’Tis the season of good will!

Tuesday 14th October, 2008 - £7,899.83 in debt…

It’s Christmas time - there’s no need to be afraid.

Well, it’s not quite, but the keys to managing your money are in preparation and budgeting, so there’s nothing wrong with getting excited two months early. That’s my excuse, anyway.

So what can we do at this early stage to make Christmas a bit more bearable, money-wise? This is what we can do:

     1.  Start your shopping early, but don’t start buying presents yet. Make a list of all the other stuff you’ll need - food that will keep, wrapping paper, decorations, etc - and buy it when you see a good deal. This will prevent panic-buying at a later stage. If you start on presents now, you’re likely to change your mind between now and December, and you might find it’s too late (or too much hassle) to get your money back.

     2.  Talk to friends and family about Christmas decorations before you start buying new ones. You’ll probably find they don’t use everything they’ve got every year, so you can rummage through their leftovers or even have a complete swap.

     3.  If you can trust yourself with it, and you’re currently debt-free, apply for a cashback credit card before you start spending. These can give you as much as 5 percent back on whatever you spend, but pay your balance as soon as the bill comes in or you’ll be charged interest.

     4.  When you do start gift-shopping, do it online and compare prices using sites like Kelkoo and Pricerunner. Equally, using MySupermarket to compare prices from four major supermarkets will save you money on your Christmas groceries.

     5.  If you haven’t got them already, apply for as many loyalty cards as you can handle. Hand them over when you stock up on Christmas food and presents, and spend the points later. Most supermarkets have them, as do Waterstone’s and Boots. Watch out for Boots ‘double points’ days.

     6.  According to the news, there’s some sort of global financial armageddon looming. If I hadn’t had to switch over for Neighbours, I’d be able to tell you more, but suffice to say that everyone will be tightening their belts this year. There is now no shame in buying presents from Ebay or TK Maxx, or going to pound shops for stocking fillers.

     7.  If you know anyone who’d appreciate some sort of greenery for Christmas, now’s the time to get some pots and compost from a garden centre and take some cuttings from your own plants (or your neighbour’s garden, but don’t tell them I said that). With the right care and attention, they’ll be small but beautiful by December.

     8.  The more people you can talk to about your debt, the better. Make agreements with as many people as possible that you won’t be exchanging gifts this year, or that they’ll only be small tokens for the sake of unwrapping something. If you don’t want to confess your debt, blame the credit crunch.

     9.  If you’re likely to be buying presents from Amazon, sign up for Amazon Prime first, which will give you free first-class delivery for a month. Don’t forget to cancel before the month is up.

Keep checking this blog for more ideas as the time looms, but if you’re looking for ‘bah humbug - I’m not spending anything on Christmas this year - boo hoo, I hate it all’, you won’t find it here. I love Christmas and I’m not going to let thousands of pounds worth of debt stop me enjoying it. Bring it on.

 E.ON - Sly as a fox

Monday 1st September, 2008 - £7,977.79 in debt…

When I’ve finally paid off all my debts and I’m looking back at my “journey” (which is what I’d call it if I were an X Factor contestant), I’ll think of month 4 with great fondness. Not only was it the month in which I finally got below the £8k mark - it was the month in which these things happened:

Good times

1) This month’s biggest success story was being accepted for another home-based job, which can fill in the time when I’m not temping or freelancing: I’m going to be an internet researcher for AQA (Any Question Answered). I’ve now finished my training and will be starting the job properly once I’ve finished writing this blog post…

2) I collected a lovely range of loyalty cards: the Nectar Card, Tesco Clubcard, Boots Advantage Card and Co-op Membership Card. Aside from the Co-op one, these all enable me to collect points, which mean prizes. Hooray.

3) I used Money Saving Expert’s new credit scoring tool to find out whether there’s anything I should be doing to make sure my credit rating is as good as it can be by the time my debts are cleared. I learned that I should cancel each card as soon as I’ve paid it off, and that I shouldn’t move house. Fine by me.

4) Online shopping with Asda was an enormous success, but they’ve now stopped sending me ‘free delivery’ vouchers by email. I am shocked and appalled.

5) I’ve decided to go on a cheap holiday, probably in November. You might think this is a bad thing, considering my situation, but I’ve decided to put it in the ‘good times’ pile because it will improve my mental state, making me a happier and more efficient worker when I come back. Yes it will.

6) And I’ve signed up for free UK calls with 1899, a very cheap secondary phone supplier. I keep forgetting to dial the prefix number though - might have to have it tattooed on my hand, which will cost money.

Bad times

1) I went a bit crazy doing too much work. I would have had to stop myself if the work hadn’t dried up on its own.

2) After switching my gas and electricity to a capped tariff with E.ON, I discovered that either (a) the comparison service I used had provided me with the wrong information, or (b) E.ON had done something shifty and added a cancellation fee where there shouldn’t have been one.

3) I realised that Endsleigh have been taking me for a ride for the last 18 months or so, charging me for a Payment Protection Insurance policy I didn’t want. On the plus side, I complained to Endsleigh and they sorted it out straight away. I now have a cheque for £25 to play with.

So, with a grand total of six plus points and only three minuses, this has been one of my more successful months. I’ve also paid off £401.04 after interest - and that doesn’t include this month’s Barclaycard standing order, as my statement hasn’t arrived yet. I’m still perfectly on track for my goal of being debt free by the end of April 2010.

Now, how much quicker could I do this if I become the fastest researcher AQA has ever employed? There’s only one way to find out.

 You gotta have faith…

Sunday 10th August, 2008 - £8,228.83 in debt…

There was a time, years ago when I was younger and even more stupid than I am now, when my wallet was full of credit cards and store cards. Now I have a debit card, one credit card sometimes (for emergencies), and an increasing number of friendly-looking loyalty cards.

The problem with loyalty cards is that you never stop hearing about them. Every day you walk past signs telling you about extra points on this, using your points for that, and the incessant “do you have a Nectar card?” from till people, followed by a withering and slightly sympathetic look if you say no. Being the winner of “Most Unreasonably Stubborn Human 2008″, I didn’t budge until very recently. Now I have four of the things.

Nectar Card

This allows me to collect points at Sainsbury’s (where I often buy petrol) and BP garages, among other places I haven’t tried yet. In return for the heroic effort of handing my key-fob over at the till, I get to spend my points on various “treats”, from a cordless screwdriver to a night out at the bingo, to indoor skydiving.

Tesco Clubcard

With this one, I build up points from shopping at Tesco, and I can spend the points on my next Tesco shop. But that’s stupid when you can spend them on treats instead and increase their value by four times. Treats include Air Miles, theme park days out, and restaurant meals.

Boots Advantage Card

This gives four points per pound spent, and Boots often has double or triple points days when you can collect even more.  Each point is worth 1p when you spend it in-store, but you can’t redeem your points against everything. You can also pop your card into an in-store Boots Bonus Machine and pick up money-off vouchers.

Co-op Membership Card

I signed up for one of these a couple of weeks ago, received it through the post, eagerly panted my way down to the Co-op and handed it over with my shopping, and was told that it wasn’t accepted. Apparently this is because my Co-op is part of the Plymouth and South West Co-op, which is in another dimension to the rest of them.  In theory, the Co-op Membership Card gives you a share of Co-op’s profits (how much you get depends on how much you spend), and it goes straight into your bank account.

Now I’ve run out of ideas. Have I missed any?