Grannydebt to Grannysolvent

Grannydebt

Hi,

I seem to have been in debt all my adult life. I am now a granny and I think it is about time I sorted it out once and for all. I have a couple of credit cards, both on 0%.

Marks and Spencer - £2546.91
Sainsbury's - £4129.21
TOTAL - £6676.12
OUCH

I am newly single having split up from my partner of 5 years last month. I was previously divorced about 10 years ago. On the plus side I have a great family, including grandchildren, and some good friends. I work full time and I am in good health. I have a paid for little car and an equally paid for little cat. On the negative side I still have a mortgage and the debts listed above

My plan is to go 100% flat out until I have them both paid off. Specifically I intend to,

1) Find out when the interest free period if up on them both so I know exactly where I stand.
2) Decide how much of my savings to use and how much to keep as an emergency fund.
3) Use extreme cost cutting (taking into account 5 below) to pay off the debts ASAP.
4) Work additional overtime (when available) and throw this at the debt.
5) Exercise, eat well and get plenty of sleep to protect my health.
6) Pay off the credit card debt and flit over to the mortgage free wannabe forum to start on that.
7) Start saving to boost my works pension.

Anyone who would like to is welcome to come along for the ride. Advice and encouragement very much needed and gratefully received.

Love

Grannydebt

Grannydebt

Hi,

I've made some slow progress in achieving my goals listed above.

1) The M&S interest free period finishes in June and the Sainsbury's in September so I will have to get super motivated and clear everything ASAP or I will need to look for another 0% to balance transfer.
2) I have researched on line and the recommended emergency fund is 3 to 6 months expenses. I would love to have this level of savings especially as I am on my own now so have to be self reliant. Unfortunately, for me that would be a minimum of £1300 so it's not realistic at present. As an alternative American finance guru, Dave Ramesy, suggests $1000 which is about £650. As a compromise I have decided to keep £1000 in savings as an emergency fund.
3) So far his week I have spent on bread, milk and coffee. I needed the milk and bread but could have done without coffee until my next big shop. I get paid at the end of the week so I will use the weekend to have a good long think about cutting back on none essential spending in June.
4) No overtime posted yet but will keep looking

With luck I may be able to pay off the M&S card using savings and May wage. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Grannydebt

Ches

Good luck Grannydebt.

Grannydebt

Hi

Thank you Ches.

Things are moving on.

I have used savings and my May wages to pay off my M&S debt which will be outside its 0% next month. I thought it was better to pay it off ASAP rather than risk getting any interest. It is a nice chunk to pay off but it has left me short for June so I will have to be very careful what I spend. I think cheap meals using what's in the cupboard and the freeze will be the order of the day. Also, quite nights in front of the television rather than going out on the town. I am going to a wedding at the end of June which will not be cheap as I have to buy a gift and there will be travel costs.

I think the easy part has been done, I used savings and I was lucky to get quite a lot of overtime last month but there is none on the horizon at the moment. To pay off the remaining credit card won't be so easy. I have until September when the interest free period ends but that's only 3 pay days (30th June, 31st July and 28th August). There is no way I can find over £4K in three months no matter how much overtime I do.. So to help I have decided to sell some jewellery given to me by an ex partner. It's lovely but I have decided it has to go,

a) I don't want to wear it any more. It just brings up bad memories mostly because he finished the relationship and I did not see it coming.
b) If I'm honest most of the debt is due to trying to keep up with his life style. He had more money than me and I stupidly spent to keep up. Just shows. there's no fool like an old fool!

I'm not sure what it's worth so will have to do some research. Perhaps it's cubic ziconia and brass and only worth pennies.

Oh well onward and upward.

Grannydebt

Grannydebt

Hi all,

I'm feeling very positive right now, I feel that ,with some hard work, I could be debt free, not including the mortgage, for the first time in my adult life. The most amazing thing is it might only take a couple of months from my LBM.

1. I'm working very hard to be as frugal as possible. I've signed up for a couple of challenges to keep me motivated
2. I'm in the process of selling the jewellery, thankfully it is not cubic ziconia and brass:j. An old friend in the trade is advising me but I'm also doing my own research,
3. I have been through the house to find things to ebay. Currently, I have some collectable and antiques listed. Fingers crossed they bring a good price

I said before I've been following Dave Ramsey, I don't agree with his whole philosophy or his manner but I do like the idea of being gazelle intense to get out of debt. I'm very, very gazelle intense

Good luck everyone

Grannydebt

judi24

Hi Just found your diary - had to look up Dave Ramsey and get what you and him are saying about killing debt as quickly as possible - sometimes I think I am pushing myself to hard to get rid of it but It feels like it is a mill stone round my neck - you are doing great!!!! Keep going!

Grannydebt

Hi all,

Here is my monthly update. Overall I have made good progress and have managed to keep up the momentum, although there have been a few slips ups during June.

On the plus side

1. I have sold the jewellery given to me by an ex partner. I feel I received a fair price for it, about the middle of the estimate I had in my head. Also, I feel like it is another step to washing that man right out of my hair!
2. The other items, which I listed on ebay, have sold except one item which did not make its reserve. Again I think I obtained a fair price, some made more, some less than I expected.
3. I managed to pick up some overtime before the payroll deadline on the 21st.

On the minus side

1. I was supposed to be living frugally but I ended up spending about £80.00 eating out.
2. I over shot my, rather generous, groceries budget. So not so good on the food purchasing front.

With the money I made from the sale of assets and the bit of overtime I earned I'm pleased to say, I'm unsecured debt free :T:T:j:j:dance::dance:

The mad thing is that it took less than two months of hard work to get rid of debts which I have carried round with me for years. I tried to kid myself that because they were on 0% they did not count, but of course they did. I'm just glad I saw the light while I'm still working and I have time to pay off the mortgage and build up some savings before I retire. Thank God I joint the pension scheme when I first started work. It's just about the only sensible financial decision I have ever made, and I think you had to join in the mid 1980s.

I am following Dave Ramsey's baby steps, as far as they apply to me, which isn't far. So I now move onto step 3 and will start to build up 3/6 months emergency savings. After that I want to hit the mortgage and get rid of it ASAP.

Good luck everyone on your journey to debtfreeness.

Grannydebt

Ches

Wow thats impressive.

Grannydebt

Thank you. I appreciate it

GD