2017 Debt Free Wannabe

kirtsypoos

PS ref the sky discussion earlier, I wanted to cancel ours and saw a thread about sky haggling - I now have 75% off my TV bundle with £100 account credit and my sky tv was off for all of a few hours overnight so definitely worth haggling - and holding out for the bigger discounts towards the end of your cancellation period.

We have the original bundle which is £5.67 a month so sky are effectively paying me to have sky tv...
There are some bargains to be had!

Lonire

Thanks Kirstypoos, always good to hear the tips and encouragement. Payday today so this is when the real challenges begin I suppose! Am going to keep a complete spending diary so I can account for every penny and work out where my leftovers have been going before. (Random spending cannot be tolerated). I have a trip away this weekend, still in the UK,, as long as the snow doesn't stop me. I have set myself a budget and going to take cash and leave my cards at home(save my debit card) in case of emergency. I have booked the restaurants we are eating in and looking for voucher codes to see if there are deals. (already downloaded free starter and glass of wine in one) One of them is a buffet style brazilian. Will fill up on that. Breakfast is included in the hotel so no need for lunch if I stock up there. I know I can keep my spending down. Will no doubt have a few drinks, but will be looking for happy hour deals.

Any other tips for weekends away and keeping costs down anyone?

I also need to get a signature like yours Kirstypoos, think thats a good idea as you can see really good results!

Hope everyone is having a great week, I have a day off today so going to do a food plan for next week :beer:)

kirtsypoos

Keeping a debt free diary is the best decision I ever made - I'm excited to update when I've made a payment etc
A signature is a great idea too - every post you make keeps you motivated because it's visible!

Good luck with the meal plan and have a great time away.

Lonire

Hope you have a great weekend too. Will work on my signature?

Do you keep your spending diary with you in hard copy and do it as you go? or do it all at once when you get home?

kirtsypoos

I have numerous spreadsheets which I update daily when I get home (relating to personal, joint and OH expenditure)

SkintTeacher

Really interesting reading here keep updating us. It looks like you've got great prospects for paying off debt quickly. Good luck! How do I subscribe so I can find your debt free diary easily? (such a rooky!)

thegreenone

Fabulous start


My first thoughts:
A slow cooker. Prep. the night before and switch on in the morning. Come home to lovely food and plan that it's something you could reheat for lunch tomorrow.


If you frequent C*sta or Star in the mornings - Buy a basic filter coffee machine with a timer. Set it to come on 1/2 hour before your alarm goes off and you can have a mug of lovely coffee then and/or take an insulated mugful to work. I realise you can't drink this on the bike!!
Lidl Gold coffee - gorgeous.


Hairy Dieters - definitely. Their first book (the white one) is amazing for fakeaways. I need to buy a new copy as mine is well used.


Last one. Do you buy presents for close girlfriends at Christmas? If you do, and this might not be very MSE, but could you each put in £5 per month into an account (tbd) and have a lovely spa day together in early December instead of presents. This may sound a lot but can also be translated to other friends and family. Would Dad prefer a brewery tour instead of socks? Can the cost be shared between siblings. etc. Etc. Etc.


Announce now to friends and family that your new year resolution is to spend time with family and friends, without spending lots of money. Good luck.

Maiden_Mum

Hi I have enjoyed reading your diary so far.
I don't have any words of wisdom really as I am also trying to cut back but do second the Keep a Spending Diary idea as I have just started doing that and it has already stopped me buying some new clothes because I knew I would feel guilty when I had to later record it in my diary!
I would like to meal plan from a being organised point of view but I cant really get my head round it to be honest and I am also a bit lost as to how it actually saves money compared to just getting something out of the freezer the night before.

Lonire

Hello all,

Thanks for your posts, really good to see some people reading my posts
So I had my weekend away and was able to keep the costs down by stocking up on the breakfast, not eating lunch and having cheap eats out using vouchers for free stuff. Got some free courses and even a few glasses of wine which saved a good bit. I found taking cash with me much better for budgeting than my card. I took cash and made sure I accounted for my spending at the end of the evening by writing in my spend diary. The spend diary is the best thing I have done so far. really makes you think about spending in a different light and realise how wasteful I have been over the years.

Throughout the start of this process I have had a few moments of worry/dread like OMG how did I get myself into this debt. Had a really bad morning thinking about it today. But looked over my spending diary and plans to save money which made me feel a bit better and more in control. I do want to have a little emergency fund as my main focus of worry was what happens if I lose my job. (nothing to suggest this is the case but sometimes life throws us curve balls). Anyhow. I just need to concentrate on my plan and hopefully get in a better place bit by bit.

In other news, I have begun to go through MSE eligibility checkers to get my card balances onto 0%. I got some 100% eligibility feedback so hopefully I get a good limit in order to transfer some good balances over. Have had the usual call us as we need more information feedback on the first application. Will await sorting this out before checking any others. A question...does anyone advise getting a loan to consolidate the debt or I assume it is best to get as many balances transferred over to 0% cards prior to going down the loan route?

@Maidenmum- The food planning that I do, is sit down on the weekend figure out what I'm going to eat all week, breakfast lunch and dinner. I try to use up what I have in the cupboard and pick meals that use the same ingredients so I get the most use out of packs of fresh food. I also try to encompass this into my lunches. If I have a bowl of chilli, i'll make some extra and take it the next day for lunch I found it quite useful.

@skintteacher- Hope you are well! I think you click the subscribe to thread at the top IM relatively new to the site and finding my way around too. Hope your quest is going well.

@thegreenone. The coffee tip is a great idea. I would love one of those timer machines but will make do with my cup and filter coffee and hope someone gets me one of those for my birthday haha. I have brought some coffee into work to use after the cycle hehe:) just need to remember to buy some milk. I really like the hairy dieters takeaways. Seem so healthy. I get what you mean with the well used. My book has stains all over it.
Can you leave the slow cooker on and unattended at home all day? I always get nervous about that. What do you normally make?

Hope you are all well

Lonire

Chandelier.

Hi Lonire,

Glad to hear your doing well and your spending diary is useful. Sometimes you will have these small wobbles but they will pass. You've put a plan into action and are taking the steps required.

Now I'm not up to scratch with this knowledge but from what many state on these boards when questions are asked, consolidation is a big no no. Someone else will come along and explain this properly.

Many advise to look at the snowball calculator. You basically input all your debts and interest, what you can afford to pay and it shows which is best to pay off first quicker and gives you a plan. Also I think if you can get some balance transfers over to 0% this would help massively.

Alot of people consolidate then run up credit again, it's easily done.

As I said someone more knowledgeable will be along to explain properly.