Debt free by 30

pinkegokane

Domino9 wrote: »

Check free-cycle and gumtree for a free/cheap second hand freezer. We got one of those counter top ones from a friend when they moved on, and then when we moved in to a property with a freezer, we passed it on via gumtree (for free).

You might be lucky and get one there - keep an eye out!

It really did make things much easier for us

I would LOVE to have a full size under counter freezer but I don't think we'd have space Its a tiny tiny kitchen with a little utility extension - we could probably fit a slimline one next to the washing machine if we blocked off the radiator it'd sit in front of though. And counter top would be ideal - thanks!

Mockingjay

pinkegokane wrote: »

Thanks optimistic-mummy!

Payday today! Though trying to see it as billday. I suppose you could say I took my first steps towards debt-freedom

I've done the same! :money:

Really enjoying this thread. We're in similar boats with our debts & spending! I have 2 years until I'm 30 & would love to be debt free by then. Currently my debt free date is October 2014 so a wee bit late

I've subscribed! Good luck :beer: We can do it!

pinkegokane

Busy couple of weeks!

It really does feel like the beginning of something good. Sounds stupid, but I'm getting a kick out of looking for moneysaving ways everywhere I go. I've always loved bargain hunting so it kind of comes naturally, and the buzz is much better than just straight up buying something.

Despite this there have been some ups and downs, and the old ways are a bit harder to kick than I thought...

Ups:
> Finally switched from BT to plusnet, which'll save me & OH £15 a month. Even better, the early termination fee from BT came to £36, when they'd originally quoted us £75!
> Had a proper sort out of my paperwork, double checked interest rates and made sure all my addresses were up to date to try and improve my credit rating
> Did a meal plan for the week including hosting for 2 friends staying over for the weekend - total weekly shop came to £21! That includes a week's worth of veg soup made from reduced veg from the supermarket for the week's lunch
> Chased up phones4u on my autocashback which still hadn't appeared in my account - few phonecalls later and it's being transferred in by bacs tomorrow.
> Did the confused.com motormate app and qualified for the £25 cheque!
> Got to a tenner on valued opinions so got an amazon voucher which'll go towards Christmas pressies
> Did budget for October including putting a decent chunk away for Christmas, MOT, holiday in Nov AND on the CC and still have £160 left over. All to go on my second overdraft!
> Sort of disaster in the bathroom which turned out to be v MSE! When we first moved in the heating wasn't working in our house, so we called out the landlord's plumber. He sorted the prob then flipped the switch on the immersion heater. Ignorant us thought this was how we got hot water, so we've left it on all the time. Cue the thermostat wearing out, meaning the tank was boiling the water all the time and steaming the bathroom to death and sending our gas bills sky high... Now we know the boiler heats the water and we don't need the thermostat, so our bills will drop right down!

Downs/not very MSE behaviour:
> Despite desperately wanting to exclusively feed people at home while our friends came to stay, a friend I've not seen in years popped up and asked us for a drink.. which led to cocktails and a takeaway and a taxi home... £30 down
> Said friends also needed to pick up a few essentials in town and ended up browsing the clothes shops. And a new jumper for £20 Having said this, it's the first full price new thing I've bought from a highstreet clothes shop in over a year (everything else comes from clothes swops, charity shops, car boots, the internet or sales), so I don't feel toooo bad
> MAD moment where I booked tickets to see Muse in Dublin needing flights and a hostel! Thankfully it's a (v v v generous) Christmas present from OH, but it was a serious, serious slip. Punished myself by having 4 NSDs last week.
> Changed address on my car insurance to my current house which bumped up the premium by £90 a year

Overall? Not sure how good it looks on paper but I feel SO much better to be actively taking action.

pinkegokane

Long time no post!

Not much to report, and my Dad's been in hospital for the past week so haven't had time to diary.

Good things:
> Reckon we've saved about £15 already this month after thermostat gate. Spent about £12 on that secondary double glazing film, plus stuffed a bag of newspaper up the draughty chimney (leaving an air hole, obv) and stuck foil behind the radiators in the bedroom, so it's now actually toasty in the morning instead of fridgelike. And despite the chilly weather and having single glazing we've managed to survive pretty comfortably with the heating on for about 3 hours a day. Now on the hunt for a thick velvet curtain for the front door and going to challenge ourselves to see how long we can keep the heating on for just 3 hours a day
> Sold 3 Lula magazines for... wait for it.. £65! Chuffed to say the least - I paid £4 each for them!
> Have been eyeing up kitchen trolleys in IKEA for a while but always resisted as they're pretty much a total frippery. But decided I could probably afford to splash £4 on a lovely compact one I saw at a car boot...
> Earned another tenner on a survey site and am about 2 surveys away from another on a different site, meaning I'll have £30 in vouchers for Christmas pressies tucked away
> Set up direct debit for cc so I won't ever miss a payment, plus set it at my new minimum of double the bank's minimum, so will hopefully start to see it snowball soon

Bad things:
> My Dad being in hospital for a week has meant two things: sloppy menu planning and horrific parking charges. Thankfully he's back home recovering now but we did snap midweek after we'd both had !!!! days, and ordered a Dominos. It was really, really good, but afterwards I felt awful. As if I'd just chucked away £20. Have torn up the menu now to resist future temptation.
> Expensive month for the cats - £110 to get them spayed including the pain meds and collar. Misty HATED the collar and nearly brained herself on the kitchen worktop in a panic trying to get it off. They're both collarless now and according to the vet are healing fine without. Slightly begrudge paying a tenner for two pointless plastic cones but hey..
> Changed my home address for car insurance in an effort to improve the credit rating but it bumped up my premium too - by £14 a month!

Still trucking along though.. getting there, bit by bit!

pinkegokane

So where to begin again?

I suppose an apology to start with - it's been a bloody long time between posts. Not really in the spirit of a diary.

Without wanting to sound like a moaner, it's been a pretty !!!! 6 months. My Dad's hospital trip became a slip into high dependency then intensive care, and he almost died. Since then he's been in and out of hospital with various infections, some more serious than others, and all other life seems to have been put on hold. Hence the lack of posting.

Unfortunately with the messing up of normal routine has come a definite slide into bad money habits again. It's been exhausting mentally and physically, and really hard not to reach for the takeaway menu when getting back in at 10pm every night after visits.

Now my Dad is finally showing huge signs of improvement and despite needing to stay in overnight for drips etc he's free to come home during the day. This means a more reasonable visiting hour as I can drop in on the way home, so I'm finally starting to get back on track with saving and being strict. Yay on all fronts.

So you'll see from my signature that my credit card debt has gone up - partially thanks to Christmas and partially thanks to the odd out of budget takeaway. But it's not all bad news:

> RBS realised they'd made a mistake with the interest charged on my account and refunded me about £50. Not huge, but it does mean my monthly £30 minimum payment on the overdraft now covers paying off a tiny bit of the debt as well as just covering interest. Slowly, this is adding up to actually paying it off once and for all
> I've landed a promotion at work and have just had a paylift following a good appraisal in January. By July when I switch jobs I'll be £500 a year better off after tax!
> My new job is based in Manchester (so very excited to be moving back!) and the office is based about a mile from where we're looking to live. At the moment my commute is a 32 mile round trip every day, so I've worked out I'll save about £120 a month on fuel! Unfortunately with an M postcode the car insurance and rent will skyrocket, but I should still see a saving of about £80 a month.
> Lots of the little things I've learnt so far seem to be sticking. I'm still so strict with myself on non-essentials and haven't bought any new clothes from the high street in months and months. I get my shopping fix from charity shops and car boots - which gives me more of a buzz anyway as it's usually a bargain.

I am hoping to have the time to keep this diary again, if just to remind myself that I need to be moneysaving all the time!

Frugal_Saver

Hi there, sorry to hear about your Dad, hope he gets better soon.

With the exception of your dad's poor health your story sounds so similar to mine! I'm the same age and my debt started as soon as I got a student account at uni and the offered me an overdraft. I too want to be debt free before 30, my 30th is December 2016 but my DFD is after this but I'm slowly working on it.

pinkegokane

Hi everyone,

Bit of a rollercoaster month.

Long story short - the move to Manchester is now no longer on the cards. After researching and researching and researching the upfront costs were just too high - we were looking at £2k min. for rent, deposit, moving costs - an amount that we just don't have. And in many ways it would be a bad move personally - further away from family at a pretty tough time, and friends, and with increased rent etc we wouldn't actually be as better off as we thought, in fact we'd be significantly worse off.

Thankfully I have exceptionally understanding employers who've been sympathetic. And it's not the end career-wise either - despite turning down this minor promotion there are other opportunities coming up thanks to other reshuffles and people leaving.

And my Dad is now back home!!

So on to the MSE stuff:

The bad:
- CC debt has been pushed up thanks to interest on Christmas and one or two slips. Not proud of myself but have been paying off a bit extra these last couple of months to try and make it up.
- It's also been the busiest possible time at work which has meant late nights getting in and the inevitable lazy food buying. Terrible for the purse strings.

The good:
- It's car insurance renewal time and I used all the comparison sites and the non comp listed sites and managed to shave a massive £50 a month off my renewal quote - down from £697 for the year to £253!! Absolutely chuffed!
- Merit based pay rise from last year went in this month, extra £32 a month, don't mind if I do!

Now we don't have an epic move to plan for things feel much more settled. It'll also mean I can work on building up good credit living in the same place for a while rather than chopping and changing, hopefuly with the aim of switching from my high interest cards to a 0% card to help shift the CC debt quicker.

pinkegokane

Have dug out this ancient thread as today I can say, to my utter delight, that I'm finally DEBT FREE.

I haven't exactly kept up this diary, but truth be told there hasn't been a lot to say. I've been quietly paying off what ended up being close to £9k at its peak. My dad ended up being in and out of hospital for a year and a half which led to fairly intense ptsd and a mini breakdown; not the best foundation for sensible spending.

I was due to be debt free by May 2017 based on my budget for the last year, where I'd been paying off large chunks every month. I'd been steadily chipping away over the years and had got down to £5k. I've been extremely fortunate to have received some unexpected inheritance which has meant I've been able to pay off the last chunk in one go.

I did want to mark the occasion here despite not bring wholly responsible for getting debt free, because it absolutely wouldn't have happened without being inspired and motivated by this community of people in the same boat. You are all amazing for taking control over the situation and I wish you all the best. I'm very very lucky to have had some help, but even so, the support and advice here has completely changed my mindset about money and enabled this spendy happy ostrich to tackle a serious problem head on. I paid off £4K myself thanks to you and now have an entirely different outlook on money, spending, and shopping which will stay with me for life. Thank you.

I know this isn't the end of my debt free journey. I'll continue to campaign for better awareness of the links between debt and mental health issues and cheer you all on remotely. GOOD LUCK and thank you again.