Desperately seeking freedom :)

missmental123 · 24 July 2017 at 9:45AM

I have been in debt all my adult life

I have been on here before in 2010 and reduced my debt significantly by PPI claims and stopping spending. I am now 52 years old and I'm in a bit of a mess financially. I am completely useless with money. I have one loan and three credit cards and overdraft. Our mortgage will be paid off in 2019.
DS is at university in 5th year studying medicine and is one of my largest expense £400 + a month. He gets a bursary & small loan this year that don't even cover his rent.
All my debt is mine, DH is unconnected to my finances. I am a nurse and work full time and earn approx £2400 a month with shift allowances with occasional overtime on top.
I know my problems is overspending. I love holidays, festivals, going to gigs, nights out and weekends away. We need to start spending money on the house, bathroom & kitchen replacement etc in the future.
We only have one holiday booked in Berlin in August that is paid for and a few gigs in the winter months. Apart from that I'm trying to spend as little as I can to reduce this debt.

My current debts are;

CC1 £4,335.75 - 0% til 04/18
CC2 £1,055.18 0% til 04/19
CC3 £7,273.58 0% til 04/19
Loan - £10,042 - finishes March 2020
Overdraft £1100
Total: £23,806.33

*I aim to get out of this mess by paying £900 off my debts a month. I have completed a snowball
*I plan to pay the credit cards off by Feb 2019.
*I am setting a weekly cash budget and will write all my expenditures in a cash book.
*No more spending on credit cards.

I am hoping that posting regularly in this diary will keep me focused and on track to freedom from my debts!
Thanks for reading

missmental123 · 24 July 2017 at 3:59PM

I am slowly starting to tackle my debts. Today, I have :
1) Listed 3 pairs of shoes on Ebay that I have only worn once.
2) Done a U switch comparison and changing my energy provider to ENGIE saving £169 year.
3) Made an appointment with NHS pensions adviser.
4) Started writing all purchases in my cash book.

I think I need to start planning ahead more and try to save for emergencies. I am also going to try and complete a finance spreadsheet. I'm on nights this week and that is great as I don't get chance to spend anything as I'm literally asleep or at work.

System · 24 July 2017 at 8:58PM

First welcome to the forum.

You seem to have come up with a plan to clear your debtsi can resonate with you about the overspending on holidays, gigs and weekends away they have been my downfall.. However my biggest motivation to clear the last of my debt is that I want to start a wind down to retirement and can't do that whilst still paying debt off.

Good luck will subscribe.

missmental123 · 26 July 2017 at 2:17PM

I'm on nights, so should be sleeping! I'm weirdly excited about the challenge of getting on top of my debts.

Rightly or wrongly, who knows,? I've signed up to a free trial of YNAB. It looks fairly complicated, but I'm hoping it will help me on my way.
I've read quite a few reviews that sound promising. I guess, it's up to me to make it happen. Anyway, back to sleep for me!
And it's pay day tomorrow! :j:j:j

missmental123 · 27 July 2017 at 4:34PM

Payday! 35 months till I'm debt free!
I have paid £718.52 to 3x CC's & Loan.
Sticking with my budget plan - cash only from now on.

Mummy_bear · 28 July 2017 at 5:49PM

missmental123 wrote: »

I'm weirdly excited about the challenge of getting on top of my debts.

Not weird at all, unless I'm weird also. I'm loving the challenge too.

Although I actually think I'm obsessed. I'm thinking about budgets, money saving, money earning ALL THE TIME!

MB

missmental123 · 29 July 2017 at 8:26AM

I've hardly spent anything whilst I've been on nights. I'm continuing to log any spending in my cash book. I wish I could find a simple mobile app I could use but they all seem complicated or they aren't free .
I'm going to challenge myself to buy no more clothing or shoes before Christmas . I have a wardrobe full that I've hardly worn . This should save me a small fortune .
Looking forward to the weekend !

Munchin · 29 July 2017 at 8:44AM

Hi miss mental

Good luck:)

missmental123 · 31 July 2017 at 1:01PM

Hi Munchin!
Thanks for popping by!

I've sold two pairs of shoes for the grand total of £4.50 ! Not brilliant but beggars can't be choosers ! I'm meeting my friends for a drink tonight so it'll pay for two halves of lager !!
I've done really well this week , hardly spent anything . I'm going food shopping with only £30 in my purse. No cards !! I've planned our meals until Thursday when I can have next weeks budget to play with. I'm hoping to actually have some money left from this week to put in my emergency contingency fund I'm starting.

Scott_Weiland_2 · 31 July 2017 at 2:48PM

Good luck with your journey i will pop in from time to time miss mental.

quintwins · 31 July 2017 at 2:50PM

Your doing great! Well done.

Desperately seeking freedom :)

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