NST - January. Bobs post bauble debt busting challenge

DawnW

Is anyone else itching to get started? :rotfl:

apple_muncher

Yep! Definitely! But also glad for the last few days to finish off both December (thank you misstara :T) and 2015, and mull over plans for next year and beyond.

I think I have scored on number 8 already. But I shall keep schtum until it becomes a reality...

WelshKitty85

Hi everyone!

So my plan for January is:

1. Aim for 21 NSDs. I shouldn't NEED to spend on more than 6/7 days so this should be achievable.

2. I will pay to debt first. I have direct debits set up to pay just above the minimum. My stretch target will be to add an extra £100 to my savings account.

3. My aim is to pay off my final credit card in 2016. I am making my usual monthly payments to the cc, but am also saving in an interest paying account. My reason for this is firstly to gain interest on my savings and then pay it off the cc before the 0% ends. However, my new job is initially on a temporary contract, so if by any chance it isn't renewed I may have to live off the savings temporarily. Fingers crossed they keep me on!

4. I will do my best to check in every day.

5. I have signed up to the Wales air ambulance lottery. I don't usually play lotteries, but it's a cause I am happy to support so I will be classing this as my money to charity.

6. I don't have any social activities planned for January, but as it will be my first month of not working weekends I would really like to get out with the little ones, so may put £20 aside for this.

7. I have done a stock take on my freezer and am hoping to get away without a butchers shop. So am setting my grocery budget at £175. Fuel budget is £75.

8. I have been offered a free coat today (brand new!) but won't get it until January, so does that count? MIL doesn't want it and won't return it to the shop as it "was only £20"!!!

9. I am hoping that now I am working part time and set days each week, I can get into a routine and put more effort and time into my business. Now my shop is closed I want to focus on hiring out items for wedding etc. I have also signed up to a challenge to earn £1000 from selling items in 2016, so I best get decluttering. This will include personal belongings and old business items. I also need to get back into paid surveys.

10. We have recently checked our credit reports and the only issue was that we rent out the house we own, so the address we live in is different to the address on our mortgage. The only problem this caused wa when dh tried to get a phone contract with ee. It wasn't a problem with O2 though and not sure what we could do about that anyway.

Really looking forward to January now!

jeanangeo

Fmess wrote: »

I found someone on one of the Old Style Money Saving threads suggest that you use half a dishwasher tablet in each load. I've been doing it with Aldees tablets for a year or more and it washes the dishes just as well

Thanks Fmess, I will try that and also go hunting on that tread for other ideas. It all helps. Thanks again 😀

jeanangeo

I have a quick newbie question that has almost certainly been covered before but I can't seem to find it...

What is classed as "no spend"? Are bill days, scheduled shop days and petrol visits ignored or included...? Are emergency spends ignored or included eg boiler, car...?


Apologies if this has been covered somewhere obvious and I'm being blind....

Bobarella

Chocolate - how strange it is that a good credit history does not equate to a good score. However don't worry about scores. The wisdom on the boards appears to be that they count for very little as all lenders apply their own criteria so scores are there to try and sell us on experian and the others who charge monthly fees for checking them and suggesting ways of improving them. So long as all your payments are up to date the rest is fairly much up to the lender.

Apple - Wow that would be impressive work...need to get the magnifying glass out again on your budgets? Sounds exciting about the free stuff!

Jeanangeo -it sounds like you could make some serious savings by knocking that cafe habit on the head or at the very least reducing it right down. I think you sound like a very driven individual and I wish you every success with that mortgage.

Your question on what is included or not in a NSD. It is fairly much up to the individual but things like medicine, emergency spends for serious reasons, etc. Some people count days DDS leave accounts others don't.

Stewby - I think you are sensible to vary it. So many good causes out there.

TOG - I think it's amazing what you do. And what your church achieve. There are so many needy at the moment. A sobering thought in the midst of the festive season.

Fmess - I use half a dishwasher tab myself as you say it works fine.

Must Try Harder - welcome aboard. Your number is now on page 1.

X spender - good luck with your half marathon and other aims of course.

Dawn - yes I am!

WelshKitty - good luck with all your aims for the year.

misstara

Morning turtles and thanks Bob for running this challenge.

1. I will aim for 21 NSDs
2. I am aiming to pay off £400 this month but hoping to stretch it to £500
3. My intention is to be debt free by the end of 2016. I also would like to have a proper emergency fund up and running next year.
4. I will do my best - stupid work always gets in the way
5. Will do, haven't picked which good cause yet
6. As yet, I don't have anything social planned for January. However, I'm sure this will change so will keep you updated
7. We seem to have heaps in the freezer at the moment so will be planning January meals around what's in there. Me and OH were also discussing that we tend to eat the same things over and over again so the plan is to try out one new recipe a week.
8. Will see what I can do
9. I have picked up a lot of overtime in January as well as shifts for 2nd jobs so definitely earning extra there. Will see what else I can do.
10. I've not checked my credit report since I started paying off all my debt so it will be interesting to have a look.

Right that's me, see you all on the 1st

Bipex

Hi fellow turtles!

Bobarella: I think these objectives look great! Some will be very challenging, some easier, but it's all about getting into a new frame of mind about one's spending and saving habits. I'm sure this approach has already helped me and many others.

1. I will aim for 21 NSDs, it's a big ask, but worth the effort. It will help me focus on an organised weekly shop.
2. I am going to start an Emergency Fund, since what pitiful savings I have can't cope with my plans for next year and an unforeseen contingency. This will be prioritised, as suggested, as if it is a debt.
3. I intend to save towards a proper holiday and give up somking for good. Both will improve my health and stopping smoking will save money too.
4. A good habit to check in. If you're feeling low, other posts can pick you up and sometimes you can do likewise for others. Mutual support is very helpful.
5. I'm hoping that giving several hours a week to a local charity covers this, but I'm going to also explore other causes about which I feel strongly.
6. An excellent objective. I always used to plan my diary in excruciating detail and it's a good habit to maximise use of one's time. Doing the same with expenditure will be very helpful.
7. New weekly grocery budgets will be set, reducing by 10-20% on 2015 thanks to changing to cheaper supermarkets, whilst maintaining a healthy shop.
8. Intriguing - something for nothing always interests me, as long as it's something one needs!
9. Extra revenue streams - been thinking about thebay for a while. It could coincide nicely with a declutter first, then target purchases later perhaps.
10. Glad to see this one included! No idea what mine is, will be interested to find out. Not that I want one, but I understand that getting a CC, using it sensibly and paying it off can help improve one's score?

All the best! See you all in 2016!

Bobarella

Miss Tara - great stretch target. Do you have a plan yet on how you might achieve it?

Bipex - I think you are going to save a packet by giving up smoking no pun intended. How much are you currently spending on that?

I thought I would take the time to go through my own position for the month as I need this challenge as much as anyone.

1. No Spend Days - I will be aiming for the max. If I need to buy something on a NSD then I will find a way to pay for it for 'free' for example using pre saved nectar points. So long as no cash leaves my pocket it's fine.

2. My minimum payment is now £60. I have paid £30 so far using the Payment a Day system. My OH gets paid tommorow so I will be making that min payment so the £30 is an extra. I have worked out how much per month I need to pay to clear my card (currently on 0%) in 12 months. So for me I will need to find £130 somewhere within my budgets or earn it within the month to make that stretch target of £222.

3. I'm seeking to become debt free because owing money is a constant worry. I became self employed 5 years ago and have a fluctuating income which is not not a good place to be with fixed payments.
My debt was at an all time low until I added £1800 to it in 2013 for a remortgage fee, thinking I'd clear it easily. It hasn't been easy. However I have gone from 2 cards to one and have carried on bashing away at it.
My hope once debt free is to start paying more into my big emergency fund (have the £1,000) that people suggest but want to build up a 3 to 6 month cushion. And paying down my mortgage which is currently at £242,000. I am very fortunate to have a large amount of equity in that property (we don't live in it, but rent ourselves elsewhere) but we'd like to clear it anyway as my son is unlikely to ever afford to buy in London at the current rates and coats and if we can hold onto it then in 20 years he will be all set.

4. I think daily check ins are fine for me and I will respond as much as I can to any questions.

5. We are a cycling family so I donate £5 per month to Sustrans which is a cycling safety charity. They do a lot of work to create safe routes for cyclists nationally and promote cyclist issues in parliament. I also support the RSPB with a £4 monthly donation as we love going on nature walks and birds are such a big part of our environment.

6. My diary for January is currently clear! It is my fILs birthday middle of the month so we will have to consider how we help celebrate that.

7. I have £25 in nectar points to spend this month and plan to use them to smooth my costs. I am also planning 2 meat free days per week as a minimum. We have quite a lot of leftovers in the freezer and I will aim to clear them by the end of the month.

8. I will be using my Remember Your a Womble 2016 thread to log my free finds but I will write here too for this month.

9. As above

10. I use noddle to keep track on my credit file. It's free and they email me a report each month that shows what I have on credit. I check it is the same as I think it should be.

4 years ago when we were just about to rent our current home my husband discovered he had a CCJ registered against him for a fraudulent Next catalogue debt. It was opened years after we'd left the property and his name wasn't even spelled right. It was only for around £250 but of course we'd never had any correspondence on it as we'd been elsewhere by then. It almost stopped us moving into our home. We had to do a last minute appeal to the court to supply Next with a document to strike off the debt. The annoying thing is I was PAYING experian £8;a month at the time and there was nothing on that file or Equifax. So it is something I now keep a close eye on.

Anyway think that's me!

Bob

DawnW

Useful tip about the credit checks Bob. I sort of thought I don't want credit so wouldn't bother with this one - but our tenant (who lived in this house while we lived elsewhere) styled himself as 'Director' of a number of companies although he never seemed to work (his wife did though, very hard, and unsurprisingly she has now dumped him :mad:). We have had loads of letters from various companies with return addresses that looked like debt collectors, and still get the odd one. We even had a bailiff once :eek: though he was perfectly pleasant and unsurprised that himself had moved on. I certainly wouldn't put it past him to try to get credit linked to this address if nothing else, so I will definitely look into Noddle!