debt free in 1200 months!?

bountiful

The good things happening :j

• pay day - and 28 hours overtime pay for December
• appointment tomorrow at Alliance & Leicester re opening a current account and transferring my overdraft to them at 0% interest (thanks to Seaxwyn for that suggestion)
• started a spending diary
• have 4 pounds in 2-pound tin and 4 pounds in pennypot (going to bank tomoro)
• letter from agent saying that my application for tenancy of new flat has been recommended to the client - waiting to hear
• used Demotivator on four regularly bought items (DVD, Big Issue, coffee from the machine at college, hot cornish pasties on cold days when I looking for comfort food)

The challenging things happening :eek:

• spent 95p in the machine at college on totally unnecessary yoghurt apricots
• spent 7.50 in MacDonald's and forgot to get a receipt to claim it on expenses (I do voluntary work as a mentor for a young person and get expenses from the County Council)
• may need to ask friends to lend me money to enable me to pay rent/deposit/moving in costs of new flat......scary
• the laundry cost 8.50 instead of 6.50 this week ('big bag')
• spending too much time on this site and not eating properly or getting essays written
• absolutely knackered from working long hours - finishing late and starting at the crack of dawn - poor me!
• still unable to get my keyboard to produce a pound-sterling sign

bountiful

I've found the £ sign:beer:
my son showed me how do remove the US English option so it won' t keep defaulting back to US English - seems to have done the trick (see, he has non-monetary value to me) (sometimes)! Now I'll just go and edit my signature - then zzzzzzzzz sleep I think!

tyllwyd

bountiful wrote: »

Saving 2-pound coins might seem a waste of time, but psychologically it gives me encouragement

Yes, sorry, it depends on the perspective - I was going on your original post when you'd said that your essential outgoings were hundreds of pounds greater than your income, in which case whether you spend a £2 coin or save it won't make any difference to your situation. But now you've said that you have about £80 pounds 'spare', then anything you do to help yourself budget with that money makes a difference.

Good luck with everything.

Seaxwyn

Well the good things seem to outweigh the bad things - especially now you've found the pound sign.

I hope A&L sort you out with a free overdraft! That was the best thing that happened in my debt-free journey, as it meant I could stop worrying about one big debt, and prioritise the others. I haven't looked back since. Well not much. Good luck with it.and keep us posted.

bountiful

Thank you so much for your support.... I have achieved a transfer of my overdraft to a 0% overdraft with Alliance & Leicester. Direct result of advice offered to me after my first posting. Feels like a great result and I found myself smiling today;)

They tried to offer me a loan at 6.9% over 5 years for £10,000 to cover all my current debts - fortunately I was canny enough (thanks MSE) to say "are you offering me a consolidation loan?" and wised up enough to say "thanks, but no thanks." If I hadn't read all the experiences on here - I would have probably fallen for it (close escape).

Also - new flat looks like happening - so that will increase my rent to £625 a month, but also eliminate my £80 pm bus pass. I have warned my son that I will need to increase his contribution too.

Next step might be to find a 0% balance transfer for my credit card whilst I snowball it.

Seaxwyn

Brilliant! I'm so glad that worked out. Now you're well and truly on the way to sorting it - and it won't take 1200 months after all.

bountiful

I have just received the welcome letter from A&L - and it says I have an overdraft limit of £400. I was under the impression that they had agreed to match my current overdraft of £2750 with the Halifax (transferring it to 0% etc...). I am a bit deflated..... suspect it may be a 'standard letter' type problem, and hopefully speaking to someone in the branch will fix it - but I am feeling somewhat less jubilant than I was!
Have also applied for a 0% for 9 months One Card from Halifax - waiting to hear- this would be to transfer my credit card debt from Post Office.
My son has agreed to increase his contribution to £75 a week from 1 March (when hopefully we will be in a new flat, nearer to work and college).
I am working now until Sunday afternoon - so see you then. I can't get into the bank until Tuesday.
I just paid £4 in coppers into my bank - drop in the ocean - but a drop nonetheless. Also saved over £4 shopping this morning on BOGOF loopaper and yoghurts - which are my usual purchases

bountiful

Phew - just finished a 24 hour shift of work (with a doze in the middle = sleeping with ears on high alert) - My local Co-Op has two BOGOFs at the moment which are in my usual buy range of items: loo paper and crunch corner yoghurts (for the son) - so am stocking up on loo rolls - and son is enjoying crunch corners! Spent £3.09 and saved £3.09. Then decided I deserved a bar of chocolate - free trade etc £1.09 for 100g which I shared with my son (generous or what?!).
Just had a bit of read of the latest posts and really reassured to see that so many other people experience the same things - for example, deprivation leads to craving, and austerities lead to the need for treats. It's interesting. I feel SO much more in control (is it an illusion) to be dealing with my debt and sharing things with other people.
Haven't got any more £2 coins .......yet.

melvis

bountiful wrote: »

Hi Pennywise, Thanks - the symbol for pound sign is indeed above number 3 - but it gives me a # sign and the key that has hash sign gives me \ and the trail ends there! Never mind - least of my worries.

Mine does that cos it's automatically set to U.S settings. On my screen in the bottom right hand corner (next to the time) there's a little symbol saying EN, I click on that and select 'English (United Kingdom)' then my £ signs work again.

bountiful

Thanks - I've sorted my keyboard now - by removing English US option so it doesn't keep defaulting back to it. Now doing £££££££ beautifully