Scrimping behind the scenes - with debt of £31,000!

in_need_of_direction

That 10% milestone is getting ever closer. Amazing in just a few months.

catriona79

Congratulations on the progress. I bet it feels amazing to know you've made a change and can sustain it. It gets quite addictive, doesn't it?

Have you got a debt free date now that your earnings have increased by almost £100?

I've worked out that I am 11 pay checks away from being debt free, and it has helped me to know that.

Seasidegal58

Hello everyone and special hi to Chrysalis, inod and Catriona for posting :hello: !

Yes it’ll make a big difference now that some of the debt has gone onto 0% instead of the horror percentages I’ve been charged!


From my pay rise, I’ve decided to put £60 of it onto the debt as from next month and keep the other £32 and see how I go along. There has already been a couple of increases in outgoings like water, dental, buildings insurance, flat service charges, and my rail season ticket ends in the next couple of months and that will increase as well.I f there is anything left over each month it will go over as usual to the CC debt.

Catriona – After the moving around of credit card balances over the last few weeks my snowball has now given me a debt free date of 29 months. When I put in the extra monies from the pay rise it gave me 28 months, so an extra month gained here!:j

So - had a NSD day yesterday. It turned out that Halifax didn’t take the minimum payment or charge me interest this month after I ended up with a credit balance on the card .I rang them up and asked them to move the £243.58 over to my current account and she did this while I was on the phone. So once that arrives I can clear the M&S.I’m still keeping it as my “spending” credit card as I get the M&S loyalty vouchers, but will close the Halifax.

I winged the £62.73 from the pay rise over to M&S card .I got my statement for M&S today and they didn’t charge me interest either and .there’s only £163.90 debt now on that card. So I’ll pay this off with the Halifax monies which will still leave £79.68 to go to the NatWest card to start that ball rolling!

I’ll be interesting to see if M&S contacts me with any offers now that the debt has gone.Would be nice to get rid of that 17.9% NatWest card…………………… If don’t hear from them in the next couple of weeks I’ll ring up and ask.

Just spent out on my papers today – £2.50 and am just waiting for my monthly Tesco shop to arrive. The food bill is another aspect of my “scrimping” that is working out very well as I am planning meals. I find I’m often below my £120 monthly budget at the month’s end. More luvvly jubbly money for the debt !

Since the LBM I’ve experimented with dropping brands, etc, for my supermarket shop. Brands I have found so far that I am not going to drop are:

• Whole Earth Crunchy Peanut Butter
• Taylor’s Lazy Sunday Filter Coffee
• Millicano Instant Coffee
• Bonne Maman Berries & Cherries/Raspberry jams
• St Dalfour Thick Orange Spread

Funny – it’s a very “breakfast” foods type list (though the peanut butter comes in very handy on toast if I get in very late and am ravenous!).

Week 1 of Scrimp Month 4 is underway and I had a look through the calendar at what’s to come:

• Next Friday evening I am seeing a good friend for drinks for her birthday (and have to get her pressie and card) so funds to be outlaid here;
• My sister and OH are having a BBQ for quite a few people later on the month – so booze and choccies to bring;
• I have been invited to a friend’s 70th birthday afternoon tea for family and friends. It’s being held at a hotel and so I don’t need to bring any alcohol, but must think of nice pressie for her.
• It’s also my sister and OH’s anniversary this month. DD and I usually go halves on a pressie for them – we get something that applies to the particular year of their marriage. This year it’s either wool or copper so we’re going to rack our brains for an appropriate gift!

Ciao everyone and enjoy the rest of this lovely Sunday!:)

springdreams

Hi Seasidegal :wave:

I read your diary from the beginning last week - you are doing so well clearing down your debts :T

A suggestion for the wedding anniversary gift is a merino wool blanket. There are some good deals on the bay of e at the moment.

Mysteek

Just caught up with your diary, brilliant news on your pay rise! I think you are doing so well and are keeping me inspired on my own debt free journey. Thank you

catriona79

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Hello everyone and special hi to Chrysalis, inod and Catriona for posting :hello: !

Hello Seaside girl! :j And thanks for popping over to my diary It was a lovely surprise.

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Yes it’ll make a big difference now that some of the debt has gone onto 0% instead of the horror percentages I’ve been charged!


From my pay rise, I’ve decided to put £60 of it onto the debt as from next month and keep the other £32 and see how I go along. There has already been a couple of increases in outgoings like water, dental, buildings insurance, flat service charges, and my rail season ticket ends in the next couple of months and that will increase as well.I f there is anything left over each month it will go over as usual to the CC debt.

Yes, the increases will definitely have an effect. We forget that some of our pay rise covers inflation too. Grr to that!
But it's great that you will see more than just adjustment in line with inflation, and shave another month off being in debt, without having to do anything! - not to be sneered at!

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

I’ll be interesting to see if M&S contacts me with any offers now that the debt has gone.Would be nice to get rid of that 17.9% NatWest card…………………… If don’t hear from them in the next couple of weeks I’ll ring up and ask.

Meant to say that I remember seeing a chart somewhere on here which had repeat 0% balance transfer offers from CC companies (following the expiry of the initial 0% period). Something tells me that M&S were not very generous in that respect, so have a look at that - it might make more sense to keep hold of the Halifax card if that's the case?

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Since the LBM I’ve experimented with dropping brands, etc, for my supermarket shop. Brands I have found so far that I am not going to drop are:

• Whole Earth Crunchy Peanut Butter
• Taylor’s Lazy Sunday Filter Coffee
• Millicano Instant Coffee
• Bonne Maman Berries & Cherries/Raspberry jams
• St Dalfour Thick Orange Spread

Funny – it’s a very “breakfast” foods type list (though the peanut butter comes in very handy on toast if I get in very late and am ravenous!).

Ah yes, I am like that with some things too. I regularly shop in Lidl and Aldi and love some of their stuff, esp the bakery section in Lidl. But there are things that I don't want to give up. I love food and find it keeps me happy to have a foodie treat every now and then.

Mmmm... Bonne Maman apricot preserve on a croissant on a Sunday morning. Bliss.

Seasidegal58

Good evening all and hi to springdreams, Mysteek and Catriona.
.
It’s been a whole week since I posted last – been very busy at work and getting in quite late – apart from last Friday night when I met my friend for her birthday drink. When I've been getting in at home, I’ve literally just had something to eat, numbly watch TV for half an hour or so and gone to bed! Very tired and haven’t felt like doing very much at all. I’ve only got round to posting tonight.

What with having a busy week at work I haven’t really splurged. I bought some toiletries and met a friend for a very quick coffee and cake lunch on Thursday (£8.60). I ended up coming in £76.10 under budget at the end of Week 1 of Scrimp Month 4, but £10.06 over budget on food/household as I forgot a couple of bits from the Tesco shop, mainly the water filters for my water jug and kettle.

Week 2 started on Friday and the drinks with my friend came to £31.38 – pesky City wine bar prices again! I got her some hand wash and hand cream from Molton Brown which she loved. It was 30% off, plus free delivery and quidco points as well – spent £23 in total.

Plus for my sister and OH’s anniversary I decided to go the woolly blanket route springdreams and I found some lovely woollen plaid travel rugs which were reduced from £100 to £40 each – so DD and I bought one each for them. The gifts budget has taken a bit of a battering.

The rest of the week should be good scrimp wise though.

The Halifax monies arrived so I paid off the M&S debt on the card and transferred the balance to the NatWest card. I rang the Halifax and asked them to close the card which they did on the phone so I’ve shredded the card and all is done and dusted here.

I’ve decided to close this card Catriona as I want to reduce my credit balances and I use the M&S for spending as I get my loyalty points (I do pay it off the month’s end!). I found them fairly generous with 0% balances the last time I didn’t have any big debt so I might get lucky again. I’ll update my signature on the 17th as usual.

Off to catch up with diaries now!

P.S for some reason can't get the smilies to work tonight!

tootallulah

Hi you are doing so well tantalisingly close to 10% now. Good luck with getting the next 0% offer.

catriona79

Hello

Sounds like budgeting is realny your thing and YNAB is heroiny you keep track of it! Fantastic news re coming in under budget.

London bars - wonderful as they are, they do get a bit expensive! I love them though, such a treat. There is something so nice about going out.

Sorry to hear you had such a busy week at work. Will that be reflected in your pay, I.e. Overtime or bonus?

Good news re M&S card offers, if that's the case, then definitely keep hold of it!

Have you got anything else on non 0% now? Would you be ok to apply for another card do you think? Virgin have given me an amazing amount of credit, which has made life easier, as it's a long term card too.

Excuse my nosiness but do you think that now that you're so great at budgeting, you will take on paying the mortgage off after debts have been paid off? Or have you no mortgage?
I often wonder about that one. Paying debts off is one thing, but mortgage is another. Im thinking about the value of experiences that money can buy vs knowing that you have no mortgage.

I have been seriously thinking of buying a two bed flat in a nicer area than where I am now; that would be closer to where I work, much quieter and more pleasant - and cheaper. No need for a lodger then. And my mortgage would be less per month! More quality of life all round!

Hope your week is better than last week, Seasidegal

in_need_of_direction

Hi, have you been whisked away on some exotic holiday, had a lottery win or are you just busy? Hope all's ok