Getting out of this debt sharknado

motivated · 17 December 2017 at 12:25PM

Hi Emma

I can definitely relate to January arriving and starting afresh. As for Christmas being expensive I told my two that I won’t be overdoing the prezzies this year as I’m cutting back a little. They were both fine with it as I would normally think I hadn’t bought them enough as their prezzies only looked a small amount. Anyway this year I have been stern with myself and not been tempted to buy for the sake of it.

Maybe from January you can set aside some money each week/month for Xmas and work from there once you add it all up maybe at the end of November. I found it a Godsend this year.

Well done for not touching the CCs too a massive achievement there I’d say. :T
X

HairyHandofDartmoor · 17 December 2017 at 12:52PM

I know what you mean about Christmas spending straining the budget Emma, and socialising is a killer

.

My budget has felt a bit out of control since early November thanks to visiting a relative with cancer in London and then a wedding in the midlands. And now Christmas :eek:. Food is going up and up in price at the supermarket and as you say, coffee and a cake can set you back a big chunk when it's for lots of people :shocked:.

It is hard and I don't know what the answer is. You can either fess up and say "I cannot afford to go out for lunch/coffee and cakes" and be a party pooper (and then sometimes someone insists on paying for you and you can't enjoy it due to guilt and shame) or you go and try to keep the costs down

.

DH and I try to avoid socialising which involves cafes, restaurants etc. We prefer to say let's meet at the beach/nature trail etc and take a picnic, but this is problematic in the winter when it's cold or rainy

.

I don't think your DC will mind if you say you're spending a bit less on presents this year, as they are old enough to understand the realities of life.

I do think that it can be worth being a bit of a hermit for a while though to really get control over the debts and free yourself from that burden

EmmaMicawber · 30 December 2017 at 10:51AM

Hello diaryworld - I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Things are returning to normal in the Micawber household - the house guests have gone, leftovers nearly eaten and no more expensive trips out to pay for.
OH was paid early, a week before Christmas, but for the first time ever, we put it into a different account and only transferred it into our current account on his 'usual' payday which was yesterday. So the current account looks quite healthy, no credit cards were used, and OH is hoping that January will bring his first work bonus in a long time.
So all is looking relatively good, Well, apart from the tiny little detail of £59000 outstanding on credit cards! (But better than the £73500 we had last January).

We're going to go "gazelle intense" for 2018 (Dave Ramsey) and set ourselves the ambitious target of paying £30000 off the credit cards by January 2019.
Initial Plan:
me- getting a job and putting 100% of my wages to the debt, at least £1000 monthly (12,000)
OH- pulling out all the stops at work and trying to get 2 decent bonuses next year (6,000 total?- no idea yet)
OH- putting 100% of his payrise ( extra £250 per month starting January) to the debt (3,000)
'Standard' monthly cc payments 9,000
Total: £30,000

And this assumes our old high mileage cars limp through 2018 unscathed.

I'm starting the 'clock' on January 1st week one, £0 paid, and will keep track of the total paid off week by week. Week 52 target - £30,000 !!

AdventureWanted · 30 December 2017 at 11:27AM

Hi, you’ve done really well in reducing your debt so far. Good luck with your 2018 debt target.

Rachel24 · 30 December 2017 at 11:26PM

Hi Emma just read your diary. You’ve done so well and looking forward to you paying that 30k in 2018!!

EmmaMicawber · 1 January 2018 at 11:44AM

Paid in Week 0 - £0
Total paid for 2018 - £0
£ to target - £30,000

Happy New Year!
It's Year 2 of our debt paydown and I'm doing a debt snowball for the first time, planning to pay off £30,000 in total this year.
Year 1 was all about getting my head round our debt and juggling balances to avoid being hit with huge interest charges, but only 1 of our cards has a 0% expiring in 2018 so I'm going for it this year. Our total debt (credit card and loan) reduced from £93,500 to £76,500. Credit cards reduced from £73,500 to £58,000.

I've listed the cards we have below (using affectionate nicknames

) and will pay minimums on all and throw the surplus at the card with the smallest balance.

1. American Distress £1250
2. More Bl**dy Nights Awake card 1 £2500
3. They're Your Master card £3700
4. Tox-co £4500
5. More Bl**dy Nights Awake 2 £4900
6. Sin-tan-debt card £5000
7. Martin Lewis card £7100
8. They're Your Master card 2 £11,500
9. American Distress 2 £17,500
10. Loan Wolf £18,500

CC total- £58,000 Loan -£18,500 Total -£76,500

My plan is to update the amount paid every Sunday and the individual debts monthly to keep on track.

ChasingSunshine · 2 January 2018 at 9:19AM

Sounds like a you have a great plan in place and are all set for 2018. Love the card names btw.

Working_Mum · 5 January 2018 at 2:18PM

Dave Ramsey's approach is wonderful! Nice and sensible with the benefit that it really works!!
I have slightly less debt than you guys but I am divorced and flying this debt free plane solo!
I feel sure you have the right attitude and approach to make 2018 a debt busting year!

EmmaMicawber · 7 January 2018 at 8:35AM

Thanks Chasingsunshine - as well as a bit of fun, the card names remind me what they actually represent and will hopefully help keep me on track. You see so many happy smiling faces on the adverts it's easy to forget the debt sentence they're selling you.

Thanks for dropping by, good luck to you for 2018 as well!

EmmaMicawber · 7 January 2018 at 8:42AM

Working_Mum wrote: »

Dave Ramsey's approach is wonderful! Nice and sensible with the benefit that it really works!!
I have slightly less debt than you guys but I am divorced and flying this debt free plane solo!
I feel sure you have the right attitude and approach to make 2018 a debt busting year!

I find that 10 minutes of Dave Ramsey really helps if I'm wavering - and I could listen to his Southern accent all day. There are so many people who've paid off so much it reassures you that it is achievable for anyone.
Good luck flying solo in 2018 - I'm sure you'll be successful!

Getting out of this debt sharknado

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