This Duo's debt free journey

EssexHebridean

Yes I noticed that the shops seemed to have started getting busy already too. Seems a bit early but there you go - we do say it gets earlier every year don't we!

That's excellent service from that Amazon seller too - I'm shocking for not remembering to review stuff.

DebtFreeDuo

I hadn't reviewed anything and did them all in one go, it had been a month or two since I made this purchase. I'm extremely impressed with the service, replacement is on its way so I doubt I will have to order anything from them in a while which is a shame, I will be sure to see if I can go and update my review though.

I'm really struggling at the moment and feel like I want to bury my head in the sand, trying to go through my finances this morning as they are in a bit of a mess. I know that once January arrives I will feel better because I can tackle some more of my debt but I feel like I'm in a rut. At present my account is looking to be around -£200 at the end of December, this doesn't include my MOT, my last few Christmas bits, food, fuel and parking or my mums birthday present along with any other bits I might need.

I really need to evaluate the last few months, maybe I was being too hopeful by paying off such a huge chunk of debt off. I've realised I don't get on very well with pots, especially for groceries, its as if I see it as a challenge to spend more than I have for this area. I think rather than constantly thinking about my spending I am just going to record it in a notepad instead, I think my mentality with spending is very similar to that of dieting in that the more I think about what I shouldn't be eating the more I want to eat.

So for the remainder of November I have £40 in my purse, this will easily cover everything over the next week or 2, I am aiming for 7 NSDs including today so that leaves me with only 2 spend days, possible if I plan properly. I am going to work on emptying the freezer over the next few weeks which will hopefully result in less food spends.

December Spends

MOT - Hoping this comes in no higher than £50, looked for council place but can't seem to find one.
Mums birthday - Going to try and keep this below £20
Fuel - £50 I am going to minimise this as much as possible
Food - £150 to last until 5th January
Remainder of Christmas - This depends on whether or not I receive the money that ex told me I would receive, if not then this will be a maximum of £50, if it does then I will increase this to cover a little extra for DS.

Total £320

It is possible that I will get enough back to cover this, I am currently owed £300 from a friend, £25 from my brother and possible £100-£150 from ex.

So coming back to a previous dilemma - do I pay off my car loan in January to save £65 in interest or do I tackle a smaller debt? If I pay it off then I will have an identical 3.5 months to the 3.5 months I have had from Sep - Dec but will save myself £65. I've been playing about with my figures but because the figures I gave myself for the last 3.5 months weren't realistic then the ones I have given for Jan-Apr probably won't be either.

Willowtree222

I'd personally go with the saving £65. That's a months shopping or fuel x

DebtFreeDuo

That's been my thought for some time now but in September I only overpaid £1800, if I pay off my car loan then it will be around £2080 with the same income and to last the same amount of time, although I will then save £140 each month for those 3.5 months so I guess technically it works out a little less. I think I have probably just talked myself into doing it!

I'm very lucky in that if I need to access a little extra money from somewhere then I can do it quite easily (interest free overdraft, CC if paid back in one month) and then pay it back a little later on, this way I could still make the saving on interest as I won't be penalised from wherever I access the extra from.

DebtFreeDuo

So today has been a NSD thanks to a voucher I had come through for some points I had accumulated. I'm feeling a little better today, slightly more positive. I'm trying to avoid looking at my finances for today, I look at them every single day, I can't change anything on them until January so going to try and just look at them weekly to make sure they are still on track (they should be as long as I don't touch my account).

Lots of deadlines to deal with at the moment, 1 assignment gone today, another due next week, I also need to get on top of revision as I only have around 6 weeks until exam time.

Once a year I play around with my boys savings, make sure they are in the best accounts, move money around etc. Have tried to do this today at his usual branch to be told that I can no longer withdraw money from this particular branch, I didn't really know what to say, a bank that has no facility to withdraw cash other than a cash machine?! Who would ever have thought it! It actually made me slightly annoyed and want to move all of his money away but I am yet to find a better account when it comes to interest. I'm too scared to try an ISA as I really don't want to have to tie all the money up and I don't want to risk losing any of it in a S&S ISA even though I know you can earn more than you can with interest.

DebtFreeDuo

Got distracted with child accounts and forgot to add this!

Tomorrow

Assignment for TM module
eBay
Tidy house
Post parcel

Willowtree222

I always check my finances daily, as if by miracle there is a lot more in my account! There never is obviously!

How did your day go, did you get everything completed? x

DebtFreeDuo

The only things I had on todays list was the assignment and sort DS account but I will need to find my nearest branch that I can actually withdraw money from to do that, I did start tidying the house this evening but that's about it. Tomorrow will be much more productive! I hope you have had a not so stressful day today.

HairyHandofDartmoor

I check my accounts daily too, sometimes twice a day. Not that I'm obsessed .

With regard to pots DFD why not leave your cards at home when you go food shopping and then just take the exact amount of cash you want to spend? I always pay for my food by cash. I draw out £80 and aim to spend £74. Any left over from the £80 goes into my emergency fund which is a great incentive.

Good luck with your revision .

DebtFreeDuo

I think that's a really good idea Hairy, also paying by cash always feels so much more real if that makes any sense. I can put any left over in my sealed pot.