DaringToDream of a Debt Free Life!

DaringToDream_2 · 18 June 2017 at 3:14PM

Picked the wrong weekend to do 2 long shifts for job 2- booking hot in my uniform and stuck indoors

. On the plus side should be £120 pay in augusts pay check so all helps, and has been a low spend weekend and no alcohol consumed!

DaringToDream_2 · 20 June 2017 at 9:33AM

Busy week so have been neglecting my diary, and was shattered yesterday having worked 14 hr shifts both days of the weekend, and then straight back to the day job

. On the plus side i've been barely spending and have been on an eb*y frenzy so things are ticking down. Also forgot that because i'd paid off the car finance i wouldn't need to pay my normal direct debit this month so have £120 extra in my budget,so £55 has gone to paying for my yoga class and £50 to cc1, with the remaining £15 saved in my current account to cover my train fare to London for a friends birthday this weekend.

CC1: £1135.48
CC2: £0
OD: £821.06
Car Loan: £14000
Total debt £15956.54
Total Paid 103.06/16062.60 (0.64% :rotfl:)

Progress (ish)! And under that pesky £16000 mark!!

Working from home today, so going to pop out to post office to post an eb*y parcel, and then also need to go to Ald* to get some food in, but hopefully a low spend day.

11 days til payday, and then i can start making a decent dent in the debt.

DaringToDream_2 · 22 June 2017 at 8:11PM

Plodding along, thank god this week has gone quickly. Low spend day today, and gym and healthy dinner so all feeling pretty positive.

Payday is a week tomorrow. Things are going to be tight until then, but hopefully I'll be able to get by, and have £5.00 of nectar points I can use an an emergency to buy fresh bits. Otherwise the freezer and cupboard are looking ok so I should be able to get most of my meals out of them.

Only expense left this month is friends birthday. Starting to wonder if the expense and stress of going into London is worth it, but she's a good friend, it's a big birthday and she made the effort to come out for my birthday so I really want to make the effort, just need to try find the money without breaking my credit card ban!

Missing OH today, still over a month until he is next back, but means I can legit be a hermit and focus on my diet- reckon I'm becoming one of those dull people who can only talk about the gym

DTD x

DaringToDream_2 · 24 June 2017 at 11:49AM

Off into London today. Going to have to pay for train fare on cc as am now officially skint this month- had i not had to pay for the hen do i would still have over £100 in the pot

. Got to try not to think of that though and focus on what a lovely weekend i'll have in a few weeks time! Driving to the station though and just won't drink at the party so i don't spend loads on taxis- definitely a good change in behaviour and better for health and wallet- in the past i'd have just drunk loads and spent on cabs!

Still have some expenses due, and also have been on an eb*y frenzy this morning listing some dresses from my wardrobe, so even if one of those sells i'll be able to pay off the train fare. Also opened up a non-payment claim against someone- why do people bid if they don't intend to pay :mad:.

6 days til payday. Won't need to buy any food, although may need to put a tenner in the car, but this will come out of the expenses i'm due if this ever gets paid!!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend

DTD xx

DaringToDream_2 · 25 June 2017 at 2:21PM

Spendy day in London yesterday, stupidly forgot to take the prosecco I'd bought so had to buy another bottle (obviously at london prices), and then had to buy a birthday pressie for my friend. Really nice to see everyone though, and didn't drink and drove home so only had to spend on train and parking and not on taxis.

Making up for the spendy day with a no spend day today. Having a massive clean of the house, exhausting but definitely needed as it was quite messy after working last weekend and generally being shattered. Still a few rooms to go, but the kitchen is done which was the worst room! Yoga later which is prepaid, and then home for some love island

gotta love my trash.

Got a busy day tomorrow, working a full day in London with job 1 and then a couple of hours in the evening with job 2 so will be an extra £20 to the debt repayment!

5 days to payday, and 4.5 weeks til OH is home- anyone else feel like they are constantly counting down to the next payday etc?!

DTD x

Hiddenidenity · 25 June 2017 at 2:29PM

We are weekly paid and I still find myself counting down

Glad you had a lovely time x

DaringToDream_2 · 25 June 2017 at 3:34PM

Haha thanks Hidden- glad its not just me constantly counting down to something!!!

enthusiasticsaver · 25 June 2017 at 3:58PM

Just caught up on your diary and you seem to be doing really well. Generally speaking consolidation loans are not a good idea to clear existing debts because they delay the inevitability of dealing with overspends. The caveat to that is if the person taking the loan is disciplined, has addressed reasons for overspending and the interest rate is lower on the consolidation loan than the existing borrowing.

In your case I think it was justified as you seem to be pretty good at budgeting, the loan was for an asset (car and furniture on credit cards) rather than living expenses and you are able to overpay to get rid of it quicker without penalties. I also agree with you that PCP deals are a very expensive way of buying cars. We never use them. Better off using a 0% credit card or low rate personal loan.

Good luck with the debt busting.

DaringToDream_2 · 25 June 2017 at 4:28PM

Thanks enthusiastic saver! Although the consolidation loan scares me a bit, it was definitely the right decision so good to have a bit of reinforcement on that!

I'm still kicking myself at the PCP to be honest, and not doing my research properly when I took it out (lesson learnt!!). When I took out the PCP my intent was that I would pay off a chunk of it, but keep the monthly payments the same, and then have a smaller balloon payment. But when I tried to do this I was told it wasn't allowed so I'd have to either pay off the whole loan (which I couldn't afford to do) or reduce my monthly payments so I was in the ridiculous situation of basically just paying the interest each month until I could save enough to pay off the balloon payment. Ridiculous! At least now I can overpay as much as I want, and now that the house move is done and all the major expenses are out of the way I can knuckle down and really focus on making a dent in the consolidation loan!

Paid off £33 yesterday as the interest was front loaded and I wanted to get it down to a nice round number, but counting down til payday to start really making some progress!

enthusiasticsaver · 25 June 2017 at 4:38PM

My brother took out a PCP deal for his new car as he needed a reliable one for work. His circumstances have now changed in that he has been diagnosed with MS so may need to exchange it before the 4 years is up for a car which can be adapted for his disability. The penalty for him doing this is horrendously expensive so he is trying to last out the four years when he can just hand it back and not pay balloon payment.

Car salesmen tempt people with the possibility of having a brand new car which is always nice to have at an affordable monthly payment without laying out full conditions or total cost although to be fair the information has to be available but I understand it is easy to turn a blind eye to it. Research beforehand is vital as you have said but it is a lesson learnt so don't beat yourself up too much about it.

My husband has recently retired and always had brand new company cars every 3 years up until now. We bought a 2 year old low mileage car for about 50% less of the cost of a brand new one with savings and he is perfectly happy with it and it is perfectly reliable. I did the same with mine a few years ago.

DaringToDream of a Debt Free Life!

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free