Tidying up the mess

Debsnewbudget

I stopped smoking years ago by telling myself I could start agan when I was 70
So i wasnt giving up, just pausing and for a strange reason it didnt feel as bad as thinking I would never smoke again
It really is about how your mind works

Lydia42

Good luck quitting!! Just think of all that extra money you can throw at the debts :j

redmel1621

Hi Babystepper,

You are doing really well. Good luck quitting smoking and debt-busting. I can't believe the price of cigarettes nowadays. I used to smoke 20yrs ago and a pack of 10 L&B were 89p, Regal or Embassy no.1 were £1.09... We used to club together and get a pack of 10 fags and a large portion of chips to share for school dinner lol.

I keep meaning to look at Dave Ramsey as I keep seeing his name pop up.

BabyStepper

Thanks for the support with my quit, everyone. Redmel...lol! How I remember those days! We used to ask around the playground to find 10 kids prepared to pay 10p for a cigarette, then when we had £1 go and buy 10! Not my proudest moment, but hilarious now. :rotfl: I don't know why the teachers didn't stop us!

The quit is going strong. I can't say me and OH have been in the best moods, but we're going easy on each other. We had a family get together at the weekend that really took my mind off it all and it was so nice to not have to sneak off for a smoke. I have more energy already, always useful. One day at a time, so today I will not smoke. And we'll see what tomorrow brings.

I've decided to post every day for the rest of this month to try and keep me on track. If we finish this month in budget then we can start overpaying at the end of the month. This would be amazing but I need to keep a tight hold on the budget.

After a quick check, everything is on track. Bills are being paid, everything is as it should be. The Barclaycard however has a huge £2k chunk that will start to accrue interest next month. The confusion over which card to overpay first ends here, it has to be Barclaycard. This is a bit different from the Dave Ramsey plan but to be honest, who are these people on his show earning 6 figure salaries? I don't know any. So given this is going to take some time I need to pay down interest bearing debt first.

We have £100 left for shopping this month and lots of food in. I'm off to Lidl this morning to try and make it stretch even further. Despite my best efforts, eating junk food is cheaper than eating healthily so the challenge is on to not gain weight while we're being frugal.

I have a to do list as long as my arm for today so I'm going to bash on with it.

BabyStepper

The total amount on this card is currently £4,437.09.

£21.07 is a cash balance at 25.10%.
£640.39 is standard balance. 17.6%
The rest is interest free just now.
As of October another £2013.51 will also start earning 17.6%.

When the minimum payment goes out next month then the cash balance will be paid in full and the standard balance will go below £600. This is good, but adding another £2k to the interest bearing part is not good. I have also just noticed that the interest that gets added becomes interest bearing itself.

Another £500 starts earning interest in March next year.

This card really needs to go. I'm on it. :cool:

GlendaSugarbean

Congrats on still not smoking! You sound really focused on sorting out that CC, I'm sure you can do it

BabyStepper

Thanks GlendaSugarbean...what a great name, I love it! Thanks for dropping by.

I have had a new cllient referred. Fingers crossed this all works out and this month's wage will be bigger than previous month's. As long as I keep developing things I can stay positive about my self-employment.

I am happy with the decision to delay buying a car. It's the right thing to do at the moment.

I had a decorater round yesterday to quote for papering the hall. We can't afford to get this done but at the same time, we can't bear not to. It drives us mad and is a total mess. I spent a whole day yesterday stripping the wallpaper off, removing radiators and wiping down woodwork. Some areas just can't be reached, we need an extendable ladder that we don't have and even a cheap one from Argos costs £50, I don't think so! :eek: We'll see what we are quoted, if it's completely off the chart we'll just have to figure out how to do it ourselves and that would probably involve investing in a ladder. The hall also needs a carpet but that's a worry for another day. Goodness only knows where the cash for that would come from.

We will get there, bit by bit, the trick is to persevere. I am still aiming to have a small debt overpayment at the end of this month. It would feel amazing to get started paying things off properly.

BabyStepper

All the minimum payments have gone out for this month so I thought I'd update the totals to keep me right.

Hitachi loan £759.60 0%
Lloyds cc £1,285.20 mostly 0 % but 403.68 @17.9%
Overdraft £2,000 0%
Santander cc £3,300.29 0%
Halifax cc £3,177.69 0%
Barclaycard cc £4,437.09 mostly 0% but £661.46 @ 16.9%
MBNA cc £5,109.60 0%
Student loans (1) £8,150 (currently deferred)
Student loans (2) £27,190 (payment taken straight from wage)

Total £55,409.47

Reduction £533.59

It's reassuring to see that the debt is going down whether or not I make overpayments. All we had to do was stop using the cards. Now I need to see those balances reduce a bit faster. :cool:

BabyStepper

After a discussion with OH at lunchtime we have decided to do the hall ourselves. I don't know what I was thinking asking a decorator round. As if we have the cash for that! As if by a miracle, I found a £5 voucher for Argos in the clutter drawer so the universe is telling me to buy that ladder and get on with it! I haven't costed it properly but even with a ladder, some sandpaper to prepare the walls, a bit of polyfilla and a few rolls of paper and some paste, and possibly a big brush to flatten out the air bubbles, it should cost not much over £100. Can anyone think f anything else I might need to do this job? Maybe recommend a youtube video about hanging wallpaper? It's quite amazing the things you learn to do when you're skint.

efes_shareholder

Hi - just checking in

Have you looked at ebay fo ladders for sale locally or gumtree

Maybe you could resell once you have used if you purchase a set