I the words of Dolly Parton....Here we go again

Byebyedebthellolife

I wasn't going to start a diary but after being too late to join in on some of the challenges I feel I need the motivation of writing something everyday even if no one reads it!

Well I am a married mother of one dog. We are talking about having children but I want to have a better grasp on my finances before we start trying. We also have a lot of work needing to be done around the house.

Without waffling on too much I have about 13k spread over a few cards all but one are on 0% until November. I have £4065 on the one which isn't 0% so want to smash as much as I can off that by the end of November. Realistically I am not going to be able to pay it all off but i'm going to try!

I have an extra £450 a month after all my bill are paid. I will pay £300 a month off my card on pay day and any thing I have left at the end of the month will also go off outstanding balance.

I am going to check in daily and set myself daily/weekly tasks as i'm hoping it will help me to keep focused.

Thanks for reading

parsniphead

Hello Byebye. I hope it's ok to call you that rather than type it all.;)

It's never too late to join a challenge or two. Even if you join it late but end up paying more than you would have then it's done it's job. There a lovely bunch on Pay Off All Your Debt by Christmas 2014 and there are folks who will and wont achieve the full amount but its keeping motivated which is important.

Hope you achieve all your aims.

Byebyedebthellolife

Hi Parsniphead. Thanks for the reply. Of course it is OK I didn't really think thought the logistics of the long name ha!! I will look them up thanks.
I was going to join back to basics for July but I was too late. I need the challenge aspect to keep me focused. I like the idea of paying off all my debt by xmas but that is def not achievable (unless I win the lotto!) I like the idea of the 1 debt V's 100 days (will look that up too)

Looking at your signature I'm really impressed at how much you have paid off. Well done. Any hints/tips would be greatly received.

apple_muncher

Hello Byebye, shame you were too late for the July back to basics. But there'll be another awesome one by NSK for August, so hope to see you there!

Btw, kat replied to one of your posts - not sure if you've seen it.

parsniphead

Wow your going hardcore with a NSK challenge to start with. They make fantastic progress on that thread but it's a bit much for me.

This is my second year of doing the pay of debt by Christmas challenge as I didn't complete last year. It's a place I feel comfortable their and it's ok to roll over from one year to the next.

I have paid most of mine on a DMP but also had a successful PPI claim. Hopefully it will all be done by the end of the year.

Just keep plodding at it, you will get there.

Byebyedebthellolife

Thanks Apple I will have a look. I am def in for the August one. Reading through it really motivated me and I going to follow the principles of it even if I cannot join in yet.

Parsniphead I need a good kick up the bum as my habits are terrible and I need to drastically change the way I spend/use credit cards/save. I am hoping a really tough challenge will change the way I think/act. I am going to join the pay off all debt by Christmas too.

Byebyedebthellolife

Last night I set myself a challenge of not spending any money until I meet a friend Friday evening (I haven't seen her for ages so am not going to cancel but I will cut my usual spend of £30 in half!) and have at least 5 SFD from Sat-Friday. It's not going to be easy but I want to strike while the iron is hot and get as much done while I'm feeling motivated.

Today has gone very well. I left my lunch at home but managed to find 2 pieces of stale bread that I topped with a tin of beans from my food draw and had a cereal bar also from said draw Dinner was curry and rice from the freezer. Our diet is not going to be very healthy from now until Friday as we have no fresh and very little frozen fruit/veg. I'm going to spend sometime tonight looking up cheap healthy recipes and take photos of some of the clothes i'm going to list on eb@y. I didn't have a very good nights sleep so I am hoping to be bathed and in bed by 10. How very rock and roll of me!

beanielou

Shiny new diary.
Keep posting!

Byebyedebthellolife

Today had been such a crappy day. I had very little sleep last night as hublet was snoring like a pig all night

Little sleep makes me evil so today was not a good day. I would usually "treat" myself to a pick me up coffee but I remained strong and very grumpy!! I had a sort of SFD as everything I spent today will be claimed back though work. I use my expenses as a sort of savings Once I get them I pay them straight off my card.

Dinner was another unidentified freezer find. Turned out the brown, solid lump was chilli. It was really tasty to be fair (much better than the orange gunk I thought was soup, but turned out to be vile orange sludge Yummy!!) . Hublet went shopping earlier so the last few remaining freezer surprises can stay put for a few days!

I have been thinking about all the things I would be doing if I had no debt and have started an application to do a course in Uni in September! Not sure if that is stupid or smart. The uni offers a payment plan so if I can pay off as much of my debt before October I should be OK. It is something I have been thinking about doing for a while so I bit the bullet, emailed the course head and will submit the application ASAP. I also really want to learn to play the saxophone but will leave that until I have paid off ALL my debt

It's strange how focusing on money can make you look at other aspects of your life. As well as uni I am going to aim to lose 2 stone by xmas. Too much alcohol, junk food and too little exercise have all helped with my accumulating debt and getting fatter!

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read and comment I really appreciate it x x

GunWharf

Well done on the Uni Course, that will be an investment so dont class that as a Debt :j

Good luck on your Journey

Ninno820

Hi Byebye - I'm just starting out as well and seasidegal recommended the budgeting software package You need a budget. Its free for 34 days - so gives you time to assess whether it would be useful to you. I have found that it has turned around the way that I think of money.


Although it is, essentially, a basic spreadsheet system it teaches you to account for every pound that you have coming in - every pound of income has to work for you. They back this up with free classes/ tutorials both to teach you about the software and to train you in your approach to debt management.


And the best bit - you feel as if you are doing something! good luck x