Today I began making cut back....need to retrain myself back to frugaldom. Mentioned to one of my friends my goals she suggested making it a game then at least it should be easier..so whilst im hoping to win the lotto Id like to see if I can actually do this once and for all and enjoy it alittle.

So budget has been done & I should be able to cover all my outgoings this month if I stick to the plan. Brought in lunch today which if I keep up will save me a bit...spent 1.59 on some rolls and sauce, but the rolls will last all week...ill grab soups, burgers and sandwich fillings form home. anywho compared to my current £3+ habit per day its a minimum of £15 a week saving.

Worked out a cheaper route to my partners that should by pass zone 1 that should help a bit too...& I made a budget for Xmas gifts. Everyone has an allowance & I refuse to go over. Under is fine by me. Boots points will be used/ as will amazon. Found out tonight tesco no longer do points bonus used to be great for stocking fillers. Am determined not to spend over £366 on xmas gifts (a pound for every day this year) Hopefully I can wangle less...I will give it a good shot.

Payment made today for £4.59 to cc...other than that nothing much to report...Ill check back tomorrow.
Night all x

Good luck Shelbi

Evening all!

Thank you Bobarella

So today had a no spend day (bar travel- £3.40). Spent lunch sourcing gifts for Xmas basket is upto £200 thats everyone including work secret santa and all. Some are modest gifts but its something. will use another £10 for wrappings and cards. and will use the other £100 for xmas contingency and xmas celebrations (dinners out with friends etc) Have cheekily offered to help source places to meet up so they can be cheap & cheerful...let the frugal Xmas commence...praying this works out!

Found the most awesome present for my guy but its £125 needless to say that will have to wait for his birthday...when I'm hopefully debt free for now it will be lots of well thought out cheaper gifts. Will order all the gifts once payday comes so they arrive on time. The rest of the Xmas cash will be withdrawn and put in a separate purse, once its gone...its gone.

Quite enjoying my new shoe string challenge. Also sourced some unused gifts that I can re-gift...waste not want not.

Payment of £3.82 paid to CC1 today (death by a thousand tiny cuts) also ordered a gift using my boots advantage points, will use for an anniversary gift for someone.

Feel a little more organised today...just need to battle down the hatches till payday...why is there so much month left at the end of the money?! Will do better next month. Going to attempt to only use cash for things- I read this helps decrease spending so will give it a go.

hope every one else had a fab day.... Night x

Evening all...

So quick update...so long day today received my statement from the credit card I transferred my balance from today, it had a balance of £17.52 pure interest so made a payment straight to that. Grateful id checked it and hadn't just assumed it was clear.

Lunch was brought from home, so saving there...but still not enough. 10 days until payday...Need to figure where I can make more cutbacks..will cancel my gym membership tomorrow...I've been twice in the 6 months since I rejoined..yeah pretty ridiculous waste I know...sure there's some more things I could be doing.

not much of an update I know...super tired...will update properly tomorrow.

night all x

Morning All,

So haven't checked in, been unwell, on the plus side to that I haven't spent any money as I've been in bed most of the time...always a silver lining even with the flu lol!! Did manage to cancel my gym membership, 30 days notice so ill have one dd taken before it ends...may have to get down there so its not for nothing. Ends December so will cancel DD after its taken...

Not much money saving to be made today, am at home...although feeling better. Will probably trowel through the diary pages and get some tips, hints and motivation. Just waiting on payday now...I so cant wait..its needed!
x

Evening guys,

So its pay day eve...Finally!! I'm excited not really sure why as the moneys not staying with me but going to debt crunching!! Still happy to have a kick start...a NSD today! More necessity than choice though. Paid over my last remaining £40 to cc2 (min payment) still another £19.01 needed to pay over on that one according to the plan & £1049 on the other will do that tomorrow I guess.

Work appraisal went well so hopefully Ive done enough this year to warrant a decent bonus and pay rise (have everything crossed) really do need it to polish off Febs payment and hit my target, till then ill be chipping away hoping to make a decent dent in the debts.

Nothing much else happened today if I'm honest literally been holding out for pay day! so I guess tomorrow I can get to work. did work out my cancelled gym membership saves me will save me £80 to put towards my goal...small win there. still have yet to review the budget t see where I can trim the fat. bound to be more...actually thats something I can do now.

Night all, hope you had a good debt busting day x

Ok so jumped on the wagon & fell off again, the cost of my Christmas stumble £1247.23 -even writing this makes me feel queasy...Id like to say it went on something fab like another holiday..but it was shoes, nights out, a blown christmas gift budget, a parking fine, cabs around town & God only knows what else! Starting to think I may need an intervention..Jeeze!! So credit card balances are now to the sum of £7698.16 Still Im back keeping my debt free goal date as 26th February 2017! So with that in mind time to put on my big girl pants and sort this out.

Going to try to journal my progress daily, as being away leads me into temptation and more debt. Have added YNAB to my phone, budgeted and reconciled my accounts. Will actually make use of it, and pull myself back into the black.

On plus side will receive a payrise in January, additional funds will come in handy. Will receive £197 refund which will go straight on my card but cant count that yet as its in transit, made a payment of £45 (already included in my new debt figure).

Tomorrow plan to have a NSD, already have lunch in the office 2 meals for £4 @tesco (yup will knock that on the head too)

So now I'm going to have to pay around £2500 debt repayment on a £2250 income (& thats before Ive taken out bills & living costs)..but I do love a challenge so I will give it a go. My aim is to try and curb my spending, pay as much to the CC's as I can and hope for the best...looking at my budget I should be able to make a £1000 (its a tough month) so yeah will definitely be a challenge but its doable. have pledge to do dry January 2017 with a friend, that will save on spends (drinks tabs, ubers home etc). Will also quit smoking that will save me a packet and help my health too. will pay over £4.15 what id spend on cigs to the cc each day I resist buying them, itll soon tot up. Also looking at my statements I tend to always pop to the off licence for wine at the weekends when im at my OH paying more for a decent bottle than what id pay at the super market, either I go without or find a cheaper alternative. That sounds bad I know but Im being honest. So here goes attempt 109...I have Xmas food Shopping to do tomorrow but other than that its no other spending....my god I may need rehab

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

So have had a couple of unexpected expenses..well loans really, £200 to my aunt, £100 to my dad...couldnt say no. On the plus side paid over £570,66 so my debts are £7000 I have 62 days until my goal date and 2 more pay days left to do it Meaning I have 523.08 left until payday (31 days away) oh & NYE to get through

Thats £16 per day on average so on that budget ill try and save what I can and pay that the CC. Noting more to update really...Just a beautiful Child Christmas...I had wanted to pay £1000 this month so am currently £430 short. Will use savings per day to catch up and will pay over the funds loaned when they come back...All will be well!! anyway thats all from me Merry Christmas everyone x

Good morning dfw! Well Christmas is well and truly over, time to get back to this dfw business. Have received £6.26 from quicdco will pay that over to cc once it arrives...have reduced my pension contributions to basic level, didn't want to cancel it or I'd forgotten your company paying...that's basically free money..my reduction gives me an extra £262 per month...which will also be used to pay off the cc's. Had a chat with my oh yesterday, was honest about my goal and cc debt, bless him he offered to help me out (he has no debt and is comfy) but this is something I need to do for myself. Very sweet offer though..'m resolved to end my financial sabotage as so many things I want to do now...time to get on it with gusto...will send £10 offering to cc as today will be a nsd! Have a fab day everyone xx

HI Shelbi you sound like you're doing really well and despite the little blip I'm sure you'll achieve your goal, that's a lot to pay off in a short period of time so don't leave yourself short.


Well done on your current progress, H x

Hi Hugglemonster,

Thank you!! That's really kind... I will most certainly try.

S x

Evening DFW's,

So today I managed to send £10 to CC1, £40 to CC2 (couldn't help myself) debt £6950, not much of a dent but you know what they say, death by 1000 cuts.

Didnt have a nsd though brought meal deal in waitrose £6 for 3 meals. which will keep me for the week. Will bring breakfast from home. Also picked up a packet of 20Xmas cards for £1.13, 3 xmas baby toys for £1 each and 7 xmas tree decoration kits for 63p which will be great for kids gifts next year. silly I know but were so cheap I couldn't help myself. Oh and a xmas gift for a colleague who brought me one £16 ahhh Told you guys I had a problem. Think Ill need to start leaving my purse at home

Positive things I did do today, called my credit card on cc2 to see whats exactly going on with my cc2- turns out balance transfer ends feb 2018, but purchases part is charging interest so that £625 being charged at 21.95% int pa. the rest is interest free. Wish id checked that before I sent the £570 to cc1. But at least I have an idea of where I stand. CC2 is 0% until 9.02.16 but there after the interest on that is only 7.9%APR... so heres the plan of action 1) pay down the interest charging £625 on cc2 first and then turn attention to CC1 balance aiming to pay that in full...then turn my attention back to cc2 and clean up the rest on the 0%.

Have finished my budget for January, I think I can manage a payment of £1630 on payday if I play my hand right.

Am currently thinking of more ways to increase my income as well as saving money. signed up for a new account that offers £150 incentive if I qualify that will be heading straight to the cc's. fingers crossed!! and a further payment if I stick to it. the extra credit checks will surely endanger my credit rating but hey one step at a time on the other hand decreased balances on the cc's should raise it up. & The account gives a 5%int if I open savings account...Worth the risk I say. Main thing is to get this cc gone. If anyone has any tips/cheats on what works for you it would be really appreciated.Will start ebaying/giving music magpie a look and anything else I can think of.

I think thats as much as I have to report...hope everyone had a fab day...Night dfw's x

Hi My fellow DFW'S,


Already broken my New Years res to update daily but im still here and still on the wagon...Have made some positive changes, although no payments made as yet, Ive been squirreling my remaining pennies until closer to payday. Don't want any nasty surprises or to use my credit card further.


Have had an almost nsd- only brought lunch but was a £1 egg sandwich so Im getting better. Decided to download Allen Carrs Get out of debt now, its working for the smoking so hopefully it will work for my money psychology. Will let you know how it goes. Definitely need to fix my spendy ways. Cancelled my hair and eyelash appointments, they are on hold until Im in the black, looks like ill be doing my own hair and using trusty mascara till then...im possibly going to look a little rough. Think will pop into boots and get a new one- using my advantage points I promise....will send a little £4.15 to the cc gods tonight...ok I best get off...hope you all have a fantastic evening all S x

Evening all,

So ready for a brand new week, safe to say I do a lot of falling down but I get up....eventually. Tomorrow will be a NSD, train strike tomorrow so will be up early doors will get lunch prepped. Spoke with a couple of friends about our targets for 2017, we've each set ourselves goals meeting once a month to keep on track, they gave me some great ideas... Other than my NSD's I plan to update my budget, keep nights out to a minimum, had some money come in an IOU so will pay that into the bank tomorrow and transfer to cc2 and bring that back to a zero balance. This will be done tomorrow. Still haven't checked out music magpie, Im starting to think Im a bit of a procrastinator so thats something I will be addressing this year. Need to update my YNAB kept updating on phone and it reset to 2 weeks back so totals are off. Two steps forward and one step back...a bit of a cha-cha-char.

Fancied shopping so I did some virtual window shopping...happy to say I left it in the basket, trying to think on how good it will be to buy things debt free...so far Ive learnt to ask myself do I really want something and do I need it...most times its a no. Need to work on it though.

totals haven't really changed will do an update tomorrow when I can get online and get all the figures together. Nothing else to report really lazy chilled weekend... Just waiting until payday...oh IOU's to come in.

Night x

note to self: 48days left to my Debt free goal date....Meh! x

Don't go on music magpie. Go to webuybooks or ziffit. You get way more money and they are a lot fairer about paying out. Download the app scan all of your pile and you're done. It's great. And yes ebay! It's amazing how much money it brings in. I get addicted. I need to get back on it. You can do this. X

Hi Kitten868,

Thank you so very much, that's so helpful, ill definitely download the app & make use of those....Thank you!! x

Had a successful NSD day today, banked my cash and paid the excess over to cc2- £774. going to need to take it easy this month, plenty of NSD's to payday...not much else to report Im afraid...long day lol...hope everyone else had a good one...night x

And check for a 10% extra code too x