Reducing Debt - being accountable and taking responsibility

DrSpendLittle

Heading in to the office this morning. I've no meetings until later this afternoon but I wanted to do a full day and be more productive than I have been this week.

I'm unorganised so I'll have to buy lunch. I also need to post a few things on the way.

Probably going to have pasta with a rocket salad for dinner. I'll need to pick up rocket from Al8i on the way home. Not sure if we'll do a quick and dirty sauce using posh tomato puree or a longer one using tinned tomatoes. DF usually does the former, I usually do the latter.

I seem to have taken on complete responsibility for doing the big food shops at the moment, so I'll need to sit down with DF later and do some meal planning and an Ocado order and then split the cost.

Holiday balances all paid now. We have a spare £100 in the current holiday budget (might lost £30 due to international payment charges but not sure just now) which wasn't expected. I must have budgeted for the EUR rather than ££s amount for the holiday cottage payment. Doh. Still, it'll pay for holiday insurance, which we must get soon since we're now fully financially committed to our holiday.

It'll be my first ever big summer holiday that I've properly saved for and not relied on the credit cards. Feels odd that I would, in previous years, pay for spending money, trains or flights on a credit card and then 'deal with it when I get back'. Shudder. This time, I've paid for everything up front and still made £800 in debt repayments per month.

Other than that, no significant MSE updates. Ooooh, I just remembered something. I banked a cheque the other day using my phone app. Means you don't need to visit the branch at all, you just take a picture of it in your app and the rest is magic!

DSL

DrSpendLittle

One other thought:

I am thinking of writing a list all the 'things' I own that I know have been paid for using a credit card over the past 5 or so years. I'm going to note their original cost and hopefully, find a total of £4,999.99 worth of items, which is my outstanding debt.

With every debt repayment I make, I will tick the purchase of an item or two off my list. It'll be like properly paying for the things I've bought in the past. It's the ultimate form of responsibility.

I think it'll be quite cathartic.

BelleOfBilboa

Sounds like a good idea to me DSL! A way to keep you accountable and ease those debt repayments as you'll acknowledge the payments for each physical object. I like it

Good luck though, it sounds like a mammoth task keep us posted!

DrSpendLittle

Got my expenses sorted today, which is an MSE win. Probably due around £60 back from my recent excursions in the next day or so. Fairly quick this time around.

Off to another meeting and then its time to 'clock out'.

Looking forward to compiling my 'List of Shame' later. I reckon I'm already up to £2,500 worth of stuff from the a mental totting up of big ticket items I've been doing this afternoon. I wonder if I can get away with also including gifts I've purchased for others. I remember one xmas having no money and just shoving everything I bought for others on CC2, knowing full well I couldn't afford it. I never want to feel that guilt again.

DrSpendLittle

Thanks Belle!

It stems from me paying off my car recently and just feeling such a sense of achievement, ownership and responsibility. If I can re-create that with my other possessions or gifts, I'll be having a serotonin party in my brain and that sounds Good!

DrSpendLittle

Quick check in.

I've accounted for £3,263.56 worth of items, which were all purchased between January 2016 and August 2017. I'm pretty sure I used CC2 for all these.

Wow!

I may dip into 2015 to make up to £4,999.99 since I have most of CC2's statements. Not sure whether to include 2016 xmas. I know I used CC2 to cover some stuff. I'm also not sure about including 2015 xmas either. I may include stuff I charged to CC2 (since I know it will be more than was in my bank account). Eek.

Will work some more on this later and provide a general overview of spends and their categories.

Off into town to collect a few online orders and return the £9 M&5 jumper. I decided oversized stripes aren't the most flattering thing plus I don't want / need to buy clothes that aren't perfect just because they're cheap or highly discounted. Challenging those debt cognitions!

redofromstart

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

Off into town to collect a few online orders and return the £9 M&5 jumper. I decided oversized stripes aren't the most flattering thing plus I don't want / need to buy clothes that aren't perfect just because they're cheap or highly discounted. Challenging those debt cognitions!

:T Good for you. I've hardly bought anything since I made the same decision.

enthusiasticsaver

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

Quick check in.

I've accounted for £3,263.56 worth of items, which were all purchased between January 2016 and August 2017. I'm pretty sure I used CC2 for all these.

Wow!

I may dip into 2015 to make up to £4,999.99 since I have most of CC2's statements. Not sure whether to include 2016 xmas. I know I used CC2 to cover some stuff. I'm also not sure about including 2015 xmas either. I may include stuff I charged to CC2 (since I know it will be more than was in my bank account). Eek.

Will work some more on this later and provide a general overview of spends and their categories.

Off into town to collect a few online orders and return the £9 M&5 jumper. I decided oversized stripes aren't the most flattering thing plus I don't want / need to buy clothes that aren't perfect just because they're cheap or highly discounted. Challenging those debt cognitions!

That is a different way of accounting for debt. I guess if there are things on there from 2015 xmas you may feel pretty bad that you still haven't paid for them 2 and a half years later. This is one reason why I don't like paying for stuff on credit cards regardless of whether they are 0% or not. There is something quite disheartening about buying something and still owing money for it years later even when it is about to be replaced. Or paying for Christmas or a holiday on a credit card and it still being outstanding a couple of years later.

DrSpendLittle

Okay, here is my list of 'Stuff, Things, Interest and Fees' that I have scrupulously identified from CC2 spends throughout 2016 and into 2017 and which have left me financially STIF (get it...? :rotfl:)

I am using this list as motivation to pay off the remaining £4,999.99 of debt I currently have sat on CC2.

It will also serve as a salutary lesson in not using my CC to pay for stuff I don't need with money I don't have.

Sport-related hobbies (equipment, nutrition, event fees): £2,015.83
2017 Summer Holiday: £80
Music (equipment, gigs, records): £831.94
Furniture: £581.30
2016 Xmas: £254.33
2016 Summer Holiday: £772.42 (spending money + £22.42 fee) + £148.99 (fuel) = £921.41
2016 Short break to a foreign city: £207.68

Total: £4892.49

Still short, so lets add on some more stuff from very late 2015 to bring it back up to £4,999.99:

Car service: £107.50

Righty, I now have my £4,999.99 of stuff I still own, use, enjoy or remember to pay for, all of which I bought with money I didn't have.

This was very cathartic.

DSL

DrSpendLittle

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

That is a different way of accounting for debt. I guess if there are things on there from 2015 xmas you may feel pretty bad that you still haven't paid for them 2 and a half years later. This is one reason why I don't like paying for stuff on credit cards regardless of whether they are 0% or not. There is something quite disheartening about buying something and still owing money for it years later even when it is about to be replaced. Or paying for Christmas or a holiday on a credit card and it still being outstanding a couple of years later.

Done! I don't feel too bad about it all, really. I see it as the ultimate test of responsibility and accountability and actually, its quite nice to know I am paying for things that I still have, use, enjoy or remember. Once CC2 is cleared, they will be truly mine and I will properly deserve them. Its been a worthwhile and salutary lesson