Paranoid's Debt Free-Wannabe Diary!

Paranoid124

RESULT!

Got my gym membership cancelled today! Basically walked in and just said I was not happy with all the hidden costs after paying the basic membership and so wanted to move on.

The girl gave a rather weak attempt to dissuade me (noting that I don't have to pay each week for a personal training session etc.), but shot her down with the fact that my induction was basically a sales pitch for a PT session, and that I've yet to be provided with a programme as part of my membership (which I found out on the net costs extra!).

So I'm glad I stuck with my instincts and dropped it within the 10 day guarantee cancellation policy. Read another thread here where there's a 12 month contract and you cant cancel it, only take a holiday before starting it again. My rental contract ends in 3 months and I don't know where I'm going next so that would have been a nightmare!


Looking to join the local community leisure centre now. It's £20 cheaper and has a swimming pool attached (which this gym didn't). Hopefully things will work out smoother there!

Rammstein1

joined the forums yesterday and am reading the diaries and finding them inspirational
they really help me in knowing that im not the only one in debt
good luck whatever you do and keep us informed
enjoy rome and the way i look at it is that you need to enjoy something now and again to keep focused so the budget shouldnt bother you

iv recently joined up with orange and got a pda phone (HTC TYTN11 as i can put tomtom on it) and it has a tariff of £35 a month for which i get 500 anytime any network minutes inc calls to landlines and unlimited texts - i go through 1200 - 1300 texts a month and this has saved me money

well done

Rammy

chimp_choker

Rammstein1 wrote: »

joined the forums yesterday and am reading the diaries and finding them inspirational
they really help me in knowing that im not the only one in debt
good luck whatever you do and keep us informed
enjoy rome and the way i look at it is that you need to enjoy something now and again to keep focused so the budget shouldnt bother you

iv recently joined up with orange and got a pda phone (HTC TYTN11 as i can put tomtom on it) and it has a tariff of £35 a month for which i get 500 anytime any network minutes inc calls to landlines and unlimited texts - i go through 1200 - 1300 texts a month and this has saved me money

well done

Rammy

Welcome Rammy. As a sad old fart who can text at 1 letter a minute i admire you. My son is on 02 at the moment and he gets 1000 text and 600 minutes a month with unlimited text on the weekend Saturday through monday for £25 sim only.

Paranoid124

Hey All!

Well things seem to be going pretty well in the last few days. Had a few nights out with work (so free dinner and drinks!...very DFW!) Had a very lazy Friday at home recovering and just chilling out.

But now its Saturday afternoon and I'm getting very restless! I was getting all dressed to head out somewhere, when I stopped myself and thought "Hang on, where are you going? You wanna spend some money don't ya? NO!"...ok so a bit sad that I talk to myself but there you go!

So I'm a bit stuck as to what DFW thing I can do this afternoon to keep me busy! Got a friends birthday tonight (unfortunately will have to spend some money there, but will be watching the pennies!), but until then (and tomorrow and Monday which are holidays) I don't know what to do! Help!

Paranoid124

Joined another (!) gym this afternoon. Having trusted my instincts earlier this week and cancelled my membership at Fitness First, I've decided to go with my loca community leisure centre.

Cost wise it's actually worked out about the same except there is no contract to keep me in for 12 months! And it gives me access to the swimming pool as well as sauna, gym, etc. more than FF was offering me!

Couldn't make my induction appointment yesterday so rescheduled this afternoon and they couldn't be more accommodating. Having worked as a lifeguard at several community centres in the past I felt alot more at ease here and the people were very friendly.

I'm also impressed by the level of technology they have in their gym - better than FF even! I've already been given some gizmo token thing to attach to your keyring, I think it operates the lockers there but also records your fitness progress as you plug it into the various machines!


Induction here is promised to be 1 hour long (FF gave me 10mins), no extra costs (FF sold me £25 PT session!) and will leave me with a training programme (FF didn't even mention one...unless I wanted to pay an extra £20!). Can't wait to get stuck in! Only realised recently how much I've missed some form of exercise!


Also signed up to the 10k Great Capital Run around Hyde Park, something to keep me motivated (planning to run for ECPAT, an organisation against the sexual exploitation of children) and get me fit asap!

thepinklady

As you were kind enough to give me advice in my diary i thought i would drop by your diary and say hello :hello:

You sound like you are doing brilliantly, well done. Good luck with the Great Capital Run, such a good organization to run for. I hope all the training for the big run goes well.

Hayley

Paranoid124

Well its been a very dull and lonesome Easter weekend for me this year!

Had a big work night out on the Thursday followed by 3 days of sloth in recovery!!

Went out today for my gym induction though at the local leisure centre. I was amazed at the standard of equipment provided, especially compared to any private gym I've been a member of in the past!

Well I tried a 20minute run and was shattered afterwards...really worried about how unfit I am! Completed about 2km, meaning in my present state it would take 1hr 40mins to complete my 10k race in July...oh dear


Spent most of this weekend trying to sort out my financial plan and find other avenues of income.

DFD is still November, althought its not going to be an easy ride getting there! The next 2 months especially are going to be quite slow before I make big inroads into the debt, very frustrating when you see it on paper but I resisted looking into a fixed rate loan or anything.

Been looking at the matched betting money-maker. Have to say its way over my head at the moment and looks like you need a fair bit of cash handy to start up...will keep reading the instructions until I get it though!

Haven't been having much luck on eBay either. Been selling alot of my junk, but already had one non-payment (its been over 2 weeks since the auction closed now, just raised a dispute and have to wait another week before I get re-credited), and then another came back complaining that the DVD I sent didn't work (I swear it worked on my machine before I sent it!). I've gone and listed 16 other things this weekend so hopefully some cash will come back from that.



And finally, my 'addiction' has been kept under control this past week I'm pleased to say. Having installed those site blockers I havent even tried to load up the pages out of habit. Somehow its just flicked a switch in my head and I don't bother contemplating it! Very weird, but at the same time it's saving me a heap of money, albeit money I never budgeted for before! Only thing I do need to do is close my accounts, will be visiting my brother in a few weeks so will probably get it done there.

Paranoid124

Oh god that was close! The Personal Trainer from last week called me up just now asking why I hadn't shown up for my training session with him today! No one told him I had quit the gym...he then went on to try and sell his 'services' outside of the gym - he'd happily train me from my flat! Ha!

Told him I had decided to just run on the streets instead and couldn't afford the gym or him!



Meanwhile, I've been looking around the house and thinking of other things I can flog on ebay and make some cash:

* Nintendo Wii - as discussed I rarely use it or ever have. Awaiting an original box to arrive in the post and then I'll be on ebay...estimate £200 sale when packaged with the 6 games I have and extra controller.

* Apple Mac Powerbook G4 - I have 3 laptops at the moment (1 work, 2 personal), the 3rd has a broken hard drive. I'm now looking to get it fixed and then I can sell the Mac for what appears to be upward of £250!!!

* Was surfing 'Up Your Income' forum yesterday, and the whole using your skills to build extra cash caught my attention. I'm a keen photographer and feel some of my shots would be sellable (see www.flickr.com/photos/davidcameron - comments very welcome!). THinking if I can find a company that will create gift cards on the cheap with my photos then I can get a little business going that way...still searching for the kind of cards I want to use though (if anyone has any contacts in this area or experience let me know!)


I'm just desperate to make up ground on my savings any which way I can, especially now that I'm now wasting money on those stupid chat sites!

Paranoid124

Need some advice today.

Just received Martin's weekly newsletter which lists this week's It Pays to Watch challenge - Should you pay off debts, Student Loans, or Save?

It got me thinking about my approach to recovering my debt.

I probably haven't made it clear yet, but because I have 3 interest free current account overdrafts (totalling £3200) I thought it wise to use this 'free' money to the max and concentrate on clearing my largest single debt, my CC @ £4500 and 6.7% APR.

Would people agree that this is the best way forward? So once I clear the CC I can clear the 0% OD's next? Or should I clear away the OD's (which would probably take about 2 months) and then focus on the CC?

I think I'm right in my approach, but then Martin talks about using savings to recover debt, and strictly speaking I'm not doing that at the moment...


Just a thought anyway!


On other news, I've been selling a few more dribs and drabs on eBay which is a welcome extra income. One seller has held out from paying now for almost 3 weeks which is getting very annoying as they owe me £60 for my old ipod!! First time I've had to register a dispute with eBay and the buyer just won't respond to my numerous emails! Grrrrr!

Counting down the days to payday (next Monday) as cash flow is pretty tight at the moment (I have £30 to last me until then...a quiet weekend it is then!), what will help is that my mate is cooking me dinner tonight, and then I'm at training at work tomorrow and Friday where they provide lunch, so less an expense there too!


Hope everyone is good on the Weekday hump!

findingmyownway

Yes, you are right to pay the 6.7% CC if thats the highest intrest rate.

Once you only have 0% debt left then the next thing to do is to put your 'debt payments' into a savings account so you are earning interest on the cash but as soon as the 0% periods end you have the money there to pay the ODs and so pay no interest on the debt.

Thats pretty much the situation i am in now, all CCs paid off and have a saving account which i aim to build up to £2000 before my 0% OD is finished.

Good luck

ps - i like the photos. Very brave of you to do the self portraits!!