Reducing Debt - being accountable and taking responsibility

PositiveBalance

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

Thanks for swinging by PositiveBalance! Good effort on reading my ramblings! I like the idea of being the resident MSE Bond Villain. Will give some thought to my niche skills.

Funnily enough, your diary recently attracted my attention as we have similar original and current debt levels and I was keen to learn from your experience. It's top of my list to read from start to finish!

I like the idea of an expenses account. I have a spare current account with my main bank so I may well start doing that. Good idea!

Poor window cleaner :rotfl: I will start a line item in my budget for Household misc. and he will live peacefully there. DF and I talk about having a cash kitty jar at home, we must do that.

And yes, I'm keen not to get too complacent now I've paid off over 60% of the initial debt. I'm definitely conscious of it and think my STIF list will help. My plan is to pay it all off by November 30th, which I think is possible, and then start 2019 debt free and with all the line items in my budget fully stocked.

DSL

Niche skills:

Good cook
Discerning knitwear collector
Debt slayer (Buffy style!)

And oh my - my poor diary! I'm not the most attentive person when it comes to my diary as I don't update it with every 5p spend. I think if it were a plant I would have to give it a rescue water every now and again to stop it dying! :eek: :rotfl:

DrSpendLittle

Had a very quiet few days and, as it turns out, 4 NSD's in a row. Whoop! I'm not sure how that happened but I just haven't spent any money. Serendipitous but wahey anyway!

Thursday and Friday were busy work days. I took lunch into the office and already had fuel in the car, so no spend needed and we cooked with food already in the house for dinner. Over the weekend, we had friends round for drinks and dinner but again, used stuff that was already in the house and they brought stuff too. DF did a couple of top up shops over the weekend to fill in the food and drink blanks whilst he was out. We had a lovely down day yesterday just catch up with a bit of Netflix, some house work and some residual tidying up from last weekends big sort. Its nice to have down days when you're so busy with work during the week.

Today is a WFH day. I'm not sure on plans for dinner just yet. It's too hot to eat (I totally get why the Spanish eat late) and DF has well and truly lost his food imagination.

On the MSE front, there's not much to update other than to say I'm down to my last £50 in the groceries budget (argh!) and I have very little other spends planned. It's been really tight month and I can't wait for August and to have some more money in the bank!

I think I'm going to trial stopping using CC3 for every day expenses. I've found myself getting into a habit of pushing some expenses into the next month because I've overspent on a line item in my budget. It's terrible money management and I need to nip it in the bud. I only get about £50-70 per year in JL vouchers by using CC3 for purchases. Mathematically, that sounds like a winner, since who wouldn't say no to a free £50-70 each year. But, behaviourally, I reckon I'm overspending on stuff I don't need by simply just using CC3 or being tempted to use it mid month for unplanned purchases and 'pay for it' when next months salary hits my bank on the last working day of the month. Don't get me wrong, I've not paid any interest on CC3 for 12 months, but I feel it adds too much flexibility to my budget and I need some rigidity back. This is exactly what Dave Ramsey preaches about and he really is right - if you focus on the maths and forget about the behaviour, you'll never change, which is why balance transfers and paying off debt highest to lowest interest rate doesn't work as a debt slaying strategy.

Anyhoo, back to lunch and a catch up on some diaries.

DSL

PositiveBalance

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

I think I'm going to trial stopping using CC3 for every day expenses. I've found myself getting into a habit of pushing some expenses into the next month because I've overspent on a line item in my budget. It's terrible money management and I need to nip it in the bud. I only get about £50-70 per year in JL vouchers by using CC3 for purchases. Mathematically, that sounds like a winner, since who wouldn't say no to a free £50-70 each year. But, behaviourally, I reckon I'm overspending on stuff I don't need by simply just using CC3 or being tempted to use it mid month for unplanned purchases and 'pay for it' when next months salary hits my bank on the last working day of the month. Don't get me wrong, I've not paid any interest on CC3 for 12 months, but I feel it adds too much flexibility to my budget and I need some rigidity back. This is exactly what Dave Ramsey preaches about and he really is right - if you focus on the maths and forget about the behaviour, you'll never change, which is why balance transfers and paying off debt highest to lowest interest rate doesn't work as a debt slaying strategy

Absolutely, in terms of changing behaviour, but I don't think that means that paying off largest - smallest never works.


I applaud you wanting to ditch CC3 and would highly recommend it. I definitely think that trading in cash is a massive habit changer, though, even more so than just using a CC/DC. I changed to the envelope system. I haven't perfected it yet, but there's a massive difference in handing the *actual* cash instead of a card. I would definitely recommend it (say, like next week when you can stuff all your little envelopes up for August like good little soldiers. :rotfl:) Get rid off that CC. It's plastic - it's bad for the environment! Go with paper instead - you can reuse your envelopes for September as well! :T :A

enthusiasticsaver

I agree in stopping using CC3 if it encourages you to spend outside budget. We only use our credit card for groceries and fuel for the cashback and to see exactly how much we are spending each month as it does not get lost in the ether of other spending. It gets repaid in full each month though. I have a JL partnership card but don't really use it so don't get much in vouchers. I should use it more really.

Below £5k debt now!! How brilliant are you

DrSpendLittle

Thanks Enthusiastic and PositiveBalance!!! Decision made! August will be the trial month of no CC3 (easy since I am on holiday and won't be using it anyway) and will better ease me into September when I plan to properly stop using it.

In other news, I'm playing a food shopping game with DF at the moment (unbeknownst to him) and I have to say that I am Winning!! I have resisted doing my usual Ocad0 or 'big' food shop for over a week now and in fact, I am unbelievably on my 7th NSD in a row!!! We are now back to the bare bones of the fridge and freezer and running out of quite a few householdy things. But, DF is responding surprisingly well to my game and has started picking up bits and bobs of food and supplies on the way home from work. I am mainly WFH so have limited daily expenses or the need to make packed lunches.

Smirk.

I am proving my silent point well but, on reflection, I also think perhaps I don't give DF enough space to have to think about food shopping, as I am the one who tends to monitor and manage the content of the fridge and cupboards.

We're planning on having a big 'finances' talk this weekend (we're back in the mindset of selling and moving house so need to scope out our price range, anticipated costs etc etc) and will roll into that a short conversation about more equally sharing the cost of food shopping.

DF is obviously more than happy to share the cost of food shopping. It's just difficult to break habit, especially when we're both out at work all day and indecisive about what we want to eat for dinner or don't want to be bound by a weekly meal plan. It also doest help that we both detest our local supermarket and usually shop at one 10 miles away, which is not near our place of work. Ocado is great in this regard but really does require some forethought about what we may want to cook in any given week.

No other MSE news except that I plan to order a new pair of everyday trainers for my autumn / winter capsule wardrobe. I've chosen a bargainous pair in the Nik3 sale but I want to wait out today's NSD. My delay repay of £29 from a recent train journey will cover 75% of the cost, so a big shout out to network fail and their signalling problems

DSL

DrSpendLittle

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Below £5k debt now!! How brilliant are you

Eeeek! £4999.99 to go!!:j And I've never felt richer. I'm astounded that I've paid off £8,915.18 in less than 12 months. Hoping for it to be £10,915.18 by September 1st, which would average at £909.59 per month and 39.29% of my monthly take-home pay. I could have done better and probably cleared the debt within 12 months if I hadn't had a few months off intense debt slaying earlier in the year. But, I needed those frivolous months. They reinvigorated me and I never lost sight of my main goal. Onwards and upwards (... or should that be downwards..?! )

PositiveBalance

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

Thanks Enthusiastic and PositiveBalance!!! Decision made! August will be the trial month of no CC3 (easy since I am on holiday and won't be using it anyway) and will better ease me into September when I plan to properly stop using it.

Yay! Aversion therapy! :rotfl: Dave Ramsay says to have plastic surgery as well, so you have to!

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

In other news, I'm playing a food shopping game with DF at the moment (unbeknownst to him) and I have to say that I am Winning!! I have resisted doing my usual Ocad0 or 'big' food shop for over a week now and in fact, I am unbelievably on my 7th NSD in a row!!! We are now back to the bare bones of the fridge and freezer and running out of quite a few householdy things. But, DF is responding surprisingly well to my game and has started picking up bits and bobs of food and supplies on the way home from work. I am mainly WFH so have limited daily expenses or the need to make packed lunches.

I have to admit, although I know that food is your 'thing' I have though that you could reduce what you are spending without necessarily reducing the quality of what you eat. Although, you may need to do some restocking at the minute!

Also, stop playing mind games with your DF. (What's your PhD in, BTW - may answer many questions. )

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

We're planning on having a big 'finances' talk this weekend (we're back in the mindset of selling and moving house so need to scope out our price range, anticipated costs etc etc) and will roll into that a short conversation about more equally sharing the cost of food shopping.

DF is obviously more than happy to share the cost of food shopping. It's just difficult to break habit, especially when we're both out at work all day and indecisive about what we want to eat for dinner or don't want to be bound by a weekly meal plan. It also doest help that we both detest our local supermarket and usually shop at one 10 miles away, which is not near our place of work. Ocado is great in this regard but really does require some forethought about what we may want to cook in any given week.

Is a weekly meal plan the worst thing? I understand the not wanting to eat X on Y day, but if you buy a weeks worth you can say 'Oh, I don't fancy the risotto we planned for tonight - how about we eat the steak we had planned for Y day?' so you can rotate a bit?

DrSpendLittle wrote: »

No other MSE news except that I plan to order a new pair of everyday trainers for my autumn / winter capsule wardrobe. I've chosen a bargainous pair in the Nik3 sale but I want to wait out today's NSD. My delay repay of £29 from a recent train journey will cover 75% of the cost, so a big shout out to network fail and their signalling problems

Oh dear about the railway....I know a lot of people who have had problems with that. I hope they sort their sheet out soon.

Linky to the trainers, please!

DrSpendLittle

PositiveBalance wrote: »

Yay! Aversion therapy! :rotfl: Dave Ramsay says to have plastic surgery as well, so you have to!

I'm telling DF I'm having plastic surgery tonight!! :rotfl:

I have to admit, although I know that food is your 'thing' I have though that you could reduce what you are spending without necessarily reducing the quality of what you eat. Although, you may need to do some restocking at the minute!

We shop at Aldee all the time TBH, its the meat, wine etc that we like to splurge on. I'm happy with the amount I spend on food in general, its just the accessibility of the products we prefer that can be an issue when we're not organised.

Also, stop playing mind games with your DF. (What's your PhD in, BTW - may answer many questions. )

Poor DF. Its not one of those mind games in the Eric Berne sense of things, its more a funny little experiment The PhD is a social science but I do love a bit of psychology!!

Is a weekly meal plan the worst thing? I understand the not wanting to eat X on Y day, but if you buy a weeks worth you can say 'Oh, I don't fancy the risotto we planned for tonight - how about we eat the steak we had planned for Y day?' so you can rotate a bit?

Weekly planning has worked well for us in the recent past, especially when we've both been busy with work during the week. We're just being a bit lazy at the moment and I am just moaning moaning moaning

I enjoyed reading your diary from start to finish BTW! Great effort so far! :T

DrSpendLittle

Overall, today has been a quiet WFH day. I spent a £15 voucher online and ordered a few bits and pieces from Amaz0n. DF got us a takeaway for dinner. We were feeling lazy and hot and just weren't in the mood for food or cooking. Must eat some fruit tomorrow.

Need to head into town and do a proper food shop tomorrow. I've £50 in my groceries budget to last me to the end of the month which is doable. I also need to start gearing up for our holiday and getting insurances etc sorted. I think I'll just buy suncream there this year as we have enough left over from last year for a good week or so and l've already bought my facial suncream. The supermarkets in the bigger towns near our holiday house tend to have a good selection at equivalent prices.

Had a good brief chat with DF over dinner about our short, medium and long term financial goals and our house moving plans. We are completely on the same page and he is even up for saving to pay for a new car in cash rather than using finance. Yay!! We won't need one for a good year or so just yet, but we'll need a good 7 - 8 months each to save up the ££s to buy it, so it's been good to plant that seed in his mind now. He seems to be getting more and more on board with being smarter with finances. He was really surprised when I told him that I 'don't spend' £900 / 39% of my salary per month. I will do the big debt slaying reveal with him when I'm finally debt free as he still doesn't know my original debt amount but does know it was 'around 8k' back in November.

I had a look at properties on the market for sale in our target area this evening to get a feel for what's available if we were to put our house on the market when we get back from holiday. I'm reasonably happy with whats available and there is one house I'd definitely be tempted by. I also did a mortgage calculator and funnily enough, it was really nice to put so little 'debt' in the existing commitments tab. By the time we want a mortgage, I may even be debt free! However, in the meantime, my £4,999.99 now makes no difference to how much our current mortgage provider would potentially lend us, whereas this time last year, my £13,915 spread over 3 cards and a car loan did.

DSL

DrSpendLittle

Today has a been quiet day. I've had the day off work and have pottered around the house and sorted out a few things. I pulled out all my 'high summer' / holiday clothes from under the bed in readiness for washing and had a sort through potential outfits. I identified the need for another vest top and ordered a £5 one from ASOS which will arrive tomorrow (free next day delivery). Other than that, no other spends to report. We had a yummy pork stirfry dinner using food already in the house, thanks to DF's food imagination. There isn't much left in the freezer!

Tomorrow is probably a trip into the bigger further away town with DF on the train - he needs some new socks and swimming shorts for our holiday and wants a mooch in TKM4xx. I also want to get a cheap grey hoodie from Prim4rk just in case we have some cooler evenings when sat on the terrace. I don't really have that sort of thing in my wardrobe. I do have a outdoorsy technical fleece but, looking at the colour palette of my holiday clothes, it's a colour clashing disaster and I think a £5 holiday hoodie would be sensible to retain some semblance of being a la mode.

I'm also toying with the idea of picking up some cheapish nude bra's for holiday as I don't want to wreck my normal ones with suncream. I could get a 2 for £16 deal from M&S I guess, but it seems a wee bit unnecessary. I do have two strapless ones (white and black) but I don't find them very supportive or comfortable to wear for a full day out. Will mull it over.

Must do a food shop at some point but I reckon we could squeeze one more meal out of the freezer and do that on Sunday. DF seems to be enjoying this week's freezer challenge

DSL