My Smug Marrieds Shiny New Diary - Get Our Debts Sorted Before 2018

Bobarella

Good luck with sorting it all put. You've already taken the first steps. It won't happen overnight but the diary should help motivate you.

lincs1205

Thanks Bobbarella , no it won't happen overnight and I think that's the first thing I've got to realise. We didn't get into this debt overnight so we shouldn't expect to get out of it overnight.

I'm going to look into joining some challenges to keep me motivated. The 1% challenge and the emergency fund look interesting.

Plan tomorrow is to do some batch cooking, the car is on hp and can't get rid of that without a clause until next may but we're going to Wales with my parents for my dad's 70th mum is kindly paying for all of us. Once car has gone I will need to find a replacement fairly quickly as I need a car for work. That will free up £295 per month. Need to figure out how I'm going to pay for that.

lincs1205

Morning, well so far this morning I have sorted car tax for another year which is the grand total of £0, been talking to dh about the car and am now having 2nd thoughts regarding handing the car back in June as I will still need to have a decent reliable car and this one will have been mot'd & serviced for another year plus it's economical so I'm now thinking that as well as servicing our debts each month I also need to set aside money for the car to buy it outright when the hp agreement ends next November so 2016 not 2015. I realise this is a big ask but at the end of it the car will be mine and I will be £300 per month better off as that's another direct debit I'm not paying off.

I can't wait until tomorrow because all my standing orders and direct debits go out and I will be able to figure out where I stand.

Plan for the coming week is work Tuesday, Wednesday, training Thursday, work Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Set up a one off payment to pay off my barclaycard when my cheque from black horse has cleared so probably Friday, close it or do I keep it open and then when my 0% offer with bank of Scotland ends which then goes up to 18.9%, I pay the remainder over to that account as there is currently a offer of 6.9% for two years depends what the balance transfer fee is really. My lloyds card has the largest balance on it the Apr is 6.4% for the life of the balance. The other option is that I apply for another 0% card next year and see if I can transfer the remainder of the credit card debt over only my debt at the moment will sort dh out when mine is sorted, his is trotting along nicely at the moment and we are no way in the position that were in when dh stepped down from his previous post at that point we thought we were going to have to sell the house as no direct debits were getting paid and we were bouncing fees all over the place thankfully dh got a substantial amount of ppi and I got a better paid job, my default dropped off my credit file and we should have had a look at our finances then but we were lending money to pil and we just got ourselves in debt again. Lessons learnt harshly.

lincs1205

Just been through my credit report and noticed that a capital one credit card that I paid off in 2014 was still showing as open so have just rung them and closed it, I've also closed my simply be account and am going to be refunded £2.60 as in credit I am also in the process of ringing very and closing that account as I never use it so what is the point in it being open. That will then leave me with 6 accounts open. Seeing the amount of debt I have got is seriously scary but I will get rid of it.

bellevie

Good work Lincs, closing those accounts down will remove any temptation that would have popped up later down the line!

lincs1205

Exactly Bellevie , I think seeing how much I owe has given me a serious fright and a boot up the bum which is exactly what I needed.

Have just spent the past few hours in the kitchen batch cooking ready for the week ahead. I've done one pot chicken with new potatoes & veg, chilli con carne with veg instead of rice and a mild chicken curry again with veg instead of rice. I will be doing overnight oats for me to take with me to work over the next few days from Tuesday til next Monday. I will not be taking my purse with me as I've emptied all the £1 coins outside my purse into a hidey hole in the car for my parking at work. Tea & coffee is supplied so don't need to buy that. Will be taking my notebook into work with me if their are any lulls during the day 12 hours is a long time at work and it can sometimes drag so I need things to keep me occupied hence no purse or other money apart from parking money otherwise I'll sit and eat unnecessary & naughty things.

kirtsypoos

Hi Lincs,

Thought I'd pop along and subscribe to your diary - you seem very organised with planning, you'll be on top of this debt in no time!

Bit of a read and run as I'm off to work, but wanted to say hi!

lincs1205

Ah thanks kirsty poos for stopping by much appreciated :wave:. Don't think Dh has quite had his LBM yet he just said to me I fancy Chinese tonight as we have a rare evening off tonight to which I answered a very firm no :huh::huh:, prior to this he said oh I've left my wallet downstairs (has his discount card) he works at a certain supermarket and I said well we don't actually need anything do we I know this cause I did a shop on Friday and the cupboards are groaning from previous shopping expeditions and he was like well pringles are on offer to which I answered we don't need them though do we. Men honestly :wall: , not casting any aspersions. When I first moved in with Dh he was a nightmare unopened post everywhere, bank statements where you wouldn't expect bank statements , I actually opened his post one day so glad I did cause it was a letter from his loan saying they were going to issue a default if he didn't pay what was owed ASAP :eek:. He never looked at his bank statements there were direct debits on there for stuff that was no longer needed and up to this year I have been combing through our joint bank account to see what else there was and there was card protection insurance which I got him to cancel.

We have got a hell of a long way to go but we will get there by hook or by crook. :money:

lincs1205

Well as you can probably see I've updated my signature and oh my life those are some scary numbers, I haven't put my car on there because I can't overpay it and I can't afford to get rid of it but I am perfectly aware of what it is costing me per month. I haven't put DH debts on there as can only afford to deal with mine at the moment and as I've said his are being serviced by the minimum payments and we haven't missed any payments. Just checked my own bank account and all the standing orders for credit cards have gone out just waiting for my direct debits to go out now. Once they've gone out I'll cancel the direct debit for the gym had to give a months notice for that which I did at the beginning of the month so that will be another £25 available to throw at debt. :question::question::question:

Think I'm going to give barclaycard a ring and see if they will reduce my interest down because I'm now thinking I might keep the money aside that I got from black horse and put it into my online savings account to put towards the one off payment for my car because the barclaycard will be gone in two months. Hhmmm

lincs1205

Well I rang barclaycard and unfortunately it's a no go with reducing the interest at this present time but she was a very helpful lady and did say that I can ring up at anytime to get a further review on my card which is handy to know, I did confirm with her that my account is up to date and not in arrears which she agreed with so all good.

With regards to the cheque I'm going to keep it my savings account because as I say I have my nmc renewal coming up which is £120 , car insurance which I am not aiming to pay more than £200 for and will look for the best deal through cash back also Christmas is coming.

I also really need some winter boots as the ones I wore last year caused me a great deal of pain with my knee due to them not supporting my feet I made the mistake of wearing said boots last week and by the time I came back from town my knee was agony and I had a nice blister on my heel.