Working Hard Debt Diary - Here goes

WorkingHardDFW · 10 March 2009 at 2:13PM

Nothing that exciting really L just generating the extra £200 per month and throwing everything at the cards in the order that I've listed them in. The plan is just to get the cards sorted on after the other. Once payday comes this month and we have two closed then we'll focus on the Halifax card. I find it much easier to focus at one card at a time rather than the big picture. Looking forward to getting sub £20k :rolleyes:

beanielou · 10 March 2009 at 2:20PM

So cannot believe you are going to clear 20k+ by the end of the year.
Go you go!

WorkingHardDFW · 10 March 2009 at 2:25PM

Well we're paying £1780 off the debt each month (which is just about my income) plus the extra £200 plus OH's bonus (circa £3k) as a lump sum. We'll also have 2 cards on 0% deals so every penny goes off this toxic debt of ours :j . I'm sure we'll have some hiccups on the way!

Compingirl · 11 March 2009 at 8:33PM

Oh just imagine the fun you will have spending that £1780 each month once the debt is cleared! For a few months at least before the mortgage is tackled lol:)

We've had a surprise car bill grrrr OH again! This time its the brakes and a service which I didn't think was due till October but he's done so many miles it soon comes round, anyway, that little lot has set us back by £679!!!!!!!! which i've had to take from the holiday fund which is now £1000 short! so all my extra MSing etc is now going to fill that gap rather than pay off my MBNA card - I got charged interest for the 1st time this month and did not like it one little bit! Ebay free listing starts tomorrow so I will be listing for England to try and flog as much as I can.

I hate living hand to mouth all the time, I am so desperate for a 'normal' life where I don't have to worry about money or count every penny all the time. It just seem so far away. I am so pleased for you and envious, you are 6-12 months in front of me on the DF front so I read your thread and it keeps me going thinking that will be me soon. We don't have as much as you to throw at the debt, we have a huge mortgage £1566 per month!!! which we fixed at 6.19% for 3 years in July just before the rates started dropping, but I need the security to know how much we are paying out each month (which is a lot!) I pay £710 off the debt (which you are right to call toxic!) each month plus all the extra money I can raise. Every day I could just kick myself for being so stupid to have gotten into this mess in the first place! What were we thinking?????

anyway, sorry to have hijacked your thread again, I am feeling miserable tonight, things will pick up they always do.

take care cgx

WorkingHardDFW · 11 March 2009 at 9:04PM

Oh CG Big Hugs in their way.....:hello: sounds like you are having a little dip.

Cars don't you just love them. Nasty sized bill you've got though. Do you have a car fund or has it completely been blown away.

I so know what you mean about wanting to live a normal life. All the penny pinching and scrabbling around for pennies here and there so gets to me as well. I would like to be able to get stuff for the children, for us, for the house without having to justify it but like you I guess thats how we got into this toxic debt in the first place.

When I'm feeling low and wanting someone to wave a magic wand and remove the debt I always remember that no one waved a magic wand to give us the debt in the first place- it was down to us and therefore getting rid of it is down to us too. Not sure how much that will help but its helps me on a reality check.

ON the mortgage it might be worth checking our Martin's "Should I ditch my fix" calculator? With a fairly high rate it might be worth your while doing? Definately worth investigating though.

I'm with you on the ebay listing from tomorrow as well!

Things will pick up for you. Pick a target and try and focus on that rather than the bigger picture - it really does help.

Oh and hijacking welcome

Compingirl · 11 March 2009 at 9:35PM

Thankyou

Ive just listed 25 books on Amazon! I'm listing them on GM next and if they don't shift they are being carbooted in 2 weeks time!

I pay £110 into the car fund each month but road tax and insurance has dented that already, ive had to change the insurance to monthly payments for both of us as not enough in this account to pay for it but its OH car that seems to cause us problems, it will be 3 this year and its definitely time to change it

yet more money but he does a 40 mile round trip to work every day so the miles just keep on clocking up!

I will check out the mortgage calculator, i'd not considered it as i know it will be large penalties and my bigger fear is that we are in negative equity and we won't get another mortgage. This one just sneaked in at 80% but I think if it valued now we would need a 100% mortgage! hey ho, good job we aren't looking to move.

Thanks for the reality check, a magic wand (or euro millions win

) would be lovely though! Shame, I will have to settle for hard slog for 2 more years but we will do it and it will change us for the better. We have achieved a lot this year all ready, reduced the debt by £5k and got some savings for the holiday so all is not doom and gloom i just need to re focus.

Its my nephews wedding next weekend so we are going away for the weekend, i'm sure a little RnR will work wonders.

Thanks for cheering me up a little, its nice to know people on this site understand how overwhelming this DF journey can get cgx

WorkingHardDFW · 11 March 2009 at 10:05PM

Well done you on 25 books :T . I've not listed on Amazon before I really must give it a go. I've got loads here although I might try them on Ebay.

Bad news about the car. I pay into a car fund each month and like you I was seriously short at the end of last year when several repairs, insurance and tax came into together - not nice!

Sounds like your nephews wedding will be well deserved time off from debt busting. Enjoy :beer:

WorkingHardDFW · 15 March 2009 at 5:33PM

Oh new location ...

Very manic weekend with all 3 kids taking part in various activities. 2 Football matches, riding lesson, swim gala, sleepover and family visit.....definately time for some wine tonight!

I've been out in the garden for a couple of hours. Overwhelmed by the size of the task out there but it will get done very slowly. Need to buy some compost at some point soon but I need to figure our how much money we've got in the budget for it (not much I think!).

An expensive weekend as our iron went pop on Friday am :mad: . I converted to a steam generator iron a couple of years ago (super super fantastic) but it means a replacement is not cheap. I've tracked one down for £60 at Tesco (with a little cashback as well :rolleyes: ) but it was £60 I could have done without spending. I'm not sure where the money will come from yet but I'll save that task for later in the week...:rolleyes: .

MB is going well although I've not taken out any money yet. Its still all tied up in covering the lay bets. I always seem to have the money in the wrong place as well. Whilst you can deposit money instantly it takes 4 days to get back to your bank account. I am enjoying it though and i guess I need to have really got a much bigger pot of money before I whack money off the debt.

Definately looking forward to payday this month - 2 cards will be paid off and we'll only be left with 4 cards

:rolleyes:

Huge amount of chores to get done this pm.......they will be helped by a large glass of red though!