Debt free by 2020!

eveningontheground · 26 October 2018 at 1:31PM

Hi guys! I've been lurking various diaries for a few weeks and this is my first post.

I'm 24 and rent a flat with my partner in Scotland. We both work full time but neither of us make a massive amount (I'm on 19k before tax, he's 17.5k), and while neither of us owe catastrophic amounts of money, what we do owe is for sure holding us back from the future we'd like to save for. Right now we don't even want to commit to getting a cat until we know we can definitely afford it :rotfl:

This diary is going to be focused on my own debt free journey for now.

I currently owe £2300 between two credit cards. Both have high interest rates - they're really meant to be credit building cards and that was my intention when I applied for them, but I made some impulsive purchases this time last year and then had a couple of weeks off work due to illness. Before I knew it I was over the 2k mark in debt!

We just moved into our new place in September so we've not been added to the electoral roll yet (apparently we won't be until December! :mad:) and I have a recent credit rejection, so things aren't looking so great on the credit score front.

My current plan of action is to pay off as much as I can for the next few months, and hopefully by then my credit score will have climbed up a little and I'll be eligible for a balance transfer card with a 0% offer on it. I use ClearScore and tried out Experian (although I think I'll cancel that before the free trial runs out). I have never been able to stick to a budget but I'm hoping that keeping this diary will help me. I'll fill in an SOA at some point to give more info but this post is long enough already lol.

I'm going to a drag karaoke night tonight with friends and my aim is to not spend a single penny. No alcohol, last bus home (I get a 10 week ticket for the buses in my city). I've already paid £5 entry for the event in advance.

I only have £17 in my bank account to do me until payday on Wednesday (I have a £100 overdraft but I don't want to use it unless I absolutely have to). Wish me luck!

System · 26 October 2018 at 4:41PM

Just wanted to say hi. I think you're being very sensible not making any commitments until you're in a better financial position. A cat seems like a cheap pet until it has an accident or illness and you're facing big vet bills. Get your SOA up ASAP so that everyone can give you the best advice.

The electoral roll is a nightmare. According to all the credit score checkers I am still not on it but I have definitely been on it for almost 7 years.

pidge04 · 26 October 2018 at 4:54PM

Good for you for tackling the debt head on before it has the potential to get out of control. You can definitely do it with careful budgeting. Any chances of boosting your income from other sources? You and I have the same debt free time target to aim towards. Good luck!

beanielou · 26 October 2018 at 8:09PM

Happy shiny new diary

eveningontheground · 28 October 2018 at 10:14PM

The electoral roll is a nightmare. According to all the credit score checkers I am still not on it but I have definitely been on it for almost 7 years.

7 years?! :O I hope that doesn't happen with us. Yeah I'll get the SOA done tonight or tomorrow, I'm wanting to have a proper comb through my accounts anyway and check I'm not paying for anything I'm no longer using.

Good for you for tackling the debt head on before it has the potential to get out of control. You can definitely do it with careful budgeting. Any chances of boosting your income from other sources? You and I have the same debt free time target to aim towards. Good luck!

Good luck to you too!

In terms of other income, I was considering a second job for a while, but I'm starting a learning and development course with open uni next month (my dad's paying for it which I'm incredibly grateful for, having it will give me the opportunity to get a higher paid job in my field). I'm reluctant to take on more until I know how many hours of work I'll be putting into the course.

Happy shiny new diary

Thank you! Hopefully it will soon be much fuller

eveningontheground · 28 October 2018 at 10:22PM

So Friday night was a no spend success! I didn't have the best time as I was shattered from work and couldn't wait to get home anyway, which is probably for the best or I'd have been drinking. I think I was home putting my pjs on around half past ten lol.

Didn't spend any money Saturday either as we had a lazy day at home, followed by my dad, his partner and my stepbrother coming round in the evening (offered to cook but they brought dinner for the five of us, which was another saving

)

Today I had some nice sensible plans, I was going to make some steaks and veg we have in the freezer - but I was feeling pretty lazy by the time dinner rolled around and I ended up ordering takeaway, £13.75 :eek: food is 100% one of my biggest vices so I'm a bit disappointed in myself now.

That said, I can still start November without touching my overdraft, I have plenty of stuff in to get through Monday and Tuesday.

EDIT: Just combed through my last month's spending and am shocked at how many payments I made to Just Eat :rotfl: that needs to stop, both for the sake of my purse and my waistline. On a more positive note, cancelled a bunch of accounts I'm not getting much use out of including Prime, Now TV, Audible and a digital subscription to New York Times I completely forgot I had. All together that's over £30 per month saved. If I can bring myself to get rid of spotify premium then it'll be £40...

eveningontheground · 29 October 2018 at 10:33AM

Forgot to cancel Experian so that's £14.99 come out of my account

to make things worse I can't even get into the account to cancel it, I keep failing their verification checks. I have a suspicion they're getting me confused with my mother and that's why - we have the same first initial and did have the same last name until she went back to her maiden name five years ago. One of the credit file things they asked me about definitely wasn't mine, I didn't really have any credit until last year (with the exception of one ill fated New Look credit card when I turned 18). Will need to investigate.

I've logged a complaint on the website so hopefully they will get back to me via email, I get really nervous phoning companies up. Ironic, since my job is to train call center advisors, but it's different on the other side of the phone!

eveningontheground · 2 November 2018 at 12:29PM

Update: payday has been and gone.

All my bills are paid and I've paid more than the minimum balance to both credit cards. I'll be paying £250ish more towards the little one as that has the highest interest, but I won't until the 15th which is my birthday. This year I've asked the family members who usually buy me gifts to just give me the money they would've otherwise spent, as the only thing I feel I need right now is to get rid of these debts completely.

I also have a weekend in London coming up the day after, so I've squirreled away £200 of my wage in a separate account for the trip. I won't spend as much as that (I hope) but I like to have a buffer when I go away, just in case.

In equally exciting news, I've started to use Quidco and so far I'm finding it fairly lucrative. I got an offer to sign up to betfair and put on a £10 bet in order to get £20 cashback. I don't like the thought of gambling but it was a £10 profit either way via the cashback, so I went for it and ended up winning £70 off my tenner stake lol. Total profit £90.

Signed up for a few challenges on here too, my goal is to make £200 extra cash through surveys, cashback, mystery shopping etc this month (it was £100 before I had my stroke of luck a betfair but I want to try and challenge myself). I'm also doing the packed lunches one as I'm shocking at sticking to that.

Still haven't done an SOA! That will be my next post here.

[Deleted User] · 2 November 2018 at 12:31PM

Hiya,

Happy new diary

Good luck on your goals x

PawsForThought · 2 November 2018 at 12:48PM

Hi Evening,

Happy new diary, congratulations on getting the ball rolling and on your cheapo night out!

I can completely identify in lots of ways - having opened credit cards in order to build credit and that being a failure, food being an enormous vice for me and OH, and wanting to be in PJs on a Friday night by 10:30! Think I will enjoy reading about your journey - subscribing!

Wishing you the best of luck with your challenges. I'm new to the debt-busting scene too and have started gradually trying to get more income by selling the odd bits and have signed up to some survey sites, but my enthusiasm for both of those waned very quickly! Maybe gambling is the way forward!

eveningontheground · 2 November 2018 at 1:30PM

Hi Evening,

Happy new diary, congratulations on getting the ball rolling and on your cheapo night out!

I can completely identify in lots of ways - having opened credit cards in order to build credit and that being a failure, food being an enormous vice for me and OH, and wanting to be in PJs on a Friday night by 10:30! Think I will enjoy reading about your journey - subscribing!

Wishing you the best of luck with your challenges. I'm new to the debt-busting scene too and have started gradually trying to get more income by selling the odd bits and have signed up to some survey sites, but my enthusiasm for both of those waned very quickly! Maybe gambling is the way forward!

Haha! I don't know if I'd call it the way forward but it's been a nice wee bonus, I'm not going to lie

Aw I've got a few bits and bobs accumulating to sell too, that's my next target I think. Last time I ended up with an extra £100 - this time it'll be £20 if I'm lucky but every little helps.

Good luck on your journey too, do you have a diary as well?

Debt free by 2020!

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