"Thevinternet's still in debt" diary 31 March 2008 at 12:59AM in Debt free diaries 224 replies 12.5K views

thevinternet

Oh - and I have given up coffee for Lent - so I'm suffering with severe caffeine withdrawal!! lol xx

andromache_2

Hi! I've just read through your diary (instead of doing that essay... I'm sure you know how it is!). Just wanted to say that you're doing amazingly well - I'm so impressed with how hard you must be working to keep up your studies *and* all your part-time jobs. You should be really proud of yourself. Good luck

thevinternet

andromache wrote: »

Hi! I've just read through your diary (instead of doing that essay... I'm sure you know how it is!). Just wanted to say that you're doing amazingly well - I'm so impressed with how hard you must be working to keep up your studies *and* all your part-time jobs. You should be really proud of yourself. Good luck

Thanks so much Andromache, it's lovely to read encouragement like this, especially since I can't talk to my OH about the burden of carrying so much debt. It can really get me down sometimes, but I just come to this site when I feel that way to keep me on track.

I've only got one part-time job at the mo - I should probably have posted that in this diary, but I think I've been so busy, I forgot!

I got made redundant from two of the other jobs thanks to the good ol' recession :mad: , but my current job is quite well paid so it keeps me going each month. I really just want to focus on paying my Egg card off. Then I'll only have two CC debts to worry about (plus the loans and ODs, of course). It's currently standing at just under £420, so very doable in the next few months. xx

thevinternet

Goals this year then:

1. Get under the 30k mark by the end of 2009 - that would be amazing!
2. Pay off my Egg card balance by the start of August. It stands at £420-ish at the moment.
3. Get my driving test passed and buy a little runaround!:D

Dinah93

Morning thevinternet, how you doing this week?

Your targets are excellent, I always find it helps to break them down to tiny pieces. The Egg card is £70 a month to be paid off by August, minimum payments are maybe £15? So that's only another £55 a month to find from elsewhere, or to break it down further, 37p a day! 36p = a average choccie bar or bag of crisps, suddenly target is just a giant pile of dairy milks to be overcome.... actually that example is a bit abstract, and doesn't help me as now I just want choccie!

Hope your week goes well x

*edit* It's monday morning and that was awful, awful maths! It's £2.11 a day, so we're going to have to look a bit bigger, a sandwich from the shop or a drink in a bar, or 3 large bars of dairy milk (unlikey to get through that in a day!) but still not an impossible target!

thevinternet

Dinah93 wrote: »

Morning thevinternet, how you doing this week?

Your targets are excellent, I always find it helps to break them down to tiny pieces. The Egg card is £70 a month to be paid off by August, minimum payments are maybe £15? So that's only another £55 a month to find from elsewhere, or to break it down further, 37p a day! 36p = a average choccie bar or bag of crisps, suddenly target is just a giant pile of dairy milks to be overcome.... actually that example is a bit abstract, and doesn't help me as now I just want choccie!

Hope your week goes well x

*edit* It's monday morning and that was awful, awful maths! It's £2.11 a day, so we're going to have to look a bit bigger, a sandwich from the shop or a drink in a bar, or 3 large bars of dairy milk (unlikey to get through that in a day!) but still not an impossible target!

Aha - a good idea to set a target like this!!

You are quite correct - my monthly payments are around £13, which comes out around the 24th. So they'll be payments in March, April, May, June and July = 5 x 13 = 65.

420 - 65 = 355

There are 152 days until 1st August.

355 / 152 = about 2.34

So I need to be trying to make a daily payment of £2.34.

I think I can do that! I'll have to bung a little extra on to compensate for the interest at some stage, but otherwise that looks good. So I'll start making a daily payment of £2.34 as from tomorrow to see if we can get that sucker cleared by the start of August.

Thank you Debt Mentor!! xx

tobedebtfree_2

thevinternet wrote: »

Erm...two.

:rotfl:lol!!

But that's all in the past now! Or at least until I win the lottery!!

Thanks for the comments about the diary, it's nice to have a reader.
I shall keep pressing on with the lessons, though I feel like I've got to a sticky point where it's taking me a while to progress. Still - I guess I'll just have to keep trying!! Thank the lord for dual-control xx

Hi there thevinternet;

Ive just read through all of your diary and when I got to this bit I nearly broke a few more ribs from the laughing. :rotfl: :rotfl: Honey, you're a girl after my own heart;)
I have downgraded to M&S and they do fine; actually better than fine. And if you can get to an outlet store even better but the sales are just as good and just stock up:D
I have downgraded on bags too; I picked up a super one from M&S today it was really needed (feeling sorry for myself after hosp visit) as I almost stopped breathing so had to go back in and buy it. But I paid on my debit card not my cc:cool:

Good luck with dfw
xxx
xxx

thevinternet

Thanks for that tobedebtfree - what a lovely message. I'm now a Primark girl for knickers believe it or not - but I do love Tesco and Marks for their bras. You've got to have it fitting well on top! Can't have anything falling out now can we?!

I'm in a rotten mood today - I've avoided the dentist for years due to a monstrous dental phobia, but I have spotted a tiny hole in a molar and now I HAVE to go to the dentist. So I have booked in for a couple of weeks time. The lady I'm going to see is a specialist with phobic patients, but I'm going to have to stick it on the old credit card - and undoubtedly I will need A LOT of work done. The front teeth are all fine, but the back ones are a mess.

It's soooo annoying. A whole year of not spending on credit cards, and now this happens. :mad: At least my teeth will be better I guess. No more bad dreams about them all falling out - I have to pay to get them drilled out instead. xx

Dinah93

Do you have any books/clothes/gadgets/dvds etc you could stick on amazon or ebay or anything? Make it a little challenge to yourself to raise say £300 to cover the dentists bills within 30 days. I sold a random assortment of clothes in the new year on ebay, made over £500 for about 40 items, mostly just topshop/warehouse/general high street type stuff, but also general clutter I didn't need, old phone chargers, fans, unwanted gadget shop type gifts (£8.10 on a unboxed and used mechanical hamster in a plastic wheel!), could help towards the dentist a lot. D x

tobedebtfree_2

Hi there

Wow your debt mentor is good, I like the thought process of having bills to pay and where else to get the money from rather than just relying on the salary. I haven't quite made it to the selling stage yet, I just take it down to the charity shop....they really love me but I think the girls that work there actually take the best bits out for themselves...bit cheeky but I guess they must get some perks!!
Not sure where you live but if you are in or around the london area Guys hospital provide free dental care and they are good. Although I must add they are students but all well supervised my DS uses them. Once I've finished with my current treatment I will move to them too. Its worth the day pass into town for the free treatment. Hope this is of some help. If you are not in london try the closest university hospital.
Might have alook at tesco and primark myself and see if they can compete with the m&S sale prices...might make myself another saving there.
Take care and good luck with dfw
xxx