First attempt at going debt free...and hopefully last!

Bex1989

Another weekend over! 1 out of 3 was an NSD too, so I'm pleased with that I managed 2 overpayments today when I got home too, £10 to Sunny and £10 to Tesco. Doesn't sound like much, but it makes me feel better knowing that the balances on both are going down! I also put away £30 for my brother's Christmas, and got a bargain for the last piece of my dad's Christmas - a wee San Miguel gift set (2xbottles of beer and 1xglass) from Lidl for £4.99, which is much better than the £40+ I was going to spend on a bottle of whiskey for him otherwise! Now the only person to get for is my mum's "bottle"...I spoke to my dad about getting her some gin from the local brewery, and he made a valid point that £35 is a lot to spend on a bottle of gin we don't know she'll like - so I'll get her a brewery tour as well, and once she's tried them all, I'll get her a bottle for her birthday! :P

Well, the snow has made an appearance here over the weekend - not a happy Bex! I always manage to fall over in the snow and ice. I actually tripped over my own foot not once but twice yesterday walking home to my OH's from the supermarket. OH was concerned because his hands were full of shopping bags and he couldn't catch me if I actually fell! It's the thought that counts

Hope everyone is having a great Monday so far

Bex1989

Not much to update, really! Back at work today after a whole week off - what a downer ;( and this rain hasn't helped my mood either...especially since I forgot my key, and had to wait in the rain for an hour after work for my dad to get home and let me in :eek: won't be making that mistake again!

My sister and I went to Dundee yesterday, for her to pick up a few bits and pieces for Christmas. I resisted so much temptation (there's a Yankee Candle store there and I bought nothing! :dance:) this in itself is a huge achievement, because previously I wouldn't think twice about spending £20-£30 in there in one go! I did have a Costa coffee, but I made a point of finally picking up a loyalty card, imagine how many points I'd have now if I'd got one months ago! I think my "treats" to myself other than that added up to less than a fiver - a wee £1 candle from george home, some mince pies, a bottle of asdas own cherry coke and a punnet of grapes :rotfl:

So I still have just over £150 to do me until pay day. But all I need to pay for is this weekend (going to visit my best friend, so that'll just be a bottle of wine to take along with me and a contribution to a chinese takeaway :beer:; then my mum is having a body shop party...this'll be tough to resist but I'll perhaps treat myself to a hand cream or something, they're so nice!), and then next weekend is the staff night out for the lab....but I'm working the morning after, so should really behave and not drink too much. We'll see! :cool: Payday will be the week of Christmas, we don't have a date yet , but I'm going to make my previous pay last until what would be our normal pay day, which would be the 30th. I'll have a few days off in between, so it really shouldn't be too hard!

Hope everyone is having a good week, and yay for Friday tomorrow! :j

Bex1989

The body shop party went well, and I didn't spend too much money! I got a gift set for myself with various strawberry products (my favourite scent from there!) and two of the three winter/christmas hand creams. The whole party had 40% off all products so it was a huge bargain! And I promised myself I wouldn't buy any more body shop stuff til the party I'm hosting in February for my birthday, so we'll see!

I also barely spent anything at my friend's, she had already bought in loads of wine and nibbly things so I just paid for half of our takeaway, so I came home with money left over from that night, which makes a nice change!

Now the only expense to go is my work night out whihc is this weekend. I'm working on Sunday though, so shouldn't be spending too much on alcohol, and the ticket we paid for months ago included a hot buffet so no need to pay for food either. Fingers crossed I'll have a wee bit left over from that too to pay a bit more towards debt before the year is out!

x

Bex1989

Pay day again, yay Though it's going to have to last a while, since it's another 6 weeks until we get paid again, now! I managed to still have £15 left over in my bank from my last pay, and while it would be best to put that straight into a debt...I think I'll use it to buy something nice to have as a meal on Christmas eve at my boyfriend's with his dad. If i give myself a little bit of freedom now, I'll be all the more determined come the new year!

I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year - unfortunately for me I'm working both Christmas eve and Boxing Day, but at least Christmas day itself is free for family. See you all next year

getmore4less

Hi looks like things are well under control and life is getting good, being happy goes a long way.

Having a look at the debt side of things.

Bex1989 wrote: »

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
CC - Barclaycard...............2050......51.51.....18.9
CC - CapitalOne................750.......25.15.....29
CC - Tesco.....................1000......26.7......22
OD - Bank of Scotland..........1200......0.........0
PDL - Wonga....................301.2.....301.2.....292
PDL - Sunny....................486.38....238.......292
PL - Bank of Scotland..........1662.92...90.06.....22
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Looking at these interest rates I think there may be something you can do here.

Wonga is done so now to tackle the Sunny.

What are the terms of your Sunny Loan?

Looking at the web site it's 0.8% a day thats £24 per month per £100, but whats you min payment and term?

What are the limits on each of your other cards?
Do you have any other OD limit that may have interest what rate.

The Sunny is so expensive it is worth maxing out the other cards again after the min payment on normal spends even if just a few £ it will save money and get the sunny paid off quicker.

Based on the initial SOA sunny should be paid off this month or at latest with Jan payments
PDL - Sunny....................486.38....238.......292
Nov say £500 interest £125 payment £240
Dec £385 interest £93 payment £240 + £300(wonga)
Jan £0

If not how close, by maxing out the other limits with normal spends can you clear it?



On another point not that significant in the big picture but might free up some money. I see you buy your bus pass weekly are there any other options? Do you need the bus pass when not working(6weeks holiday)

I managed to still have £15 left over in my bank from my last pay,

The 6 week month is an issue as you got paid early this month so last month was very short, how much would you have had left if you had been paid at normal time?

As NHS pay days are variable it might be worth looking at a fixed period for budgeting say calender months, the problem with payday to payday and variable pay dates is the "months" vary in length between 4 and 5 weeks.

This way Dec pay cover Jan, Jan pay cover Feb etc. a small change but evens things out.

Another stratagy that can work and might for you as most of your expences are weekly is to work on a 5 week month each pay day covers 5 weeks expenses, this gives 60 weeks to cover 52 giving 8 weeks worth is spare to cover the debts/savings/emergency.


Clearing both Wonga and Sunny will be saving over £160pm interest from the SOA only 6 weeks ago, fantastic!