SuzyN's Debt Free Diary

enthusiasticsaver · 4 August 2018 at 1:39PM

Good that you have a plan and can move forward with that. Stepchange are normally brilliant and good you were able to talk to them.

0Credit · 4 August 2018 at 2:20PM

Wow what an amazing diary and good on you!

As I was reading I thought you might have never made/answered that call so well done on getting it done.

One thing is for sure and is the great thing about this forum is that you are not the only one and things can be changed. You just have to be open and honest and ACT on it all.

There is so much money to be saved in general life. Have you watched the BBC series Eat Well For Less? Seems a MUST for all people especially with kids. They save people £2k+ per year just by making simple changes like going from a big brand cereal to a supermarket own can add up to £100's a year alone.

Keeping up the the Jone's is truly killing the world and accounting for debt. We are in an impress everyone world and never admit to defeat. Once your mindset changes and you get out of debt and have a great retirement those who didn't act will wish they had.

Good luck

SuzyN · 5 August 2018 at 7:52PM

Scott-Weiland wrote: »

Hi Suzi well done re contacting stepchange,

If it were me and ignore this if you want your call but the first thing i would be looking at is this

SKY 52.00 Luxury
H3G Ipad 31.00 Luxury
netflix 7.99 Luxury
ITUNES 14.99 Luxury
Phone 17.00 Luxury
Phone 20.08 Luxury
BT (BB/Ph) 31.99 Luxury
Cleaner 124.00 Luxury

Thats just shy of 300 per month step change will tell you this but if you even could reduce this by a third thats a heck of a lot more cash to pay off your debits and it will reduce your debit repayment time by months. I know both yourself and your partner work, but maybe seeing if you could reduce the cleaners hours ie they come in every other week not once a week as an example. Balance the difference between yourself/partner kids etc

re sky maybe call them and see if you could get say your tv package cheaper, look at now tv as an idea, i have now tv's cinema and entertainment package i pay 15quid for the 2 and i have broadband which is 23quid for fibre. Just an idea.

Do the same with bt maybe, people on here even though there under contract i hear all the time say well i have rang sky or bt etc etc and said i was struggling and they found me a better deal.

Next lol when these are due for renewal i would try top cashback/go compare and maybe see if you can get quotes cheaper.

Life Insurance £75.90 Insurance
Motorbike Ins 17.12 Insurance
Home Ins 50.58 Insurance
Pet Ins 14.33 Insurance
Car Ins both 80.46 Insurance

The home insurance and life insurance i would look at straight away, has to be a saving made there and potentially cashback for switching.

Would i be right in assuming you work in financial services?? If bankruptcy or an Iva are not an option.

We are definitely on the same page :beer:

Ive decided to get everything set up and then tackle the other things in exactly the order that you have mentioned them. I didn't want to overwhelm myself with everything so bit by bit we will get there.

I do indeed work in financial services so IVA etc is not an option - even CCJ's would be disastrous so Im praying that no one goes down that road!!

I todays entry I'll outline a few wee things Ive changed etc...

Been reading your diary too

Thanks for the support - it really means a lot as in this mess I only have virtual friends as have not and won't be telling anyone about our mess.

S

SuzyN · 5 August 2018 at 7:55PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Good that you have a plan and can move forward with that. Stepchange are normally brilliant and good you were able to talk to them.

It really was a relief - I will be phoning them again next weekend to sort some things out that aren't quite right and I feel ok about it!! :cool:

SuzyN · 5 August 2018 at 7:59PM

0Credit wrote: »

Wow what an amazing diary and good on you!

As I was reading I thought you might have never made/answered that call so well done on getting it done.

One thing is for sure and is the great thing about this forum is that you are not the only one and things can be changed. You just have to be open and honest and ACT on it all.

There is so much money to be saved in general life. Have you watched the BBC series Eat Well For Less? Seems a MUST for all people especially with kids. They save people £2k+ per year just by making simple changes like going from a big brand cereal to a supermarket own can add up to £100's a year alone.

Keeping up the the Jone's is truly killing the world and accounting for debt. We are in an impress everyone world and never admit to defeat. Once your mindset changes and you get out of debt and have a great retirement those who didn't act will wish they had.

Good luck

Thank you for your kind words!

I will definitely be focusing on my grocery and other living budgets and love the programs you have mentioned so they will definitely help.

I can honestly say that I wasn't sure if I was going to answer that phone call. It was really 50/50 but how glad am I that I did!!! I don't want to kid anyone that its easy as its not, facing it was hard and is still hard but I will get there and hopefully it will get easier.

S

SuzyN · 5 August 2018 at 8:13PM

A quick update on the last week... What have I achieved??

Well my new bank account card and PIN arrived this week, haven't moved money etc over yet as messed up the online banking somehow and it said they will have to fix it so until I can see my money Im not moving it.

I have applied for a second account with a separate bank as I want a bills account and a spending account like I have atm - it said leave it with them and haven't heard back.

The majority of my dd's that I cancelled should have failed in the last week and I haven't had a single letter so far?!?!? Expecting a big barrage of them this week though lol - but thats ok as I have my plan in place

My biggest news of the week is my discovery of YNAB - you need a budget - oh my!!!! Where has this software been all my life?!?!?! I showed my dh and he also loved it so I think we are onto a winner. Have spent today watching webinars learning how to use it while we have the 34 day free trial HOWEVER the best bit is that as I am a part time student, I get it free for a year!!!!!! Now thats money saving - so delighted.

I genuinely think this software could change my life and I'll post updates with how Im getting on.

The other strike of good luck this week was the interest rates going up two days after I moved onto my 5 yr fixed rate. Santander will most certainly pass that rise onto mortgage customers so it should have been worth and extra £20 to me but now Im basically £80 better off a month. Delighted

Finally I learnt this week that a company who put their prices up mid contract are able to be cancelled :T so thanks BT - £2.50 rise per month means that I can now cancel if you aren't giving me my internet and phone for £19.99 - this is the imaginary figure Ive set in my head as I can get this by leaving (although to be fair BT speeds have been good and no connection issues) so either match it or we are out. Thats £31.99 coming down to £19.99 either by staying with BT or leaving

Have a good week everyone!! :j

Scott-Weiland · 5 August 2018 at 8:32PM

Result re BT its baby steps re all this but those babies gradually make a big impact on the bigger picture.

Re financial services I thought that I am in a similar boat I can go down the DMP route but anything else is against the terms of my contract. I don't advocate IVA's it not a route I would recommend.

UncannyScot · 5 August 2018 at 10:36PM

Personally, I don't get along with things like YNAB, it just doesn't sit right with me, it's kinda like "you know you're rubbish with your finances, so we'll charge you x amount, to prove it to you"... that said however, it's whatever works for you.
I use a combination of spreadsheets linked up with a OneNote journal to keep track. Don't see why I should pay for something to track my finances when I can do it for myself...

You're doing great and making progress; step by step you will get there

SuzyN · 5 August 2018 at 11:08PM

Totally agree - I signed up to see what the fuss was about (as it was free) then when I realised I could get it for the year for free then I had nothing to loose by going all in. If it works happy days as I have spread sheets with everything on and books upon books going back to about 2003 and here I am so I need a change of tack

Def agree it!!!8217;s about finding what works for you isn't it! The thing I like about ynab is that it's the mental awareness I need of what every penny is for as I would say sure it's only £30 and then have no cash left at the end of the month hence my not so wonderful credit card relationship

need to break that cycle.

Summer12 · 5 August 2018 at 11:11PM

Hi!

Started our journey in Feb/March, took a few months out to consider things and have just this month started token payments for 6 months before properly starting dmp payments. All fine so far, so don’t feel any pressure to rush into anything. Well done for all you’ve achieved so far.
Nationwide allow you multiple saving accounts all easily seen together on one screen (you mentioned separate accounts). Also look up Dave Ramsey, he’s an inspiration and I now follow some of his techniques (wish I did earlier!). Good luck and you are certainly not alone x

SuzyN's Debt Free Diary

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