Goals and budgeting - my diary

enthusiasticsaver

Whilst I can understand you wanting to get rid of the debt asap if you don’t use that Lloyds card again and continue to pay £63 a month it will be repaid in less than 2 years with no interest. So you can essentially forget about that and just focus on Barclays. 

MissG80

Thanks, I appreciate this dialogue.

So salary clears tomorrow. All bills are covered including £55 for Lloyds credit card (minimum is about £28 I think) and £241 for Barclays (think the minimum is £215), plus £850 for overdraft.

Once I get the £200 from the Nationwide switch, I will pop this into the First Account, the balance will then be -£250 (first £250 is interest free).

I have £25 spare! This is going into a Tesco saver either towards a new pair of glasses or teeth whitening gel.

Spare money next month is going towards emergency savings, effectively relacing the buffer of the very expensive overdraft, that wasn't really a buffer at all, and in fact cost me £600 in fees over the four years I had the thing.

With that in place, I'll then turn my attention to the credit cards in more earnest.

MissG80

I've joined the Payment a Day PAD challenge, so I'll use this diary for my monthly budgeting and any problem solving.

MissG80

Also slightly more organised on food front, I've booked 4 click and collect slots for the month and just copied the same basket more or less, so even if I don't change it there will be food.

enthusiasticsaver

That sounds like a brilliant plan to get rid of the overdraft and save for emergencies. The click and collect slots also sound like a good idea to get you on an even keel. 

MissG80

Thanks : )

My first account is at balance -£250 today. No interest is being charged, for the first time in 4 years. It feels good.

enthusiasticsaver

MissG80 said:

Thanks : )

My first account is at balance -£250 today. No interest is being charged, for the first time in 4 years. It feels good.

Great news. 

MissG80

Doing quite well. Hit with some unplanned charges from last month amd had one day of unplanned food spends, but savings are at 341 through online sales.

Decided to aim to get to 500 sales, and to knock spending on days when I travel to work on the head.  That's the only troublesome area left. Just lack of planning. I know what I need to do, just don't schedule it or do it, so I will improve this.