Say No to Credit Cards Diary

Say_No_to_Credit_Cards

Morning everybody,

Another amazing day, it is great, I love it when the weather is like this.

So what can I tell you all.

Put the petrol into the car yesterday for the months amount. I am going to try and use my bike and walk more this month as well as jumping in the car with other people when I can. For example if my son is going out and he is going past the post office I will get in with him go into the post office and walk back.

Food shop is going to be tomorrow as it has been pushed back a day again. I am finding this is working really well. So tonight I am going to do a plan for the full week and only buy what is needed. I feel that because it is a new month budget I could go crazy and then struggle for the rest of the month, and I really do not want to do that.

Credit Cards - All the balance transfers have gone through now which is fantastic news. The only amount I have at the moment coming up soon is the £1300 on CC1 interest is going to be start being charged very soon. So my aim is to pay as much as it is physically possible from this amount so the interest charged is less. This is July's top goal. Before I started this diary I did not know what interest I was going charged and it really was not part of my thought process. I really can see how I have changed in just two months. So if there is anybody out there reading this that is thinking about starting a diary just do it, it will change your life for the better.

Tea is sorted for tonight and all is good in the food cupboard. I just think this month is going to be a tight one for a few reasons. I have been using a lot of stuff that was in the cupboard from my buy, buy and buy days. Secondly, my son is at home from Uni all day and he is an eating machine, so I am going to have to put my thinking cap on and come up with some good ideas.

I started the loft yesterday, that is going to be a big job. I was hoping I was going to find lots of stuff to go to the car boot sale with but that is just not happening. Over the next week I am going to carry on as it is a job that needs doing anyway and it keeps me entertained and away from shops and spending money. What we will do!!

The other goal for July is to try and come up with some ideas on generating some extra cash after I have decluttered the house. I do have a few things that I am thinking about but I have not worked them through as yet.

Moguline - Thanks for dropping by as always. Keep an eye on your cards I did not have any offers on any of my cards then all of a sudden three appeared so I was able to change the amount around. I know you pay a fee for that but it is nothing compared to if I was paying interest every month.

Gemsy81 - Thank you for dropping by. Food is a strange one. I think everybody has there thing that they want and like. I hate poor quality meat as well and it is a no go for me. I will not eat sausage and burgers that I do not make so I know what is in them. You have just got to find ways that suit you and your family and try and stay within budget.

Right, I am off as I need to get to work, I have a late start today but I am also working later.

Take care everybody

Gemsy81

I'll be really interested to hear your ideas about feeding your son SNTCC....I fear this may be my problem in years to come, as at 4 years old, he's already an eating machine!!

Have a lovely day in the sunshine x

wishingthemortgaheaway

I have a two year old eating machine. He are an entire children's meal out today. It's meant to still feed a 12 year old.....

lindez

Say_No_to_Credit_Cards wrote: »

Morning everybody,

lindez and Moguline - Thank you both for dropping by your comments are always helpful and appreciated.

I am just waiting for the last Credit Card Statement to come in for this month. This is something very new to me, knowing exactly where I am with the four cards. It is so much better than just plodding along in the dark not even thinking if they are gong up and up and up.

I am doing more overtime this week, so when I get paid I am going to pay all the overtime off CC1 as an extra payment.

I have also kept up with the payment a day challenge which really does help me stay focused and makes me revisit one credit card each day.

No sales on ebay, I just want one more to get me over that £500 mark.

I am going to try today to do a new budget ready for next month. At the end of this month I would have not used my credit cards for two full months. What a turn around.

So this month I have:

Made just short of £500 extra income,
Set up tins for the annual bills for 2019,
Done a credit check and cancelled all cards that I will not use,
Done a car boot sale,
Decluttered the garage and started on the rest of the house,
Set up budgets for food and petrol.
Stopped spending money that I have not got.

What is next for July.

Keep food budget running, but be a little more organised with batch cooking,
Keep Petrol budget but use my bike more,
Declutter loft, which is going to be a big job
Keep putting money in the annual tins.
Keep making a PAD.

Right I am off to work so everybody have a great day.

Hi Say no to Credit Cards, you are doing really well.Thank you for saying about cancelling credit cards that are no longer in use. It made me phone a couple of my old credit card companies and I managed to cancel 3 !! It has definitely made me realise I no longer need or want them. I am still on the payment a day and I find it helps to keep me motivated. xx

Say_No_to_Credit_Cards

Good morning

Thanks for everybody for stopping by.

Gemsy81 and wishingthe - I just think boys are like that. My daughters boyfriend is the same. They just eat, eat and eat. It costs a fortune. At the moment my son is off all snack foods and is on fruit and he eats tons of it I feel like my house is like feeding time at the zoo. Be prepared and when they get older it does get worse, sorry guys.

lindez - I am still doing the Payment a day and I think it keeps you motivated as well. It seems to keep me focused on it as you revisit it each day. I was so happy I started phoning and cancelling my cards as one of them offered me a 0% deal on transfers for 24 months. I had a deal on another card that was coming to an end so I transferred the balance, when that was completed I cancelled that card instead. It has saved me an absolute fortune. Plus as you say the cards that are cancelled can never be used again because they are gone.

Today is shopping day so meal plan all sorted and I am going to go shopping later on this evening with my new budget tin.

I have two birthdays this month, so I have done the same as last month and done the re-gifting thing again. It has saved me about £40 that I would have put on a credit card.

July is going to be another month of not using a Credit Card, so that would make it three in a row. All my balance transfers have been completed now so I feel so much more organised and ready to start smashing these total down.

Today I am going to do something with ebay as my sales seem to have stopped. I was talking to somebody in work and they told me that this does happen. He said I need to tinker with the listings to reboot my listings when people search, so I am going to give this a go today.

I am off to work now another late starter, I hate these as I have to work late, but that is life.

Have a great day everybody

[Deleted User]

Great news on the other balance transfer!
I tend to list all my eBay things as auctions, but starting at £0.99. It always goes for what it's worth, and people actually get drawn in by the low starting price.

Say_No_to_Credit_Cards

Morning

Moguline - Thanks for dropping in. I had a mess about with my ebay listings yesterday and when I got up this morning I had my first sale in a while which is great. Today I am going to carry on doing this and add some new items onto it. Your total is looking great under £20,000 now that is brilliant. It must be great to see it keep on coming down?

Well what is today going to bring me. Firstly I have work another late today. When I get home tea which is all sorted out. Then I really want to finish putting the bag of amazing stuff that I have sorted on ebay.

Jobs for the rest of the week are:

Finish doing the front garden,

When I sorted out the shed I found the paint for the outside of the front of the house. We have a small bit around the front window that gets painted. I have not done this for a few years now so I wont to do that while the weather is nice. Plus we have the paint so it will not cost anything. I am getting really good at finding things to do that do not cost anything!

I really want to do some batch cooking as I feel this would save me so much time in the next few weeks. Any good batch cooking ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Keep up with my PAD,

Generate some ideas for extra income once the house is decluttered. This is going to be fun.

Sort out the house insurance as it is due on 17th of this month, than do another annual tin to pay next years amount.

Take care and have a great cheap day.

[Deleted User]

Thanks SNTCC, it is great seeing it come down, although I wouldn't mind if it was faster. But the thought of actually starting to save for a house deposit after the debt is dealt with keeps spurring me on.

I do a lot of batch cooking, especially for work lunches.

Things I batch cook a lot (freeze well and are good for using up odds and ends):
- soups/stews
- chilli and rice or quinoa
- curry/dhal and rice
- shepherd's pie
- bangers and mash
- cabbage roulades (cabbage leaves stuffed with mince+rice)
- any kind of gratin
- savoury muffins

I love pasta too, but I find that pasta doesn't freeze well, so I do a lot of pasta sauce in batches and freeze that, then cook the pasta fresh on the day.

I often try and find ingredients that I can use in more than one dish, that way you can cook several things at once. For example if I get a load of soya mince in, I will make a load of chilli and cottage pie. If I have a lot of potatoes, I'll do soup and bangers and mash. You get the gist. :rotfl:

Say_No_to_Credit_Cards

Morning,

Well I had a really good day yesterday.

House insurance all sorted and it came in at £30 less than last years so that is good. Paid with my debit card and not a credit card for the first time in years.

Painted the front of the house last night so that looks really nice once again and it did not cost a penny as I used the old paint in the shed. I find it quite funny that when you start sorting out your finances you also start sorting out the rest of your life as well. Has everybody done this?

Done my PAD again today.

Moguline thank you so much for your help with the batch cooking this is something that I really need to do as I just think it will save me a lot of time.

Credit Cards - At their highest the balances on all the cards was £39942 in April 2018.

At the end of June the balances was £37618.45. I am so pleased with this up to now.

This balance consists of:

CC1 - 5885.00 0%
CC2 - 8899.45 0%
CC3 - 18801.00 All on 0% but some of the balance will go onto usual rate in September
CC4 - 4033.00 2.89% PA

I am going to only pay minimum payments of CC1, 2 and 4. Any overpayments are going to CC$ as the 0% promotion is due to end in September so I really need to pay as much of this as possible then try and find a 0% deal for the remainder if that is possible.

I am really looking forward to seeing these totals come down in the next few months.

Had three ebay sales yesterday and today with a profit of £23.66 after postage and fees. I really need to up my game with ebay if I have any hope of reaching my £500 extra income goal this month.

Any way must dash as I have a lot to do before work.

Take care everybody

[Deleted User]

That is fantastic progress on the credit card balances, you should be so proud of yourself!

I'm definitely finding I am generally sorting my life out a lot more since starting to sort out my finances. It's a definite "get the head out of the sand" attitude that's starting to spread to everything else in my life.