January 1st 2012

Its hard to believe it is a new year - its always rather symbolic of new beginnings and fresh starts! Yet most of us simply feel like its just another day and one where we come up with all sorts of plans and ideas just to forget them again in a week or two if they even last that long.

For me its a good day to start writing again - i always feel the need to have a 'proper' starting point and what better start can there be than the first day of a new year?

I haven't looked at my debts for a while - i've been distracted but want to get back into my habit of knowing where i am with them again and start to work on getting them sorted once again.  I feel like i have slipped into bad habits again and so i will have to look afresh at my debt totals and choose the first one i want to work on again!

I have just started to post again on MSE which always seems to help me to focus and so far today i have been just starting the process of getting back into earning online again.

So far the accounts i have checked and worked on are:

Donkeymails - $0.7324

Swagbucks Charity Acount - 664

Unique Rewards - $8.58

Maximiles - 2585

Its amazing how much better i feel about my debt situation these days :) I have found the £10 per day challenge especially beneficial because each month i have been able to focus on paying off a particular debt.


So far i have managed to pay off 3 of my debts completely and because of this i am now paying a higher amount off the remaining debts.  It feels brilliant to have made this progress even though its just been the smallest debts that i have paid off.


My new payment plan is as follows:


First Trust - £5.49     Balance  £1664.51


Egg Card - £5.00      Balance  £1549.03


Barclays Finance - £9.01    Balance £1733.99


MBNA - £7.55     Balance £3243.29


Barclaycard - £5.00     Balance £1584.00


MBNA 2 - £5.00     Balance £1548.23


Egg 2 - £5.00     Balance £1879.12


MBNA 3 - £8.57     Balance £3691.07


Barclays - £9.38     Balance £2415.62


My overall balance on my DMP is then £19,308.86.


When i started my DMP in October 2010 i owed £20,148.86.  This amount did not include 3 of my debts which were added to my plan later.  It is still a scary amount i have to say, however at least it is going in the right direction :)


My estimated debt free date at the minute is 27th August 2038

I have been plugging away at my debts this week even though i haven't been blogging all week.  I have paid another £20 off my rates bill, brought my TV licence payments up to date and managed to pay a lovely big £640 off my Avon account this week :) 


I really want to get on top of my Avon account asap because i want to try and start getting my books out to customers again - Christmas is just around the corner really and now is the time to get working with it again if i can! 

I am sooooooo happy and pleased with myself today - i have just cleared 3 debts in 1 swoop! Ok so it was the smallest ones but still it does feel good to have less accounts with money owing on them now :) 


I am also now at almost £2,000 paid off my debts since 1st August all thanks to this blog, the £10 per month challenge and the taking 10 positive steps a day towards getting my finances sorted out challenge! It really is amazing what i can do when i focus on it :)

Isn't it funny how quickly the time passes? i can't believe its a whole week since i posted on here!


It's been a bit of a strange week for me i have to say - i think i have missed doing the car boot sales - its been really pants weather and so i've been unable to go.  I also hurt my leg on Friday so in some ways its been a good thing - i needed to rest it anyway! 


Without the car boot sales my earnings have been somewhat slow :(  but i have been looking at alternatives and have even been selling more on ebay again.  


I really wish it was easier to work out the actual earnings on there - its such a pain having to do all the maths! 


So, let me see, i have sold a few things: £2.49 + £7.00 + £1.99 + £7.00 + £10.00 + £6.50 = £34.98


Ebay listing Fees: 15p + 40p = 55p
Ebay final fees: 80p + 40p + 50p + 10p + 55p + 10p = £2.45


Paypal fees are: 28p + 44p + 27p + 44p + 54p + 42p = £2.39


Postage costs so far are: £2.16 + £1.96 + £1.09 + 75p = £5.96


£34.98 - 55p - £2.45 - 2.39 - £5.96 = £23.63


But i have 2 more items to post yet! So i won't know my final figure until i do that today.


Yesterday i also found 6p on the ground in the car park LOL!

10 things a day challenge - Tuesday 6th Sept

Good Morning Bloggy Blog! I have been up and at it....earning i mean from quite early this morning.


So Far i have completed:


1.  Listed 5 more items on ebay :)


2.  Visited the spud shillings site and got my total earned up to 690!


3.  Used search lotto and have 11 more searches to do now to get my free lotto ticket.


4.  

Nice letter in the post today

Sometimes it feels like the only thing that comes through the post is bills, especially cos of my debts.  Today though i got a letter saying £305.56 has been taken off my rates bill :) I also have the option to appeal the decision to not backdate the payments which i think i will do as well.  In the meantime i can reduce the balance at least!


I also got a few more payments through (avon delivery, survey payment, ptc arrangement) making a total of £541.93 so far raised this month :) 


I am astounded that i have more than met my target of £465 for this month in the space of 5 days - can i beat last months total now i wonder?? lol