Time to take control

JHiggins91

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my diary on my journey towards being debt free, so I hope those of you who choose to follow this thread enjoy it. I look forward to all your comments, tips and tales of your experiences along the way so let's go!.

As of 01/05/15 (LBM) my debts were/are:
Capital one credit card - £1242.31 (£1250.00 limit) 30.34% interest
Royal Bank of Scotland Overdraft - £2000.00 limit (Maxed)
Car finance - £9.800 (Will update with more accurate figure after next payment)


Although this isn't a lot of money compared to some of the debts I have seen on the board I want to share my journey with you all and hopefully get at least the credit card and OD facilities paid off by the end of this year!

My overdraft in a graduate account so as long as I get that down to £1500.00 by September I have no interest charge. Think this is very doable.

Also I never really appreciated (HA!!) the interest rate I was on for my credit card. Think I've read on here about people switching to 0% cards. I'm not sure but is that something that's readily available to everyone? I'll have to have a look ...

Moving forward from today I'm going to become very calculated and measured, making sure everything I purchase is a necessity rather than a nicety. Will work up a plan for the month (as pay day today 15th every month) and work to this.

Also I've noticed a lot of you use surveys online, which are the best do you think as this is something I'm hopefully going to use to make overpayments on the credit card?

Looking forward to reading all of your comments

All the best.

John

Skintandscared

Good luck :beer:

honeypooh1980

Good luck on your journey

monz

Subscribed good luck x

chasingfreedom

Hi John and welcome, you are in the right place. So many knowledgeable and inspiring people on here.

Ref the 0% cards, you need to have a reasonable credit rating but its well worth it if you can get one. Will mean you can reduce your card debt faster. There is a 0% eligibility checker on here which doesn't affect your credit rating and lets you know whether you are likely to be accepted. Its in the cards & loans section.

Good luck x

JHiggins91

Thanks everyone!

chasingfreedom - Thanks I'll have a look at that and hopefully can get something sorted as my credit rating isn't too bad, thanks!


Yesterday was a mixed day. Started with all the best intentions, made up a meal plan and drafted up a month spending plan. Also listed a couple of items on gumtree as well so looking to bring in an extra £20.00 this week off of that which will be going straight into the credit card to pay it off a bit faster!

Never did get round to looking for the online surveys as it was my little sister's 21st birthday party last night in my mother's house, so was quite busy with that.
Was hoping to have a NSD (3rd or 4th of the week!) however ended up in a fairly heated row with the OH so decided to buy myself some beer (£7.00). Hindsight is a great thing but wish I hadn't bought it.

That's the last of that though, really hadn't been in an argument like that with her in a few years which is no excuse however hopefully can look at it and move on from it.

Today I'm going to pick up my car then come back and look at joining a few sites for some survey's. OH is away out with our daughter into Glasgow so should have some peace and quiet to do so.

Also a side note, wanting some of your opinions if you would be so kind. I haven't told the OH about my journey. I've always been so ignorant with money and it's always annoyed her.. she's never been frugal or anything just careful with money so was hoping to surprise her in a few months with showing her how far I had came. Wondering now if it would be better to have her involved aswell? It may be good for moral support if she knew plus would maybe spurr her on to do some extra cost cutting here and there, not that she needs it tremendously but would always help.

Anyway, up and onwards from here, way I see it is that's an extra £20.00 on the credit card that I wouldn't have paid off if I hadn't had my LBM so fairly chuffed with myself

Take care,

John.

JHiggins91

Today was a relatively slow day in terms of saving money. Haven't done much over the weekend apart from my sister's 21st and took my daughter swimming today (really dear, won't be going back to that swimming baths!)

I got paid on Friday however a good bit less than what I should have made (recently moved job and tax code was messed up). Planning on (hopefully) living off of my reduced wage this month as it's not much less than what I was earning in my old role and using the extra cash next month from my tax being given back to pay off a whack of the debt on my credit card, that should be roughly £200.00 - £300.00 off on the one go - given that I manage to do it!

Tomorrow is my first NSD of the week. I'm lucky enough that my parents live a couple minutes walk down the road from my work so will sponge off of them for my lunch this week. Hopefully have 3-4 NSD this week however will probably need to spend some on messages etc for daughter and fiance.

So far this diary has been more about my thoughts than actually documenting my actions against debt but hopefully within the next couple of weeks I'll be making moves to make payments etc.!

Also decided that I'm going to get back into jogging. Thought that now that I'm sorting my debts out I may aswell sort out my health also. I'm not the most unhealthy person but I've let myself go a bit recently and would like for my daughter to grow up with her Dad being extra healthy!

That's all for now - All my DDs have came off now but am hoping to sell a few items from gumtree this week and make an extra payment towards the credit card at the end of the week so looking forward to it.

Take care,

John.

abba1772

Have you tried selling on fb selling pages I have a lot of success selling my stuff on there xx

Good luck with you debt free journey xx

chasingfreedom

lol, love the sponging off the parents comment. I used to do the same when I lived closer to mine. I loved calling my mum on a Sunday asking what was for dinner, it's how its meant to be


You asked for comments on whether you should involve your OH or not. Personally I would say yes. Firstly, it's moral support and she can also join in your efforts and you get there faster. Secondly, she'll see that you are making positive steps to improve your situation for yourself and your family and that can't be a bad thing and thirdly, in my experience keeping secrets (even good ones) can sometimes backfire and its best to be open, in my opinion. Plus if you are anything like me you are going to get obsessed with this debt busting and be bursting to talk about it at every opportunity and plan for the future

JHiggins91

Abba - thanks! I'm on my local buy and sell page so will post thing on that too! Should save delivery costs or costs of diesel to travel and meet people from gumtree to sell stuff, thanks for the idea I'll let you know how I get on!

Chasing Freedom - thanks I'm gonna take on board what you said and let me fianc! know, thinking about it now and taking on board what you've said it's probably best to let her know I'm dealing with it. As you can imagine I've lied about my financial status before with her out of embarrassment so probably best to not lie! Thanks!

Having a NSD today. Free water and fruit in work today so will take a couple bits home for myself and daughter. That should do as a snack for tomorrow at work.
Also going to go to parents house for lunch.
Good weather coming in now so hopefully get the bike to work from now on save diesel.
Minimum payment on CC but going to make an extra payment once I sell couple things on Gumtree /Facebook.
going to clear out some clothes to take to cash for clothes / charity shop tomorrow.
Make up lunch for tomorrow and use up some of the food in fridge for dinners

chasingfreedom

We've all been there I guess and been too embarrassed to be open, especially debt wise when it's usually a bit daft (me I mean not you!!) Hope she takes it positively and you can both work on it together. It'll be a joint sense of achievement


Have a nice day NS day