DFW journey starts today

twiggy86

Good day today!

£10 Amazon voucher - see earlier post
£5 voucher for survey I did
NSD!

So I'm happy! Finished work at 2.30 so managed to do sone washing and housework this afternoon - not too much though as it's not often I get to finish early so wanted to make the most if it! Lovely walk with the pooch who had great fun trying to catch birds! Crazy jack Russell! Quiet night in as OH has gone out.

Will spend some pennies tomorrow as I'm meeting a friend for a few drinks but I'm catching the bus rather than I get a taxi. Looking forward to it as haven't seen her in ages.

I'll pay some money into the bank whilst I'm in town and pay that off something. May wait until Tuesday and pay it off the CC as don't have enough to pay meet the minimum payment until pay day. Can't wait until payday and see those debts go down!

twiggy86

Ok so mixed weekend! Was meeting a friend for "a" drink on Saturday. Got the bus to town and was then going to have to get another to meet her, got a day rider so only £4.10. In between buses I went into town to do a few bits including paying some money into the bank - another £6.52 towards to house fund and £60 to pay off the debts - well this was the plan. Then went to get some foundation - used a £5 voucher so only £2.99 when normally spend £26! Cashier nearly didn't give me my penny change but luckily I realised! Only a penny but better in my pocket! Also got some cards for some upcoming things from the card factory (thanks for the tip!)

However this is when it went a bit (not totally) down hill! A drink turned into a few more so spent more than I would have liked and used my card for a round of drinks (£18.50 :eek:) so that ate into what I was meant to pay off the debts and meaning that I now only have a few pounds in my purse to last me the week and had to use my card this morning to get some tobacco . However I didn't get any taxis which would have cost me about £30 to get home so that's a big plus.


Yesterday was better though. Only money I spent was on shopping although I did have to get milk from the garage as realised when my parents were already on their way round that there wasn't any milk and didn't have time to go anywhere else.


So whilst the damage wasn't overly too bad - I am coming to realise that after a drink my budget goes out the window! I know I could not take my card but I like the security of knowing I have my card should something happen. It's my xmas party next weekend so I must be good and stick to budget! Normally I very rarely go out but there are a couple of events coming up as its xmas.


Payday tomorrow so must sort out my budget for the month and work out how much I can pay off each debt! So excited to see those figures go down!. Ha ha - just realised I wrote this in my last post too!

enjoyyourshoes

Refused CC-- are you on electoral role if not apply online (gov web) or local authority

If you do get accepted for 0% divide total transferred value/months interest free. Set a DD to pay this rigorously every month. Don't use the CC again.

If you want to benefit from compounding interest get yourself the best interest generating account you can. Have a method to subdivide this account into named accounts that you are saving for (1/4 ly & 1/2 yearly and annual bills) This will assist your saving habit and earn you interest.
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Fuller description available

twiggy86

Thanks enjoyyourshoes. I had only just applied to be on the electoral role just before the CC application but hadn't received my notification at that point, so that may have had something to do with it.


I definitely don't want to use the CC again for myself but I do use it for work expenses which I then get back at the end of each month.

enjoyyourshoes

Do a day by day reoncilliation on your bank account

ensure you deduct all DD.SO & savings for annual (etc) bills

Then as you spend each day, deduct these off the balance include ATM withdrawls, cheques, switch payments and all CC amounts (highlight with different colour and annotate which CC you used)

If you can not pay for the item you want to purchase don't buy it even on CC as you have not the funds to repay.

If expenses- ask employer for shorter claim period (every week or 2 weeks) , ask for upfront payment (advance) before you spend your money to pay for the incurred expense. Make sure you submit expenses immediately they are due (keep a up to date copy and add daily figures to it , so not a chore at the period end)

twiggy86

Thanks enjoyyourshoes.


I can't ask for the upfront payment as some time ago my boss did give me £200 to cover expenses which is then effectively topped back up each month - some months it is over £200. Problem is before my LMB, at some point along the way this money got spent! Massive oops! Hence why I now put them on my CC. As part of my DFW journey I aim to build this £200 back up so that I can stop using my CC. Also whilst its fine now, should I leave it will be deducted from my last pay so if I haven't saved it back up I'll lose £200!

twiggy86

Just rounded down my "bills" account to leave £100 in there so paid another £47.37 off my Nxt, taking that down to £155.96.


If they still take the automatic monthly payment like they did last month that will only leave £136.91 so hoping to get that gone by the end of Feb at the latest!
Also, realised I'm waiting on the refund from the energy company and as much as I'd like to pay that off the Nxt I think its more sensible to put it towards the beds - although maybe I'll use the odds for Nxt as the beds are at a nice round number! Ha ha!

Ratison

I can totally empathise with socialising being a dangerous area! Next month will be tricky for me too, with numerous Christmas events, though I'm seeing this year as a bit of a test year - I will work to a budget for each event, but I'll be tracking exactly how much I've spent so that I can save up that much for next December.

I think it's progress though, when you start to see money you've spent on "luxuries" as money that really belongs to someone else - aka your creditors, just as long as you don't beat yourself up about living your life.

We seem to have started our debt free journeys at similar times - probably the worst time of the year to be cutting back in some ways, but a good time to really test yourself about needs vs wants. Good luck with your December budget!

twiggy86

I think this may be a good time to start - if we can do it now the rest of the year should be a breeze! I think your approach is a good one - I've never paid any attention to what I've spent last Christmases so actually don't know how much to leave myself. ill try and be strict but won't be too hard on myself if I don't completely stick to budget 100%!

I've decided not to beat myself up too much for spending some of that money. My OH borrowed it but as I was nearing pay day I was going to pay extra off the debts thinking I wouldn't spend it. So it wasn't like I "stole" money from my debts, just means they won't go down quite so much. Pay day tomorrow so it will make me feel better when they drop down!

twiggy86

Yay its PAYDAY!

So today I've paid off the following:-
£156.47 off CC
£5 off OD
£340 off beds
£80 off parents
TOTAL £581.47!

Plus I'd paid £47.37 off Nxt yesterday!


Leaving my current total debt at £8,312.84 - meaning I've paid off £1,550.80 since 16 October! :beer:

I've also added the following to my pots:-
Petrol - £100
Car expenses - £10 (Total - £20)
Insurances - £10 (Total - £20)
Holiday - £10 (Total - £20)
Clothes - £10 (Total - £17.01)
Hair cuts - £10 (new pot)
£Hen dos/weddings - £30 (new pot)
Xmas - £100 (Total - £183.25)
House renovation - £20 (Total - £147.86)
Emergency fund - £20 (Total - £59.14)

Plus I'm waiting on refund from energy company (£66) and TBC payout for £5.80.

So despite the fact that my bank balance only looked healthy for a few mins, I'm happy as all the money has gone to the correct places! :j