A debt diary with a newly-aquired Yorkshire accent!

Milly1974

Well that was one hell of a weekend!

I did spend too much money, :eek: but on the bonus side, I also got some birthday money and sorted out some bits that needed thinking about. For example, OH needed a suit for the wedding next weekend. Conveniently, the Austin Reed factory outlet had a clearance sale on this weekend. So OH has a verrry sexy suit, including shirt and tie, for £50! :kisses2:

The church had a garden tea party, so I got some nice little plants. Have decided that it isn't going to hurt to get a load of plants in pots in the garden while we are here. Weed control should be easy, and we can take them with us when we move.

Took my mum for dinner at the hotel/restaurant we're planning to get married at. Had a great dinner, and she can really see why we have chosen it.

So at the moment, it looks like I have already blown the month's budget! But, I do at least have a plan. I have to go to Surrey for work at the end of September, so rather than get a train, I will drive down and claim the mileage. Should make a little bit back on that, even if it will not show up until early in October. :A

The other part of the plan is Quidco. The story goes, that OH has actually taken the decision away from me, and bought me a laptop! :j Typing all this on it now! He managed to find a really perfect one for £100 on ebay. I am useless, and would have just dithered about until the auction ended or someone else won it.

So to make full use of my travelling time each day, I have now ordered mobile broadband, complete with £95 cashback (already tracking) and a free mobile phone as well! Hopefully OH will like the mobile, as his is on it's last legs.

OH cooked dinner last night and tonight as well, which was a lovely suprise, and tasted great! Have found a nice recipe for lentil curry on the OS board, which I am going to slow-cooker tomorrow. Must go and put some chickpeas in to soak now.

Milly1974

Mmmmmm, daal was lovely! Ate too much though, and now I am stuffed.

Also the payment to the sofa went out today, so am about to go and update my signature.

Milly1974

Hhhmmmmm. Have been chatting with OH about his finances a bit. He has a motorbike, which he bought second hand with a loan about 7 or 8 years ago. I don't know the full circumstances, but I know that unemployment, depression and a fair amount of avoidance has led to loads of charges, and it currently being with a DCA.

I do know that my OH's idea of paperwork management is to read something and then destroy it to prevent ID theft. He thinks that bank statements are better as fuel than as a record, while I still have phone bills dating back to 2003! So I sincerely doubt that he would even know how to contact the DCA, let alone how much he owes, if I had not squirreled away some of his paperwork!

The DCA in question is Blair Oliver and Scott. I am almost wondering if it would be worth starting off by asking if they have a CCA. Then I was thinking the next step would be to ask for a balance, followed by offering a F&F settlement.

Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed?

Thanks, Milly

Milly1974

Have just taken a positive step in the name of making new friends. Helping organise the village fair was great for getting know people in the village, but not so great for meeting people my own age! So I have today got in contact with the local girl guides.

I enjoyed going to brownies and guides as a kid, so I figured it might be fun to get back into it. Besides, it will get me out the house! I just hope that it is run by people under 50! I keep getting invited to join the women's institute in the village, which might suit in 20-odd years time, but at the moment just doesn't appeal!:rolleyes:

Am also thinking about finally getting around to doing an evening course. Will have to get a move on, as it is September tomorrow! OMG, less than 4 months til christmas! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Milly1974

Feeling a little bit crap this evening. Put in my electricity meter reading at the weekend, and the new bill has come through. Our electricity account has gone from £600 in the red to almost £800 in the red in the last 5 months. We have had the storage heaters off all summer, and turned the boiler down to 55 degrees, and we are still using more than we pay. So Npower have just put our bill up to £170 a month.

Not sure what to do, and really don't think I can tell OH at the moment.

McCalls

Hows it going Milly?

Milly1974

Aw, Hi McCalls! Didn't notice that anyone had posted to me!

It is actually going OK at the mo! I spoke to all the great people on the gas and electricity board and they told me that it was probably my water heater causing the high electricity bills. So I changed some of the settings, and after a month our useage has dropped to about £40 a month, even after all the price rises.

Have thrown down the gauntlet and taken up nykmedia's £1000 in 100 days challenge. Decided the only way forward was matched betting and after a slight booboo in actually posting on the matched betting board (heaven forbid!) I have not only taken the plunge and winged my first matched bet, I have also found someone who seems to not mind me actually talking to them about other stuff as well as matched betting!

So all in all, progress is being made. Wahey! :rotfl:

Milly1974

Eurgh, what a horrible few days! Have had a stinking cold (which I lovingly shared with OH ) and am just about back on my feet.

Took OH out on Saturday night to a very nice restaurant and paid in CASH that I had saved up over the previous weeks! That has to be one of my proudest DFW moments so far. Feels like a real landmark to do something like that, which I would once upon a time have just put on credit and worried about later.

Also doing OK with the matched betting. Have given it a rest for a couple of days while I waited for money to arrive back in my account, but as that has happened now, I will be back at it with a vengeance tonight!

Have also been quite OS this weekend, as I have foraged about 1lb of blackberries and 1 1/2lbs of sloes this weekend. Sloe gin is on the way, and I think blackberry vodka will also be on the menu! Have been given bags and bags of apples of late as well, but am running out of ideas!

Hope everyone is well

Milly x

McCalls

I spotted your thread a while ago when I was moving from London to Leeds and I've always kept an eye on it! How are you finding living up north? I should be debt free by December, but am hoping to move into a flat on my own in Calverley on the 1st Dec so might go £500 into my overdraftt with the move etc... but the credit card should be paid off by then if I can curb my IKEA spending.

I've managed to get myself a part time job for 10 hours a week on top of my fulltime post so that will give me about £400 extra a month which is all good...

Which bit of Yorks do you live in?

Milly1974

Ooh, another person in Leeds who will not laugh at me putting an 'r' in bath or make me feel like I am about to be told off by greeting me with 'now then'! Living 'oop North' is great, don't think I could go back now.

Ikea was always one of my downfalls, especially when I used to live so close to the Ikea in Croydon. Wish I could think about a part-time job, but I am knackered enough with all the commuting.

I am living near Thirsk, just on the edge of the moors, and it is gorgeous. Where abouts are you?