Debt free by 40 -- 19 Months and counting

StressedSteph

The phone just rang...............and I answered it!!! :j


Stupid comment I know, but it's been a long time since I saw an official 0844 number and was brave enough to answer the phone.


Glad I did, it was N#xt. chasing £250 that was apparently overdue. I explained to the man that I thought I had an arrangement in place to only pay £120 per month. He explained that it was only set up for one month and now they want the arrears :mad:.
I explained politely that I didn't have it, and could only currently afford to pay £120 per month. I was put through to a supervisor, who very kindly extended the agreement for 6 months, by which time my minimum payments would be under £120 per month anyway as only currently owe around £1500.


Phew........So glad that I man'ed up and answered the phone.


I MUST learn to not be scared of the ringing. I might actually change the ring tone so that it doesn't set off the usual panic attacks that it makes me feel.


Its really silly because in the haberdashery shop I like to mooch round, they have the same ring tone as my home phone, and even when I am in the shop and their phone rings, I still get a moment of panic, until I remember that it isn't my phone :rotfl:.

FinanciallyUnsavvy

You're doing so well Steph, and I'm so glad you are seeing the positive! It's so easy to focus on how far we've left to go that we forget to look back and see we've come miles.

As for ebay, it's easy to keep track of without any need for calculators etc. On your My Ebay page, go to "Account" on the top menu then "Seller Account". This tells you exactly what you owe ebay at any given time. I just make sure I always have enough in my Paypal account to cover this!

And in Paypal, ignore the amounts that you see on the homepage, as these don't take account of the fees. But if you click the button that says "see all transactions" it'll tell you exactly what you've got after Paypal fees have been taken care of.

As long as you leave enough in Paypal to cover the fees listed on your Seller Account page, you're fine to withdraw the rest as total profit! Hope that helps xx

StressedSteph

Shelski wrote: »

Mine is called debt free by 40, believe it or not , lol but I didn't reach it! However I am still 40 and hope to have more paid off by the time 41 comes around. It didn't help that we have had to pay for dd braces to time of £3000. Have managed to pay at 0% but had to commit to clearing it in 12 months or they would have charged interest so that's another £250. Not too bad as I paid off a £400 a month loan as this one started, but I really wanted that money for snowballing. Have managed to transfer 3.5 ccs onto a 0% card though. Just waiting for dh car loan to finish next month and I can start to snowball that instead about £350.
Hope you enjoy the sunshine , it's beautiful here

Hi Shelski,

How funny that we both have very similar diary names. Sounds like you have been doing great with the snowballing, despite the massive cost for the braces.

I will look up your diary as we are in a similar situation.
xx

Chrysalis1976 wrote: »

Hi Steph, going great with all the sales - not sure if you are aware but in your seller account on eb*y it adds up your fees as things are sold therefore you will automatically know how much you need to either keep in your paypal pot or pay off when the statement is ready.

It should always be up to date so no nasty surprises.

C x

Hi Chrysalis,

How dumb am I, I haven't seen anywhere where it adds up my fees.
Will have a look for it. Duh!.

Thanks for your help xx

StressedSteph

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

You're doing so well Steph, and I'm so glad you are seeing the positive! It's so easy to focus on how far we've left to go that we forget to look back and see we've come miles.

As for ebay, it's easy to keep track of without any need for calculators etc. On your My Ebay page, go to "Account" on the top menu then "Seller Account". This tells you exactly what you owe ebay at any given time. I just make sure I always have enough in my Paypal account to cover this!

And in Paypal, ignore the amounts that you see on the homepage, as these don't take account of the fees. But if you click the button that says "see all transactions" it'll tell you exactly what you've got after Paypal fees have been taken care of.

As long as you leave enough in Paypal to cover the fees listed on your Seller Account page, you're fine to withdraw the rest as total profit! Hope that helps xx

Hi Kim,

wow thank you, think I have been so excited about the items selling that I haven't figured all this out.
will sort it out tonight and maybe leave the next few items money in Paypal so that these fees get covered.
Thanks xxx

mfmaybe

FinanciallyUnsavvy wrote: »

You're doing so well Steph, and I'm so glad you are seeing the positive! It's so easy to focus on how far we've left to go that we forget to look back and see we've come miles.

As for ebay, it's easy to keep track of without any need for calculators etc. On your My Ebay page, go to "Account" on the top menu then "Seller Account". This tells you exactly what you owe ebay at any given time. I just make sure I always have enough in my Paypal account to cover this!

And in Paypal, ignore the amounts that you see on the homepage, as these don't take account of the fees. But if you click the button that says "see all transactions" it'll tell you exactly what you've got after Paypal fees have been taken care of.

As long as you leave enough in Paypal to cover the fees listed on your Seller Account page, you're fine to withdraw the rest as total profit! Hope that helps xx

That's a great tip about the eBay status. I tend to keep the spreadsheet anyway as I use the app most of the time (which doesn't have that function I don't think) but good to know I can cross check once in a while.

Agree Paypal is confusing between their net and Gross, but I *think* the overall balance you see is the right one? So if it says £20 and you know you have £5 outstanding to fleabay then it's ok to take the £15. Happy to be corrected though.

Steph well done on answering the phone. I think changing the ringtone is symbolic, you should definitely do it :cool:

StressedSteph

Thanks guys.


I did change the ringtone. I chose something that I thought sounded NON Threatening. hehe. It sounds like birds tweeting.:D


A shrill high pitched ring makes me feel really anxious .


I don't feel scared of the postman now, so I guess tackling the telephone was the next psychological step.


Feel like every day I am making a step in the right direction. :T


A lot of it is down to the support I receive from you guys, so thank you very much xx

FinanciallyUnsavvy

mfmaybe wrote: »

That's a great tip about the eBay status. I tend to keep the spreadsheet anyway as I use the app most of the time (which doesn't have that function I don't think) but good to know I can cross check once in a while.

Agree Paypal is confusing between their net and Gross, but I *think* the overall balance you see is the right one? So if it says £20 and you know you have £5 outstanding to fleabay then it's ok to take the £15. Happy to be corrected though.

Steph well done on answering the phone. I think changing the ringtone is symbolic, you should definitely do it :cool:

I use the app too- it's annoying you can't check your seller account but it's handy to know you can log into the web version to keep a check.

Indeed, the overall balance in Paypal is everything including fees etc. so as long as you check that against your eBay fee statement you should be fine! Xx

StressedSteph

Morning all,


Not a whole lot to report this morning. Balanced YNAB against bank account all is on track.


Planning on finishing a craft project today where I can get paid £20 on Friday.


Then going to have a look on #bay what I can get for Ds's un-used electric keyboard and drum kit. Think I can get over £150 for both together, so will look at listing them.


Have been holding back from listing them, but he NEVER uses them, and when we are debt free if he suddenly finds a musical passion then we can afford to buy him another one.


Hope you are all having a good day. xxx

clearmydebts

StressedSteph wrote: »

Morning all,


Not a whole lot to report this morning. Balanced YNAB against bank account all is on track.


Planning on finishing a craft project today where I can get paid £20 on Friday.


Then going to have a look on #bay what I can get for Ds's un-used electric keyboard and drum kit. Think I can get over £150 for both together, so will look at listing them.


Have been holding back from listing them, but he NEVER uses them, and when we are debt free if he suddenly finds a musical passion then we can afford to buy him another one.


Hope you are all having a good day. xxx

You are doing so well Steph.

I think you are right to sell them if he never uses them. As you say, if he suddenly decides he wants to pursue music you can always buy them again.

StressedSteph

Hi Clearmydebts


Thanks for replying. Its nice to hear from others that I am not being a terrible parent selling off their old presents .
They are at an age now (9 & 7) where they know we are being frugal to achieve the goals we want to achieve.


I haven't ACTUALLY told them that we have lots of debts, as I could not be certain that they wouldn't tell their school friends and teachers :eek:. We are trying to build a large extension on the side of our house, so I have told them that we are being REALLY careful with money so that we can build the extension. A bit of a safer version to tell them.


Thanks for your help, will see if they sell xx