In pursuit of happiness...for real this time! Donner_kebab's debt diary!

donner_kebab

Thanks Beanielou! I was umming and arring about it for ages, but thought what with the price of the ticket, getting to and from the show, food and drink etc it would have soon added up, so had some nice foodies at home with the fella and watched a movie! They come to Bristol a lot, so will go next time!
Have been busy this morning transfering a few balances! I had liked the idea of just getting rid of the cards lowest balances first but am now changing tatics! I was given a Lloyds card with £1,500 limit on it with a BT rate of 0% for 12 months. The Virgin card is at a really high rate, current balance of a maxed out £2,800. So have tranfered £1,350 (had to leave a bit for the 3% fee and the fact you have to spend £100 in 3 months to get this deal) to this new card and then went on to transfer £990 to my Barclaycard with a lifetime BT rate of 6.9% I only have a £1,100 limit on that one and the only allow 90% of the card limit but no charges! So that should leave about £460 on the Virgin card which I will try and get down after the Tesco one! That will then leave the following (after Tesco and Virgin are out of the way!):

Barclaycard £990 6.9%
Lloyds £1350 0% for 12 months
M & S £2000 which I think is at 4.9...but will have to check!
2 x HSBC which are at 8000 with about 19.9% Eeeek

So my plan will be...

Hit the HSBC cards first as they have the higher APRs and continue to make minimum payments to the others. I aim to have Tesco clear this month and hopefully Virgin clear by August if I can wrangle it, but September if not as will have my summer overtime payments by September's wages so will be using all of that for the debt! That then leaves the rest to work on...I am gonna get these out of the way, then use the snowball thingy to get a clearer picture. I know it is lovely to get the little cards out of the way, but no point if the others are silly amounts of interest...dam HSBC! Scary to look at the Balances, but at least I have a plan now and hopefully this will help me tackle them head on! xxx

donner_kebab

I am also kinda hoping that Virgin might be lovely peeps and when they see the card is going down, they may call me and offer me a BT deal? In which case I would transfer some of the HSBC cards. They did this last year but I screwed up in the fact that I was a day late with 2 payments, was paying them online giving a few days but it always seemed to reach the card the day after it was actually due...grrrr! So they would hit me with a fee, shich I may try and claim back! Maybe they will do the same and think, she will probably miss them again and then we can sting her for more money! Would be good if they did think like that and I could shift some of that HSBC onto it! Mmmm we shall see!

Keeping_Motivated

Donner you are doing so well, I know it seems like a lot of money but its coming down loads. With the interest rates on most of them now lower they will also be coming down so much faster.

You seem really in control of the debt at the moment and you seem more positive in your posts too.

Keep up what it is you are doing coz its all coming good.

KM x

pixiechick99

Hi Donna,
You are doing very well, I agree-you're so organised with the cards, shuffling the money!
I'm at home today as Georgia had a sore ear. She was up ost of Tuesday night with it, in agony, but I made her go to school yesterday as I had a TA meeting. Turned out the meeting was a waste of time, 15min long, so could have stayed home. Poor G was pathetic all day and slept the minute we got home. So been to the doctor today and its an ear infection. She put a dvd on but is fast asleep again.
So I've cut the grass, had lunch and not done much else! We popped to Tesco on the way back from the doctor, so spent £34 but that will save me going at the weekend. I buy so much value stuff now, we did seem to do OK for £34. Will just need fruit/veg during the week.
So only a week to go til the end of term, can't wait! I'm going to get going and make as much money as I can on ebay. I think most of the stuff I can sell on Amazon has been done - everything else is on for 1p and I can't be bothered with that!
Should get off the PC and go and do some housework or something! Still got plenty of sorting I could be doing from when we moved in, but this site is too addictive!!!

Bye for now, enjoy your peace!:o

donner_kebab

Keeping_Motivated wrote: »

Donner you are doing so well, I know it seems like a lot of money but its coming down loads. With the interest rates on most of them now lower they will also be coming down so much faster.

You seem really in control of the debt at the moment and you seem more positive in your posts too.

Keep up what it is you are doing coz its all coming good.

KM x

Thanks KM! It is quite shocking when you look at how much the debt is and what little I have to show for it! I know I really need to knuckle down now and stop wasting money here and there and remember that the quicker I do that, the less time I will be paying off this debt! I am sure that once I get these Tesco and Virgin cards sorted and do the snowball thing properly, that will help as I will think that adding to the debt will make the time be further away and having the snowball thingy show me that should be enough! Sorry, bit of a ramble there! xxx

donner_kebab

millyscarlett wrote: »

Hi Donna,
You are doing very well, I agree-you're so organised with the cards, shuffling the money!
I'm at home today as Georgia had a sore ear. She was up ost of Tuesday night with it, in agony, but I made her go to school yesterday as I had a TA meeting. Turned out the meeting was a waste of time, 15min long, so could have stayed home. Poor G was pathetic all day and slept the minute we got home. So been to the doctor today and its an ear infection. She put a dvd on but is fast asleep again.
So I've cut the grass, had lunch and not done much else! We popped to Tesco on the way back from the doctor, so spent £34 but that will save me going at the weekend. I buy so much value stuff now, we did seem to do OK for £34. Will just need fruit/veg during the week.
So only a week to go til the end of term, can't wait! I'm going to get going and make as much money as I can on ebay. I think most of the stuff I can sell on Amazon has been done - everything else is on for 1p and I can't be bothered with that!
Should get off the PC and go and do some housework or something! Still got plenty of sorting I could be doing from when we moved in, but this site is too addictive!!!

Bye for now, enjoy your peace!:o

Heeeeellllo! Sorry to hear about G It's awful when they are poorly isn't it I really hope she gets better soon...and with her being so shattered out, makes it harder on her too Well done on the food shop. Do you all eat the same stuff for tea? I try too but Emily doesn't like anything remotely spicy whereas I love it! She can be a right fussy moo at times...I really need to be a bit more strict I think and tell her she will eat what she is given! I think I am gonna list some bits over the next few days then if the don't sell for much, I will try and use the money to put towards school uniform for September! Emily needs so much stuff, not to mention coats and shoes etc! Never ends...what with that and the fact that everything must have the school logo on...grrrrr! Well done on doing the grass...I really should have done mine this week but have been really lazy for a change! I haven't done much over the last few days really...been chilling out but that is just what I needed really! I have loads of decorating, housework to do etc but cannot be arsed! This site can be very addictive! I should have gone to bed earlier but find myself reading soooo many posts etc! I'm gonna hit the sack now though as feel my eyes drooping! Take care and hope G gets better soon...big hugs for her! :grouphug: xxx

donner_kebab

Oh what a mare! :mad: Barclaycard have refused my Balance Transfer....Grrrrrrrr! What is their problem?!?!?! I don't get it! If the balance on the card is £0.00 then why can't I transfer the Balance? They have said if I want to dispute it, then I can call their 0845 number and discuss it with some Bank Manager etc and they can explain why! Man I soooo cannot be bothered with them! I think I may as well just cancel the card or shall I try another BT for a smaller amount and see if they take that? I dunno what to do! I didn't realise you could get refused a BT on a card with no debt on it...was less than a grand too...I don't get it!

pixiechick99

Oh how annoying, what are they playing at?!
I'm off work again, which isn't good as I won't get paid cos it's G not well. I did nip in this morn to grab her SATs results, clever girly, level 5s Maths and Literacy, and 4 in Science. So very proud this morning. She isn't overly impressed at the moment, she has no energy at all. Looking very skinny too as not eaten much this week, so I'm worrying about that now and trying to feed her up!!!
So must make the mot of the day at home and keep busy...I didn't do much yesterday apart from the grasss! I have piles of college work looking at me too, but it's amazing what I can find to do to avoid that! Which is daft, cos I do quite enjoy doing it, once I make myself sit down and do it!!
Don't think I need to spend today, unless anything sells on Amazon. Oh and need to post copies of girls school reports to their dad, was feeling generous so offered to do it!!
As for food - well we do eat the same usually, but I too like spicy stuff, but girls dont. We don't eat very exciting stuff - spag bol, lasagne, jacket pots, sausages/mash, chicken wraps and wedges on Sat nights, pizza (Emily makes the bases for me!) - so really not very adventurous, but as long as they eat I don't mind. I've been writing menus for the week now so I don't buy too much. I must spend too much on snacks, but trying to cut back. Em loves baking so often get her making biscuits or cakes. (Recipe for Hobnobs on here I found that is very easy and very yummy).
As for the school uniform, yes we have tons to buy too - a lot like you has to have school logo on. I've spent £140 so far and not bought PE shorts, trainers, school shoes yet! She has to have a particular coat, which I moaned about at first but at least it saves arguments, as she was so fussy last year finding a school coat! I've asked the ex to help pay which he said he would, but I am not holding my breath!!!
Anyway, going to write a list of things to do todaynow....have a good day!:T

donner_kebab

millyscarlett wrote: »

Oh how annoying, what are they playing at?!
I'm off work again, which isn't good as I won't get paid cos it's G not well. I did nip in this morn to grab her SATs results, clever girly, level 5s Maths and Literacy, and 4 in Science. So very proud this morning. She isn't overly impressed at the moment, she has no energy at all. Looking very skinny too as not eaten much this week, so I'm worrying about that now and trying to feed her up!!!
So must make the mot of the day at home and keep busy...I didn't do much yesterday apart from the grasss! I have piles of college work looking at me too, but it's amazing what I can find to do to avoid that! Which is daft, cos I do quite enjoy doing it, once I make myself sit down and do it!!
Don't think I need to spend today, unless anything sells on Amazon. Oh and need to post copies of girls school reports to their dad, was feeling generous so offered to do it!!
As for food - well we do eat the same usually, but I too like spicy stuff, but girls dont. We don't eat very exciting stuff - spag bol, lasagne, jacket pots, sausages/mash, chicken wraps and wedges on Sat nights, pizza (Emily makes the bases for me!) - so really not very adventurous, but as long as they eat I don't mind. I've been writing menus for the week now so I don't buy too much. I must spend too much on snacks, but trying to cut back. Em loves baking so often get her making biscuits or cakes. (Recipe for Hobnobs on here I found that is very easy and very yummy).
As for the school uniform, yes we have tons to buy too - a lot like you has to have school logo on. I've spent £140 so far and not bought PE shorts, trainers, school shoes yet! She has to have a particular coat, which I moaned about at first but at least it saves arguments, as she was so fussy last year finding a school coat! I've asked the ex to help pay which he said he would, but I am not holding my breath!!!
Anyway, going to write a list of things to do todaynow....have a good day!:T

Hope G is better now! Huge well done to her on her SATS! Same score as my Em's! Yay! Clever little things ain't they! :T

Thanks for the info regarding the food...I have the hobnob recipe in my bookmarks for my Internet but am still yet to make them! Worried that they will taste WAY too good and I won't stop until I have eaten them all!

Hope your ex coughs up some £££ towards the school uniform! I was in Woolworths earlier and they had some half price lunch boxes so picked one up for the madam! I keep putting stuff in ebay to watch and then forgetting about it school unifrom wise, need to sort that out! xxx

donner_kebab

Well have somehow managed to get rid if the dam Tesco card! Am gutted about the BT not going through for the Barclaycard though but ho hum! Trying to work out if it is now best to tackle the remaining money on the Virgin card (which is about £1500 or whether I should leave that to be the minimum payment and tackle the 2 HUGE amounts on the HSBC cards, which are at about £4,000 each I dunno! I think the Virgin APR is more than the HSBCs but those 2 cards alone are huge and the interest on them is mental too Will have to have a think and see what happen at the end of next month when I have the August Payday. I should have a few hours overtime in there that month too, as I will in September, so the whole lot will be going towards the cards! Really chuffed about the Tesco card...dunno if I should cancel it now, along with the Barclaycard as having them at £0 might mean that I continue to have trouble getting new cards if I apply for BT ones? Anyone have any ideas? Might do a bit of research online about it! xxx