Will Olivia’s debts be up, up and away this year?

Sunday 4th January, 2009 - £6,627.96 in debt…

The last two end of month posts I’ve written have been on my return from London. It’s a round-trip of about 500 miles, so that’s a fair bit of petrol, and London isn’t exactly the cheapest city in the world. So let’s see how this month has gone, money-wise. I can’t say I’m wildly optimistic.

Things I have done well this month:

     1.   In years to come, December 2008 will be fondly remembered for the massive sales that came about when high-street institution after high-street institution went into administration. Woolworth’s, The Pier, Officers’ Club, Zavvi - all gone. Even Whittard’s had to be saved by a very rich person who obviously LOVES loose-leaf tea. While we were all supposed to be fearing recession and weeping over thousands of lost jobs, most of us just went shopping, and I cut about 50% off my usual Christmas spending. As well as trawling the sales, I saved a bundle by shopping online.

     2.   I also couldn’t throw a Christmas party this year, which probably saved me about £120 based on previous years. But I’m sure I’ll make up for that with a house-warming in the near future.

Things I have done really badly this month:

     1.   Again, I haven’t reached my target for donations to my Barclaycard. Again though, this is because I’m holding back a reserve of cash for the deposit, rent and moving costs when I finally move house. More on that soon.

     2.   Most people would blame their car mechanic or car for breaking down and needing its second new alternator in as many years, but I blame myself. Mainly because I don’t want people picking on my poor Matiz while she’s poorly. The repair bill came in at £300 but, on the plus side, I’m making full use of my £39-a-year RAC membership. There’s nothing like getting your money’s worth.

     3.   I couldn’t stop myself from taking another quick trip up to London for New Year. It was worth it but, what with petrol costs, travel around the city, food and drink, a two-day trip cost me more than £100. I got some free balloons out of it though.

In summary, it could have been much worse, and I’m looking upon December 2008 in a positive way. Now that the festivities are over, I can get back to work and really concentrate on those New Year’s resolutions. I’ve got lots of work coming my way and no more London trips planned until July. What could possibly go wrong…?

  Car on tow!

Wednesday 10th December, 2008 - £7,092.96 in debt…

I spoke too soon. After smugly pottering around in my “magic” Matiz yesterday, I was a few miles from home for a house viewing when suddenly all my warning lights came on and the car ground to a halt for no good reason.

According to the RAC man and the garage man, she needs another new alternator, after having her first replacement one about 14 months ago. That isn’t normal, is it? Anyway, it can’t be fitted until tomorrow, so I’m currently stuck at home and have had to postpone two house viewings and a non-urgent trip to the vet, among other things. Grrr. At least while I’m housebound I can’t spend too much money.

Mind you, my RAC membership has proved well worth the £39 I paid for it, and I’d highly recommend it. Not only did a man appear within 10 minutes of my car breaking down, he also got me and my broken car to the garage and then gave me a lift home. A perfectly fine service if your car is the type that stops working every so often. And RAC is offering a year’s membership for £33 at the moment, so I’d leap on that offer if I were you.

 Will the Matiz see another Christmas?

Tuesday 9th December, 2008 - £7,092.96 in debt…

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty chilly at the moment. As I’m currently living on the side of a hill that sees very little daylight during the winter, the overnight ice and frost never clears away and I can’t even leave the house without oafishly sliding around like a grumpier version of Bambi.

This is not only bad for me and my dignity, it’s also bad for my car. The lovely Matiz failed to start for the first time in her history yesterday afternoon, and I was shocked and saddened.

So this morning, my dad and I kitted ourselves out in gloves and hats (I even dug out my most sensible shoes for the occasion), fully prepared for the heave-ho of bump starting the car down a massive hill. I thought I’d try turning the key before we bothered with all that, and it started first time. Phew.

Obviously it’s a magic car - I’ve always known that - but it got me thinking. If I’d had to fork out for repairs, I’d have been worried about money again, and might even have had to cover it on a credit card. The moral of the story is: When you’ve got lots of money coming in and no rent to pay, don’t spend it all on pink wine and partying, as you never know when it might come in handy.

Sometimes I feel like it’s taking a while for these things to sink in.

 A quarter down! Hooray!

Sunday 2nd November, 2008 - £7,499.83 in debt…

Am I really a quarter of the way through my debt-paying-off challenge? How did that happen?

According to my plan, I should now have paid off a quarter of the original amount, leaving my debt standing at just over £7,100. I’m £375.24 behind schedule, but I think that’s pretty good considering the amount of interest I’m still covering, and the fact that it will get easier as it goes along. Maybe I’m too optimistic for my own good…

This month’s good points

     1.   I’m reluctant to describe splitting up with my boyfriend as a good thing, but there’s no denying it’s been good for my finances. Despite having to spend £30 on hiring a van, and £24.90 on redirecting my mail, the fact that I haven’t had to shell out for any rent or bills this month has meant I can plough £400 into my Barclaycard, book a place at Wembley Stadium for Take That, and plan a trip to London for December. With any luck, this means I’ll still be sane by Christmas (relatively speaking).

     2.   My incredible Matiz passed its MOT after a mere £202 of repairs, thanks to my local council MOT centre.

     3.   I discovered that I can get free music downloads from Last FM - hooray for free music! Unfortunately, the downloads themselves don’t seem to work on my computer. Am I being a massive technology dunce? Is there something wrong with the Last FM site? Who can say? Not me.

This month’s bad points

     1.   Barclaycard offered me 0% APR on balance transfers, which got me all excited until I discovered that I couldn’t take advantage of the offer, for reasons that are too complicated and boring to go into here. Suffice to say, I still have three credit cards to pay off.

     2.   I tried on four pairs of Glasses Direct glasses for only £3.75 (in total, not per pair). Unfortunately, none of them looked quite right. For this reason, and because Glasses Direct didn’t respond to my very simple email enquiry, I’m going to shop around.

     3.   I gave up my temping job, but that shouldn’t be a problem once I get back into the swing of AQA work. I’ve had a few weeks of being either unable to concentrate or too busy moving house, but the plan is to get back into my old routine as of tomorrow (Monday). It’s a whole new leaf, I tell you.

Generally speaking, these last six months have gone remarkably well. I know I’m lagging a bit, but considering I was getting further and further into the red every day until six months ago, I’m embarrassingly proud of myself right now. In eighteen months’ time, I’ll be debt free.