Forget about likes and dislikes. They are of no consequence....

Emzilla

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

But !!!!! tho it is, it will mean three debts gone.

*trying to look for the silver lining*

fingers crossed for pip.

XXXXX

Very true Buffy

Emz xx

Emzilla

Sugarcandy wrote: »

Oh dear that payment sounds quite a lot. Is it more than you would have been paying to the original 3 debts?

To be honest, I can't remember . It was 2 credit cards and an overdraft, all with the same bank.

Emz xx

Emzilla

Bit later with my plan than expected. I did work 12-6 today and OH and I did some food shopping this evening.

Not so much a plan, more of some ideas as to how to manage over the next 3 years, make sure this debt gets paid off and my employer never has to be notified.

Saving Money

1. Get freebies wherever possible
2. Start using coupons
3. Earn Amazon vouchers from surveys and use to buy the Degu’s stuff.
4. Also put Amazon and other vouchers towards birthday presents. Planning in advance will help here. I haven’t got my first birthday until March (well, I’ve got a friend in January, but I don’t spend much on her).

Earning Money

1. Textbroker. Pays weekly. I’ll aim for £100 a month from there
2. Mystery shopping. Hate it, but it pays well. I’ll aim for another £100 a month, but will probably have to adjust that after the first few months, once the jobs start to run out.
3. For the other £72, it’ll just be a case of bits and pieces here and there. Cashback on TCB and Quidco, free game on JPJ, Lucky Phone, surveys etc.

Will add to that a bit tomorrow. Going to get an early night now as didn't sleep much last night.

Emz xx

Buffythedebtslayer

Re animals - as a long term pet owner who has ALL her spare cash sucked away by the small furries I really recommend buying in bulk, checking zooplus for offers and perhaps if the price is using subscribe and save on Amazon, you can have things delivered every 3 or 6 months. I bet you could pay with the vouchers too. You can get a 5% discount if you get enough stuff. XX

[Deleted User]

Lovely to see your initial plan, it's obvious you are going to do everything in your power to keep up with your repayments:A. I know everyone on here will be cheering you on:T

There are just a few points though that I feel I should make and please accept my sincere apologies if you think I'm being harsh:o. I know exactly what it involves when paying off huge debts:o as I'm doing it myself and will be until 2019:eek:

I'm on a DMP which I know is not the road you want to go down and I'm not suggesting it as an option for you but part of that is having a budget which has to be adhered to and that aspect of it is valuable for everyone. This involves never overspending on anything (robbing Peter to pay Paul) and cutting out most treats. A lot of people on DMPs have handled theirs better than me:o and built a bit of slack into what they have left after all debt repayments have gone out but I'm determined to go without all but the basics of life in order to be able to call all my money my own asap. Not everyone can/wants to do that, I appreciate that, but some belt-tightening is essential now for you.

It's not just a case of how you can make extra money but more about how you spend what you actually have:). I try to make extra in whatever way I can but sometimes it's frustratingly little! There may, sadly, be times when you feel too ill to make extra in addition to doing your main job and that's when it's essential to only spend what you know that you definitely have. Instead of relying on planned extra money-making as the way you are going to pay off the CCJ try to make more of what you definitely have each month.

To that end, start a spending diary (not on here, just for your eyes only) as it concentrates the mind brilliantly on where the money is going every month. Make a note of every single penny that you spend, it will be a real eye-opener;) and will highlight unexpected savings you can make in your outgoings:T

I would suggest that means no holidays for the time being(unless you win them or OH is paying;)). In my case it also means no meals out just when I feel like it:eek:. I know you use vouchers towards your meals out and cinema visits etc but unless your OH is going to pick up the tab you shouldn't really be spending real money regularly on that sort of thing. When OH's parents visit can you not eat at home some of the time especially as they won't be contributing?:(.

Likewise all the presents you so very generously buy for your family. You sound like such a lovely, kind person:A but that's somewhere you could really cut back. I doubt anyone will even notice and they certainly won't see you in a bad light, especially if they know your situation. I know you use Amazon vouchers for most of them but you could use that amount of vouchers for essentials or take your survey rewards in other ways that are more useful to you. I'm a big reader but have bitten the bullet and stopped buying books for the foreseeable future:( and taken the Paypal alternative to Amazon vouchers whenever offered. It's real money in my bank, even in small amounts, and every little helps;)

I so hope this isn't coming over as preachy:o. It's just sincerely-meant advice from someone who's been there and is still paying for the T-shirt;). Sending lots of love your way xxx

Emzilla

Buffy - Thanks for the advice . I'll take a look on Amazon later and see what deals I can find. I shouldn't be needing anything for the degus until the new year anyway. Had to put OH off buying me a couple of chinchillas for Christmas :eek:. I would love them, but don't want another couple of mouths to feed just yet. Have said I might get some when the older degus have passed away, but I'm hoping that won't be for a while yet.

Do you belong to the VIP Pets at Home club thing? I do, but don't get very good vouchers sent through. The last lot I had were 2x £3 off when you spend £30 and 50p off small pet food. I think it's all a bit rubbish.

CBC - Thank you for your post :A. I know that we have to cut back a hell of a lot. Holidays aren't too much of a problem for me (the Rome trip in September was my first in around 3 years), but OH goes on far too many weekends away with his mates. He has promised to cut them back next year (got to the stage where he was going away every month at one point!!). I know that is his money, but he earns a hell of a lot more than me, so should be paying more on the bills etc.

Eating out is our downfall. We need to cut back on this dramatically. I'm going to start looking for mystery shops that give free meals, so at least we can go out every once in a while, but will get a lot of the cost reimbursed. We're also considering getting the Cineworld Unlimited card. £16.90 a month and we can go and see as many movies as we like. We can also use it with my carers card, so I could take my OH in for free whilst using the Unlimited card. That's a lot of free nights out for both of us and would keep us away from the restaurants!! We'd just need to get cheap snacks to eat in there.

I'll keep looking for ways to cut back and will try and get as many freebies as I can. As you say, every little helps

Having said all that, OH's parents are due a visit this weekend. We're going out for a meal on Friday night and I will make sure we go halves. OH gets paid Friday, so he is paying for me. Luckily I'm working this weekend, so won't have to spend too much time with them. Clearly I tried to change my hours around, but it just wasn't possible .

Emz xx

Emzilla

I'm day off today , so will try and get as much money making done as I can. Also need to start clearing the house up gradually this week as we've got an inspection a week today. I've let everything slide recently, and the place is looking very messy.

I'm going to try and keep a list of what I've achieved every day, just so I can keep myself motivated.

Today I have:

1. Done a £3 Pinecone survey (£7 to go for £10 Amazon voucher
2. Clicked the Superpoints button (12,140 to go for £10 Amazon voucher)
3. Reached second Swagbucks target (584 to go for £5 Amazon voucher)
4. Earned 60p on Panel Opinion (£6.95 to go for £10 cash)
5. Online mystery shopping survey worth £3 (£12 to go for £15 cash)
6. Completed survey which I'll hopefully get paid £20 for

Still to do:

1. Textbroker article worth around £4.50
2. Clear inbox of Survey invitations
3. Complete online mystery shop worth £4

Emz xx

constantworrier

Just seen this on hotukdeals. £20 for doing the survey.
http://www.nicotinesurveys.org/


http://www.hotukdeals.com/misc/want-talk-about-weather-no-politics-no-religion-1901288?page=1305#comments


Post # 26805

Emzilla

constantworrier wrote: »

Just seen this on hotukdeals. £20 for doing the survey.
http://www.nicotinesurveys.org/


http://www.hotukdeals.com/misc/want-talk-about-weather-no-politics-no-religion-1901288?page=1305#comments


Post # 26805

Thank you!! :A

I've done the survey, so hopefully £20 will be winging it's way to me shortly :T

Emz xx

Emzilla

Think that's me done for the day. Spent a couple of hours in traffic picking OH up from the station, so that ate into my time a bit :mad:

I've still got to finish off the £4 MS job (all done online, just waiting for a response before I can submit, all the work is basically done) and I haven't done that TB article. That's not due until tomorrow evening though, so will get it done tomorrow. I'm not at work until 5pm, so lots of money earning time before then.

Also didn't get the chance to clear my inbox of surveys. Another job for tomorrow.

So I reckon I've earned around £27.60 in cash (once it's all paid out), £3 towards an Amazon voucher and some points towards other vouchers.

Not a bad first day . Off to do my meds.

Emz xx