Anna's First Debt Free Diary

f_Anna_tastic

I turned 30 the other day and realised that financially I've been heading down a terrible path since i was 25 and have nothing to show for it.

I have a number of debts to my name:

3900 on a Tesco Credit Card 16.9%
3600 on a RBS CC 0%
2200 on very.co.uk (most at 0%)
7000 Loan from Nationwide 6% £340 per month payment.

When i was 29 i came out to the world as transgender and decided to transition from male to female. Due to the NHS's terrible support it left me with the decision of paying for things myself or waiting for years on a waiting list. This is one reason why i've accrued so much.

Add to that previous debts from my time spent as a carer for my nephew who died (meant living on £60 a week) and my last girlfriend who seemed to just drink all my money (and left scott free) I've got myself in a quagmire which is sucking my mental energy (something which isn't helping when I already have the mental stress of transitioning)

No one knows about my debts and I've been keeping them to myself for a while.

Things to know:

I bring in on average £1600 after tax.

I'm currently living with parents and they're allowing me to stay rent free for a while. (so no real bills yay)

I downsized my old "what are you trying to overcompensate for" sports car (the reason for one loan) to a cheap Citroen C1 which is saving me 100's on fuel, insurance and tax.

In June i cleared a loan from Tesco which had been costing me £360 a month.

I bought my phone outright and run it on giffgaff for £12 a month.

My only other expenses are Netflix £7 and Spotify £9.99

Petrol probably costs me £60 a month.

I am trying to save for facial surgery (which will cost me in the region of £15000) but have realised i need to clear what i owe first. This surgery is something which I am greatly anticipating and is my focus. Also the sooner the better!

I am aiming to put over £1200 a month into paying my debts, leaving me with a budget of £400.

My plan is to pay the minimum on my RBS card, pay the minimum needed on my very account (the 0% is on various items which needs clearing on a month by month basis) obviously keep paying my £340 a month loan but then pump everything else i can into my Tesco credit card (hoping for at least £600 a month)

I would like to try and shift the Tesco debt to a 0% but i stupidly missed the first payment on my RBS card (i thought i had set up a direct debit) and it affected my credit score to the point which i think i will have to wait a few months before i will be accepted for another.

I've made another few commitments too:
I am stopping buying alcohol (though if someone else buys it me im gonna drink it )

I've become vegetarian. This was actually for ethical reasons but paying for quorn works out a lot cheaper than paying for chicken!

I've made a commitment to shifting some old stuff (listed 20 things on eBay today and yesterday) with all money going towards clearing my debts.

I am going to try live as frugally as i can - so although i may have given myself a £400 budget i will try to come in well under that.

Here's hoping it works

Divingmad

Hey Anna,
Welcome to the diaries


Looks like you're well on the way to getting things sorted. You may find it helpful to do an SOA (Statement of Affairs - link below)


http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


This will help in making sure you have an accurate idea of where your money is going. Also, using the above link, you can post it on here and the more knowledgeable of the group will be able to give advice as to where you could save money to get yourself to your debt free status even quicker. You'll need a few months worth of bank statements and as many receipts as you can find to try and get as accurate figure as possible.


Good luck and will drop in occasionally to see how you're getting on


DM

GunWharf

Hello and welcome!

Good luck on your Journey, were all right with you!

f_Anna_tastic

July as a whole was very expensive due to the fact that i had my 30th birthday. The weekend cost me £350 but i had budgeted enough just to scrape past until my car insurance reminder came in the post. Luckily it is only £240 and i thought i had enough to survive.

Cue a reminder from very.co.uk that i had a minimum payment to make... but in the small print it said i needed to pay £180 to clear a balance or it would cost me £50 in interest.

I phoned my car insurance up and asked them to move the date from the 25th to the 28th so that i would be able to take it from my next pay cheque however they point blank refused and said i would have to swap to monthly charges (and pay more) or just allow the request to bounce and they would write to me (after i had been paid and could clear it) however i then feared the bank charging me.

I tried to find a cheaper quote but they were cheapest by £60 so i was in a conundrum.

My mother then gratefully overheard my phone conversation and agreed to lend me £300 till pay day so that i can pay the insurance in full and it has also let me clear my very payment without accruing interest.

So although i have had to borrow I have saved myself a lot of money in the long run.

After i made this post i decided to throw a lot of stuff on eBay. So far this week i have made £350 and have another couple of hundred of pounds worth of stuff on there which should sell soon. Obviously eBay will take their fees and postage bites, but i hope to clear £250 made, which will nicely pay for my car insurance.

I cancelled a lottery subscription I had forgotten about. This was costing me over £40 a month!

Next month is going to be my first real month where I've got full control of my finances.

So far this week the only money i have spent is £20 on postage and packing and £6 on a computer game (it was a flash offer on something id been wanting for ages and was down from £17 (they got me ) but i paid for this by selling another computer game for £9 so i've justified it to myself.)

Hopefully i can keep this up!

The other bad news is my quotation for my surgery came in at £17,700 and id need to pay for a 10 day stay in Marbella so the size of my task got even greater

f_Anna_tastic

So payday is here!

I've got straight at it and cleared another payment off my very.co.uk account which was due to come out in August - this was for £156 and again avoids me paying any interest.

I've paid my minimum payment of £36 on my 0% credit card

I've cleared £400 off my expensive 18% Tesco card.

My payment for my nationwide 5.6% loan of £340 will come out on the 18th. I've not put this into my signature until it happens! I am tempted to phone them and see if i can move the payment date to the 28th as it would then be done with for the month and I'd feel i had a clearer picture of my affairs.

That will take my debt cleared to £932 this month. I still have more funds available but I am planning on waiting till towards the end of the month to see how much I have left and see how well i have budgeted before I use it up and pay as much as i can.

f_Anna_tastic

I've also been thinking recently about just how bad I have been with money. I've literally been spending it like it was no object.

I looked through my past purchases on very.co.uk and am appalled at how much i have spent on certain items of clothing. I really just don't know what i was thinking!

I've resolved to make primark my new home for clothes for the foreseeable future (though I'm going to try my best not to buy any at all) ((My mum came back from the charity shop with a lovely purple top for me £2 - which she paid for so even better - but i would have probably paid £25 for it on Very.))

I really think that i lost the value of money - my use of ebay and selling things on has made me realise what items are actually worth and just how much I've been overpaying.

Feels like I've just woken up to reality and reading through the other diaries and posts on here has been the strong coffee I've needed to give me a boost

WHY DIDN'T I START THIS SOONER!?

Mysteek

WHY DIDN'T I START THIS SOONER!? - I'm so with you on this!!

Just wanted to say good luck with your debt busting journey and your surgery, its great to have something you really want to focus on.

f_Anna_tastic

So excluding my debst I have been doing really well for spending.

I have spent £16.10 on my two prescriptions and then £5.60 posting some eBay items.

After fees and postage i think I will I have cleared another £100 of stuff on eBay last three days so I am pretty chuffed.

I've also planned to sell some trainers to a friend for £35 and i sold a motorcycle helmet on Gumtree for £45, both fee and postage free so that's been another £70!

I have the cash in hand from my Gumtree sale as well as £20 i cash i had left over from the week before, this has meant I've not had to use my debit card for anything so far over the last few days.

I am going to see how long I can go without having to use my debit card - I'm hoping handing over cold, hard cash will make me think about everything.

Living at home with parents is giving me a massive financial boost - I've not had to pay for any food or drink, so i'm barely spending a thing!

I've already made all the payments i need to make this month but am just letting things lie for a few days till I'm 100% sure how much cash i have available before i make more payments.

dawnybabes

Can you not buy a pre payment thingy for prescriptions, think it works out about 10 a month ?

Good luck, I'll jump along for the ride :-)

LosingMyDebt

Just checking in on your thread Anna, to say hi!

Good luck with it all, sounds like a monumental time in your life and I wish you all the best!

DollyDreamer

Hello I have also recently joined the ranks of debt busting Your story was great to read I am subscribing lets beat this debt and gain freedom !!