Peace of Mind is the Ultimate Goal

Emzilla

Confession one: I'm not great at keeping up with diaries.

Confession two: I've been checking out of MSE/DFW recently for weeks/months at a time. All this results in is me wasting time/money on rubbish and not getting anything productive done.

Confession three: I really want to change things for the better.

I was at work last night and had a few quiet moments on the till, so was doing a bit of the old thinking. I was thinking about what would make my life better. The simple conclusion was peace of mind. I just want peace.

Now, I'm not doing too badly money-wise at the moment. All of the important stuff is pretty much up to date (I'm actually not behind on my council tax payments for the first time in years!!). However, it's all the other debts that are giving me unrest. Dreading the post, jumping when the door goes (even though it's always just the postman/courier), not answering my home phone etc etc.

I know that bankruptcy is an option, but it's not really one that I want to take. If I knuckle down, I could get rid of these debts pretty quickly. There are quite a few, but some of them are only a few hundred. I would be so proud of myself each time one gets cleared. Each debt gone would give me more peace of mind.

So that's what I'm going to do. Take one debt, throw everything I can at it until it's gone, and then move on to the next one. Eventually, they'll all be gone.

The first one I'm going to tackle is actually a card in my mum's name, but it's my debt. She let me put some stuff on there ages ago (think it was rent/other bills - and I'm talking years ago!!). About time I gave my poor old mum some peace of mind too and got rid (I have been making the minimum payment on it, but that's not making much of a dent).

The current balance is £1,893.69 and I'm paying interest on that (around £25 a month I think). I've been paying £50 a month off, so you can see how long it will take to clear using that method!!

I'm in work today, but then I've got 5 days off in a row, so I'll be able to sit down and come up with a plan of action. Need to get the money rolling in so I can slay this beast!!

Emz xx

JoJoC

Welcome to the boards!

I think you're right, it's a good idea to look at every area of your finances, detail everything, make cuts where you can and make a plan of action.

What's generally recommended, i think, is to tackle the one with the highest amount of interest first.

Can you look around for some 0% deals to transfer some of the debt onto 0%? If you can, that'll save you a whack and bring the debt down quicker.

I'm no expert - far from it - otherwise, I wouldn't be lurking about in here either! But I hope you make some progress soon. It's a nice feeling.

All the best.

Emzilla

So I'm at work today 2-8, so won't get much time to do stuff today. I will use any quiet periods to think of ways to make money though.

I've rejoined the PAD thread, so will make sure to pay something off each day. £3.69 paid off today to get the balance to an even amount . I'm hoping I'll be able to make some bigger payments next week :T.

I want to get more proactive with birthday presents too. I'm all sorted for my nephew's, so am looking forward to September, when I've got my OH's and my sisters (40th!). I've got OH's planned and will need £70 of Amazon vouchers by the end of August. Not so sure about my sister yet.

I did have one idea of doing a hamper for her of toiletries/beauty products, but getting them from the pound shop. Might sound tight, but they do some good stuff in there. I got some Garnier Micellar water and it's amazing!! There's one opposite my work, so I think just popping in there a couple of times a week and seeing what they have will easily fill up a hamper in the next couple of months. I will probably get her something else too, but I'm liking the challenge of finding all the little gems in pound shops!!

After that, I'll have to start thinking about Christmas _pale_

Better start getting ready for work. Got to have lunch yet.

Emz xx

Emzilla

JoJoC wrote: »

Welcome to the boards!

I think you're right, it's a good idea to look at every area of your finances, detail everything, make cuts where you can and make a plan of action.

What's generally recommended, i think, is to tackle the one with the highest amount of interest first.

Can you look around for some 0% deals to transfer some of the debt onto 0%? If you can, that'll save you a whack and bring the debt down quicker.

I'm no expert - far from it - otherwise, I wouldn't be lurking about in here either! But I hope you make some progress soon. It's a nice feeling.

All the best.

Thank you . Credit rating isn't great, so won't be able to get any 0% cards unfortunately. Most of my debts are with DCAs (so interested isn't being added), hence why I want to get rid of my mum's card first.

Take care

Emz xx

JoJoC

Phew, glad the interest isn't eating it all up! I've been there where you're scrimping to make a payment to something and the interest swallows most of it. so disheartening.

Have a good weekend!

Emzilla

Morning

Just seen a rainbow in the distance from my window. If that's not a sign that I can do this, I don't know what is!

Five whole days off work now :j. Perfect timing to get some ideas/plans in place and to start getting the money in.

I was thinking about things yesterday at work. My earning routes are as follows:

Mystery Shopping - Hate it, hate it , hate it. But, it's good money, so I can't afford to be choosey. With that in mind, I have just accepted two visits worth £8 each and they have a £5 spend on each too.

Surveys - No brainer. Can be done at any time. Might not bring in that much money, but are invaluable for vouchers for presents. Prolific Academic are amazing. I can earn at least £20 a week from there I reckon.

Textbroker - Not great for the amount of money, but still worthwhile as they pay out weekly, so that will take care of one of my daily payments a week. I'm thinking if I can write one article a day, it will be at least £25-£30 a week.

Mobile Apps - I'm thinking stuff like Roamler, Field Agent etc. Bit like mystery shopping, but quicker assignments that you have to take photos for. I've not done many of these in the past, although I have registered for them. Will have to get the apps downloaded over the next couple of days as I think it's quite a good earner.

Will see what else I can come up with, but those are the main ideas.

£5 paid to the Nationwide CC for todays PAD. Also got a free book through the post yesterday. I won it in a Twitter competition - Spandex and the City. Will try and read it at some point.

Emz xx

[Deleted User]

Morning,

Happy new diary x

Emzilla

Deleted_User wrote: »

Morning,

Happy new diary x

Thank you

Emz xx

Emzilla

Pretty unproductive day. OH has been hanging around. He's like a child and gets bored very easily. If I try and do anything it's 'what you doing?', 'I'm bored, let's go out' etc etc. I'm constantly trying to keep him entertained - yep, just like a child. We're going to the cinema to see Baby Driver tonight (with my Cineworld card and carer's card, so it costs nothing - apart from the monthly Unlimited fee obviously)

Thankfully, I'll escape round my mum's tomorrow, where I can get some stuff done.

Not all was lost though as I requested a £5 Amazon voucher from Swagbucks and I've done £1.60 worth of surveys on Prolific. Just trying to get some more surveys done before the cinema.

Emz xx

Emzilla

Morning

£5 to the Nationwide CC today.

Baby Driver was quite a good movie. We're off to see Planet of the Apes tonight.

Will try and get loads of surveys done today. Textbroker articles are proving tricky to get. Hoping it's because it's the weekend.

At least the sun is shining at the moment.

Emz xx

enthusiasticsaver

If you are paying around £25 per month on that debt the interest rate must be around 16% per annum and only £25 of your £50 is going on reducing the debt. At that rate of repayment it will take you almost 5 years to clear it and you will pay around £700 interest. If you can find another £25 per month to make a £75 monthly repayment you will repay it in about 2 and a half years and pay less than £400 interest. The joys of compound interest. Ideally you would apply for a 0% card and get it repaid in 3 years with no interest at the same payment you are making now.

The secret to clearing debt is to pay off the most expensive asap by paying more to it monthly. Have you done a spending diary to see where your money is going and a budget to keep you on track?