Life's a climb. But the view is great.

Hey there. So new name and new diary. I was just too ashamed to use my old username because it's just so painful to know that despite reading all the wonderful advice and stories of other people's inspirational journeys I managed to continue to get deeper and deeper into debt. I needed a fresh start. And I hope this is it.

So I was struggling to think of a title, last time it was quite negative and so this time I thought for goodness sake come up with something positive. Even that was hard, so I settled for something I hope I will be saying at some point in the future. I'll let you know if its true when I reach my debt free date some 35 months from now...It's going to be a tough few years; it needn't have been but there it is.

Right enough of my Eeyore mentality from this point on I am going to stop beating myself up; what's done is done - now it's about moving forward.

So what have I done so far:

* I have YNAB and I have reset the budget. Not enough money to fund every category and pay debt but I have done what I can. The main thing is all the bills and debts will be paid.
* Did a Snowball with all the debts listed in my signature (except for Car finance as this is new and on 5 year HP) and it tells me I should be DF in 35 months. Obviously will still have 2 years of car finance left but with no other debt can throw the money at it for the last couple of years)
* Now its a case of just updating the above as the money leaves the bank account.

Happily still waiting for £166 for my work expenses which will come week after next. This will be great help as we go on holiday next Saturday and while the holiday is fully paid as we are renting a cottage in the UK - we book a year in advance and pay it off over the year - there is little in the way of spending. Though we won't spend masses on food as will cook in the cottage and use grocery allowance towards this.

Then just realised today I had forgotten to add the toll charges to my expenses claim so that will be another £11 but will only see that next month I think. Also child benefit due at some point so some of those categories can have a small top up.

Also got a £10 Tesco voucher from Valued Opinions survey. This was helpful for odd bits we needed. I don't do many surveys as I work in excess of 40 hours and so there is no time. Better to just stick with one company and do them as and when I can.

Had to send my mum some money abroad as she is very poor and really struggling and had to use some of my savings- sent £200. £6.70 transfer fee though but at least she got the money the following day. I won't be able to send this much again but hate letting her down. Before I use to buy groceries online using the CC and did not worry about how much I was spending and so set the "tone" but this time, decided that I could not keep doing this, hence me using some money from one of my small savings pots. She would understand but I feel so guilty!

Trying to be frugal with food spend - scratched Waitrose and M&S off the list of approved shops and will be reverting back to Aldi, Tesco and Lidl. Freezers have a reasonable amount of food, and really plan to use this up first. I do have a lot of sandwich ham in the freezer which OH put in there when it was about to expire - he hates waste...*scratching head* how can I use this?? Must google!

Tomorrow will have a small unexpected spend...DD needs medication - I am not allowed to say why LOL, but think childhood issues!

I really need to clean the house. Its a right mess but have been procrastinating - it really is the thief of time. OH has been good (he recently lost his job) and does washing, dishes and hoovering but not much else, not that I am complaining. I am grateful; also he is a better cook than me and makes sure DD is fed. Must get DD roped in to do some chores. Well we have to do it as we have the pet sitter coming in to feed the cat when we are away (I have saved for the fees over the last year so we have it ready which is a relief); great incentive as I would just be mortified if he came into a messy house.

Healthwise - recently diagnosed with T2 diabetes so need to also keep on the LCHF diet which is a challenge in itself as this helps keep the sugar levels down. My eyesight is finally working well again which is a real relief, pretty scary time for a while.

So that's me in a nutshell; lots to do but it will be a waiting game most of the time; payday to pay day to measure progress. I just need to stick to the budget!

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So I need a place to keep track of what is happening with my various balance transfers as I have realised they too are in a mess. Having multiple transfers is really messing with my ability to work out a snowball plan because of the way payments are allocated by MBNA. So:

HSBC @ 28.9% - [STRIKE]£7116[/STRIKE] £6524.68

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MBNA 1.1 – 0% until 21.09.2018 = £8619.80 (this amount is being paid off now as it was the first BT made onto this card)

MBNA 1.2 – 0% until 20.02.2018 = £217.40 (this will kick in after the one below!)

MBNA 1.3 – 0% until 20.12.2017 = £1435.47 (come December this one is going to hit me hard)

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MBNA 2.1 – 0% until 11.02.2020 = [STRIKE]£6834.82[/STRIKE] £6763.48 (this amount is being paid off now as it was the first BT made onto this card)

MBNA 2.2 – 0% until 10.02.2018 = £299.46 (this will kick in come February)

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Barclay Card 1.1 – 0% until 01.10.2017 - [STRIKE]£688.32[/STRIKE] £60.69
Barclay Card 1.2 - 0 % until 22.09.2018 - £4079.76
Barclay Card 1.3 – 0% until 01.01.2018 - £304.69
Barclay Card 1.4 – 0% until 01.12.2017 – £31.57
Barclay Card 1.5 – 0% until 01.11.2018 - £2297.08
Barclay Card 1.6 – 0% until 01.11.2017 - £144.26
Barclay Card 1.7 – 0% until 01.01.2018 - £349.06
Barclay Card 1.8 - 0% until 01.12.2018 - £579.21

The best I can hope for is that I will be in a better position to get other BT cards come February but I won't hold my breath!