FINALLY getting rid of this debt by the end of 2025.

Scott_Weiland79

Do you know the Apr's on the credit cards? From memory Aqua usually depending on credit rating will be 35-40 percent make that your focus, re the barclaycard I would pay just over the minimum till you have got shot of Aqua.

I agree with what some of the posters have said, home bargains you can grab a stack of bait boxes for 6-7 quid. Re shopping doing it every day is fine if its only small amounts I tend to do a biggish shop then lots of top up shops but there usually no more than 5-6 quid (my other half is expecting so it usually i am craving this or that)

I have a few questions that may help re income boosting if thats okay?

Who do you bank with?
Reason I ask is Chase do a good current account where you get cashback on debit card purchases, thats a good way to make tiny bits of extra cashback.

Do you buy a lot of things online?

And have you done anything further to boost you income ie vinted is a good one/ world of books if you have loads of books lying around/ music magpie re old phones etc etc

And would you have the time to maybe do market research surveys on your phone to boost your income?

Just this week I have brought in 18 quid off vinted, say another 6 quid in cashback, and other 3-4 quid in survey money, and I am waiting on a tenner from world of books. I know it doesnt sound loads but every little helps and if you could try doing the same these little wins make a difference if your clearing a cc have a look at the link below. 

 https://www.uswitch.com/credit-cards/calculator/?msockid=09286645b00a667d12867359b1ab676b

Scott_Weiland79

RandomOne said:

Good morning! 

Freezer Inventory done, and i think I'll also do an inventory of the kitchen cupboards today as they are quite full too. I do feel like i have a pretty good idea of whats in my cupboard, and can already think of a few meals to make from there. Risotto, curry, to name a few.

From the freezer i have meal planned 15 main meals and 5 breakfasts. That's a start. I've definitely realised that apart from some actual bread, i dont need to buy anymore bread products for a while. I have bagels, baguettes, bread rolls and wraps all in the freezer. 

I also have 9 chicken breasts, which is 3 meals worth for us, and 1kg of sliced ham that I'm not sure how I'm going to use. Maybe for sandwiches/rolls etc. 

I feel like work lunches are where i normally let myself down when it comes to spending on food, is work lunches. So my plan is to make my work lunches the night before, that way i wont be tempted to pop into the supermarket on the way to work. 

Because I food shop daily, I find it really hard to get everything I need for longer than 2 or 3 days. For example, I've just realised that I need cling film if I want to meal prep some work lunches. Do I just wait until tuesday? I guess I have to! 

Re this and the chicken breasts lol have a look at your local butcher and see if they do the larger containers of chicken breasts. My local one does the 5kg packs which are about 28 quid.

My local supermarket everytime i buy chicken breasts i put them in the airfryer and low and behold ten tonnes of water comes out of them. Last time i cooked some they weighed 500g before going in, coming out cooked the weight was 325G ish :-( The biggest men that should have stripey jumpers are supermarket owners and dentists lol

RandomOne

in_need_of_direction said:

That’s exactly what I meant. I’m all about motivation 

I love that idea, i think I'm going to say I'll resubscribe the first week of December  

RandomOne

Scott_Weiland79 said:

Do you know the Apr's on the credit cards? From memory Aqua usually depending on credit rating will be 35-40 percent make that your focus, re the barclaycard I would pay just over the minimum till you have got shot of Aqua.

I agree with what some of the posters have said, home bargains you can grab a stack of bait boxes for 6-7 quid. Re shopping doing it every day is fine if its only small amounts I tend to do a biggish shop then lots of top up shops but there usually no more than 5-6 quid (my other half is expecting so it usually i am craving this or that)

I have a few questions that may help re income boosting if thats okay?

Who do you bank with?
Reason I ask is Chase do a good current account where you get cashback on debit card purchases, thats a good way to make tiny bits of extra cashback.

Do you buy a lot of things online?

And have you done anything further to boost you income ie vinted is a good one/ world of books if you have loads of books lying around/ music magpie re old phones etc etc

And would you have the time to maybe do market research surveys on your phone to boost your income?

Just this week I have brought in 18 quid off vinted, say another 6 quid in cashback, and other 3-4 quid in survey money, and I am waiting on a tenner from world of books. I know it doesnt sound loads but every little helps and if you could try doing the same these little wins make a difference if your clearing a cc have a look at the link below. 

 https://www.uswitch.com/credit-cards/calculator/?msockid=09286645b00a667d12867359b1ab676b

I am not 100% sure of the apr, but i know that Aqua is by far the highest, so I'm focusing on paying that one off first, I'd be stupid not to really. 

I dont buy much online at all to be honest,i rarely have the money to (due to my overspending on food).
Yes, i currently sell on vinted! I've made about £300 in the past 6 months from selling on Vinted, so i definitely find it worthwhile. 

RandomOne

Scott_Weiland79 said:

RandomOne said:

Good morning! 

Freezer Inventory done, and i think I'll also do an inventory of the kitchen cupboards today as they are quite full too. I do feel like i have a pretty good idea of whats in my cupboard, and can already think of a few meals to make from there. Risotto, curry, to name a few.

From the freezer i have meal planned 15 main meals and 5 breakfasts. That's a start. I've definitely realised that apart from some actual bread, i dont need to buy anymore bread products for a while. I have bagels, baguettes, bread rolls and wraps all in the freezer. 

I also have 9 chicken breasts, which is 3 meals worth for us, and 1kg of sliced ham that I'm not sure how I'm going to use. Maybe for sandwiches/rolls etc. 

I feel like work lunches are where i normally let myself down when it comes to spending on food, is work lunches. So my plan is to make my work lunches the night before, that way i wont be tempted to pop into the supermarket on the way to work. 

Because I food shop daily, I find it really hard to get everything I need for longer than 2 or 3 days. For example, I've just realised that I need cling film if I want to meal prep some work lunches. Do I just wait until tuesday? I guess I have to! 

Re this and the chicken breasts lol have a look at your local butcher and see if they do the larger containers of chicken breasts. My local one does the 5kg packs which are about 28 quid.

My local supermarket everytime i buy chicken breasts i put them in the airfryer and low and behold ten tonnes of water comes out of them. Last time i cooked some they weighed 500g before going in, coming out cooked the weight was 325G ish :-( The biggest men that should have stripey jumpers are supermarket owners and dentists lol

This is a great idea, re the chicken breasts, thank you. Once I've used up what i have, I'll definiely remember this. 
We have some lovely local butchers, but they are incredibly expensive. However, there is one cheaper place I've not been to before so I'll try them out once I've used what i already have. 

RandomOne

Good morning

I'm off to work today, but it's a quick work day as i finish at 3pm today. 
I think I forgot to say that I have 3 paydays per month as I'm paid fortnightly, plus I'm paid overtime separately. Crazy, I know, and an inconvenience sometimes. 

On the 1st of each month i recieve £1200
On the 19th i recieve £1100
Then my overtime is usually £400 a month
And my son pays £250 rent a month

I'm not really sure how to organise my money. 

All of my bills come to £2239, including £395 minimum debt payments for my cards. 

What I'm thinking is that I'll put my overtime money and money from my sons rent, into an account and then use that to overpay my CCs at the end of each month. That's £650 extra every month. 

Hmmm...but i think i should have some sort of savings too, like an emergency fund. 

I currently have £700 saved up for spending money when i go on holiday in May (already paid for the holiday). I'm thinking I'll put that into an emergency fund, then just save £200 a month for Feb-May to get the holiday spending money instead. 

Then I'm going to have to factor in other things like pet costs (i have 2 dogs and a cat). car costs (MOT and unexpected things). I have no idea how much to set aside every month for that kind of expense. 

Sigh. I know that i need these things need paying for, but this is where i start to feel like I'll never get the debt paid off. 

peacocking

Just butting in on your diary Something that's worked for me is not having any savings or EF. Because interest is high on my cards, I pay literally every penny of my wages onto my credit cards after my bills are taken (this wouldn't work so well if you need real hard cash). Then i spend from my cards, spending as little as possible. This reduces the interest I'm paying and its motivational not to spend because every expense increases my credit card.my credit card is (until I'm out of debt) my EF but because interest is very high it's better to have my credit card as an EF and save on interest payments than have a higher balance on my card and savings earning nearly no interest. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm the only one that does this, so sometimes wonder if I'm doing something wrong!

RandomOne

peacocking said:

Just butting in on your diary Something that's worked for me is not having any savings or EF. Because interest is high on my cards, I pay literally every penny of my wages onto my credit cards after my bills are taken (this wouldn't work so well if you need real hard cash). Then i spend from my cards, spending as little as possible. This reduces the interest I'm paying and its motivational not to spend because every expense increases my credit card.my credit card is (until I'm out of debt) my EF but because interest is very high it's better to have my credit card as an EF and save on interest payments than have a higher balance on my card and savings earning nearly no interest. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm the only one that does this, so sometimes wonder if I'm doing something wrong!

Feel free to butt in, i appreciate the advice! 
To be honest, I'm really tempted to do what you are doing, and use the CC as an EF, or I wont be able to pay iff the debt as quick as i need to. I need to have as much of it as possible paid off by December, as my income will decrease in December. 

I'm having a slight panic because it doesnt look like I'll be able to pay it all by December anyway, unless i spend a very small amount of money on food as well as use my overtime money and the rest from my son. I'd love to spend about £75 a week on food but i dont even know if this is realistic for a family of 3 adults. Bearing in mind that the boys pay for all their own snacks and it's literally just main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) i provide. 

Facing up to how much debt I have and how I'm going to pay if ott has been really scary to be honest. Note to self: breathe.

RandomOne

Today is the first day of my new way of spending and thinking. 

I went to the supermarket this morning and bought ONLY the items on my shopping list. I cant remember the last time i did that. I spent £65.59. I did buy the boys some pizza for dinner tonight (just frozen pizza) as I'm off out for a meal tonight with friends. That wasn't a necessity, but I'm trying not to be too hard on myself as this really is a learning curve. 

I dont need to go food shopping now until Wednesday. Meals are all planned, I'll do some meal prep tomorrow.