DFW journey starts today

twiggy86

Finally cancelled my phone insurance! Been debating it since my LBM but I had the "fear factor"! So that's £10.99 I'll save a month! Just need confirmation when the last payment will be, it's due to come out in a couple of days and then hopefully that will be it!

twiggy86

Quick update - money from TCB came in so paid £40 off the beds, £27.92 off the OD and put £25 in the house pot. Nearly paid off £3,000 worth of debt since 16 October! I.e. that is what the debts reduced by - paid off more including interest. Only another £25.10 to find! Damn it - if I hadn't put it in the house pot it would only be 10p to find! But having lots of work done this weekend so I need to keep that pot topped up!

October_Starter

Doing so well Twiggy! Keep going and you will be reaching your goals sooner than you think! :j

October xx

twiggy86

Ok so where have I been? No where! Naughty me!

So we've now finished all the plastering apart from the living room, which we will tackle at a later date as we're adding on an extension. However this has wiped out the savings I had in the house pot. I've done a very rough estimate (over-estimating I hope) of how much it will cost us to finish off everything except the living room. Scarily it's about £5k :eek:
I'm determined not to get into more debt to get this finished. OH also *seems* on board with this too. Whilst he's still not as strict with money as I am, he doesn't want more debt.

So my debt busting may take a bit of a back seat for a while. I've got £1,811.78 worth of interest incurring debt, although I also still owe £306.96 to my parents which I do need to get paid (not that they're pressurising me). Once this is gone it's *only* £4,750 on the Halifax CC which is interest free for 33 months, so wont be as much pressure to get it paid. So then I'll feel more able to focus on getting the putting money towards the house. As long as I pay at least £150 towards the Halifax CC it will be clear before it starts incurring interest. However, I haven't got that in my budget this month!

I also have no heating at the moment! Had to take some radiators off to plaster and wanted to get the painting done before they go back on - saves taking them off, putting them on, repeat! However this does mean that it was 11 degrees in my living room this morning! But at least it saves on the gas as my bill was the highest yet for last month! Plus I'm kind of looking after my boss' house for a couple of weeks so making full use of her washing machine!!!

I'm still feeling positive though! Slightly under pressure but positive! I know now how much I can save/pay off when I set my mind do it!

I must do my monthly update as I'm already a day late! So back in a mo!

twiggy86

So my signature as at 16 January (month 3 anniversary) was as follows:-

LBM 16.10.14 - CC - £6,652.68 - now £5,890.54
OD - £480.52 - now £400.03 Next - £436.48 - now £127.47
Beds - £1,667.00 - now £875.00 Parents - £626.96 - now £386.96
TOTAL - £9,863.64 - now £7,680.00
£5per day - Nov £219.53/£150, Dec £194.45/£155, Jan £16.08/£155
£1,000 EF #31 - £79.14/£1,000 Pay off by xmas 2015 #49 £489.40/£5,000

My signature as of today is:-

LBM 16.10.14 - CC - £6,652.68 - now £5,817.64
OD - £480.52 - now £336.62 Next - £436.48 - now £67.12
Beds - £1,667.00 - now £355.00 Parents - £626.96 - now £306.96
TOTAL - £9,863.64 - now £6,888.74
£1,000 EF #31 - £89.14/£1,000 Pay off by xmas 2015 #49 £1,291.44/£5,000

Meaning I've paid £796.66 off my total debts this month! In 4 months I've decreased the amount of debt by nearly £3k! :j
That breaks down as:
Credit card - £72.90
OD - £63.41
Next - £60.35
Beds - £520 :j
Parents - £80

According to my budget for March I will only be paying off £242.50 next month, as have to pay for the work that was done on my car (£210) and my car tax (£180) - cars are expensive things!

However I still have this months' council tax in my bank as kept it aside as didn't know how much the work would cost on the house last weekend. Plus I don't have to pay it again next month. So that's £260 to do something with. Just need to decide how much goes off debt and how much towards the house.

According to my snowball my DFD is currently April 16 but this may go up again next month as I wont be paying so much off. Can't wait until March payday when I can hopefully increase my debt repayment figures a bit more! Just have to make the most of the good months to cover the months where I don't have as much money to throw at the debts.

Aaleigha

I would pay half of the council tax off the highest interest debt - if they are all at 0%I would pay it to parents - us parents love to get our money back and are only too willing to give another loan if needed - my daughter had two LARGE loans of us and pays back at 100 a month every month - she has just asked for a holiday of repayments willingly given and as I said I never look at the account so would not know anyway

you are doing so well-which ever debt you do pay some money off - check your snowball with various options of paying towards clearning a debt and see which is best for you

your other option is to put it into an emergency fund - I suggest a new account that you know you wont touch unless you need to - perhaps make it an account that needs two signatures so its discussed before being used

hope some of those ideas are useful

I stalked you from else where to your diary and will subscribe and become a cheerleader

have a great day

twiggy86

I love cheerleaders! Thanks for your advice.

I currently pay my parents back £80 a month, mum's always offering me repayment holidays (like this month as she knows my car tax is due). But as you say, once they're paid back I know I could borrow again - like to cover my OD so I don't start paying fees again when I pay off the beds (beds money is currently sat in that bank account so I'm not actually in my OD at the moment but will be again once the beds are paid for). Aren't parents just the best thing?!

My focus at the moment is the beds (which need to paid in full by 10 May otherwise it goes onto a 3 year repayment plan with 35% interest :eek:) and the OD (which I will pay 75p per day on if I don't clear it by the time I pay for the beds). Parents have offered to cover whatever is left of the OD but I am reluctant to ask as I'd rather prove to myself that I can do it on my own.

I do have a very small emergency fund (£89.14) - not sure what sort of "emergency" it would currently cover! A very minor one me thinks! I am slowly adding to this each month, rightly or wrongly I am prioritising the debts and house renovation ahead of this.

Right I'm off to stalk you (in a friendly kind of way!) and find your diary!

Aaleigha

DO prioritise he debts but do also discuss this with your parents - tell them you are trying to prove yourself - not to them but to YOU and you really appreciate their help and that you promise to go to you first to see if they can help when you need it - an as a parent I have to say YES we are the best - but so was my dad - miss him ( not his money dearly) the important thing is you have a bit of an emergency fund - it would get you a new kettle and other things

do you get your money for the groceries out of the bank each month and keep in a seperate purse - and do you menu plan =just two things that work together well - I used to do this when the children were young but got out of the habit BUT it really helps me - I am one of those that will walk around without a list and go OHHHH I would like that BUT I dont need it so am now going without and its working or me - but for how long I dont know

monz

Fantastic!! 3 grand wow!!!x

twiggy86

Aaleigha wrote: »

do you get your money for the groceries out of the bank each month and keep in a seperate purse

I'm the one from your diary with the tatty envelope! :rotfl: I loved your suggestion that people might think I'm shopping for my granny!