A Clean Slate - Debt Free in 2 years?

spykey_uk

Hi everyone :hello:

I have been inspired by all the great stories on this diary-board about people tackling their debts head on and decided to start one of my own.

So, a little about me, I am a trainee solicitor (sounds like it pays a lot but it really doesn't - secretary's wage for the work of a solicitor! :rotfl:) and am getting married next August to the man of my dreams. The wedding is almost all paid for so there's no point postponing it and using the wedding money to pay off the debts even if we'd wanted to (which we don't!), as we'd lose so much in deposits (I've had this argument before! :rotfl:).

Between us we have £17,765.25 worth of debts from university and studying :wall:- although I'm amazed to see that my personal debt of £7,214.25 is a lot lower than the average trainee solicitor (£18,000 on their own!) so working during my degree and post graduate diploma must have helped! :j

The plan is: -

(a) To finish saving for the wedding (£1,190 left) by April 2010

(b) To tackle each debt in order of expense (whilst hubby does the same with his):
(i) Natwest Overdraft = £877.45 by Sept 2010
(ii) Halifax Credit Card = £1083.45 by December 2010
(iii) Abbey Credit Card = £2656.23 by April 2011
(iv) Natwest Loan = £2,597.12 by April 2011 (when
payments finish)
Total = £7214.25 :eek:

(c) Once my debts are repaid, help hubby with any balance he has to pay off (if applicable, he'll probably get there before me as he's making higher payments).

(d) Build up some savings, start paying into a pension and put money by for hubby's 30th birthday (he ideally wants to go to Vegas!)
:bdaycake:

It sounds like a big ask, but I would ideally like to have achieved (a) by April/May, then (b) and (c) within a year of that. So, by June 2011 I would like us to both be debt free! :dance:

Fingers crossed we can do it!

tirlittan

Hi spykey.

Good luck with getting debt free! I'm going to start a similar challenge myself, I want to be debt free in 22 months,counting from January, so I'll be DF before my 33rd birthday in November 2011. Will start a diary (my first one!) for that as well. I think I'll subscribe to see how your journey goes.

spykey_uk

Thanks Tirlittan! I'm hoping that keeping a diary will keep me on track, as it's more difficult to slip up when you know you have to confess all!

Good luck in becoming debt free in 22 months, I'm sure you can do it! Thanks for subscribing, I'll keep an eye out for your diary too! x

spykey_uk

Well after feeling so positive about it yesterday, today I feel a bit downhearted. I can't help feeling this is going to take me so much longer than I thought. And I got an email from credit expert today so thought I'd check my score, and I'm Very Poor which has left me even more downhearted

Still, I am going to soldier on and keep working hard. I have managed to make today a NSD so far and intend to keep it that way. I may search the house tonight and see if there's anything I can ebay. Also, I'm going to count through my coin pot and see how much I can add to my Loose Change Pays My Debt total.

Sorry for such a miserable post peeps (got some other stuff going on which is lowering my mood), will try to be more positive tomorrow! :rotfl: x

Katy83

Hi Spykey,

Well done on starting in diary, it's great for helping you focus. We all have up days and down days. Sometimes the DFD seems forever away and other times it seems like you are really making progress.

I suppose all you can think is that every small thing you do and every step you take brings you a little bit closer to the finish line. And try and consider the credit score as a starting point, rather than a failure...it can only get better from here.

Good luck with it!

spykey_uk

Yes you're right Katy, and its a bad time of year with all the expense of Christmas (ideally once I'm out of debt I want to budget for it every month but right now every spare penny is going to the debts).

I will keep at it and will do my best to find my positive hat for tomorrow's post x

tirlittan

Hi spykey!
Where are you hiding?
Hope you had a lovely Xmas and NYE. And even if you did fall of the wagon a bit, now is time to get back on! So come on, back on your diary!