Ready to be debt free

DD265

It's done. I feel lost right now; like I should be doing something but I don't know what the something is.

ada-or-ardor

Delurking just to say thinking of you, it's such a horrible decision to have to make but I'm sure he's in a better place. Take care x

kirtsypoos

I'm so sorry DD, it's not easy. Take care of yourself.

DD265

Thank you both. Tomorrow after work I think I will go to collect our things from the stables. It's going to be hard going up there with no pony to see, so I might arrange to meet a friend. I think I'll feel better for doing it although there's no rush if I'm not ready when it comes to getting in the car.

Today I was off work and have indulged in a little retail therapy, and did some small errands. I bought us a meat slicer for the kitchen; like the circular ones you see at deli counters only not as big. It was less than £30 at Argos and quite good fun to use. I could never have sliced our roast beef that thin even with the electric carving knife.

Also bought a couple of small copper lanterns from TK Maxx - it cost less than £10 for the two - as our wedding decor is going to involve a lot of copper lanterns. I was thinking of buying in bulk from China but haven't explored the costs yet, and it'd be good to have a few different ones.

I had my engagement ring cleaned in town which was free at H Samuel. The lady pointed out that it would benefit from being replated at some point (oops.. I've only had it a year!) but it'd have to be sent away for a couple of weeks. I don't like being without it. The plan was to wait for the work discount scheme to have significant (25%) money off gift cards/vouchers for H Samuel/Ernest Jones. I'd buy those, then wait for H Samuel/Ernest Jones to put diamond rings on sale. Then I'd buy my wedding band and a second engagement ring (the same as the first) so that the engagement ring didn't look old compared to the band. I need to check what replating will actually achieve though in terms of any scratches etc. Maybe I'll buy a cheap stand-in ring, send mine off to be replated, and just use that and the wedding band together. But probably not.

I also booked the registrar for our wedding, and the appointment to give notice of marriage. It's going to cost us £450 in total which feels like a lot, but it's kind of the most important bit so we have to pay it.

triple_choc_chip

Hi DD265
I think you've been very brave making one of the hardest decisions for pets large or small, we all know how you feel.
Do you have any small independent jewellers locally? I recently got my rings re-rhodiumed, they did them on the premises in one hour, £55 for both.
TCC

DD265

Thanks TCC. I will have a look at the local independent jewellers as we have a couple.

Sooo... credit cards. The MBNA card has taken a right bashing. I reckon it's going to stop just short of £6500 (I am waiting for RCI Finance to invoice me for the excess mileage/bodywork, estimate £300ish). This means that based on my current estimates in December my finances will look like:

MBNA: -£601.41
Barclaycard: £0.00
Savings: £1400.00 (probably a little higher)

So if it comes to it, I'll use savings to clear the MBNA balance. The figures above are based on paying £800 a month off the MBNA card, £100 a month off the Barclaycard and £100 a month into my savings account. This should all be achievable through my basic salary given my reduced outgoings (car setup costs aside!) and increased basic pay.

DD265

I need to start thinking about eBay sales again soon; it's been a while since I've had any up. I've brought all of my horse's things back home barring the rugs which will go for washing, so I need to clean it all and then decide what to keep/donate/sell. There's a local horsey car boot next week but I don't think I'll have it all ready by then and I'd rather have it all clean so I can price it a bit higher.

I want to start visiting our local car boots as well. We're planning to decorate the wedding venue with lots of copper lanterns and candles; strikes me as the sort of thing we should be able to pick up fairly cheaply.

The next finance thing is our contents insurance. The renewal came in at more or less the same price as last year (£85) but it sounds like it can go down to £55 with a slightly higher excess - just waiting on the quotation to be emailed through.

I re-did my "basic salary budget" yesterday and I quite like how it looks having cancelled a standing order and a direct debit. This didn't take into account my pay rise because I don't know what my new basic salary is. There's still a bit of room for improvement because I included a £500 expenses claim but that's reasonably consistent. I'm looking forward to having the credit cards paid off.

DD265

It was pay day yesterday. There was a small additional payment so I still don't know my new basic but more importantly, this is my first month without the car and livery payments.

I have topped my savings up to £1000 - forgetting about the standing order for £50, and then Lloyds Save the Change. I will leave the extra £50 in for now and keep that standing order going. I've got £100 coming off the Barclaycard and I've rounded the MBNA card down to £6000. :eek:

That's basically it for this month. I could use a financially-uneventful one!

DD265

I often wince a little when I update the budget mid month after not touching it for a little while, and today is no different.

It turned out that the new head unit I'd bought for the car, which had satnav and bluetooth and cost £365 (used!) didn't have bluetooth afterall. So eBay claim raised and waiting for refund. Unfortunately it cost me a £60 call out for the guy to come with a view to testing it. We have since however fitted a Parrot Kit, and he also fixed some wiring to the boot lights/wiper, which cost £260 in total so long run still cheaper.

I've opened a cash Lifetime ISA - just put £1 in for now but will see if I can't get £4k in there before the April deadline. It seems unlikely due to the wedding costs but you never know! I have told OH to open one too. Perhaps any money we get as wedding gifts can go in them. As we don't own a home, but hope to buy in 2019 realistically, then it could work out really well for us.

I have a load of stuff to sell and next weekend free so I'm looking forward to making a dent. Although we aren't especially short on space, I do like to have things clutter free. You wouldn't know it looking at my desk mind! Mainly I'd like the money, as I don't like having such a high balance on the MBNA card.

DD265

Thanks to some unexpected income, I've paid the Barclaycard off in full, topped my savings back up to £1000 (I used some) and paid a decent chunk off the MBNA card. I'm now on track to be debt free after November's salary comes in, rather than December's but there's definitely potential to do it sooner!

My credit card debt is still higher than it was in May but I no longer have any car finance; that's done and dusted and I paid the charges they eventually invoiced me for. I never got around to sorting the things I need to sell, so I'm hoping to do that through July and the extra income will go towards paying down the MBNA card.

It'll be good to only have one card to focus on!