Years of Breezing: Time to Break the Cycle!

Bex296

Mmm, Maccy D's. To be fair, they do smell a LOT better than they taste, so you probably made the right decision!
Good luck with the de-cluttering!

itskat

That's very true, Bex, very true!

The £2000 I requested to transfer as part of the balance transfer processed has now gone through, and I've been receiving all types of letters through the post, including a security number (this was a big "to do", since I managed on the first day of getting the card confirmed to then lock myself out of Internet banking - don't ask, all I'll say is I'm a very swift typist, and I may have entered the password wrong a couple of times by mixing up the old and the new card's details. May have.). What I haven't received yet is the card itself, which I need the long number off of in order to phone up the bank to get the account unlocked! Oopsie.

The credit limit on that card is £2800, so I think I'll transfer whatever else I can from the first card onto this new one, then just pay off the difference by debit card using my savings - I'm assuming transferring funds to the new card still only adds the 1.5% fee, provided I do it within a set amount of time after the account's setup. I'll have to wait until the card arrives to phone the bank to reset my details to log into the bank to read up on the details of this. Quite annoying, but entirely my own fault, sooooo...

Looking forward to the hairdressers tomorrow. And I'm setting Sunday aside as a clear out day. I think I'll start with the bathroom, as it's the smallest room, and see where the day takes me.

No other news, really. All pretty smooth so far, touch wood.



ETA: Oh, just looking at the balance in my signature, I remembered I did another payment to the credit card today...for £7.88! I wanted an even £ balance, don't judge me

AleMrsT

itskat wrote: »

ETA: Oh, just looking at the balance in my signature, I remembered I did another payment to the credit card today...for £7.88! I wanted an even £ balance, don't judge me

I did this the other day to round my loan down to £1750, then interest got added!

itskat

AleMrsT wrote: »

I did this the other day to round my loan down to £1750, then interest got added!

D'oh! Stupid interest, ruining everything!

StrugglingYouth

Plans to de-clutter are good! I find I think more easily when my place is clean and tidy! I have been on a bit of a mission to de-clutter things and make a few paypal pennies.

When you get a decent amount in paypal, buy something you would usually use your debit card for + transfer whatever the total towards savings/debt. That way you avoid losing the 3-4% paypal charge to swap it to your bank account.

Saver-upper

Hi,itskat.
Have just read through your diary,and am subscribing.
Good luck on your journey.I shall be cheering you on :j

itskat

Hi Saver-upper, welcome to the organised chaos!

@StrugglingYouth, you don't get charged for transferring your PayPal funds to a bank account, do you? I didn't with that last transaction, at least. They took their fees before I even saw the money in my PP account!

So far, my biggest challenge in all this has definitely been in avoiding the fast food and takeaways. I knew it would be an issue - I've had 10 years of just being able to pick something up on the way home or ordering something online (damn you, Just Eat!). I haven't crumbled yet, although I came close last night, car drifting towards KFC. I went home and had a baked potato loaded with butter and cheese and beans and bacon instead (Mmmm!).

The new credit card is all sorted now. I've transferred a total of £2,600 over to it, leaving £300 on the old card. I have until March '15 to pay that £300 off, or interest will get added. And then 28 months 0% on the new card. £39 in fees added to the balance.

Ideally, I want to clear the whole £2,600 by the end of 2015, but that will mean an average of £200/month between now and then. Looking at my budget, it's possible, but it won't leave much wriggle room for unexpected events.

Once Christmas is out of the way, I think I'll have a better idea of what I can expect for the upcoming year.

As a sidenote, can you believe Christmas will be in month?! This year has well and truly flown. I still write 2013 on things sometimes!

Bex296

Hi! Re: paypal, I think it depends on the transaction or maybe the account type? I've got charged for selling stuff before on fleabay but not for withdrawing money to my account, but I have a 'personal' account not a business one and they might charge, not sure...

Good luck with your debt-clearing goal for the next year. And I agree Christmas is coming up WAY too soon, where has the year gone??

Happymac

Lots of luck - just subscribed x:j

itskat

Yeah Bex, might be based on the transaction type, maybe.

And hello, Happymac! Good to have you here

Phoned the new credit card company last night, as their online banking doesn't have a facility to make manual overpayments as my existing card does, only via direct debit -- and I don't like not having complete control.

Anyhoo, short version of events there is they've given me an account / reference to make bank payments into. I've tested it by sending payment to cover the £39 fee charges, so we'll see how that pans out!

I've set my DD for £93, which will at least mean the card is cleared by the end of the 28 month 0% period. Once January rolls around, I might up that to £200, or I might just make manual payments for anything extra I can put in each month. Haven't decided yet.

Another challenge I'm starting to encounter is saying "no" to people. I have a few friends whose financial situations seem much better than mine, and while I've already explained that I'm on debt-busting crusade, a few of them are being...well, not unpleasant about it, but...like they don't understand what it's like?

I have this one friend who's talking about going to Spain for a week next year, and she's trying to get me to join her. I'm sure holidays to Spain aren't that expensive, but I'd just rather put the money towards paying off the card!

Then I have this other friend who keeps asking me to go out with her at weekends. She insists it's just a few drinks or just a quick meal at a resteraunt, but it's like...yeah, I'd rather pay off my debts, sorry! Come around for a cuppa / split a bottle of vino instead, maybe?

Anyway, staying strong. I don't want to stop living entirely, but I have to keep my priorities in order.

They'll understand. They'll have to! :rotfl:

My hair looks great, by the way. There was a mountain of hair behind me when the stylist had finished chopping away. I bought styling powder for £8 (the wax made my 'do insta-greasy, so that was a waste...should've waited 'til after the cut, but never mind), and that should be all the spending I do on hair products for the year.

I think that brings us up to date, dear diary.

Looking forward to the weekend, aside from trying to get home amongst the hordes of people battling through town for the Black Friday deals. Maniacs!