the extra can go towards paying off a debt or saving for something urgently needed. Hmm...

Lol - not very high tech - but you will find what works for you. No good it being hard work and frustrating all the time.

roxy7699 wrote: »

Lurking wishing you great 2014.

Thank you!

LAM2011

Nearly couldn't find my own diary lol.

Day off so working on my super fast (NOT) laptop that also has sticky caps locks keys so apologies if it looks like a 5yr old has typed it!

I love £5 - they quickly add up to nice little lump sums. I have a everyday saver account linked to my current account and put bits and pieces in there until I can transfer over to my loan account.

So this week I have another £5 from swags, £5 banked in 20p's and £5.37 claimed off top cash back. So I have made an overpayment of £15 to the loan.

I used to pot all my 20p's but now I keep them in a separate little purse and when they reach £5 I bank them. I have bought my £1 tin for next years sealed pot challenge and thrown all shrapnel in there.

right off to shops to get a few bits and then need to do some serious housework to get house ready for Christmas next week.

Oh and i nearly forgot - really good news ..... FOS have advised that the bank I was trying to claim PPI off has to pay me within the next 8 weeks. The case has been 2 yrs on the go and I dont know how much I will receive so anything will be a bonus. In 2012 I got PPI paid back from my previous loan bank which went through very quickly and with no problems. This bank changed hands - claimed they couldnt find paperwork and then rejected my claim. Luckily I had emails to them from the past where I queried the PPI amounts and said I didnt want it! so FOS have said PAY UP :j