Jumping on the debt diary bandwagon! My attempt to keep myself sane!

girl-about-town_2

OH MY GOSH!!

I Have just paid off the credit card!!! This is the most amazing thing ever!!! Got my payslip when I got into work this morning and yes, it was a tax rebate for £298!!! Amazing! SO have just paid off the final £347.87 (online transaction so won't go through until next week but I don't care!!) Its gone! I am so gloriously happy, and I am so so proud of myself! I've paid off nearly £2,500 in six months which is way over half the amount of money I've earned from my job!! I can't believe it! :j :j :j :j I've also paid back £100 I borrowed from my dad a couple of weeks ago and will pay my mum back the £80 I owe her tomorrow. I've got £375 (after all dd's/standing orders etc) to last me the rest of the month which is completely doable but I'm going to try and only spend £175 so I can pay off £200 of the overdraft at the end of the month!

Thankyou Mr Tax man (for once!!!)

woo hoo:T :T

mrsclecoco_2

Well done, you must feel great tonight I know I would!!
x

girl-about-town_2

I really am mrs clecoco!! I feel like I should go out and celebrate but that would not be very dfw of me would it!! Instead I will bask in the glory of debt repayment!!

mrsclecoco_2

I've got a disgacefull 39k debt and i'm with cccs but on payday 31st my DH has been working 13 hours a day 29 days on the trot and we can pay one creditor off (one of ten!) It's only £505 but i'm excited allready.
After thats gone i need to keep motivated to earn/spend less to pay the next one of £900 off.
Keep it up your doing fantastic
x

girl-about-town_2

Thats very exciting - he must be very committed to be putting in such long hours! I think once you've paid one debt off you'll be so motivated to pay the next one and the next one!! I don't know if you keep a spending diary but I find it so helpful as a deterrent to spending anything on unnecessary items - now I'm just plain mean but I don't care because once my debt is gone I'll be the one laughing while some of my friends keep paying the minimum and will probably always be in debt!!!

girl-about-town_2

Just realised I haven't updated for a while, but then there's not really that much to report! Am halfway through the month and for once in my life I still have money left over!! I have £295 left of my overdraft, or £255 after my phone bill goes out. PLus £17.50 in my purse. Total - £272.50. However, My goal is to try and live off the £72.50 until I get paid again so that I can pay the £200 off my overdraft, which has crept up quite a bit but is fixable! I totally think I can manage on that amount!! But we shall see!!

girl-about-town_2

Thought I should update again as situations and circumstances have changed a bit, and I think I need it all in black and white to keep me on the straight and narrow!!

Have just taken the plunge and signed up for a unit in the local business centre - I think this way I will stop messing about with setting up on my own and actually do it!! It will mean quite a substantial jump in my outgoings but I won't have any of the restrictions that I had with my studio space regarding running a business. Plus I will have more space, business rates etc are included in the rent and there is even a receptionist to deal with post, phone calls and deliveries etc (which is v exciting and makes me feel like I've got staff!!)

Plus now my credit card is gone I am going to be giving my dad £100 a month towards my 'keep'!

SO thought I would update my state of affairs to keep an eye on things:

Income £700 (it is usually a little more than this but I like to work at this figure and then anything else is a bonus!!)

Outgoings

£40 - Phone bill (approx)
£188 (£160 + vat) New unit rent
£30 Service charge (approx figure as don't know yet but think this is realistic)
£100 Dad

Total £358

Left over £342.

I am going to try and pay the overdraft off at a rate of £200 a month which will hopefully be doable. Though this month may be a struggle as I am having to pay a deposit + months rent of £388 so we shall see. Have managed to negotiate the first two months rent at half price though so won't be paying anything next month!!

Overdraft is higher than in my signature (MUST UPDATE!) as I had to buy a new laptop a few months ago - £400 onto overdraft and things have been a little tight so am up to my limit of £2000. But I have £100 to pay off it left from this months wage and will have another £100 from next month (14th Apr) plus the £200 I want to start paying monthly! Thats all quite complicated. Anyway, essentially by the 14th it will be down to £1800 and as long as everything goes according to plan will be down to £1600 not long after that!! Budget permitting.

Now must update my signature!!

girl-about-town_2

Well since my last post things have all been a bit up in the air. Aside from paying the £388 deposit on my unit this month, I have also just had to fork out £277 on insurance. I had to sort this asap so that I have my public liability certificate. Luckily I received an unexpected extra £200 birthday money this month so I'm surviving (just about!). But really cannot wait until pay day!! 11 days to go! woohoo! This does mean however that my overdraft is back up to its limit of £2000 which is not good but I'm trying not to stress too much about it because at least I'm not taking a loan to set up my business!! SO anything I make will be all mine (and the tax man's!!). This month's pay packet should be easier to hold onto as the rent on the unit isn't due until the 1st of June. But I also have to save money for my trip to Cornwall, plus the usual outgoings! We shall see how it goes!!