Chasing the debt free daydream...

Skint_but_Optimistic

Yeah its important youre both singing off the same hymn sheet.

We are and we have prioritised like this - and these are the reasons.

1. Vodafone. Negative on my credit report (hampers 0% card to help clear other debts etc) relatively small at under 500 so acheivable this year. Lots of feel good from clearing this. Part of the 1 v 100 day challenge.
1. Emergency fund. Also underway. Car issues particularly have caused alot of stress the past couple of months. A small cash float (250) and a small in the bank float (250) will go a long way to help stretch til payday. (currently sitting at 50 and 10 but a work in progress) allieviating stress is priceless. Once I have finished the 1 v 100 day ahead of 100 days (I hope) will concentrate on this. My state of mind will be helped having an emergency fund.


2. High Interest Credit card. Oh the interest paid is AWFUL. Am addressing this from time to time as you do,but until the others are cleared its not the MAIN focus. It will be next month.

2. Welcome Finance. The other credit report negative. At 1850 not a quick win like vodafone but one to address alongside the high interest card. Can use 1 v 100 days on this and see what can be done.


Thats how we are attacking it. Sometimes you just need monkeys off your back. Want rid of the dirty debts just to make me feel a bit cleaner...

DebtFree2012

That's exactly why I do what I do now. I was in a bad place not so long ago - I was just clearing the charges every month, not even touching the interest, let alone the real debt. So I was constantly being hounded and getting no where fast.

Made a few drastic changes and finally stopped getting the SHOCKING charges made which allowed me to see the wood for the trees. A lot of organising, stressing and hard work later I feel in control and in a situation where I can beat this beast.

My target this year was to clear next and OD which I have been able to do and a tad early thanks to PPI. So now I am going for the highest APR and working from there. I did the lowest balances first to get the emotional relief of knowing I can do this so now going for the jugular (sp?) and taking the beast down.....god that sounds cruel.

When the highest APR is paid I will be exactly at the 50% mark and they say it's all down hill from there!

We're doing great girls - stick at it even when it feels too hard to but live life in the mean time. Balance to be had!

Did you have the chat with OH then Winnie? Any outcome?

x x x

Winnie_in_Pooh

DH and I had a really good chat about things last night. I think he could tell that it was really bothering me and that I needed some help making a plan. So he ran me a hot bath, filled it with bubbles, put me in it and we talked.

On the whole, we have a very similar attitude to money. We both want to be debt free and we're both sick of worrying about money. The biggest problem we seem to have is that I'm happy to do *whatever* it takes to get there and he wants more flexibility.

He's very reward driven. If he's had a productive day at work, he likes to buy a couple of beers/a DVD/a bit of computer as if to pat himself on the back. Nothing wrong with this at all - its not like he gets any thanks from his superiors at work - and he's not excessive, but we already have £15 a month allocated for his website subscriptions and he'll probably spend another £10 a week maximum on "stuff".

Now I know the answer to that is personal spends money. Which I know I've talked about on here before but its a major sticking point. We can't decide how much we need! I think £10 a week is more than sufficient but then I don't buy anything! But £10 a week, each, is £80 a month :eek:!

Anyway, we're agreed what to do debt wise and that is to keep up the smallish monthly payments and choose one to attack at a time. I told him about the 1 debt v 100 days challenge on here and he loved it! So we have a decision on that which I'm pleased about. We have our target DFD of July 2014 which is DH's 30th birthday and also when the last payment on the car HP is due. Obviously I want to bring that forward but if we can't then its not that far away.

With regards to the savings/safety net/emergency fund whatever you want to call it, we've decided that we need to have a stash of £500 - £1000 which we need to constantly replenish as a high priority. It might sound a lot for an emergency fund, but we've worked it out based on a set of tyres for the car costing £500, a new washing machine being £400, insurance excesses of £250 etc. Also, knowing our luck we wouldn't just get one nicely scheduled emergency a month *roll eyes* lol!

So today's project for me is to rehash the budget. Again. Good job I like doing it really :rotfl:

And its a gorgeous day so I can get plenty of washing done and I had a full nights sleep so I'm in a good mood AND the plasterer is coming this afternoon so its going to be a productive day

Winnie_in_Pooh

Cross posted with both of you there!! I really should type faster. Or maybe type less :rotfl:

Skint_but_Optimistic

Aww fabulous and a great plan. xxx its about what works for us as individuals. Sounds like you have it sorted. Will the newbudget affect the debt free date (we have similiar debt free dates... )

never_too_old

Morning all, Glad your feeling good today:j

I know how you feel sbo, i want to feel clean again.Im working my way through our debts but something else always does crop up:eek:
Dont think we will be able to have a buffer fund, wish we could but not likely to happen.Luckily dont have credit cards so thats one debt we dont have but we have been in a very dark place the last few years,bank took our 3000 od away from us and had to be paid back thats on top of charging us virtually 1500 in charges in one year alone :eek:
dh and i definately dont sing from same sheet not even same book,but im focused enough for both of us( well sometimes)
Just remind me in a few years time how bad it feels to be in debt and not to go there again:)

Winnie_in_Pooh

What I need the new budget to do is tie in all the smaller debts to end before or at the same time as the car HP IYSWIM. It won't be easy by any stretch, but I'm sure it's doable. I don't think we'll be able to bring the July 2014 date any closer, simply because of the HP because we can't overpay it but if we get everything else clear sooner than expected then we can save the monthly payments and perhaps clear the HP early.....nice thought but probably highly unlikely....

Have just been to Boots for a wander around - was sooooo nice to be out of bed - and have picked up some hair dye so I'm going to go and sort out the natural blondes in my black hair and then have a play with the figures and see what the snowball has to offer!

Thanks ever so much for your input girls, I really do appreciate it. Its good to have a DFD buddy too SBO!

Skint_but_Optimistic

I made my emergency fund into a debt i need to pay to set it up.
Just for peace of mind.

DebtFree2012

Can I join the DFD buddy gang? Mine's March 2014 although subject to change!!!! hopefully for the better!

Glad you had a talk and a lovely bubble bath to go with it. Sounds like a very productive time. Hope you get there with the new budget and snowballing. x x x

Winnie_in_Pooh

Welcome to the 2014 gang DF!!

All we need now is cake and wine....