Tidying up the mess

Lydia42

Love the thermometer idea. Great visual to see your progress, and definitely shows you are both working through this together! ;-)

BabyStepper

I think the thermometer will be fab when it gets going. I'm still waiting for an invoice to be paid so that I can complete the emergency fund and colour in the first section.

I got an email today from Santander saying the terms of my account could be changed at any moment. Fed up of these letters so I phoned all 3 banks I have ccs with. They were all tripping over themselves to be helpful and friendly which was nice. I've closed down the Lloyds and the Halifax accounts and will simply pay them off. No hassle. Santander want to keep the account open, but both Santander and Halifax said they would not ask for an overpayment until the accounts become interest bearing, Dec 2019 and Oct 2020 respectively. So I won't be getting a shock in the mail of either of them asking for more cash every month. Lloyds is still the target card.

It's all feeling a bit better today.

BabyStepper

I still haven't been paid my biggest invoice and the boss is on holiday until Friday so no way to chase this up. Thank goodness for the emergency fund or we would have been in trouble this month. The other invoices are all paid so that's good. It's all new work so the systems are working.

My dress buyer disappeard so no sale. Nothing much else to report, just thought I'd check in.

Hopeless_Case

BabyStepper wrote: »

Thank you, doingitanyway. I'm going to need to learn some persistence to just keep on going. I'm hoping once the emergency fund is built up that'll spur me on. Small goals.

OH is away for one night this week on a work trip. Travel and accomodation are paid for but other expenses need to be paid upfront and then claimed back. We've saved for this but that cash would look better in the emergency fund.

I have a meeting tomorrow for a potential new client, fingers crossed that will work out. There is also someone else interested in me doing some work for them so we'll see how that goes. If only it could get moving faster.

I transferred some cash yesterday to cover bills and the amount hasn't appeared in my account. I need to get on the phone to both banks involved and find out where my money is. I could really do without the hassle on a Monday morning.

Otherwise it's a quiet week. Trying to live on no money can get a bit dull. I might need to get creative with things to do. Any suggestions?

I'm a bit late here, but I find setting targets and making money saving into a challenge can become a bit of a hobby, have you looked at the old style money saving pages, also the debt free wannabe challenges?

BabyStepper wrote: »

I keep checking and rechecking every single bank account and linked savings account, every single day, all day long. Not sure what I'm looking for but its started to feel obsessive.

Anyone else have a similar problem?

I check everyday too, I think this is a good habit but can become a bit dispiriting when nothing has changed!

I have the opposite problem with credit cards though, we have 2 in OH's name and I think we owe about £13,000 altogether, minimum payments go out each month and we don't get paper statements, and I have no access. I ask him pretty well every day to log on and let me know the balances, the interest rates, how to make payments etc. We also have a credit card linked to our bank which I paid off at the beginning of June, with a £4,400 limit and a zero balance transfer offer, and the aim is that he transfers this amount from the credit card with the highest interest rate. It's not that he doesn't want to do it, it just somehow never happens!!

I made an extra payment on the Barclaycard this month (although I think it has the lower interest rate of the 2, but it was the only one I found an old statement for giving details of how to pay), and I'm also waiting for him to confirm that the payment has gone through ok before making more. We have an extra £183 per month as we've cancelled Sky, plus what I was paying on the now-cleared CC, but I feel stuck in limbo lol - patience is a virtue!! :eek:

BabyStepper

Hi Hopeless Case and lol at your OH, can you not just take his passwords from him and check the accounts yourself? This is what being in debt does to you, makes you nuts and boundary-less, or maybe that's just me...Please don't take that advice, I don't know what I'm talking about. (Must speak to OH when he gets up and see how he feels about me having access to his cc accounts...) All this account checking just makes everything so complicated, I hate that.

No sign of the invoice being paid yet though the boss is back from holiday and has identified the problem and is dealing with it. Another client is planning to pay me upfront for some work so may get a boost to the cc overpayment this week. I'm very busy counting my chickens before they hatch, need to stop doing that.

Hopeless_Case

BabyStepper wrote: »

Hi Hopeless Case and lol at your OH, can you not just take his passwords from him and check the accounts yourself? This is what being in debt does to you, makes you nuts and boundary-less, or maybe that's just me...Please don't take that advice, I don't know what I'm talking about. (Must speak to OH when he gets up and see how he feels about me having access to his cc accounts...) All this account checking just makes everything so complicated, I hate that.

No sign of the invoice being paid yet though the boss is back from holiday and has identified the problem and is dealing with it. Another client is planning to pay me upfront for some work so may get a boost to the cc overpayment this week. I'm very busy counting my chickens before they hatch, need to stop doing that.

Haha, he suddenly got on a roll and got the lot on 0%, some on 18 months and the rest on 30, and we have a plan to repay it and start on the mortgage :j:j - long way to go but I'm feeling positive and trying to do things like boost cashback to chip away at it so fingers crossed!!

Waiting to get paid at this time of year is a pain, people conveniently forget to pay then go away for 2 weeks :mad: meanwhile our bills still come in just the same

BabyStepper

We discovered a leak in the bathroom and after exploring it realised we had some rotten floorboards. (So THAT was where the smell was coming from, we thought it was the drains!) There was also some damage to the wall. We have not touched the bathroom in this old house since we moved in, other than a rewire and a quick coat of paint, so we decided that if work needed done we should do the whole room. As well and as cheaply as possible.

We have cut up our credit cards so this had to be cashflowed.

OH sold his bike (made 300) and we both sold our fancy phones and downgraded to much older models that work perfectly well (made 350). We needed an electrician, a plumber, a plasterer, a lino fitter and a joiner. I sourced the materials online cheaply and we learned how to fit waterproof wall panels and secure our bath ourselves. The professionals moved our shower, fitted skirting boards and lino and sorted out the dodgy old walls. Fortunately the bathroom suite is plain white and in good condition so we did not need to replace that.

The whole thing cost £750 and has transformed the bathroom. It is truly beautiful and minimalist and our emergency fund is intact. I'm so pleased with it. Success!

I have been listening to Dave R and learned that debts such as utilities and overdrafts should be paid off before baby step 1. I didn't realise this. We are currently overpaying gas and electricity due to a big first bill after moving into a damp old house that had not been lived in for some time. My overdraft is listed in the debts at the start of my diary. Suddenly I'm not sure what we should be paying off first (again!).

I have been offered a significant amount of work but will need a car to carry it out. It is too much to try and do it using public transport, that also takes so long and smells so bad, so we have decided to buy a car. In Dave style we need to cash flow this, we are definitely not taking on a car loan. We are aiming to raise £1000 to purchase an old car with 1 year MOT, and pay the insurance for the year outright. If we can do it cheaper we will. This goal is to take on this extra work and double my income every month.

I have been scouring the internet for stories about how difficult it is doing the babysteps in the beginning and I can't seem to find many. Your income may be low, you need to pay for essentials such as house repairs or a car. It is very slow and very hard to get going when the debt payments are big and everything needs to be cashflowed. We are in the 4th month and have yet to make an overpayment towards our debt although minimums are paid every month so the total is reducing. I am learning how to be patient but persistent and take pride in our achievements.

In the last 4 months we have...
cut up our credit cards and made a decision never to borrow money again except for the mortgage
started to live within our means and spend less than we make
made a budget and learned to stick to it
saved up an £800 emergency fund
dealt with all house issues by cashflowing everything

We are thinking about this as laying the groundwork for the debt busting that is to come. And it all feels pretty good!

enthusiasticsaver

Love the way you sorted out your bathroom by selling stuff and DIY. Living within your means and not using credit is a big step when you are used to reaching for a credit card thoughtlessly. Good luck on sorting out another car. Worth it if it means upping your income.

BabyStepper

Thanks enthusiastic saver. The bathroom transformation feels so much sweeter knowing it has all been paid for in cash.

Now we need to get the car fund going. There should be roughly £200 leftover at the end of this month so that will be a start. I need to get my thinking hat on to figure out where the rest will come from. Wish I could get a buyer for my wedding dress...we'd be half way there.

Lydia42

Wow, well done on the bathroom. Same problem we had - talk about rubbish timing but great you managed to cash flow it all.
Good luck with the car fund :-) Sounds like things are coming together.