22 months to work, dig, tidy and declutter my way to debt freedom

peaceandfreedom

Hi everyone - sorry for the extended period of AWOL .

I am doing OK though - just haven't been coming on MSE for some reason. Which is odd because I enjoy reading everyone's dairies so much.

There is really no point in updating my targets for this month because most of them have met with abysmal failure. What has gone pretty well is the decluttering - have removed bag loads of clothes and other junk from the house and work is still ongoing.

NSDs are probably pretty good as well though I haven't been keeping count. Financially, things are well under control but I would like to be able to throw more cash at the debt, so need to work on that. The switch over to a new 0% card has given me a one-month holiday from CC repayments. I was going to send this to the new card anyway as an extra payment but it seems if you do that, it reduces the DD by the same amount. So I've decided to hang onto it and keep it for various jobs that need doing.

This puts back my credit card DFD by a month or so. Since I wanted to bring the DFD forward not back I am really going to have to make a bigger effort in the new year. I have earned myself a voucher from survey-filling and am close to another one.

I have plenty of cash for Christmas and it is most relaxing to be able to Christmas shop with the funds already available :j. I also have a stash in my sealed pot that I will crack open in the next week or two. It's a great feeling, I recommend this saving lark :xmastree::xmassmile.

Jwil and Polly, I STILL haven't sold anything but - wait for it - I have plans in place to have stuff on sale by Monday. Let's not celebrate until it happens though . In truth, I donated piles of stuff to the chazzer instead of selling it. But I don't feel guilty about that, it's an extra donation and it's better than the stuff lying around for a few more years - I'm glad to think that someone else will make use of it .

Jwil, thanks for the advice on how you go about ebay listing, I will bear that in mind - get stuff ready for listing and then sit down and do the actual listings all in one go. I defo have some stuff that would go on ebay, so I will keep you posted on progress.

Have a lovely rest-of-Saturday everyone.

peaceandfreedom

Lacherlich wrote: »

Hi!

Glad to see the debt clearing is going well :-)

I also had a pretty lazy October, I made the mistake of weighing myself and am now the heaviest I have ever been! Ouch. Not that I'm humongous, but definitely a concern! Think I'll try and eat clean for a month once all the food in the house is gone - maybe go for a run... ha.

Congrats on your Xmas money stash! Wish I had some saved, but got a few vouchers for John Lewis from completing surveys that I will give to people. This year is going by so quickly!

Hope all is well :-)

Hi Lacherlich

Give yourself a few weeks to whittle a few pounds before Christmas is upon us. Set yourself some kind of target, like a certain number of miles/minutes walking/running a week or something. I always find that having some kind of plan does help.

I love having my Christmas money stash, it makes such a difference. I have had a look and I have £15 worth of points to redeem - these can be redeemed via a virtual Visa card, which is quite appealing because it's as good as cash.

You are right, the year has whizzed by, I'm sure it's only 5 minutes since I laughingly said on 25th June 'It's only 6 months 'till Christmas' :rotfl:.

peaceandfreedom

Pollygarter wrote: »

Morning!

I am subscribed to you diary and am really pleased to see that debt has got onto a 0& card. Now, as you say to pay it off by the end of the free time. It's a great deadline, we all need those! And it is affordable. If you get selling. I am similar. I had a huge push to move house back in August and managed it. I scrimped and sold like mad. But I still have some 0 percent debt. It isn't free money of course and will be back to bite us both I we don't sort it. I've got a tiny bit in a savings pot too let over from the house move and tucked in my ISA. I'd like to be able to keep that...it would be the first time I ever managed to keep any savings since I was a kid. So I'm going to get back on the horse of ebaying, I still have some clutter left in boxes. So let's keep pushing on eh? How many items are you going to list this week? I'm going to get one on by tonight. You?

Hi Polly - thanks for dropping in and apologies that I then disappeared for ages .

My credit card debt was always on 0%, I just switched to a new deal as the old one was due to run out. I think I've got about 18 months to pay this off and it cost nothing to transfer as well, so I'm very pleased. However, my current plan is to pay it off by the end of May 2016.

Well done on the savings. I am pleased to have a little Cash ISA stash as well, which has various pots of savings in it. This includes a small contingency fund, some Christmas money, some 'personal' money for my indulgence and some other cash for occasional large expenses (e.g. car service). I'm not bothered about taking money in and out of the ISA because I don't put enough in to worry about meeting the savings limits.

Did you manage to sell anything on ebay? I have of course listed nothing and therefore sold nothing. But I live in hope that one day I'll do it .

peaceandfreedom

Hello again - thought I'd pop back and report my lack of progress :rotfl:.

I was saying on the Sealed Pot thread that although I have plenty of money stashed away for Christmas, for the first time in years, I don't actually want to spend it now and am constantly thinking up ways of cutting back. I have always spent too much at Christmas anyway so a little trimming back here and there won't hurt .

Yesterday I did some work in the garden - it was freezing out there but I soon warmed up. Also went for a nice walk. This morning the car was really frosted over - first car-scrape of the winter :snow_grin.

Also did a bit of baking and freezing stuff yesterday and had a freezer clear-out, which was much needed.

I am conscious that I made a vow to declutter the house by the end of 2015 and it's getting very close to that date and I'm nowhere near getting it all done. Still, it's not over till the fat lady sings, so I live in hope.

STILL nothing put up for sale :o:o:o.

peaceandfreedom

Well, what a wild wet and windy day it is, and more forecast for the rest of the weekend :cool:.

Still, I have a ton of things to do indoors and it's kind of nice to have an excuse not to go outside . Having said that, I've mainly done nothing today, which is not very promising given that's now nearly 3 o'clock. Still, I usually allow myself considerable laziness on a Saturday, I've been shattered all week and we were out last night as well.

I have absolutely no progress to report on the selling front, I continue to hang my head in shame on that one .

However, money-wise, November has been a very excellent month. I was completely surprised by the text from the bank informing me of a large credit to my account - I had forgotten it was payday . I am never hanging on in desperation for my paycheque anymore, my budget runs to the end of the calendar month. This month I have a surplus in pretty much every category despite an overnight stay away and other sundry expenses.

Can I say again, if you are struggling with managing your money, live in your overdraft and repeatedly spend more than you intended to, get yourself YNAB. The phone app means that even when out and about you can keep track of what you're spending, all money is accounted for and you feel totally in control. YNAB, along with cutting up my 'spending' credit card has transformed my life. That horrible horrible sinking-in-the-stomach feeling of not having enough money to meet expenses has now gone.

I'm not saying it was just YNAB - I got a better job, then I got promoted, OH got a not-so-bad job as well. But I've been far better paid in the past yet managed to completely squander all my money and end up in debt. I now have far more control with far less money coming in.

OK, so I didn't mean to go on for so long about it. But I really cannot overstate how relaxing it is not to be totally wound up about money all the time. It's not always how much money you have to play with, it's how in control you are of your spending. I spent many many years totally out of control - being a complete idiot if I'm honest. I'm glad I've waved that idiot goodbye .

peaceandfreedom

So, my plans for this weekend are (in no particular order ):

• Housework - all needs a clean and tidy, especially bathrooms.
• Three things up for sale - that's all, just three things - I can do that, can't I ?
• Declutter the dining-room and tidy up all the bits and bobs scattered about in various storage boxes.
• Study some of my online courses.
• Do the clothes mending.
• Dye the couple of things that need to be a proper black colour.
• Start on decluttering the garage.
• Try to get in one decent walk, in between the downpours.

That's not too much to ask - I can do that :dance:

peaceandfreedom

I know I seem to be talking largely to myself these days (but thanks for popping in INOD and stepuptothepl8) but I'm going to carry on regardless as it helps me to write things down.

I made a good start today on the decluttering, should get the room finished off tomorrow.

My wellbeing took a complete nosedive this evening, though, not quite sure why but I started on the many-regrets-my-whole-life-is-a-failure vibe again. Tried hard to snap myself out of it by keeping busy and partly succeeded. I wish these thoughts wouldn't keep happening .

Anyway, off to bed now, tomorrow is another day and all that.

blubella

You are deffo not speaking to yourself! I have read your diary from start to end and love it...i will make more of a concerted effort to drop in and say 'I'm here!' I know that I feel exactly the same...I am talking to myself but it does help to write it down!!

Your diary has thus inspired me to trial YNAB, although I have to admit I have gone a bit haywire with it all and ended up deleting ALL of the entries as I couldn't work out where I had gone wrong? I am therefore giving it another go and starting again tomorrow...payday...yay!! Although I am going to have to purchase the darn app in 5 days time if I want to continue.

I have also nicked some of your ideas re: goals..so thanks

Keep up the good work, you've been inspirational.

x

Rosylee

Hi, have enjoyed reading your diary and have subscribed. I love YNAB too...this is the first year I have paid for Christmas in cash. Of course it's a sparser Christmas than I have ever had....only started YNAB in September. But in that time I was able to save for my car service as well. It's funny though, I feel so skint even though there is money for lots of categories, eg clothing, school uniform, car service. But no more for luxury spending lol. Thank goodness it's payday tomorrow. Well done on your journey so far

Moneywhizz

I always read your diary too and enjoy following your progress. You are doing great with the budgeting. Isn't it such a relief to have all the money sitting in the pots when you need it. I learned my lesson many years ago and even though I now have plenty of money I still stick to my budget. As you say it's not about how much you have but how you use it.

For what it's worth I don't think ebay is the way forward for you. If there's not another way for you to sell your stuff, eg car boot or gumtree, you may be just as well giving it away. I think having a decluttered home helps you to have a decluttered mind and concentrate on the things that are important. That may just be a personal thing though.

Keep up the good work. You are doing great. X