Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

debtfreewannabe321

Morning Steph

I would write a letter to b@rclays and also ask if they wish to contact you to do so via mail or email (this might stop those calls they like to do 20 times a day :wall:)

As for the grocery being delivered I live around 3 miles from the main SM's so i've no excuse really but if I were rural like you I think I too would consider the petrol expense, the time spent going there and the 'extras' that always tip me over budget when i'm actually in the SM and I would probably go with delivery too! You can get lots of their own brands so it ends up being nearly as cheap as a1di or 1idl anyway! Can you not buy fruit/veg locally at a farm shop? This is the only thing that always put me off getting delivery as when I would get them it seemed like they searched the entire shop for over ripe/nearly off veg & fruit! I like to choose my own That could just be a problem in my area though :eek: so feel free to ignore that

So glad the wages have gone in though, must be a big sigh of relief that it's all going to plan and you can finally knuckle down with the debt busting :T

mizmir

Definitely write - then you have a record. Insist that they communicate with you in writing. Hopefully they will be reasonable but you don't need phone conversations anyway - it is then that they try to cajole and bamboozle. In writing and everything can be carefully considered and is on record.

StressedSteph

Thanks guys, I must admit, its a relief to hear you advising that writing a letter is the right way to go. I am always quite scared on B#rclays as we have owed them money for soooo long, and have been collared by the Bank manager in the past and received the hard sell for loans etc.

I will construct a letter this afternoon. On the subject of B#rclays I still haven't received the "Summary of Charges" from them which I will request again in my letter.

Will be so glad to get this last bit sorted, then I can officially move ahead with my budgeting plan.

Am definitely glad I have gone with the Monthly delivery plan with Mr T. I didn't realise how cheap it works out especially if you do the Mid-Week plan that is only £7.50 per month. Now I am budgeting properly I will definitely afford to do a small shop every week, so will work my meal plans around a Tuesday delivery every week.
I don't know how far I could drive for £1.88 (£7.40 / 4weeks). but I doubt it is as far as any of the large supermarkets.


Off to do more sewing. xxx

StressedSteph

Morning.


Well today is the official switch over day between banks. I HAD planned to log into B#rclays to delete all Direct Debits to prevent any incompetent companies taking the Direct debit from my old account and guess what?........I can't log into my B#rclays account!!. It keeps saying that I have the wrong details, but I tried three times and I definitely haven't got anything wrong.
Do you think this is a ploy to get me to call them and then they can read me the riot act??.


I am not falling into their hands with that, so I will just have to hope that the switch over was successful and no charges are put on the account for any unpaid DD's.


Will get my letter to B#rclays sorted out today and posted when I do the school run, before they start inflicting tonnes of charges to my account (which they probably will do anyway).


Still waiting for the last letter from S#ntander to allow me to log onto my account, going to be very annoying if it doesn't appear today as desperately need to carefully manage my account.
I have "Given all my pounds a job" the YNAB way and have paid a few bills that I know are budgeted, but as the wages get lower, I could really do with keeping an eye on it, in case anything I am unaware of has come out. There may be a couple of Paypal DD's that were scheduled before I stopped spending.


Hmmmm....Am still quite annoyed with B#rclays over locking me out of the account, but hey hoy, I suppose they think I have been underhanded too.


Frosty foggy day here today, glad to be back home in the warm. xxx

mizmir

That is really bad of Barclays if they have locked you out - seems very organised of them but it is possible. Hope you can get it sorted - might be worth trying again a bit later just in case there was a fault on their system - I had that with Sainsburys once.

But great news that the switch has happened - time now to move forward! :j Fingers crossed for no nasty surprises with trailing DDs.

debtfreewannabe321

B@rclays did that to me the day they received the letter from the DMP company! I also wanted to get on one last time to delete the dd's but couldn't. I popped to our local branch and tried to use their machine where you can pull up statements and sort out DD's and I was locked out of that too! My card had been cancelled straight away ...forgot about this until you just mentioned it!

You've intrigued me with this app YNAB...i'm off to google it now to see what it's all about

StressedSteph

Hi Mizmir & DFW


Very annoying of B#rclays but not really a problem in the long run. I have typed up, what I hope is a very convincing letter, asking very nicely if they could freeze interest & charges on the overdraft to help us get out of the cycle of huge charges and unpaid direct debts. Fingers Crossed that the letter lands with a considerate employee .


DFW, do check out the YNAB site. Even sign up if you fancy. The 34 day trial is free with no catches. they do not take any bank details or anything. Also they have a wealth of video tutorials and there is also a forum. It does take a while to get your head around it (or maybe I am a slow learner ), but once it clicks you will wonder how you managed without it.


Will have earnt £27.50 from my little craft business today and lots more to make, just need to speed up. xxx

mizmir

I've just spent a couple of hours getting to grips with YNAB and budgeting our current funds. It really is a different way to think but a good one I think. You know exactly how much money you have in each category - and it is based on real money not on expected income. So you can adjust as you go along.

I am liking it so far - the sync via Dropbox fits how I work so well. I think I will need to budget for the full software in February!

StressedSteph

mizmir wrote: »

I've just spent a couple of hours getting to grips with YNAB and budgeting our current funds. It really is a different way to think but a good one I think. You know exactly how much money you have in each category - and it is based on real money not on expected income. So you can adjust as you go along.

I am liking it so far - the sync via Dropbox fits how I work so well. I think I will need to budget for the full software in February!

Hi Mizmir,


I have set up my budget with Week 1, Week 2 etc Categories. I have listed all my Direct Debits that come out in each week.
Also next to the name of the bill I have called it (Electricity (3rd - £100). That instantly tells me what date it goes out and how much it usually is. Because with YNAB you can't add the amounts in until you have the money for them and its hard for me to remember.
I also have a Fuel, Food & Fun Category split into each week of the month as well.
YNAB works simplest if you are monthly paid, but as we are weekly I have had to change it about abit.


I have also set up a CASH account as well. My little craft business often means I get paid cash and then I waste it on nothing and now that I have it on the accounts, I have to make sure that money goes towards important stuff and not just junk.


I could go on forever. hehe Any Questions give me a shout. x


I have budgeted for YNAB in my February accounts. Its good to have that 1 month free in the beginning to get organised. xxxx

mizmir

OH gets paid monthly - and I get get paid as and when - so I am going to try working by what money we actually have and add the income and next month's as they happen. I had already done a spreadsheet budget so I can work from there on the more variable outgoings and from the snowball for the debt repayments. But I am hoping that working with money we actually have (or don't have!) will focus the mind!