DFW journey starts today

twiggy86

Thanks Monz and October, but....


Grrr! My interest has been added to my Next and Bcard which means I'm no longer sub £9k :mad:


However, I'm determined to stay positive so on the bright side:-
1. The interest on the Bcard is now on the lower rate so if I hadn't rung up it would have been more (part of the interest was calculated at the higher rate as I called part way through the month)
2. The interest on both my Next and Bcard would have been more if I hadn't had my LBM and continued spending rather than paying off!
3. I do have the £78.15 in my bank (the amount required to take me sub £9k AGAIN!) but don't want to leave myself short
4. Most importantly - it is under a month since my LBM and during that time I've paid off about £800 worth of debt and haven't used my CC at all :j


So my aim is by the end of Nov to be sub £9k (again) but at a level where the interest won't push it over that boundary again!

twiggy86

I'd been feeling a bit deflated recently (not good less than a month into this journey - may be a bumpy road ahead!)

However just logged into my mortgage account (in all honesty I didn't know I could do this!) and calculated that if I pay off an extra £200 per month (less than I'm currently paying of all my debts per month so very do-able) this will reduce mortgage term by 16 yrs, 8 mths and save £19,843 in interest!


If that isn't motivation to get this debts paid off I don't know what is! In all likelihood this wont be my forever home so probably remortgage in the future, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't aim to be mortgage free! Less mortgage = more equity!


Current DFD is July 2016. But my aim is (hopefully) by end 2015 - Get off here and onto the Mortgage Free Wannabe boards! :j

Ratison

I feel you completely on the mortgage free wannabe thing! Having a play about with the calculators on here is very illuminating! Once my debt is paid off, I'm going to throw a lot more money at the mortgage. I'd love to be mortgage-free before my 40th birthday (9.5 years to go!)

twiggy86

Haven't had any NSD but had a few low/planned spend days. Spent 26p on some rizlas yesterday and £50 petrol (out of my petrol pot) and today I've spent £17.50 on some shopping from lidl - which takes my total shopping spend this week to £17.50! Not bad considering I was spending £100 plus a week before and new shopping week starts on Friday!

Unfortunately OH has been rained off work the last two days and I'm not sure tomorrow is looking any better - no work = no pay. However, I came home to a very tidy house!

Redeemed another £5 from SB today, so that can go off something. Although as I haven't made my minimum payments yet this month it can't go off the CC or next at the mo so maybe it can go off the beds. 1. As that should be my main priority at the moment and 2. As I have to pay them off in one go, I'm currently saving it in one of my other bank accounts, rather than sit in my account and get "lost".

Can't wait until pay day so I can shift more debt and pay those small amounts off!

I did realise that despite thinking id done ok spend wise this weekend, I hadn't left myself any money for my fitness class tomorrow night. I've signed up to a new, limited number class so don't want to let my instructor down and not turn up. Need to decide what to do. Maybe I can steal it from another pot and give myself less this week so I repay it. Hmmm

twiggy86

Found some One4All gift cards in my purse that I received last xmas and had forgotten about which had £40 on! So I converted £30 to Amazon and with the £5 Amazon gift card I'd received through MobileExpressions I purchased a kettle for £34.99. This is £5 cheaper than anywhere else :j

Whilst our kettle hadn't broken (yet) the kitchen is one of the (few) rooms completely renovated and the slightly manky second hand kettle we had was making it look unfinished! Our toaster is also second hand and I was going to buy a new one too but decided that it's not as bad as the kettle so it can stay for now... Ok so I also couldn't find a toaster I liked!

Instead of paying £3.30 for postage I signed up for a free trial to Amazon Prime so got the postage for free! I have instantly cancelled the trial (otherwise they'll take £79 next month!) but I can continue to receive the benefits (i.e. free postage) for the next month. So I'm going to make sure I buy any xmas presents I want from there before then as also still have £10 on the One4All gift card.

Annoyingly though I found an expired Amazon gift card for £10 lurking in my purse :mad: However I've sent an email complaining that their gift cards expire after a year - I wouldn't normally but who knows I may get something out of it so it doesn't hurt to try!

Also annoyed that I redeemed a paypal payment for £5 from SB but if I'd known I was going to buy something from Amazon I could have got £6 for only 20 SBs more. But never mind!


Wow - who knew I could ramble about a kettle for so long! :rotfl:

twiggy86

Good news! I did have money in my purse for my zumba! Don't know how i hadn't spotted the crisp £5 note in my purse!

Also got my gas and electric bill and it was £18 less than last month! Not sure why as we've used the heating a bit! However I made sure I submitted my metre readings just before the new bill rather than as soon as they email asking for them, so maybe it was more accurate. Since my LBM I have been more conscious not to use the heating and turning lights off.

I may also have a result from my complaint to Amazon! They emailed saying the would extend it but needed some details including address it was sent to and name of person who purchased it. As it was a gift I don't know where it was sent! However I sent them the card number and stated that it was a gift so I'll have to wait and see!

twiggy86

To keep my focused and motivated I've decided to set myself some aims:-

1. Get debt free as quickly as possible
2. Learn to be better with money
3. Learn ways to earn more money (salaried so overtime isn't an option)
4. Teach OH to be better with money (for example he is a self employed builder - weather this week has meant he's lost 2 days pay but he doesn't put anything aside on better weeks to cover times like this)
5. Build up savings
6. Finish renovating the house without relying on credit
7. Save money for two hen dos in 2016 (one of which possibly looks like it will be a week in Portugal although done cheaply)
8. Learn to say "No" (kind of goes against number 7 but there are both very close friends and I haven't said no to my other friends who have got married so I don't want them to feel any less important to me)


I'll continue thinking and see if there are any more!


Forgot a biggy! :eek:
9. Once debt free aim to pay off at least £200 extra to mortgage with the aim of becoming mortgage free!

October_Starter

You can do it Twiggy!!!

October xx

twiggy86

Was naughty last night and had a takeaway - OH paid but should've been strong as more money he saves te better for me too!

Today has been a good day though. Had my hair cut but didn't hair conditioner or a blow dry do only cost £13.50. Paid some left over money into my bank, so going to do a money shuffle! Had to pop into my parents to pick up my new kettle (delivered there as they're retired do would be in), called in advance to check they'd be home, turned up and my mum had made me lunch! Went shopping at lidl but had to get a couple of bits from tesco too, all within budget and on the list. Made a lovely Thai curry and made enough to freeze some.

In house news - starting the next project in our grand renovation scheme! Ripped out the last of the old kitchen cupboards - we moved the kitchen and now we're creating the space for a downstairs loo. Not planning on fitting it out for a while but once we've created the space we can get on with some more of the plastering which we can't really do until then.

Off to the market tomorrow to get some cheap meat and also just have a cheap morning out. Will be nice as don't get out as much as I'd like as OH is either working or working on the house! God knows how much money we've saved through his hard work (and I know I'm biased but a lot of skill too!)

twiggy86

Also transferred another £10 to the beds "pot" - so thats £217 in under a month towards them. Not bad considering at my LMB first post is forgotten about them!

Actually tomorrow is the one month anniversary of my LBM! Must celebrate and find some more money to pay something off!