Taking charge of debt

sunshine_raincloud

beanielou said:

You have made a great start 
Be proud.

Thanks so much! I appreciate the support 

I have done a mini-revisit to my SOA today as it is approaching the end of the month. 

Overall I have spent around £345 less this month than I had on average over the 3 months prior, which is a good start but I definitely can do better! Main areas of improvement have been less takeaways, less clothes shopping, less going to the pub and actually getting started on my EF! Big targets for next month where I am still spending far too much include groceries and eating out as well as the occasional taxi when I have been running late to meet somebody. I just need to get organised! I find meal planning difficult and often end up wasting food that I have bought for the week as it goes off, which is an exceptionally bad habit. Need to think how I can strike a balance between having enough food in to cook but not too much that I can't use it all and it goes to waste. Answers on a post card! 

Now just to get through tomorrow and hopefully another NSD (it needs to be) before payday on Friday. 

Thanks everyone!

sunshine_raincloud

Hello everyone, 

Sorry for no updates for nearly 2 weeks!

I definitely feel like it is easy to let things slip when I don't post so I need to get back into the habit. I haven't spent anything too wild and I haven't added to my debt but I am definitely going to be over budget and eating into my buffer this month at best! I got into the payday spirit too much and have spent a little on new moisturiser for my face ( I have very dry skin and it was starting to get uncomfortable with what I was using) and then an evening out with work colleagues and a weekend break with my boyfriend. I am currently tucked up in bed on day 5 of having covid and still feeling absolutely awful though so don't think I will be spending very much at all this week! 

EF-wise I am over the halfway mark at £566.95 
Debt-wise I haven't made any other payments than those planned so £50 off CC2 today, which means current total debt stands at £5613 so I have paid off around a quarter so far

This month the plan is 
1) Try to shift this horrible virus! 
2) Try to recover from over-spending at start of the month with NSDs
3) Still waiting for the council tax energy rebate- has anyone had this yet? Once it arrives put towards EF 
4) Hopefully should get a couple of rewards through for bank account switching this month as well to put towards EF 
5) On payday this month I am aiming to pay off CC1 which is a mini- milestone

Thanks a lot and now I'm off to catch up on everyone's diaries to see how you have all been getting on!

sunshine_raincloud

So I have definitely lost a bit of momentum this month.. I have decided to put tilly tidying on hold as waking up every morning and the first thing I think about being my debt has been starting to get to me! I want to keep my debt management ticking away in the background whilst I focus on other things for now as life is very busy. 

So new plan is
1) £510 per month to debt in regular payments 
2) £150 to savings per month 
3) £100 extra per month to EF until it reaches £1000 then to put that towards debt 
4) If I have any extra money left at end of month see how I feel

I want to save a bit towards a holiday to have something to look forward to! 

So no changes to my balances at all really. I have given up on being on budget this month completely. The aim will be to break even and no get into any more debt! 

sunshine_raincloud

Energy rebate in this morning so put that straight towards EF bringing it up to £790.81. Nearly at £1000 mark then it is onto stage 2 throwing everything at debt!

shell16

Hope you are feeling better?  Im starting with an irritating cough but testing negative at the moment.

Dont dwell too much on not hitting budget, look at the whys and move on to the next months budget with renewed focus. Great work on the EF, im still building mine up after using to buy a new washing machine!

You are doing great!
Shell x

sunshine_raincloud

Thanks for dropping by and support @shell16

Feeling much better thank you. Still a bit fatigued but getting better every day. Hope you don't come down with it! 

In other news I have received my first switching bonus today. £125 of free money! I've kept £25 to help with my over spending this month and put £100 towards my EF bringing it up to £890. Just seen there is a new switching offer with a bank offering £175 so going to take advantage of that next. 

I hope everyone has a lovely easter. I'm heading to a friend's engagement party so really looking forward to that! 

beanielou

Great easy money the bank switching.
Enjoy the party.

sunshine_raincloud

Thanks @beanielou

Party was so lovely! It was really nice to celebrate something so happy when all there seems to be at the minute is bad news in the world! 

With regards to debt-busting I also spent a lot less at the weekend than I had budgeted for as it was a free bar. Bad for the head but good for the wallet!

Usual payment of £450 has come out for CC1 meaning I have only £264 left on this card. Planning to pay this off shortly after payday next week. Not sure if I should close the account or keep it open as it is good for credit utilisation numbers? Think I might close it as it feels good mentally to have got rid of a card for good! 

Going to get back onto the MSE wagon starting next month. Need to start up having a few NSDs again! I have £102 left in my bank account, which is exactly the amount of my last bill for the month, which is due out on Monday. I have around £40 left on my spending card as well to last until 27th. No plans at all this weekend as having to work so it should last me. 

In a weird way it feels good to have had a bad month spending wise but not let it completely spiral out of control like I might have done before! 

Hope everybody has been able to enjoy a bit of sunshine this week and has a great weekend!

beanielou

I think i would close the account.

WinterWarrior

Hi sunshine, keep up the good work. 

I would cancel the card too. Utilisation doesn’t mean much unless you are looking for new credit, which you aren’t, so cancelling would remove the temptation. I keep one card and use it for online buyers protection, but pay it off the second I use it (so it sometimes looks like it has a credit balance until the purchase hits and zero’s it out). I keep the credit limit very low. That works for me. By not using credit it leaves me with a single amber face on my otherwise green credit report, but I saw that as a positive when it happened as it meant I no longer had debt apart from the mortgage. Different ways work for different people, but for me, the less cards the better 🤔