Time to get serious about sorting my debt

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting a new job. Resisting the spending is definitely worth it. Your debt is already quite high and I would imagine you are paying interest on some of it. Also having the mindset that you deserve nice things because you are working is dangerous. There are many people on here that never put the brakes on their spending due to them thinking that and before you know it the debt is up at £60-£70k and will take 10 or more years to clear. Imagine 10 years of your child's life being spent having to repay debt.

I would suggest you do an soa asap and budget and stick to it while your child is young. She doesn't need foreign holidays, just a secure financial future for her family.

enthusiasticsaver

I would also clear the debt before overpaying the mortgage. The interest rates on unsecured debt are undoubtedly higher than mortgage rates unless you have it all at 0%. Any future plans will be scuppered if you have high debt anyway.

Hayles70

Thanks for your post Enthusiasticsaver. You're right, Resisting spending will definitely be worth it. As previously mentioned, I do have a few things that I need to spend on once I've been paid in September but these are things that I have stuck on a cc in the past few years.

It's been an interesting weekend...last week I placed my matched bet on a football match. The match happened this Saturday and I won £8. Anyway, whilst I was on the betting app a window popped up and I accidentally clicked accept. I'd accepted a free £5 on the casino and it wouldn't let me withdraw my winnings without playing, so I did and I only went and won £310! so that's some extra money to pay off my smaller overdraft as I haven't included it in my Snowball plan as I plan to chip away at it with 'extra' money.

I have completed my SOA and have done a snowball calculation. According to the scores on the doors it will take me 4years to pay off, which isn't as bad as I thought it would be but it also makes me more determined to pay extra when I can. I'm not going to post my SOA as I've already cut down every bill I can.

Dorastar

Congratulations on the new job �� and wow on the betting, I am too much of a wuss to try it. The SOA is good for helping work out where your money actually goes, not posted mine yet because I'm still working on cutting it down as much as I can.

Hayles70

Thanks Dorastar! I've never been into regular or big money betting (and I'm not about to start!) i just have a little flutter now and again on the odd scratchy etc. This was a complete accident, clicking yes before I actually read it properly but hey I'm not complaining! I can totally see how people become addicts though! :eek:

The SOA is amazing for working out annual costs, I'm ashamed to admit that I've never budgeted or saved for things like car insurance etc. I'm excited about becoming organised.

Hayles70

So I had my first day at my new job yesterday and I think I'm going to love it. Tired was an understatement at the end of the day!

I am training for a couple of weeks until I start full time so I had today off. Me and my LG went shopping in town. Unfortunately, I've put on weight in the last year due to being very inactive with my back issues so hardly anything fits, therefore I desperately needed to buy clothes for work. I decided that I wasn't going to do my usual and order stuff from Next as it does tend to be a bit pricier than some other places. I have a little bit of cash left over this month as I haven't been paying for groceries. I spent £58 on clothes. I also spent £50 of my birthday money on some Lush bits and we went to a little ice cream parlour for a delicious sweet treat as DH met us for lunch. (I have a rule that birthday money is to be spent on treats.)
However my whole day has been bought using actual money rather than credit and I actually had a budget and stuck to it. I can't actually remember the last time I did this!

I have also paid off £300 of OD2.

Journey started.....:j

Kittychick

Sounds like a great day, congratulations on the job!!

SusieT78

Hi Hayles,

I'm returning your visit to my diary.

Glad to read your recovery from spinal surgery is going well. Congratulations on your new job.

I see a common theme in many of the diaries about wanting things instantly and putting holidays on credit, as that's how I got into so much debt without anything to show for it, so you're certainly not alone with that.

My sympathies on having to watch too much Peppa b*****d Pig, that's a popular show in my house too.

Hayles70

In the last week, I have had a lovely day out at a farm park with my daughter for a birthday party and it was a nsd! I have had 3 days at work and 2 days off.
On my first day off, I spent around £200 at Sainsburys. I bought clothes for myself and my lg, Birthday cards and some houses bits. I've been looking for a lamp for our living room for months as we don't have a dimmer switch and I came across exactly what I have been looking for in the reduced section:j
Today, we went to a local nature reserve and historic house/gardens. I spent £25 in total. I have one last week day with my daughter before I start full time work. I've got to admit, I'm struggling with it a little bit, although I know she will be happy, I can't help feeling like I'm missing out but I know it's sometimes about quality not quantity.

Anyway, yesterday I received my final payment from my employer including salary, remaining annual leave and my redundancy. This has been paid a month earlier than expected! As a result, I have started my debt free journey. I have paid off OD1 and repaid my mum. :j
My new job is weekly pay so towards the end of September, I will transfer the £1000 emergency fund into my savings account as I have been used to monthly pay so I need to leave the money in my account so that I start with a buffer as all my DD's go out before 15th!
My new salary is significantly more than I have ever earnt before so I do have more to play with but it is temporary so I need to keep that in mind.

We are going away this weekend but it will be a cheap wknd away as we are staying with friends.

I did start the grocery spend diary and failed because basically we spent far too much and I actually lost count!!:(. I will try again this month and I think it will be a better representation as I've been spending more due to basically having too much time on my hands! We need to go tomorrow to get supplies for the weekend and next week. I have written a list and intend to stick to it. My trick is, I allow 3 extra items, these can be forgotten items or treats. However, I now work next door to Tesco and Aldi....will power needed! I bought two bedside lamps and a book in Tesco whilst I was on my lunch break yesterday! (I have been looking for some cheap bedside lamps and these only cost me £7 for the pair in the reduced section but still!) I've enjoyed a bit of of spending but now I need to focus.

I think the important thing is to keep this diary going and stick to my SOA. I also need to keep doing those income boosting things that I tend to only bother doing when I'm skint! I.e. Surveys

I've done my Snowball calculation to help me pay off my debts but I'm going to change it slightly as none of my debts are currently 0%. Im going to pay the extra towards Tesco rather than Barclaycard to begin with as I know that Tesco will offer me a credit limit increase and a 0% balance transfer in a couple of months. Then I will transfer as much as possible from my Barclaycard and reduce the credit limit each time. Eventually, I will apply for another 0% card too.

To do:

-Reduce OD1 to £500.
-Open another savings account for one of my money pots.
-Work out mine and OHs contribution to joint account so that it's fair as he is going to have to claim all the childcare vouchers as I'm only temporary.
-Start grocery diary

SusieT78

Well done on paying off OD1 and your mum, must feel great to have made a good start on your debt busting journey.

I've found writing down everything spent on groceries/toiletries/cleaning as soon as I spend it and then working out how much I have left to last the month has really helped me - but I've only been doing that 11 days so far. It has kept me from going over budget in those 11 days though.