A new debt free journey

lcc86

Forgive me diary for I have sinned :eek: I bought a £40 dress yesterday that wasn't budgeted for. A minor slip up but a slip up none the less. I'll amend November's budget to repay that money to my savings.

I've had a threatening email from BT which has reminded me to send my complaint letter, which I've popped in the post this morning. They're talking about charging me late payment fees and extra charges, as well as cutting me off. I know it's probably a standard letter but it seems a little heavy handed given the nature of the complaint. I'm also going to chase my parking appeal as I've not heard from them either.

Been looking at my November budget and I'm setting aside £200 to help pay for the extra travel costs I'll be incurring in November and December before I start getting paid more in my new job. This has a big knock on effect on my target to pay 25% of my debt by Christmas. Essentially I won't be making any additional payments at all in November and I'm not sure about December. I was going to take January off from debt busting but I might amend my plans because of the new job and have November and possibly December off (but stay frugal throughout both) and then get back on the wagon in January instead as that'll be when I get my first wage packet from the new job. I'll be able to throw a lot more at the debt by then so I'll be back on track relatively quickly (I hope). Anyway these are all presumptions, it might be that what I save in November is sufficient to see me through. I just want to prepare for the worst case scenario just in case!

lcc86

Finally some news on the money front! :j I've had an updated loan balance following my overpayment at the beginning of the month and my overall debt is now much lower than I thought. It stands at £7329 in total (£265 of that is on a 0% credit card). That's 20% of my overall debt paid. :T I worked out that if I'm to meet my 25% I only need to pay an extra £25 per month on top of my monthly repayments in November and December. Even though those months will be tight I WILL find that money from somewhere.

crazy_cat_lady

Fabulous news! So pleased for you. :D:D:D

lcc86

Not much to report today. Yesterday I did a top up shop, may need one or two small items by Monday but nothing major. Got a few yellow sticker things too which always helps.

I was also able to add £10 to my little vet fund which I keep hidden away in the house. That now stands at £65 altogether, which would in all likelihood cover a trip to the vet plus medication if needed. I'll keep trying to add to it every month just for my own peace of mind.

I've finished work for the week as I worked late last night, so am just being lazy and putting my feet up. Tomorrow is my first planned study day. Sunday I'm going horse riding in the morning and then visiting a friend in the afternoon. I'll need to get some petrol beforehand, just £10 worth to see me through until payday.

lcc86

Just to add, I've worked out my overpayments to my cc have meant that I only need to pay £45 a month now to clear it before the end of my 0% period instead of £60, which helps the budget a little!

I've really been thinking about the future over the last few days, not sure why. I don't like to run away with myself but I know that I want to have less and less reliance on borrowing as I get older. That's more than just having no unsecured debt, but secured debt too. I know I can't overpay my mortgage completely because at the end of the day, I have a one bedroom flat and eventually will want/need something bigger. However one of my neighbours sold their house in the last couple of weeks for £55,000 more than I paid for mine three years ago. It's really got me thinking, if there's enough equity in my house by the time i need to remortgage I might have to look at unlocking it, either to use as a deposit on a second property to live in while renting this one out, or to perhaps buy some land and stick something on that.

Of course these are all pipe dreams and I need to get rid of most if, if not all, of my debt by the time I remortgage if I'm to be taken seriously at the bank when the time comes. I'm probably getting ahead of myself anyway, but it never hurts to have dreams and aspirations! Right now my dream is to clear as much of my debt as I can as soon as possible, the rest will come in time.

I have finalised Novembers budget now 100%. Payday isn't until next Thursday so still a few more sleeps to go. I've decided I have to put debt busting on hold for the month to help account for the increase in travel costs for the new job. I'll be setting aside £120 for train fare for December, as well as an extra £125 into my savings "just in case". If I don't end up needing that money at any stage in December I'll throw it at the debt instead. I should still be able to pay £25 extra off my debt in November, although if my pay is better than I've calculated then I'll up that for sure.

Finally, I've reduced one credit card limit to £500 and once I've got the balance on the other under £200 I'm going to get rid of the other altogether. Small steps to reduce my reliance on borrowing.

lcc86

Today has been a frustrating day, although it really shouldn't have been. I just got annoyed because I saw someone park right where I got that ticket back in June, and the parking attendant was right there but didn't give a ticket, so I'm frustrated that I got one. I ended up sending a narky chase email, not offensive but probably should've waited a while as my frustration is no doubt obvious. It just p***ed me off. :mad:

In less frustrating news, I had a productive study day and got everything done which I'd planned as well as planning my next study day next Saturday.

I haven't left the house today so it will be a lovely NSD. Tomorrow I'll pop to sainsburys for a couple of bits. I also have horse riding and plan to see a friend as well.

lcc86

Another frustrating day. Woke up to find that BT have cut me off! So no internet. I called them, explained they were meant to call me to resolve me complaint but didn't, explained I'd sent a complaint letter, explained I paid the actual line rental and not the charge so they shouldn't have cut me off, aaaand turns out the department I need to speak to is closed today! So long winded. I hope to resolve it tomorrow. I want my internet service back, but at the same time I don't want to pay a charge while I'm disputing it.

Other than that, I've just had an incredibly relaxing hack on a lovely horse which has put me in a good mood after a frustrating start

lcc86

Have my internet back now :j I called BT a couple of times today, and got I sorted in about 2 minutes! Amazing how quickly things can get sorted when you speak to the right person. Turns out the charge was added in error, so all removed and I have been reconnected. Caught up with diaries now that I'm not relying on shocking data for my internet access

Yesterday ended up being a little spendy. I visited my best friend and spent £17 on a roast dinner in a pub. It was a damn good roast though :rotfl: And a great catchup to boot. Must do it more often.

Paid an extra £30 off my debt this morning, now the coffers really are starting to run on empty. I can view my payslip tomorrow and get paid on Thursday. It should (fingers crossed) be a good one as I've worked so much recently but we'll wait and see. I'm optimistic so I hope I'm not disappointed.

All in all I had a really decent weekend, I feel like I slept so much but it was definitely needed. I felt pretty refreshed this morning which makes a change! Especially now the clocks have gone back tomorrow is not going to be fun, I have what promises to be one of the toughest meetings I've ever experienced with a family followed by work at my second job until 11pm. Glad I got all that sleep in when I did!

lcc86

Time to reflect on Octobers' targets and set Novembers!

October targets:

1. Practice assertiveness at work - achieved I think!

2. No alcohol - I stuck to that with the exception of a little celebration prosecco when I heard I'd got my new job, but I'm gonna allow myself that one!

3. Exercise three times a week - I failed MISERABLY at that one :eek: I think I've exercised three or four times all month. Shocking! I just found myself working so much, either working late on the main job or working my second job and it fell by the wayside.

4. Prioritise home life and down time - again, I think I failed miserably here as I was working so much. Oopsy.

5. Four NSD's per week - this I achieved with the exception of one week where I had 3 not 4, but overall not bad!

6. PAD challenge - I did really well with this, and made some decent inroads into my debt.


Overall, I did okay, some things could've been better but I think setting myself such high targets in some areas was a mistake from the off knowing how little spare time I had available at points during the month. Anyway, onto November's targets:

1. Prioritise home life and down time - I think I'll do much better at this as I'll be leaving my second job shortly, am winding down now in terms of the main job, and I also have a week off before I start my new job.

2. 4 NSD's per week - I want to carry on with this as it really got me thinking about when and how I spent my money. I was considering 5 per week but I don't think that's possible with Christmas coming up!

3. Go veggie for the month - more of a personal challenge, it's something I tried at the start of the year and I'd like to do it again before the festive season.

4. Exercise twice a week - I think this is more realistic than what I set before, especially as I should have time to do it. Plus I've booked some horse riding and should be starting some dog walking through borrow my doggy which will help.

5. Complete the first draft of my first essay for my course - self-explanatory really!

Payday tomorrow. The payslip looked better than expected when I saw it yesterday, sadly I'm far too excited about moving money around when it hits my account lol :rotfl:

lcc86

Payday today, have put £300 aside to hopefully help with travel throughout December just in case, have also paid an extra £25 off my loan today too. My repayment goes through as normal on 1st November. I might be able to overpay a little more towards the end of the month if I'm careful. Hope to have a proper catch up tonight or tomorrow.