April Update

I've done very well I think this month and have clear my final loan which was my main goal. The other goals I set for myself in March were to save £300 and start my Emergence Fund with £60.00. The latter is the only goal I didn't complete and this is because I have been doing some spending this month (cash only of cause!). In total I have spent £174.22 which is the most I have spent since last December. Not all necessary I am sorry to say but I haven't gone crazy.
Okay so where am I financially?
I'm debt free!
I have started a regular saving account and have now deposited £560 into it.
(The account has an interest rate of 8% for twelve months and the maximum deposit per month is £300.)
My goals for May are as follows:

1. Put £1K into an Emergency Fund



2. Save £500 to pay my rates



3. Save £1K towards my next income tax bill

I have the advantage of extra money this month as there are three bank holidays - two for Easter and one for the Royal Wedding. So that has paid off my spending of the month.

So enjoy Will and Kate's Wedding everyone - we're having a street party afterwards, the bunting is out and I now have some cooking to do! Lets all pray for no rain huh!!

Whoops..... I Did It Again!

Yep I did it again but this time I have a plan!

It's why we are all here....

Debt sucks and I guess if you read pf blogs you're a debt hater - your probably in the red and are blogging away debt like I am. Getting freedom from debt whether you're a single broke female and are head over heels in debt or it's single guy money issues that have you wanting to kick debt off, we all want to leave debt behind. A budge, some bills and a lot of determination is the way to finding financial peace and for me getting out of debt again. Being a girl in debt, no more spending was the single saving grace to help me to becoming debt free 4 ever. My journey to eliminate debt has been helped by blogging about my so called financial life, this has made me realise that I wasn't the only single in debt and there were others who were an enemy of debt and wanted to punch debt in the face and scream give me back my five bucks. Musings of an abstract Aucklander and midlife Mom musings like our debt blog are out there to encourage us all to be a thousandaire and look after our magical penny. So if you're a single Mom, single income - ditching debt or if you are dealing with 50 plus finance matters our debt free path will lead us all to our destination: planet debt free, where the grass in greener and we can leave our ugly debt behind.

New Tax Year Starts Today

Yep it's the start of the new tax year of 2011/2012 and I am now waiting for my tax forms for last year to arrive having already worked out all the figures I need to complete them. Technicality I have made one payment toward the balance of my last years tax bill. The "Tax Man" (sorry I am not PC) always sends out a guesstimated statement in advance, of which I pay half in January and the second half in July, if when you submit your taxes you owe more than the guesstimate amount you pay the difference in the following January. What happens if you are owed money I can only guess at as I have never been in that situation. (You probably have the choice of a payment to your chosen bank account or a credit payment towards your next tax bill)

It was in about 2003 or 2004 when I got a call in about August from the HMRC (the tax man) to say that I owed £££ for the last tax year and I needed to pay immediately. Of cause I didn't have the money and told them so, to which I was told to take out a loan to pay the bill - which I did. Refinancing a loan I was currently paying off at the time in the process, all part of building my debt balance to the spine chilling £20k that got me blogging and looking for ways to get debt free.

Taxes are not fun but we all have to pay for the services etc, that we sometimes just take for granted. Whether you like the government or not taxes still have to be paid.

Personally I am happy that the current UK government is trying to pay down the countries debts - the sooner they do it the better for everyone but as I know from personal experience; it takes time, it's not easy and it means missing out on all those little treats that got me into debt in the first place.

March Review

Goal for the month was to clear £1440 from my Flexiloan account but I am ending the month £215.54 short of that goal. Still not to worry I have opened a Regular Saving Account (RSA) and have deposited £260 into it. The account has an interest rate of 6.4% (net) and 8% (gross) but this is only for 12 months. Also by opening this account I will not have to pay the £10 monthly charge for my new current account. Sure the money deposited into the saving account would more than covers the short fall to my flexiloan payment but I'm happy to have the money in a high interest saving account.

Goals for April:

Flexiloan - clear the final £1627.76

RSA - add £300.00

Emergency Fund - add £60.00

Quick Update

Got a text message this evening advising me that the text messaging service for my new bank will be activated within the next 10 days. So I take that as a yes, I am changing banks!! All my direct debts and standing orders will be transferred over for me and being the end of the month they have already been paid. Oh and I even get £100 for switching my current account.

Now I have to sort out what accounts I will need once I'm debt free - what saving accounts, ISA's and interest rates?

Changing My World......Financially!

Coffee jar snow flaking for March is £31.55, down from last month and £6.45 short of my monthly gym membership. I really have four days left till the end of the month but I will count the rest of the month as April.

Tomorrow I'll bank my last pay cheque for March and I'm hoping that it is the last time with my current bank as I'm hoping that I will be able to change banks this week. I have been wanting to change banks ever since last year when I was turned down for a 0% transfer balance credit card deal. All the interest and charges I have been paying over the years to my bank and with a really great credit report and they turn me down?

Tuesday should be when I hear from my new bank and I am hoping that all will be okay. I have a plan B bank just in case, my experience with UK banks has been ropey at best. I had no problem opening a bank account in the States but I went from bank to bank when I first arrived in London trying to open an account. The first bank that decided to risk it would only allow me to hold a basic bank account, so no cheque book and cheques took about 5 days to clear but they gave me a credit card after only 6 months. For three years I banked with them and applied three times for a current account and was turned down each time. A bank clerk from another bank encouraged me to apply with her bank and I had no problem opening a current account. Since then my second bank has changed name and over the last few years has gone down hill as far as I am concerned and I want out.

So fingers crossed for Tuesday.

Missing March's Goal by Two Fillings

In light of my February review I will not be able to achieve my goal for March to pay £1440.00 off my Flexiloan but unlike my over spend in February, this time it is an unforeseen expense.

The joy of the NHS (Nation Health Service) is that you don't have to pay for any medical expense (well you do as it is included in our tax bills) but what is not covered by the NHS is dental and optical costs. So things like eye tests, glasses prescription or tooth fillings, root canals and the like are not free.

So a way over due visit to the dentist is going to knock my payment plan this month and even though it's only £45.60 this visit (two filling and x-ray), I have been advised that I will need to return in June and will need further treatment then which is going to cost the a lot more. Not looking forward to that visit I can tell you.

This will all be putting my DFD back a week or so which is not what I really want but that's life!

CAUGHT BY THE CUTS AND BREAKING UP IS SO HARD TO DO

It's half way through March and my finances are okay, everything is on budget and I haven't been buying things online. However my snow flaking isn't so good and I have only saved about £17.00 or so. This money is to cover my gym membership which I have been informed by letter will increase as of the first of April by £2.00 to £38.00 a month. Yes finally I can say that government cuts have caught up with me but only via my gym which is run by the local borough council.
One thing I keep telling myself to do is change banks and I have more or less decided which bank to change too. Why should I be loyal to a bank that turned me down when I applied for a new credit card transfer balance deal last year. It's been a rather one side relationship with me paying lots of interest and my bank ignoring me and just take, take, taking. Time to forget my loyalty and say good bye. Breaking up is hard to do.
Will this effect my credit rating? Should I care too much about that if I am getting rid of all my credit accounts anyway? What do you think?

February Review

Having crunched the numbers for my spending last month I find that I've spent £63.98 that I didn't need too and a further £25.00 for expenses that weren't budgeted for. The £63.98 relates totally to Internet purchases and that means £60.00 less going to pay off my Flexiloan in February which is not good news.
The £25.00 is for my mobile phone and wifi both are pay-as-you-go and well the wifi is used way more than the mobile - I really don't like mobile phones much. Am I the only weird person?

Blogging is my way of being accountable with my finances, so I feel I should be precise in what I want to achieve for this month.

Current Flexiloan balance is £2,852.22 and I would like to pay £1,440.00 by the end of March bring the balance of my total debt to £1,412.22.

Well that's the plan now I need to step out and "just do it"!

Be brave and be different!

Rock the flock and live like no one else!