Debt Free By 30 - Mission Possible?

Fudgefund

Good to see you back :hello:

Also good to see that your finances are moving along nicely. I too have started using MyFitnessPal, my only trouble with it is lying to it on weekends. It could just be me, but I enjoy agonising over it on week days, but as soon as the Friday night DVDs and chocolate come out I suddenly lose interest. Perhaps I'm lacking in the discipline department.

Where supermarkets/Starbucks/etc are concerned, the best thing to do is just to withdraw a set amount you are willing to spend each week on little spends and not let yourself go over it. It really makes me think about whether I want a Diet Coke just to keep me amused at work!

Good for you telling your BF the extent of your debt troubles, makes life so much easier.

Mockingjay

Fudgefund wrote: »

Where supermarkets/Starbucks/etc are concerned, the best thing to do is just to withdraw a set amount you are willing to spend each week on little spends and not let yourself go over it. It really makes me think about whether I want a Diet Coke just to keep me amused at work!.

Thanks! I'm doing exactly that. I haven't totaled up this months food spend but I know it's a lot lower than last month. A task for pay day!

In fact, I've not spent that much money at all this month. With a combination of a residential training course and getting my teeth sorted, I've stayed in a lot and avoid shops.

I've now paid for all my dental treatment apart from a filling this weekend, 80% will be covered by my insurance. Then hopefully I won't see the inside of a dental surgery for a long time!!

Pay day is next week and I have £440 in my account at the moment. I will be spending £34 at the dentist and another £40 on petrol. I have food so MUST AVOID THE SUPERMARKET! :cool:

Mockingjay

I got £100 through from sales on ebay and I've just transferred that onto the Evil CC. So now....

I'M INTO THE 5s!!!

£5962 to go... Phew! :money:

Next stop, the 4s! It'll feel a lot more beatable once I get to that point. £4k kinda feels insignificant whereas £5k+ feels big.

*Off to update sig* :cool:

Jox

Woohoo number is shrinking!!

Go you

Decadent_Debtor

Congratulations Mockingjay. It's amazing how important those 'round number' milestones are. I can't wait to get under £10k. Glad to hear things are going well, and must feel better having spoken about things with your other half. Keep up the good work!

Oh, but I feel that I can't possibly let you get away without tutting at your £500 Sainsburys/Starbucks spend! Haha. On a more serious note, I forced myself into doing weekly Aldi shops for a few months to bring my grocery spend down - and it TOTALLY changed my shopping habits. I can now do a Waitrose shop every week and know that if I focus on my list and what I 'need' (rather than 'want') then I can have a cheap shop in there too. As long as you stick to essentials/basics ranges and don't go 'off piste' then I think all the supermarkets are pretty much the same, with all their price matching stuff etc.

Mockingjay

Decadent_Debtor wrote: »

Congratulations Mockingjay. It's amazing how important those 'round number' milestones are. I can't wait to get under £10k. Glad to hear things are going well, and must feel better having spoken about things with your other half. Keep up the good work!

Oh, but I feel that I can't possibly let you get away without tutting at your £500 Sainsburys/Starbucks spend! Haha. On a more serious note, I forced myself into doing weekly Aldi shops for a few months to bring my grocery spend down - and it TOTALLY changed my shopping habits. I can now do a Waitrose shop every week and know that if I focus on my list and what I 'need' (rather than 'want') then I can have a cheap shop in there too. As long as you stick to essentials/basics ranges and don't go 'off piste' then I think all the supermarkets are pretty much the same, with all their price matching stuff etc.

Ahh I know, still can’t believe it totted up to £500 smackers! I’m considering swapping Sainbury’s for Morrisons however, it costs £4 in petrol to get to Morrisons and it's in a really rough part of town. Last time I got followed around by a strange woman...

I’m off to do a big shop after work this evening and I’m STICKING TO MY LIST!

I saw an Aldi truck the other day and it’s ‘supermarket of the year’ apparently! I’m intrigued!

£300 just transferred into my CC account. 30% paid off! Got to phone them increase the DD to £450. I'll be paid for by April 2014 if I just stick to DD but it's likely I'll get a bonus in August that will pay off at least £1000.

Mockingjay

Back again & sticking to being thrifty... However, I have a fairly major confession. I booked & took a holiday to NY. After my recent diagnosis I needed something positive. It's not an excuse but it is the reason and we had an amazing time & well worth the extra debt. I don't regret it - sorry MSE!

I've put the cost of the holiday onto my debt but £400 will be paid by my partner when he gets his annual bonus. In the meantime, I'm increasing my DD to the CC to £500 and paying £1000 off in one hit in August (if I get my annual bonus - I should).

Got a wee problem though. My nine year old car is falling apart. The dashboard is lit up & it doesn't feel the same. Taking it to the garage on Wednesday. Hopefully it's a cheap fix just to tied me over for a year then as soon as I'm credit card free, I'm getting a newer car. Should be debt free April 2014

Mockingjay

Spend free day today

Horrah! Tomorrow is car-in-the-garage-day though... I hope it's under £300. That's how much £££ I have in my current account as it's payday on Friday. If it's higher it'll go on the CC & I'll clear it on payday. Hopefully it's a great deal cheaper & I can transfer a chunk before payday.

Will report back!

Mockingjay

No spend day today too. Horrah!

Going to write up a meal plan for the week ahead this evening and before that, go through everything we have in a cupboards.

Organisation hopefully the key success!

Mockingjay

Big food shop day! I took a list and stuck to it Horrah!

£57 spent. That includes all meals for the 2 of us plus lunches for work. I'm going to eat super healthy this week after eating EVERYTHING whilst being in and after our NYC holiday. I feel quite chubby! I'm also on the 5:2 diet - absolutely love it but I need to be better behaved on the off days.

I have £200 budgeted for food this (financial - payday to payday) month so I'm a wee bit over budget. I'm sure I can pull it back.