It's time!

EssexHebridean · 20 September 2017 at 11:49AM

You're doing well - but you're right that the being incredibly focused thing will start to get old after a while so you need to put all the groundworks in place NOW to get this sorted.

The first thing I'll say is that currently, your budget isn't working, and needs looking at. How do I know this? Because you had to put stuff on the card last month - if the budget was right, there would have been no need. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but if you carry on without revising things then you'll just be perpetuating the problem.

Re-do the budget - perhaps use the SOA calculator we recommend on here as that helps you make sure that you have EVERYTHING in place. Cut the cards up. All of them. Stop using Apple Pay. Work out what you actually *need* (ie have to have) for clothes - so that might be new work trousers or skirt as your current pair are looking badly worn on the seat, socks as you have no pairs left with holes, shirts/blouses as the ones you have had all gone grey and are starting to hole on the collar and cuffs. It's not stuff that you'd "like" but can manage without. Again, brutal I know. Not sorry. Your budget will show all your outgoings once it's done in the SOA format - and will also show a balance left over once you've paid everything - allocate a small amount of that for general spends (so the OCCASIONAL coffee or lunch out, that sort of thing) and then allocate the rest to debt - BUT don't pay anything over and above the minimums until the end of the month this month while you make sure the new budget works. Once payday arrives again, pay everything left in the account from the previous month to the first debt to be targeted - and revise the budget as needed if you over or under allowed on any category.

This is very much a learning curve and if you're new to budgeting and watching your spending you're not going to get it all right instantly - and indeed a lot of your future success and being "good with money" relies on the process taking some time as that is how you learn.

lonelyrat · 20 September 2017 at 10:31PM

Thanks for the responses! Feels good to know people are there :beer:

Hmmm we shall see about the deposit ... He did say he will give me some of it so that's something! It's my birthday next week as well so I think he may be putting some of it to that (even though I said I didn't need/want anything!) We haven't actually got it back yet as well... We requested it on the 29th of August and they have 30 days to respond and if they don't get back to us in that time then it automatically comes back with no deductions so I'm actually keeping my fingers crossed that happens! There wasn't any damage/ wear to the flat when we left but I've been stung by shady landlords before.

On that note we do plan on staying at his parents for the foreseeable future. As soon as some of this debt is busted I'm going to start paying some rent as well as utilities as I feel dead cheeky. I think they like having us around though so that's something :j Once the debt is sorted it's going to be time to save save save (!!!) for a deposit and rebuild my credit history.... so I can't see us vacating any time soon!

Thanks for the headsup Rachel24! Joined Prolific and have made a cool £1.20 :cool: I'll endeavour to get my balance up to what yours is in a few months! I also signed up for a few other ones as well but it does seem like surveys run few and far between that I'm eligible for.

Also thanks EssexHebridean - I hadn't considered keeping my money till I got my next wage then making payments. It's a really smart way to look at it.... just another thing I have been doing wrong :rotfl: I've already made this months payments as I was keen to bring the Capital One cards down to zero but I will start come payday next month. Should be OK with the budget this month I think as I have given myself some spare money. I think my problem is I tend to be quite impatient anyway and that's now manifesting itself as just wanting to see those balances down. It would feel really uplifting though making my debt payments and then still seeing a wage sitting there.

Also don't worry the cards have been cut up since my update at the beginning of September. I also de-registered my barclaycard for apple pay so there is no spending going on the small CC's at all. I still continue to pay my rail ticket on my Santander CC as this gets me the cashback to cancel out the monthly fee (it is budgeted though.... I pay £114.50 at the moment to the card and then make the rail ticket payment of £89.50 so the balance does still drop marginally).

Looking at the two Capital One cards and seeing both balances being at Zero feels amazing. I am leaving the cards open just now but I couldn't use them even if I wanted to as I no longer have the cards. Once I've paid off the other debt after a while they will get closed. I plan on keeping the Santander CC and using it monthly for my rail ticket but always paying it off. But that's a way down the line and I'm getting ahead of myself!

Got some exciting news as well.. Got a telephone interview tomorrow for another role within my organisation. If it goes well theres a face to face then ideally I get the job! It isn't technically a promotion but there would be a 5% wage rise with it and it would be lovely to do something different for a while. Only issue is I have pretty awful anxiety and I'm getting quite stressed about it already. I'm worried that come tomorrow I won't be able to hold it together

Keep your fingers crossed for me anyway!

Rachel24 · 21 September 2017 at 7:29AM

Sorry lonelyrat I should of also said download the apps shoppix and receipt hog on your phone. On these apps you just take a picture of your receipt and you get coins for them which you eventually transfer into PayPal vouchers etc. There is literally nothing to them apart from uploading your receipts and you can upload the same ones for both sites. I think it'll take a while to see the cash coming in but it's also something extra!

I've just started out like you. I had my lightbulb moment in July but it has taken me a couple of months just to pay on my credit cards and not use them. You are doing amazing what you've paid off.

Rachel24 · 21 September 2017 at 7:30AM

Oh and good luck for the interview I have my fingers crossed for you!!

EssexHebridean · 21 September 2017 at 10:23AM

Great progress there - well done!

It's the things like working out how best to make payments etc that are the learning curve - but once you've got those financial management skills they stay with you. Likewise budgeting generally - it is a skill that has to be learned but once you have it's a skill for life - and a really valuable one at that. The next thing on the budget I guess is have you started setting aside any money you'll need for Christmas? If not now is the time to put that into place - although as you're debt busting the best advice is always to keep present spending down to a minimum where you reasonably can!

Good luck with the interview or if it's already happened hope it went well - remember, if you start feeling anxious - what's the worst that can happen? In this case it's that you don;t get the job - in which case you're no worse off, are you! Sure you'll be fine though!

lonelyrat · 6 October 2017 at 9:38PM

Hello lovely internet money savers!!

Time for another update… I just don’t seem to be able to stick to a plan with all this debt busting business

My strategy is constantly updating and I am losing track of if I’m on the right path a little bit. BUT debt is still going down but just in a different direction that what I had planned. Definitely very different from what I originally planned back in July when I first started this journey! Anywho… updated balances to follow.

Capital One (1) 0 / 404.25
Capital One (2) 0/ 179
Barclaycard 0/ 390
Overdraft 1 1450/ 1950
Overdraft 2 300/ 450 ***
Santander CC 2737.69 / 2770.90
Loan 561.37/ 770
Very BNPL 263.98/ 288.98

Total Debt 5313.04 / 7203.13

Seeing the balance like this makes me realise that I haven’t actually made much of a dent by shoogling it around again. BUT it feels better seeing one more zero balance I guess

***We still haven't got the deposit back from our flat yet :eek: Made a classic error and thought it was 30 days from when we requested it - turns out it’s 30 working days *sigh* . I’m still hopeful that they won’t deduct anything from it. My lovely OH actually suggested that I take it to pay off the debt… Obviously that’s a very, VERY appealing idea but far too much. I’ve said maybe we could split it and at some point when it’s all paid off I can return the favour. It was £750 so was thinking I could maybe use £300 to pay off Overdraft 2 which would make a big difference to how overwhelming it all feels I think. If we don’t hear from the landlord/ letting agent we should get the full whack back on the 12th so fingers crossed everybody! :T

When I first started this the plan was just to pay off a set amount monthly to everything but I’m finding it easier and more motivating to be paying big chunks off and seeing the balances drop to zero. I hadn’t planned on paying off the Barclaycard this month fully but I was looking at the cash sitting available in the overdraft and had a “screw it!” moment and just thought I’d wallop it.

I feel like I have definitely found it easier to pay off the CC’s than the Overdrafts. It may be a mentality thing and potentially stemming from my student days where I lived in my Overdraft constantly. It just seems so much harder for some reason. Once Overdraft 2 is done things should be a lot easier as I will basically just be flinging everything spare at Overdraft 1. Anyone else feel this way?

Plan for next month :j
Likely will have around £1200 coming in the account but I won’t know the actual figure until the 15th.
1. Leave dd money in 123 account (£100)
2. Pay £114.50 to 123 CC to cover train ticket and a £25 payment
3. Transfer spends to Monzo
4. Transfer £652.81 to Overdraft 1 - this is where the loan dd comes from as it's the same bank. (If I do this and leave the £550 additional in there then I won’t incur any interest on the other £1000)

EssexHebredian - I really liked your idea of keeping bills/ debt paying money till just before payday but I’ve now got rid of everything that requires minimum payments. I was wondering what your advice would be now? Would you suggest I keep it all in my spends account and just track it carefully or should I put it in the overdraft (and do my very best not to touch it)? This is another reason I find overdrafts hard - they just don’t feel like debt as much as credit cards do!

This month has been OK it seems money wise. The only thing that’s happened is I’ve rejigged how the debt is structured but I haven’t added to it which I am proud of. Still feeling so thankful for the situation I’m in with OH’s parents letting us kip out in their spare room.

T-minus 11 days till payday and £15.27 left for spends… 100% doable I think! Got hundreds of quorn nuggets in the freezer and a full box of cereal so I should be sorted food wise (y) Given up booze for October as well which is saving A LOT of money. I’d usually come home so stressed from work and automatically pour a glass of wine (I am ashamed of this by the way!)

Speaking of work I didn’t get the new job unfortunately.. The interview went OK but not great and I got a generic sort of email a few days later saying thanks but no thanks. It’s OK though - a change would have been nice but I’m not devastated about it. Again thanks so much EH I found what you said about not ending up worse off very helpful! I realised I was placing far too much pressure on it before and I just needed to take a deep breath and chill. Ideally can take this forward for the next (even better

) job that comes along.

Hello Rachel24 - thanks so much for commenting and the good advice about receipts. I’ve been hoarding them and just downloaded the receipt hog app so let's see if I can make some cash money! :beer: Have you had success with it? I’m using Prolific Academic and One Poll for surveys which is going pretty well! I hardly ever get PA surveys but when I do they definitely pay a lot more than One Poll. The further down this debt free wannabe road I go the less difficult it is seeming (seems a fairly obvious thing to say but at the start it honestly felt like an unscaleable mountain). I still have wobbly days but overall am feeling more positive. I’ve just had a read through your thread and I feel like I can definitely relate… Even if you’re making minimum payments they’re still payments and still a success! Well done on getting the 2nd job, that’s such a commitment but maybe something I should consider as well! Are you in Glasgow by the way?

Ok troops - that’s enough rambling for one evening! I will try and log in more frequently as I think I’m a bit rubbish at keeping this updated. I also feel like maybe I am writing a very bare debt free diary and am in the wrong place? Woops! Ideally next month my debt should drop from £5313.04 to £4513.04 or thereabouts. This was the month to make it count (bonus and birthday month) and I feel like I have done that… probably still have spent more than I should have

Baby steps though - baby steps. :T

lonelyrat · 6 October 2017 at 9:56PM

Oh I did a bad thing by the way :eek:
I went on Very and bought work clothes - AFTER I'd promised myself and this lovely internet board that I wouldn't ever use it again! It brought my Very balance up to £385.58

I was so annoyed at myself as soon as I did it so I did something I never would have done before!...

I opened the delivery... Filled in the returns form and... Sent it back straight away. Didn't even try anything on (so as not to tempt myself more). Delivery cost me just shy of £4.00 so that's a small sting to teach me my lesson!

I'm ashamed posting this but feel I need to own up to it

Working this hard at getting my debt down and I go and do something so silly like that! :mad: Makes me worried that I haven't changed my ways enough. I will be more vigilant.... and now the nightly glass of wine (or two) has been stopped stupid decisions like this should be easier to avoid!

EssexHebridean · 8 October 2017 at 5:08PM

It's not the worst way of learning a lesson though, £4! well done for sending everything back - see, you ARE getting there!

I think you're right about potentially needing to change the way you pay off now that the stuff with minimum payments is gone (and well done on that!). A thought - I KNOW the Very account isn't costing you any money in terms of interest currently, but do you think you'd do better getting shot of that balance altogether so you can close the account and remove the temptation? I take it you have already closed the accounts on the Barclaycard & Capital One cards? I'll be honest and say that my gut feeling for you is that you need all of these closed and unuseable before you start thinking about Christmas presents etc.

In terms of what to do with debt repayment money, if it were me now that it's mainly the overdrafts you've got to tackle I think I'd be transferring the lump sum to that account you want to tackle first and, as you say then looking to not touch that. It'll reduce what you're paying per month on interest as well of course. You;ve got your budget, so you know what you should have left over, so set everything else aside in it's various "homes" - the account the DD's come from, your spends account etc, and then ditch the amount you're meant to have in whichever overdraft is first and your mission for the month is to leave it there!

lonelyrat · 13 October 2017 at 10:52PM

Hey EH! Thanks for checking in

I suppose in the big picture £4.00 isn't too bad for a lesson well learned! I do see what you mean with paying it and closing it off as it does present a temptation which I really don’t need at this time...

I've actually managed to plan ahead somewhat with Christmas! I don't have too many people to buy for and I've already planned what I'm getting my OH (who is my main spend). We both decided to seriously limit gifts this year as we just can't afford anything extravagant. I've got him, his family, my dad and maybe a few people at work to buy for. I've got a wee savings account with one of my banks so I've budgeted for money to go into that this month and next.

The two Capital One cards have been closed down but I’ve left the Barclaycard open - I have my OH’s spotify (£4.99 ) leaving that as a recurring card payment and I’ve set the dd to the full payment amount. It’s been budgeted in the spreadsheet so this can keep ticking over. He gives me the money for this though (I also have his phone bill leaving my current account to earn cashback, but again he gives me the money for this now). The Barclaycard HAS been chopped up so no unplanned spends can happen on it. I do plan on closing it off as well but not until I’ve paid a wee bit more of the debt off. I know credit scores aren't the be all and end all but I’m still concerned about mine so want to keep my available credit a bit higher than my current debt. Just purely to make it look a bit better when I check it! :j

We heard back from the letting agent finally and that’ll be on the way to my OH’s account. He’s going to transfer me £350 soooo…

OD 1 will be reduced by £50 to make it £1400
OD 2 will be reduced by £300 to make it £0

Happy days! It’s getting close to payday again which is always exciting. 4 days to go! I think I will definitely put everything minus spending/dd money into the remaining overdraft. It will bring it down to the interest free amount which will be good. Then I am thinking when I get to the end of the month anything I’ve got left could go to the Very account. I should just pay it…. I know I should just pay it! I don’t know why I’m hesitating so much

This month has actually flown by… potentially due to being paid £600 more than normal. I actually can’t believe how much easier it was this month managing to make a dent in the debt but also not be completely skint. Unfortunately I have done zero overtime this month so when I get paid on Tuesday it will likely be a bit depressing. Hey ho! Back to normal :rotfl: I will update with new balances once I’ve been paid.

DebtFreeDuo · 14 October 2017 at 10:38AM

Just had a read through your thread and just wanted to say you're doing so well with your debt busting, EH has given you lots of great advice! Well done on sending that order straight back, that shows how well you are doing with your journey.

It's time!

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