twinparents07's joint diary 'doing it together'!!

twinmum07

Our old snowball from Jan 2009 in which we were overpaying each month showed our debt free date as Dec 2014. I have just recalculated and our new debt free date is August 2015 (ish), which i don't feel too bad about. Some of the debts we need up to date statements for so that might go up or down by a month but at least we have an idea of where the end of the tunnel is despite it being a little hard to see the light at the moment.
The date is reliant on barely scraping our minimum payments but at the moment we aren't even managing that,
It seems crazy not to plough everything we can into our debts but with the prospect of not being able to pay the mortgage in March 2011 we both feel we need to keep 1 1/2 months mortgage payments in savings to make up for shortfalls as not being able to pay the minimum on our debts is bad but not being able to mortgage is a whole other matter - does that seem crazy? We just need to get the savings together first!

twinmum07

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

Haha... i was going to say if you post your soa on the main thread page you might get more viewers with comments and advice xgot to love mums they love to talk xx

Thanks - we did have it on the main bit to start with and got tons of brill advice - now just need to act on it!
I suppose the aim is to be debt free by 2015, mortgage free by 2025 and that will then leave finances free to drive our kids free with persistent, lengthy phone calls when they have left home!

Happytogetdebtfree

I dont know you are assuming things dont improve by march 2011 and thats a good 9 months away ?? i would be tempted to maybe overpay some debts and then set some cash into savings to cover maybe 2 months .... i really think you need to post your soa on main boards... you are assuming minimum payments will reduce but from experience mine have increased because companies seem to want all there money back ..... i only pay 500 a month on my mortgage yours is huge.... could you rent a room out ... id be looking at ways to get the outgoings down its a scary thing... i know i shouldnt say but could a family loan be done ? maybe to clear some of teh debts that eat a big chunk ?? xx

twinmum07

We don't have a spare room as we have 3 kids so that isn't an option.
The SOA is based on things as they stand and the red shows changes we will make plus rises in DH's pay plus child tax credits application pending. We have had childcare problems but I am now sorted for a day a weeks childcare, which will make a huge difference. Our current shortfall of £900 and projected shortfall of £500 per month are all based on me having no income but with a day's work I should be able to bring in the £500 plus other bits and bobs could bring us in extra.
I don't really feel like August 2015 is a particularly realistic debt free date but it at least gives us something to aim for. In Sept 2015 our youngest will be in school full time so I will be able to work full time then so all that extra can go straight into debt repayment.

twinmum07

I have sorted out referees and have sent off my application for the Open University course tutor post but it is a terrible application so not holding out much hope. It was tricky to get the right information from their website as it seemed to keep flipping between info for course tutors and info for course applicants so i am not 100% sure if i have just applied to earn some cash as a tutor or to re-do my PGCE!!!
I can't believe how fast today has gone and I feel like I have wasted the day. I have been going through all the survey sites i have already registered with and am recording what the payout level is, how much i currently have and then doing whatever surveys are available today. Very dull and frustrating but it will be great to record diligently for a while and start to see which sites are working best for me and which are a bit of a waste of time. It is quite nice to see that I have already hit the payout level for some.
Will do another 30 mins of boring myself on survey site whilst chanting to myself that I am trying to make this quicker in the long run.

Happytogetdebtfree

Isnt it awful when you know about the debt amount sometimes i wish i didnt know but was just programmed to pay it all off knowing the number can make you feel a tad sickly :S

twinmum07

Happytogetdebtfree wrote: »

Isnt it awful when you know about the debt amount sometimes i wish i didnt know but was just programmed to pay it all off knowing the number can make you feel a tad sickly :S

I find it easier to rein myself in with the horrific figure permanently on my mind but hate this point where we have the figure but haven't seen anything come off it yet. Once we start to see things flying off the motivation just snowballs doesn't it? I just can't wait to get our mortgage money saved and banked so we can start chipping at the debt.

I am so envious of your paying off £20,000 this year challenge - you are doing brilliantly. I wish we could do something like that but at the moment we are more in the paying £200 a year boat!

Happytogetdebtfree

My debt is hefty i cant honestly say what it has come from ... consolidation loans and then respending i guess arghhhh

twinmum07

ditto!

We have joined in the make £10 a day challenge so my surveying today will help with that.
I have printed application forms for a savings account for the baby's Christening money. With the twins it all disappeared on silly spends for them or takeaways for us (hanging head in shame at that one). He doesn't really need anything at the moment so it will be great to be sensible to leave the money somewhere safe until there is something he wants/needs. I feel like a new person to be thinking practically for once rather than dashing to mothercare to splurge on stuff he doesn't really need.
I am going to have a look at daily clicks and have a go at getting into the payment a day but probably won't start until we get a statement for the B&Q card as that is the first debt on the hit list and i want to be able to see our progress.
I might try to get back into mystery shopping but not sure if it actually pays once petrol has been taken into account.

Happytogetdebtfree

I know a few people on the site do mystery shops,i have never done any of it really just relied on my unsocial hours and oh's extra jobs ... im craving sweeties now arghhhhhhhhhhhhh :O watching emmerdale too lol x