Debt free journey

MissSensible

mumtoomany said:

Well done. I find if you only want one item from the supermarket, go in without a trolley or a basket. That way you can't buy too many things that you did not know you did not need.

That is a really good tip.  I was determined that I was not going to be tempted with anything as the cupboards, fridge and freezer are all full so we only need the odd thing at the moment.  Thank you once again for your help.

Bizzywizard

Hi,

You are doing really well!

I agree with the other comments, next year contact the council by January and inform that going forward you will pay over the 12 months. This really helped me, as it meant my bills extra were near enough the same each month, so I was able to budget better than ever before. 

Have you considered requesting your gas and electric over payment back? This could then be used to pay off the higher credit card debit. 

I did surveys every few days, some are great payers others take months, but on these horrid dark nights, it gave me something else to do. I used to cash the money and pay it straight off the credit card. Prolific surveys and Populus. I used to make about £10 to £20 a month. But, its free so did it.

Use marketplace on facebook to sell your extra items, as its free. I am an ebay fan...just not a fan of the fees!

Do you have an excel spread sheet? I swear by mine now...I never used to before! My head was always firmly in the sand.
All the dates on one collum, the name of the company (eon exampla) on the next, the minus price in the next collum or plus if adding wages. The following collum has the running total for the month, I always try and do my working out 2 months ahead.

One thing that also helped was changing dates, so not everything went out on the first of the month. You have to request this. I now pay my mortgage in the middle of the month and I feel like I hve money i my account for far longer!

PS I was in £20k worth of debt! Noe debt free, so good luck and chin up!

Bizzy

savingholmes

Just wishing you good luck on your journey. At our worst we were close to £70K in debt now we're less than £2K. It can be done. One thing that helped me was getting food delivered. That way I could set my desired weekly budget and take things out if it was costing too much and go and check whether I really needed whatever it was...

MissSensible

Good afternoon, 

Just stopped work for a cup of tea.  Bizzywizard  thank you so much for your comments they really are a help.

I have decided to set up a d/d for the council tax next year .  Every penny should be put to good use if it means me saving a little bit more in time.

I have also had a look at the surplus in my gas/electricity account and I feel I am going to need that going into the winter months so am going to leave it in there.

AS for surveys that is something I have never done.  I think once I am up to date with sorting the house out and selling all the extra stuff we do not want I will start doing them as I have seen a few people taking about them.  

I do use an excel spreadsheet now but I never did and I just loving seeing the figures on it.  Especially the debt column as it goes down.  I have started from this month listing every food spend so I know what I am spending.  I just feel this will give me a starting point for me then to try and reduce it on a month by month basis.

It was lovely to read about your debt.  That is amazing and it must feel like a great achievement.  Well done on that.  

savingholmes  Thank you so much for dropping by.  You have done amazing with your debt. If you do not mind me asking how long has it taken you.  I am going to go and see if you have a diary as I would love to read it.  

I am £945 away from being half way there.  I cannot wait to hit the half way point and am looking forward to the challenge of paying the next 50% off.  I just look and think what could I be doing if I did not have this debt to pay each month.  That is what is pushing me a long to get it paid off as fast as possible.

Today I have listed another item on ebay.

Lunch today was soup made from all the veggies at the bottom of the fridge that I would have binned.

Dinner is steak with potatoes and veggies.  All out the Fridge or the Freezer.  So a no spend day for me today.  

I have also not put any fuel in the car this week at all, which is a bonus.

So it is all going really well, just need to pay some of that £945 off with additional income.  

Have a lovely day and keep debt busting everybody.

savingholmes

Hi - I have various diaries

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5787918/prosperous-soul-in-the-making#latest

It has taken probably since 2015 to get to where we are now. We had a PPI refund along the way which helped. Lockdown savings also accelerated the journey. I think the difference this time (we've had serial debt issues) is we had a mindset shift - of debt was not longer sustainable or the easy way it just made life harder than it needed to be later... I am determined as much as possible to save up for things moving forwards rather than using CCs.

MissSensible

savingholmes said:

Hi - I have various diaries

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5787918/prosperous-soul-in-the-making#latest

It has taken probably since 2015 to get to where we are now. We had a PPI refund along the way which helped. Lockdown savings also accelerated the journey. I think the difference this time (we've had serial debt issues) is we had a mindset shift - of debt was not longer sustainable or the easy way it just made life harder than it needed to be later... I am determined as much as possible to save up for things moving forwards rather than using CCs.

I have started to read your diary thank you so much for the link.  I have always been quite sensible with money it was the guy I was married to that was not.  So since I have been on my own I am really disciplined with everything apart from food.

I think it is fantastic how far you have come and soon your journey will be over from paying back the debt.  Good on you.  I cannot wait to get to that point.  

So today I have:

Listed another item on ebay, so I am keeping up with that.

Lunch was soup again but it was really nice.

Dinner is going to be the steak from last night as my son and his girlfriend got pizza he paid not me and I had a jacket spud with beans and cheese.  So last nights dinner is now tonights dinner which is great from the food budget element.  

Nothing more to tell really, apart from I got in the loft and emptied another box and have found about twenty things that need listing on ebay now which is great, keep them coming.

Have a great day today everybody.

MissSensible

Good Morning good people,

I had a water meter put in coming up to two years ago now.  So yesterday I had a look to see if the bills were actually cheaper as I could revert back to the standing charge if I change my mind within the first 24 months.  So it was a job that was in my head and needed doing.

I had a look on my account and could not see the actual yearly cost if it was a standing charge.  So I ended up phoning.  It was one of those five minute jobs that took 30 mins.  Any way I phoned, and was told the annual standing charge for this year is £815.  My last 12 bills come to a total cost of £502.  So it is a no brainer to keep the water meter as it is saving of over £300 a year.  I was really pleased with that.

This morning I got up and took down all my listings on *bay, as I had a promotion for 80% of the total fees.  So I have relisted them again.  

Food today is:

Breakfast as usual

Lunch  -  Soup

Dinner is a chicken with pots and veggies.  I am only going to use half the chicken then use it tomorrow in maybe a curry.  Before this I would have used it put it put it in the fridge then when I sorted out the fridge put it in the bin.  So I can be more organised with food, it just needs a little bit of effort.  

Have a lovely day everybody, on to the next tasks on my list now.

MissSensible

Good afternoon folks,

Hope everybody is having a great Saturday.  I have done some tidying this morning so the house is looking nice and clean and tidy which is good.  

This afternoon I am going to list and list on *bay as I have an 80% of final value fees which is great.  So I would love to get up to 50 items but we will see.

So food for today is:

Breakfast  - cereal from cupboard.

Lunch ham and cheese toasted sandwiches using up the left over ham.

Dinner is left over chicken from last night so it has done two meals which I am happy with.  I do need to pop out and pick up some veggies but I am not buying anything else as we really do not need it.  

No movement on the debt the capital one credit card will have a new statement next week so I will be paying something off that.  Then I will up date my totals which I am looking forward to.  I honestly cannot wait to get to the half way point.  

I have been thinking once I have sorted out all the stuff we do not need in the house and sold it either on ebay, facebook, or at a car boot sale I would like to do another little business to generate a little extra cash that would push the totals down a bit faster.  I have been looking around a little to get some ideas.  My main business is to industry but I think what I do could be used in homes as well.  It is food for thought but I want to clear all the clutter first.

Have a great day everybody and take care

savingholmes

Good luck with reading my diary... I am currently getting divorced which is adding some challenge into the mix but I think will give me more long term financial security.

Well done on the bay listing. Hopefully it will make a big difference to you.

MissSensible

savingholmes said:

Good luck with reading my diary... I am currently getting divorced which is adding some challenge into the mix but I think will give me more long term financial security.

Well done on the bay listing. Hopefully it will make a big difference to you.

I am so sorry to read about your divorce.  It is a hard time in any bodies life.  I got divorced a few years ago now and am out the other side and love my life apart from this part.  But hopefully soon this will be behind me.  You do need to look at your long term security as that is so important when faced with splitting everything.  I really do hope it works out for you and you are happy as that is the main thing.  I am enjoying reading your diary it has replaced the book I am reading as I am so far behind with it.  Thank you for writing it.

I got up this morning to two sales on ebay so I have worked out I have a profit of 52.80 after fees and postage.  So that is going as an extra payment on the c/c.  It was stuff that was in a box in the loft which I brought from the old house.  If I am honest I have never opened some of the boxes.  So the listing is going to continue today.

Food for today is:

Breakfast  -  usual

Lunch   -  My dad is taking me out for Sunday lunch I am really looking forward to it.  My son is out with his dad and having food out.  So no lunch.

Dinner  -  Something very small out of the fridge as we have both had big lunches.  Maybe soup, or a sandwich will see later but it is only going to be a small something.

The food budget is going great, I cannot wait to see what it ends up at the end of the month.  Then I can try and reduce it again with some creative ideas.

I am going to make the extra payment from ebay as soon as the money hits my back bring on the next 50% of my journey to financial freedom.

Have a lovely day today