What Not to do When You Move House

failinggirlboss

I know that tail between the legs feeling all too well. Like you said, absolutely no judgement here and at least you have realised real soon and decided to do something about it! I too worked in banking after I left sixth form and I remember them practically giving me a credit card just before I was eligible for it and got staff perks… even though I said no! I then saw how ‘easy’ it was to use borrowing for everything but actually, this was just the people I worked with wanting to hit targets. I’m hopeful that it has changed and tightened up since!! But I do think that if I had never got that first credit card, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now as I was always quite scared about things like that beforehand. Great news that you are now on the property ladder though so congratulations Will be following your journey. Good luck! 

meerkatpie

failinggirlboss said:

I know that tail between the legs feeling all too well. Like you said, absolutely no judgement here and at least you have realised real soon and decided to do something about it! I too worked in banking after I left sixth form and I remember them practically giving me a credit card just before I was eligible for it and got staff perks… even though I said no! I then saw how ‘easy’ it was to use borrowing for everything but actually, this was just the people I worked with wanting to hit targets. I’m hopeful that it has changed and tightened up since!! But I do think that if I had never got that first credit card, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now as I was always quite scared about things like that beforehand. Great news that you are now on the property ladder though so congratulations Will be following your journey. Good luck! 

That is what I am thankful about in a way, I'd rather it now than another £10,000 later! Because it is so easily done! 

I think being in that environment and being around money all the time just makes you want to spend. It is a slippery slope!

And I completely agree, I opened my first card with Capital One and I remember it to this day with a £500 credit limit which I maxed out and at the time I thought that was unaffordable. Now I am sat here with a £15,000 limit on my Barclaycard and I have no clue how it has run away with me so much! 

Certainly need to re-train my brain and close that card the moment it is paid. 

Thank you very much! Hopefully it will be good news from hereon out!  

enthusiasticsaver

I remember your first thread and how well you did to get rid of the credit cards. Moving house is normally a danger point as for whatever reason once moved in many people want to get the house as they want it almost immediately. You aren’t unique but it has made things harder for you as you don’t have the disposable income now that you did when clearing debt last time.

I would suggest you look at that soa with fine tuned MSE eyes and get rid of the chaff. Surely you don’t need three types of entertainment packages Netflix/Disney plus/Amazon prime and Spotify? If that home care is British Gas it is cheaper to save for an annual service and find a good local plumber. Apple care is just glorified insurance which we never take on phones/iPads etc. Save instead for repairs etc. Not sure what bin cleaner is and can you reduce window cleaner visits to every two months? 

A positive is you don’t need to find the balloon payment for the car and you have managed to sort out debt before so I will be cheering you on. 

meerkatpie

enthusiasticsaver said:

I remember your first thread and how well you did to get rid of the credit cards. Moving house is normally a danger point as for whatever reason once moved in many people want to get the house as they want it almost immediately. You aren’t unique but it has made things harder for you as you don’t have the disposable income now that you did when clearing debt last time.

I would suggest you look at that soa with fine tuned MSE eyes and get rid of the chaff. Surely you don’t need three types of entertainment packages Netflix/Disney plus/Amazon prime and Spotify? If that home care is British Gas it is cheaper to save for an annual service and find a good local plumber. Apple care is just glorified insurance which we never take on phones/iPads etc. Save instead for repairs etc. Not sure what bin cleaner is and can you reduce window cleaner visits to every two months? 

A positive is you don’t need to find the balloon payment for the car and you have managed to sort out debt before so I will be cheering you on. 

Firstly, thank you so much for coming back to my thread but secondly I am so sorry you have to see me here again! But you are absolutely right. As soon as I got in a little bit here and there to get the house how I wanted it soon snowballed to the not-far-from £9,000 in credit card debt you see today! What I should have done is just got what I could have afforded and slowly upgraded to make it how I wanted, but I wish I'd have had that sensible head on my shoulders a few months ago.  

And that's another point, I definitely don't have the spare cash I did have so I am making sure I see this as a longer-term journey, not to mention potential hiccups along the way but I have just as much determination as I did before! 

Definitely have cut back already. I will say I get my monies worth of Spotify, Netflix and Amazon, as I don't have a TV package I don't think those are too bad. But Disney plus has gone, both the bin cleaner and window cleaner have been cancelled too alongside my Apple Care. That alone has freed up over £30! Which is a lot over the course of a year and I would much rather put it towards my debt. 

I definitely need to review HomeCare... I have a good plumber and the boiler is only five years old so I am hoping not too many problems. 

But the car is a big bonus, it did extend the term but I now know when it is paid it is done, and once the credit card is paid that'll be £300 a month more I can throw at that if I would like!  

Hopefully I will come back month by month with good news! Thank you!

meerkatpie

Shop Spend Review

So something else I will throw out there whilst I am talking about issues is my shopping bill. I was reviewing my bank statements as part of this process and I could not believe the amount of money I was spending on my shopping. 

As a single occupant in this house my initial shops were nearing £150! 

I would say on the one hand this could be due to the realisation of how much you need to fill a kitchen (I completely took for granted all the spices and tins of things we used to have just lying around!), but I was certainly not frugal with my shops. There was no need for me to keep throwing things in the trolley, a lot of which would end up in the bin as I couldn't physically eat all the food that I was purchasing. 

You may be asking, four weekly shops at £150... that's not in the disposable... You would be right! Guess where it ended up! The credit card of course! I knew that was a problem when shopping began to go on there as I didn't have the spare disposable at the end to cut back. 

I've tried a new approach which I think is now working. Rather than going around my supermarket (my go-to is Tesco), I now do click and collect. Much less temptation especially as I used to go after work when I was hungry. I also make a list as I go through the week and now only buy from the list. 

My shop for this week was £49. Still not amazing but it is certainly better! I now plan my meals for the week on a little board in my kitchen and buy exactly what I need for those meals and I cook fresh food for multiple days wherever I can. 

I do struggle to cut back on some essentials as I have a few allergies and intolerances, but I think if I can keep it to around £50, I will be happy.  

This should then leave me plenty for food out of that spending money, but there certainly isn't much spare after everything else to throw at the debt, so I wondered if anyone else had any tips? Whatever is best to help cut back?  

Also, please be reassured I now am only using cash for shopping, no CC in sight and they have been taken off my Google Pay, Apple Pay and the cards are locked far away out of reach!

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on making some changes to your food shopping habits. 

I use my local zero waste shop for spices. Costs pennies now rather than £1.50 a jar. 

Menu planning, batch cooking and bulking out meals or doing more veggie meals will bring down cost. Check out old style forum for tips. Downbrand and maybe cut back on treat stuff like alcohol or only buy when on offer. 

Good idea to move away from credit if you struggle to be disciplined on spending. 

Humdinger1

@meerkatpie found your diary and have subscribed.   Well done on not burying your head in the sand! You've got out of debt before and will do.it again; you have all the techniques to hand so not building the plane as you fly this time.  Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

meerkatpie

enthusiasticsaver said:

Well done on making some changes to your food shopping habits. 

I use my local zero waste shop for spices. Costs pennies now rather than £1.50 a jar. 

Menu planning, batch cooking and bulking out meals or doing more veggie meals will bring down cost. Check out old style forum for tips. Downbrand and maybe cut back on treat stuff like alcohol or only buy when on offer. 

Good idea to move away from credit if you struggle to be disciplined on spending. 

Goodness that is such a good idea! I never even thought of my zero-waste store! And I was given a spice rack as a moving in gift which meant I literally exchanged spices from one to another. A definite waste! I've done some Googling and my local store is only a 10 minute drive away so that is certainly where I will be heading at the weekend! 

And I shall do, thank you! I had a treat this week for a bottle of wine, but I made sure to pick the one which was on a Clubcard offer rather than my usual and it was just as nice! I am not a heavy drinker so it is a bit of a one off, but nevertheless things such as that are certainly not essentials and I need to look out for the offers. 

And I think so too, it's happened one too many times now so it is evident that I have an issue with the control. Once the credit card is used it will be closed. I am not sure whether to reduce my limit as time goes on? I have a Santander credit card for emergencies (which I genuinely don't use), and that has a £2,000 limit. My Barclaycard is much higher and I am tempted to slowly cut the limit down each month. It may impact my credit score as my utilisation will go up, but it is less of a temptation to spend and now I have the house and don't need any new credit for the foreseeable, I am not sure it would be a bad choice? But if anyone has any advice on that it would be great!  

meerkatpie

Humdinger1 said:

@meerkatpie found your diary and have subscribed.   Well done on not burying your head in the sand! You've got out of debt before and will do.it again; you have all the techniques to hand so not building the plane as you fly this time.  Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

Thank you very much! I agree, I couldn't shy-away this time. I can be honest here and whilst my choices aren't the best at least we are all working to be free from the shackles of debt! 

It may be a slower process with less disposable, but I am more determined than ever! I need to make sure I am strict, stay to my budget and act sensibly. 

Especially now I have a mortgage, the quicker the debt is gone, the more relaxed I will feel knowing the spare can go away for emergencies so I can keep paying my bills if the worst were to happen!  

Will hope to be coming with good news as often as possible! 

meerkatpie

Today's Numbers 

So after going through my current SoA, here is where I am at as of today. 

My left to spend is £115, this needs to get me through to payday which is on the 22nd this month with Christmas on the horizon. 

@enthusiasticsaver (Thank You!) on my other debt-free thread, certain expenses are expected so budgeting beforehand is key! 

My car will need a top-up of fuel for the rest of the month which will take about £40. This should leave me enough for shopping next week with a little bit to spare. 

But with my saving in advance of expected expenses, Christmas is paid for. I have purchased for all my family and my partner aside from the odd chocolates, so all is left is to wrap up. That is one less thing to worry about with none of Christmas on the CC which I am so happy about! 

Also, I have been putting money onto Tesco stamps for the big Christmas shop the week after next. I have £147 in stamps so when I go, I should be able to do all the Christmas shopping and buy some luxuries before the 25th. This has been a bit of a blessing otherwise it would have been a much tighter big shop. I am not going to spend for the sake of it though, anything spare will be saved to help me out in January where it is a longer time until payday so we shall see how that goes, but I would certainly recommend a saving scheme with your local supermarket to help!