Cleared...set...registered

debtcamel.co.uk

There are arguments about which is better to do when tackling debt: I believe Gail Vaz Oxlade was a proponent of ridding yourself of the smaller, more easily removed debts first, as I think she felt you could mark the little achievements as big milestones, and then roll that payment onto a second one (snowballing) to bring that down faster. Others prefer tackling the higher interest ones first, which also makes sense because of the interest tacked on each month.

I'm not sure where I sit - somewhere in the middle, although I only have one choice that makes the most sense for me. My loan is the lowest unsecured interest rate I have, so it makes sense to pay off the credit cards, both of which are twice that. My LOC & Canadian CC both have interest rates under 9%.

So I paid off the CCs. 

Cleared - both CCs are now at a zero balance. Woo! Phew... 

Set - my Canadian debt repayments this morning: 15 months' worth! I'm putting $200 per month on my LOC (for a total of $3,000), and $75 per month on my credit card (for a total of $1,125). That takes me to the end of January 2019, but will revisit at the end of next year, just to make sure things are on track. I can check on things anytime and adjust as necessary, but love that I can more or less leave it alone. The exchange rate was relatively good (£1 = $1.69) so I decided to go ahead and send the funds and get everything set up (today it has already fallen slightly, so my timing was good).

Registered - two of three online portions of the programme I'd like to do next year - £100. One takes 8 hours, the other about 30. The final one is 64 hours, so I'll be looking at that in January or February. It felt a bit overwhelming at the moment! Once that third and final portion is done, I'll have to see how I'm doing before registering for the full programme. It might be that I have to postpone for another year, but at least I can get started.

I've just received confirmation that my material is ready for download so, HURRAH! I can even get started on this stuff this weekend.

Yesterday I put a full tank of petrol into the car and bought a few toiletry bits that I've been putting off. I also removed my credit card details from my Amazon & FB accounts.

Today I need to buy chicken food for the girls and some envelopes so I can set myself up for cash only from this point on. 

I got a bigger paycheque today than I was anticipating, which is great. I have to get two new tires for the car (I had considered four, but think I will maintain it on an 'as and when' basis, so I can build up my emergency fund again). I can now cover those - which should be less than £100 according to the guy at the garage - and my homoeopath appointment on Tuesday.

I was flipping through a local magazine yesterday as well and came across an ad for a cleaning company - who are hiring! I'm sitting and thinking about this, but the pay is weekly and it's around the New Forest so I hope I could get something fairly local. I'm not willing to go too far just to clean someone's house and wind up using my paycheques just to cover petrol. I'm going to send her an email to inquire and see what she says. My hours are limited because I can only do weekends/holidays, but it costs nothing to ask at least. It's hard work, cleaning, but it doesn't have to be forever.

I also sent an email to the local organiser of the Ringwood ladies' group that I was hoping to join to say that I didn't think it was a good fit for me, but would take her suggestion about contacting a different group. She agrees as she thinks they're a bit closer and certainly have a more 'youthful outlook' - ha ha! So I'll be sending an enquiry email about that over the next few days too.

I saw my brother & SIL on Tuesday evening. They had just arrived from Vancouver that afternoon and driven directly to my cousin's so were pretty exhausted. We went out for dinner, though, and managed to have a decent visit and catch up. They are finally engaged, too - it only took my brother 13 years! They then went to Wales for an overnight visit (!) before heading back to London yesterday for a few days to see friends there. They fly back to South Africa on Monday.

My sister arrives on Monday for two nights, too. I haven't seen her since May, so we'll be able to have a good catch up whilst she's here. I'm looking forward to that. She'll be arriving mid-afternoon Monday, so once I've picked her up at the station we'll have a couple of hours so I can show her around a bit. The clocks go back on the 29th (just here, don't panic!), so it'll be dark by 5:00 or so.

I decided last week that I needed some proper wet weather gear, so I did a bit of a spending flurry and ordered a new waterproof jacket, a pair of Bogs, and a proper, pretty umbrella (it's a sunflower!). This means I need to go through my closet again and sort out my coats, jackets, etc. I have two that need re-waterproofing before I give them away, so the stuff to do that with has been added to my Amazon wishlist. The Bogs fit a bit snugly, despite being my usual size, so have reordered a half-size larger. I'll be sending back the original pair next week. The boots and jacket are teal so I'll stand out amongst the Brits, who tend to black, brown, navy blue, and grey. I do love my colours.

Anyway, tonight there's a week's worth of ghosty shows starting on TV - you can bet I'll be watching! I love that stuff. And Tuesday is the final of the Great British Bake Off!

Have a great weekend, all!