well done for posting its more than I have done

my debt is so minimal to some peoples

will subscribe and follow your journey

Great start to a diary. You seem very responsible and focused .
Some things just cannot be helped financially, and life in general .
Wishing you all the best in your aims

Wishing you the very best of luck. You sound really determined!

Hi middleclass
I am in the same boat as yourself so I am going to follow your diary very closely and make my own at the same time. Hopefully we can become debt free and spur each other on to do so.
I think the hardest part is writing it all down so well done so far.

Thanks all.

I think it does help when you write it down.

If one thing I have learnt on here is that even the best plan doesn't always pan out how you planned. However I think that as long as you keep moving with it the you are winning.

I have also just started running doing the C25K program and one thing that has resonated with me is that by breaking down your goal into smaller chunks, it doesn't seem so big a challenge.

Unfortunately my journey for this goal will be longer than 8 weeks however maybe I should consider looking at my journey in smaller periods. 2.5 years = 130 weeks = 10 x 13 week periods.

One to ponder over the next couple of days and review my snowball calc and commit by writing here...

Watch this space.

Hi there,
Good luck! You goals will help you stay focused.
All the best.

Well, just a quick update.. Paid off the next card as planned following pay day... So just waiting for that to show so we can close down the card.

The next debt to focus on is my Barclaycard which has 13.5k on it... I have removed the card from all my online accounts and removed any regular payments that were coming from it.

The Minimum payment is around £300 for this. I want this down to 11k if possible before end of September so thats a target of 2.5k over 3 pay days (plus interest).

Remaining focused..

Great start

Keep going ! It's great you've paid off your next card. Now to focus on the next one. You're goal by sounds impressive, but when there's a will there's a way.

Use this diary as well as others to keep yourself focused. Baby steps each time along the way.

Thanks all for the encouragement so far!

As I mentioned earlier I started running and even when I was at school, I hated it. 6 weeks ago, I had to run for 60 seconds and walk for 90 seconds and that was tough.

This morning, 6 weeks later, I have run for 20 mins solid and today I did a PB for 5k in a little over 32mins. Really shows if you follow a structured plan which is sensible you reach your goals. running is really giving me some time where I don't have to think about anything - it's great!

This week has presented some other things to think about - other than running and becoming debt free.

I have been advised that my end of year bonus may be altering this year which if signed off could offer a bigger pot with a max paying probably double what I got this year. The chances of double happening though is not likely but potentially a realistic 33% increase. Wohoo!

In addition to this, I have also been approached by a competitor who feel I may be a good fit for them. I am really torn on this one. I absolutely love my job, have a good number of years with them which would would give me a fairly decent payout should redundancy ever happen and am in a position where I basically look after myself with very little interference from elsewhere. My role allows me to work from home.

The role I have been approached for would increase salary by 30% and offer an annual bonus of potentially 6 x my current potential giving me a realistic 50-70% increase in income overall. This is a massive financial difference and I could pay off not just my debts but potentially my mortgage within 3-4 years if I was successful. This role would include more travel and working from an office in the city closest to me which is about 35miles away.

So why am I torn...? I think the only reason I am considering it is because I often wonder whether working for the same employer works against you these days and I want to progress more where I am but the opportunities are not there at the moment. I do wonder whether I am in my comfort zone?

The fact is that if I didn't have my non-mortgage debt, I would probably be in a position where I could easily have a fantastic lifestyle without the need to have a job that requires me to travel loads. It really does put a question on how much I value the freedom of my job and whether my desire to earn more is to try and provide that lifestyle whilst carrying the debt...

Anyway, I guess it's one for me to reflect upon and consider whether taking the slow and steady approach will continue to work for me, or whether I should consider pushing myself and going out of my comfort zone into a company/job which I may not like as much as my current one...

Regardless, the plan remains the same - get debt free, enjoy the journey and continue with the plan.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Well done keeping up with your running! Those couch-to-5k programmes are really good for building a habit.

Your job offer sounds like a nice problem to have . Being able to be mortgage-free in a few years could open up so many possibilities. But being very self-directed and working from home are really valuable too, 35m into a city centre every day could end up being a killer commute. Is there any chance of an honest conversation with your current manager and perhaps leveraging the offer into more money or a commitment to develop you more where you are?

Yeah it is a nice choice to have.

We have experienced redundancy within the household which happened shortly after starting a new job so that sticks in my mind still also. Its this that makes me even more cautious when I think about walking away from nearly 10 years service with a 3 month notice period required.

I have spoken to my manager to wanting to progress. He is really supportive but the issue is that until a position opens up there isn't a lot they can do. There is talk of the company growing over the next couple of years and opportunities being created but you just never know. Lots of 'ifs and buts'.

Re trying to get more money, it is something I am considering in how I approach. Its one of those things where I don't want to ruin a good thing either so will see how it plays out with the other company I think. I do feel like my role has had increases in responsibilities of late so maybe thats an angle to approach it on.

Re the other job, I believe it would add about 3hrs on to my day. Which seems fine in summer but come winter, I know it will be less appealing. I just couldn't see the role being more than a 5 year role with that kind of travel involved.

The bottom line is that I appreciate what I have and whilst that is there, I think it would always make it a difficult decision to move. There are no doubt many people on here who are in a far worse position than we are and my problems are not bad problems.

Hi MCPM

Just my humble opinion but your girls will never be this adorable age ever again - enjoy as much time as you can with them, I wouldn't change jobs if it meant more time away from them.

When you kick the debt to the kerb you it will be like having a pay rise anyway.

All the best

Been a little while since I updated.

Having started a 2 week break from work last week, it was nice to not have to think about work or jobs.

We took a decision to try and have a last minute few days break with the kids and appreciate some family time together. Today we have come back from 4 days at Butlins. We got a really good deal which has cost me my credit card overpayment for this month but haven't come back with any financial regrets as a result - as it's not been done on the never never.

As an added bonus due to the flatness of the park, I managed to run 10k with a couple of 1 min walking breaks along the way - super impressed apart from my first running injury of my moobs and t-shirt causing joggers nipple!

A bit of a curveball for me was that I have been presented with an expected bill however the unexpected bit was that it was nearly double in cost than I was led to believe. I will get this repaid as I have agreed to pay it in a couple of instalments. This has taken nearly a year for them to complete some work which in the main was done last summer.

The plan to hit 11k for end of September has now become a real challenge but going to try and flog some stuff that I never use etc and have set out a budget for the rest of this month so it should still possible with some good planning I believe.

As an update on my career conundrum, I managed to have a conversation with my boss before starting annual leave. It seems to have landed as well as I could have hoped at this stage. There is likely a lot of things going on within the business which will require some changes so he thinks there will be a good opportunity to get this on the radar but agreed that now was better timing given the last time the business was in the middle of some major projects.

Not counting my chickens but as it has accepted and agreed that my responsibilities have increased there seems to be a good case for a review of grade and title etc. So will see what happens there when Im back from holiday.

I am really lucky to have an employer like I do so this has really made me appreciate that the grass may not be greener and even though I'm unlikely to get an increase on the same scale as going elsewhere the pay is still excellent and I don't think I can put a price on having to start again in building up a profile.

Anyway, another week off to go and relax with a view of spending as little as possible.