The debt free journey of an easily distracted Moog

LittleMoog

Hi All,

I've decided to start a diary here to keep myself on track and focussed on my goals.

Having spent a number of years blindly ignoring our debts and letting them run up to a situation where we spend virtually all of our salaries on essential bills and debt repayments. The most upsetting thing, is that we have nothing to show for the money spent, apart from my car. It was just a case of never actually writing a budget, and consistently overspending by a little each month, with the intention of paying it back the next month, for almost 10 years (since starting uni in 2000).

I finally had my LBM in February. This came about because my very generous FIL gave us a big chunk of money towards our house deposit for Christmas, and I realised that we would never be able to add to it (or indeed get approved for a decent mortgage!) if we didn't do something about our debts. Luckily my husband came around to the same way of thinking very quickly, especially once I'd shown him the snowball calculator etc.

He's not as easily distracted as me (hence his nickname for me, only room for one thought in the Moog's head at a time! ), so hopefully he'll keep us going the right way.

Since February we've paid off approximately £2000 of our grand total of over £16000, and made some big decisions:

1) Move from the town where we live now, which is VERY expensive, and actually quite far away from both our workplaces, to the much cheaper town near my work. We're planning to move in October.

This has been really difficult, as we grew up in this area, and all our families are nearby. However, we simply cannot afford to buy a home here, other than a 1 bed flat, so we have to move somewhere, and the town which we'll move to is on the same trainline, and only 45 minutes away by car, so it's not the end of the world. Additionally, we should be able to save ~£200 a month on our current rent, and £200 on my petrol bill, as I currently drive 500 miles a week :eek:

2) Try to pay off all our credit cards by the end of 2011.

Current predicted DFD is June 2012, but hopefully with the extra savings after we move and bonuses from work, we can bring this forward. I've also sold one of my musical instruments, and just found out this week I'll get £1900 for it, so we're going to clear one credit card which has offered a 0% deal, and try to shuffle all our debt around (and off the 20%+ APRs that almost £10k is on!)

Once these are done:

3) Take 2 months worth of snowball money and have a proper holiday.

First one since our honeymoon in June 2004

4) Continue to pay off loans and overdrafts while saving for a house deposit with the previous snowball money.

5) Start trying for a baby in September 2011 :j
This is the earliest I could fall pregant and still qualify for my comapny's fantastic maternity package (9 months on full pay? yes please! ), and since I'll be 30 on boxing day 2011, we don't want to wait any longer than necessary.

Before my LBM, I couldn't imagine us ever clearing our debts, I was in total despair that we'd ever be able to afford a house, or nursery fees for a child. One of my sisters already has 2 little girls, and another is currently pregnant, and I just can't deny my broodiness much longer!

I feel so relieved that we finally have a plan in place, and that it feels really achievable. I've never kept a diary before, but I hope that the fabulous community on here will encourage and support me when things are difficult, and that I'll be able to offer the same in return.

jtr2803

Welcome and well done on what you have achieved so far, being organised and 'aware' of the areas that have caused the problem are the solution to becoming debt free

have you thought about keeping a spending diary, it might help you find even more areas to cut back on and bring that DFD forward? The move sounds like the best decision, sure it was very hard but if it gives you a better quality of life then it is a no brainer in my eyes.

Ooh and where will your first holiday be?

Keep posting

J

LittleMoog

jtr2803 wrote: »

Welcome and well done on what you have achieved so far, being organised and 'aware' of the areas that have caused the problem are the solution to becoming debt free

have you thought about keeping a spending diary, it might help you find even more areas to cut back on and bring that DFD forward? The move sounds like the best decision, sure it was very hard but if it gives you a better quality of life then it is a no brainer in my eyes.

Ooh and where will your first holiday be?

Keep posting

J

Hi jtr,
I've been keeping a close track on our spending since February, and apart from needing to trim our groceries budget a bit more, I think we're not doing too badly. We have a small spends budget each month, which we can each spend on what we want, but everything has to come out of it!! All our other money is budgeted for bills and the CC snowball. Nothing new on CCs since Christmas, so we're doing ok.

Trimming the food budget is proving a little trickier than I thought, as my husband is a determined carnivore, and doesn't eat that many vegetables. He won't eat onions at all (unless I can manage to hide them ), so lots of mince-based meals are difficult to get past him. He is doing better though, when we first met he wouldn't eat anything but peas and carrots, and now we're up to about 9 different veg. Just can't seem to break the "every meal must contain meat" idea! I'm working on it though, and we buy our groceries on a cashback prepay visa from his work, so that has cut a bit off the budget, as each month the cashback means we don't have to top it up as much.

As for the holiday, no ideas yet, but I quite fancy Italy. Or anywhere gorgeously hot and relaxing, with all-inclusive cocktails.
We went to Cuba on our honeymoon, which was amazing.

jtr2803

julespickles wrote: »

Hi jtr,
I've been keeping a close track on our spending since February, and apart from needing to trim our groceries budget a bit more, I think we're not doing too badly. We have a small spends budget each month, which we can each spend on what we want, but everything has to come out of it!! All our other money is budgeted for bills and the CC snowball. Nothing new on CCs since Christmas, so we're doing ok.

Trimming the food budget is proving a little trickier than I thought, as my husband is a determined carnivore, and doesn't eat that many vegetables. He won't eat onions at all (unless I can manage to hide them ), so lots of mince-based meals are difficult to get past him. He is doing better though, when we first met he wouldn't eat anything but peas and carrots, and now we're up to about 9 different veg. Just can't seem to break the "every meal must contain meat" idea! I'm working on it though, and we buy our groceries on a cashback prepay visa from his work, so that has cut a bit off the budget, as each month the cashback means we don't have to top it up as much.

As for the holiday, no ideas yet, but I quite fancy Italy. Or anywhere gorgeously hot and relaxing, with all-inclusive cocktails.
We went to Cuba on our honeymoon, which was amazing.

Ooh I can totally agree with Cuba, I went there last year for 2 weeks (although I should have been paying off my debts - oops) and I absolutely adored it, we have the desktop set to rotate pictures from our holiday there. Whereabout did you stay? We were in Guardalavaca and I soooo want to go back next year!

I can relate on the food shopping front, my OH - although tall and slender, eats like a horse, I stopped making him packed lunches as I was spending extra every week to make them and he was STILL buying food out on the road! I used to be a very very fussy eater and until about 8 months ago had never touched a curry in my life and hated rice. Oh is a man of world tastes and has got me eating Indian, Thai and all sorts which has helped with the food shopping a bit but we still spend well in excess of £50 a week on food just for us :eek:

Have subscribed so can keep up to date with your progess.

Jody

honeybear_2

Hi :hello:

Had to swing by as I absolutely love the Moog

Best of luck with all your plans & debt busting

LittleMoog

jtr2803 wrote: »

Ooh I can totally agree with Cuba, I went there last year for 2 weeks (although I should have been paying off my debts - oops) and I absolutely adored it, we have the desktop set to rotate pictures from our holiday there. Whereabout did you stay? We were in Guardalavaca and I soooo want to go back next year!

I can relate on the food shopping front, my OH - although tall and slender, eats like a horse, I stopped making him packed lunches as I was spending extra every week to make them and he was STILL buying food out on the road! I used to be a very very fussy eater and until about 8 months ago had never touched a curry in my life and hated rice. Oh is a man of world tastes and has got me eating Indian, Thai and all sorts which has helped with the food shopping a bit but we still spend well in excess of £50 a week on food just for us :eek:

Have subscribed so can keep up to date with your progess.

Jody

We went to Cayo Guillermo, which is a tiny island with just 4 hotels on it. It was absolutely gorgeous, beautiful beaches etc. Also not too far to the mainland for sightseeing daytrips, so a good mix of lazing and activity.

That was back in 2006, and we've only had a couple of weekends away since then, back to our university town for a reunion, and to Copenhagen for a friend's wedding.

I made a curry for our tea tonight, but DH saw the onions before I got a chance to liquidise it and made a right fuss! He's nearly as bad as my 2 year old niece sometimes! I'm off to a friends tomorrow for a girly night in so he can fend for himself

LittleMoog

honeybear wrote: »

Hi :hello:

Had to swing by as I absolutely love the Moog

Best of luck with all your plans & debt busting

Hiya, thanks for stopping by I love the moog, I have a very old and battered video of willo the wisp which always cheers me up if I'm feeling down. I was terrified of Edna when i was little though :eek:

jtr2803

Oooh I have heard the Cayos are really nice! I would like to do Cayo Coco and/or Varadero but also would happily go back to Guarda :j

I keep saying I am going to get a map of the world on one of those cork notice boards and put blue pins in the places I want to go and slowly change them to red pins when I get there

Your hubby reminds me of myself - I am definately onion averse although I just try not to look at the food rather than pick them out......that said last night while my soup was cooking I was spooning out all the peas :rotfl:I HATE peas

LittleMoog

Hello Diary,
Busy day today, lots of meetings plus running club at lunchtime, but I thought I'd fill in a bit more background about me and my life.

I'm 28, and I've been married for almost 4 years to A, who is the Carwash to my Moog, always the sensible one when I've got my head lost in the clouds. Really I should be a bit more logical and down to earth, as I'm a scientist in the real world - analytical chemist by trade. I work for a large consumer goods company, (you've probably got lots of our products at home, we seem to make almost everything) in the safety assessment centre, clearing the ingredients that go into our products. I've been in my current role for just over a year, but I worked here as a temp for 2 years before getting a permanent role, so I feel quite settled now. Prior to this I was studying for a PhD in London, but couldn't get on with my supervisor or the research only environment, so I left after a year. Working here was a revelation, I no longer dread coming to work, (I used to cry on the train on the way home ) and I'm still doing interesting science.

I've got one brother, and 4 sisters, who are not really my sisters, but my cousins, as my aunt and uncle took me in when I was 18, and they're my surrogate parents. After a fair number of years of trying to explain this complicated situation to people, we decided it was easier to just say sister! I don't see my brother much, as he moved in with a different set of relatives up in the north, and he's still in contact with my dad, who I don't see anymore. Long story, best left for another time. I also have two gorgeous nieces, who are 2 and a half and 4 months old, and another niece/nephew on the way in October. Family gatherings are getting pretty crowded, and when niece 2 gets into a highchair, we'll have to start a childrens table in the kitchen, as we only just squeeze into the dining room at home now!

DH has 2 brothers, and a step sister, and we see quite a lot of his Dad and step-Mum as well. Especially at the moment, as they've just got a new racing yacht, so we've been down to the south coast for a few weekends sailing. (DH loves it. I'm still not sure of the appeal in being soaking, cold and feeling queasy, but he seems to like it! Luckily they're never going to ask me to go racing, so I don't have to get too involved)

We're lucky enough to have lots of DH's friends from school nearby, (all boys as he went to a public school, but they're slowly collecting girlfriends which is nice) as well as a few uni friends, so we have a pretty active social life, but we're trying to be as DFW as we can about it and limit what we do.

Anyway this has become a very long post, so I'd better get on with some work. Will try and post again later about my personal (non-DFW) goals for the next 2 years, hopefully if I lay them out here, I'll be inspired to get on with them

LittleMoog

jtr2803 wrote: »

Oooh I have heard the Cayos are really nice! I would like to do Cayo Coco and/or Varadero but also would happily go back to Guarda :j

I keep saying I am going to get a map of the world on one of those cork notice boards and put blue pins in the places I want to go and slowly change them to red pins when I get there

Your hubby reminds me of myself - I am definately onion averse although I just try not to look at the food rather than pick them out......that said last night while my soup was cooking I was spooning out all the peas :rotfl:I HATE peas

We flew into Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo is the next island along, connected by a causeway. It was really peaceful and beautiful, apart from the chavvy family in the next bungalow! Not a realistic slice of Cuban life though, as no Cubans live on the islands, they come for work from the mainland, so we were glad we managed to do a few trips to towns on the main island to see a bit more of real life.

LittleMoog

Ok, so I said I was going to post my other goals, the ones that aren't about getting debtfree. Well I mentioned the most important one (to me at least!) in my first post, which is starting a family in the near future. I've always seen myself having kids when older, but in the last year I've realised that I'm ready for it now. Shame our finances aren't quite in place yet! But with our goal of being CC debt free by then end of next year, which ties in nicely with when I'll be entitled to the good maternity package, it feels like that will be a good time to start trying.

My next goal also ties into starting a family next year. I've been overweight for a long time, and I want to sort this out before next year. I lost 1.5 stones last year, and I've kept it off, but I think I still need to lose another 3 to be a healthy weight, which will in turn make conceiving and pregnancy easier on my body, and healthier for the baby.

I joined the beginner's running club at work in January, and I've been running 2-3 times a week since then. I'm just starting to see the effects, now we've progressed to running longer distances with no recovery breaks, but I need to improve my diet as well, which is slipping back into my old ways. Must not eat so much cheese!

There's a 5 mile race in 3 weeks which is organised by the running club, and I've entered! Should be good fun, it's after work on the Friday, and everyone camps overnight at the social club afterwards. I'm then planning to enter a 10k race in the autumn, to give me something to keep training towards.

Just back from running club now, and my legs are killing me. We did hill training intervals, followed by a sprint relay, very different to our normal slow running, and I can feel the effects in my muscles.

Off to a development planning meeting *yawn*, will try and write more later.