Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

abundant1972

Thanks for the good advice!

I'm going to provisionally sign up in as a Cheerleader and trial January on those figures. I'm not sure how much more I will get with my recent promotion so it could be I have a bit more slack...

Is that ok NSK???

:hello:

Happytogetdebtfree

That sounds like a good plan xx

NinjaSavingKat

A Post for Abundant...

Right according to my calculations with £12846 / 12 = £1070.5. Fine I hear you say should I not pay my rent, phone bill or petrol for the month! Adding that in ( without groceries ) I will have to pay out £1768.50. This would leave me with precisely £29.50 to live on each month.

Now I am being VERY open with you here as there are not many people who know what I earn - on top of this I shan't be going in to what I do for a living.

I am working backwards though. Many folk think about what they need, whittle it down, then pay whatever pennies are left over towards their debt.

I will choose to divide my debt by exactly 12 months and live on whats left.. which as you can see is basically nothing. SO I have to do overtime. There is no question about it. There is also slight panic on the off chance I don't get it- so I do every weekend I can get my hands on just in case its not available for the following month!

Now - my bike loan has £2189 left on it. I will push £700 (plus the £133 minimum that comes out anyway ) towards it on January 1st, with nothing towards the £8555 land loan as its on a lower interest rate other than the £297 minimum payment required. I am unsure how I will proceed past January and have yet to get my spreadsheet out to figure things out...( I smell a snowball coming on )..

My student loan comes out every month from my wage.. this is actually before I get the £1798 each month which means it shouldn't be counted towards the break down..

( Ultimately then I need to find an extra £415 towards the larger loan per month and an extra £49 per month to clear the smaller loan.. although the smaller loan has a higher interest and needs to go first )

Monthly I will be looking at paying out £1593 each month to get this paid out.. leaving me with £205 at the end of each payout. This is why I have to do overtime. If the bike breaks down I have to make provisions for this, new tyres etc as well.

I want £300 a month to live on.. anything over that will then go toward the debt just in case I can get this ALL paid off before the end of the year....***fingers crossed***

This thread however is my journey and my plans. I do not want someone aiming for the same end date and killing themselves in the mean time, getting depressed or eating badly. You still need to live and I would suggest giving yourself a little more leeway.

I will also be encouraging people to eat properly.. not live on carbs as they are cheaper but eat good solid meals, planned well and not just living on yellow sticker food. They are great when you can get hold of them but not for ultimate sustenance for the next year.

Do you have ways of gaining overtime? Things to sell on eBay? Ways to make yourself a little cash..? It can be hard and I don't want depression to be your best friend.

So tell me what you think..... is December 31st 2013 really do-able for you.. What about 18 months exactly... June 30th 2014. Then whatever extra you have add it in and you may see your date reduce anyway.....OR hit this like a right mother and see where you get by June 2013 and whether you can keep going...

I am ruthless, take no prisoners when it comes to my debt. I don't care if I am at work every Saturday night, selling books and possessions to de-clutter physically and mentally... and I will succeed. Simple as that. I will always remain positive on this!!!

So - are you going to join me???

I will ALWAYS aim Onwards and Upwards!!!

NinjaSavingKat

If you can get a copy of this its worth a read.."Make More Money: Secrets From the World´s Greatest Finance Classics"...more about the mindset that's required than any quick fix solutions. Positivity breeds positivity.. never really sunk in before until I started this journey...

killerpeaty

Hey Kat, I looked on amazon for that book you recommended (£10 for pre-owned, will look for it else where- £5 is the most I want to spend on a non-academic book) and found this for kindle it's free! Might be worth a look? I just don't know how to download it

Kat, you asked a little while ago what I decided to do with my dad's insurance. The answer is.. I haven't. But I have come to an agreement with my mum about it, since it is really her money, I can save it until I think of something and even then I don't have to spend all of it. I'm thinking about maybe these or these since I want some new boots and I've seen them in the shop and they are very very good quality. I have decided against anything to remember my dad since well.. I remember him anyway, getting something over a year after he had his stroke won't have much meaning to me. My sister has decided to get a new computer with her's and my brother... I have no idea.. ha ha. My mum has decided she wants to redo the downstairs of the house with the money, so it's pretty much in line with what the others are doing.

Abunant: I do agree with Kat, her approach is hard core and not for everyone. However, Kat's challenge is over a year long, you are only giving yourself a year at most! Have a look at how 457 days (or 500) would do you. Besides, it's a challenge, I don't know about everyone else but I have an aim (earn £100 extra each month) and a challenge (earn £2013 in 2013 or just over £5 a day or £155 a month), why not set an aim and a challenge to when you can reasonably become debt free (say giving yourself £400 to live on like Kat but out of your wages) and when you would stretch to become debt-free?

Well done Happy! 40k to me is just unimaginable! :beer: Also I think council tax depends on the council and your personal agreement with them, I think some people find it easier to budget for it over 12 months over 10.

I love the aims for the new year, has anyone else posted them to the dedicated thread on the DFW forum? : )

I'm really struggling to remember what people have said so this message is taking a long old time to write it!

Lilt: At least you still managed to get overtime! Imagine if you hadn't, then you'd be a bit more nervous about christmas : P What kind of meat did you get? /nosey

Siouxsie: Massive congrats on the debt busting! :beer: I think I would be tempted to transfer the debt or try to get a 0% card but do you have any fees associated with it?


@Christmas traditions (I know Happy asked, but I wanted to address it separately): I usually see my nanny (my dad's step mum) on christmas eve, then on christmas we all open the gifts first thing in the morning, my mum then cooks the dinner (one of us usually helps but the kitchen is SO small!) and on boxing day my uncles and other relatives come over for a second christmas dinner! I also get a terry's chocolate orange usually in my stocking Love it!

NinjaSavingKat

Killer is it a coincidence that the first pair of boots are called Kat..??

Also the book I mentioned was free on my kindle, I just don't know where! will keep looking, don't buy anything yet. This book is tested and read by me, got so excited about it when reading it on the tube I had to stop reading it. Its a culmination of the best bits of 4 other books as I am sure you read on the review.. I will keep searching for the free version though!!!

You are right about your money.. I didn't realise it was only last year that your Dad passed away! Perhaps a bag to match..?

You Christmas sounds like mine. Our kitchen is so small we generally leave Mumsy too it with her bringing me sprouts to clean in front of the TV..:) but otherwise we sit and vegetate. Uncles house on Boxing day though, Christmas Eve tea and cake with a girlfriend in town... thats as good as it gets!

killerpeaty

I hadn't even noticed ha ha! My dad's death confuses people, he died in september 2012 but he was in a coma (which we knew he could not survive) for 10.5 months so I lost him over a year ago but technically a few months ago.. I think he did it to spite me obviously :rotfl: He went into his coma less than 2 weeks before my first job interview, so 11 months later I was granted a re-do interview and he pops his clogs. :rotfl: Awkward sod!

Our christmases are awesome. We should mind meld and get a stereo christmas. :T

ETA: Currently I'm just looking on kindle free books, I have kindle for the PC so it's pretty neat. Link if anyone wants it http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/kindle/pc/download

Happytogetdebtfree

Ninja I'm convinced your some mi6 agent lol top secret. Well il work tomorrow then I will tuck into my choc orange well it's the white candy one I've resisted so far :-) must not over indulge in chocs haha. If we be super good and sensible with last bit of Decembers money we should carry 240 over so yippee x

abundant1972

Hi again!

Thanks for all your suggestions and feedback - I've gone over things again and again, and well - I'm afraid I've decided in the end that...

NO! My debt WILL NOT beat me!!! :mad:

COUNT ME IN :j

I have listened to your advice though and have readjusted my budget:

Grocery = £100 p/m
Spends = £100 p/m
Petrol = £50 p/m
Treasure Chest = £25 p/m
Money Pot = Spare Cash

The Treasure Chest is a fund that goes towards treats (clothes, holidays, weekends away etc) and thus can accumulate throughout the year - and is a reward for hard work!

The Money Pot is for any spare cash I have left over at the end of each week. When it reaches £125 (1%) I will clear it off my outstanding debt.

At the end of January I will have:

Current Debt (all 0% interest) = £9,865.00 (DMP)
Emergency Fund = £1,000.00 (saved already)

I will then plan to clear £625 p/m (5%) Feb - Dec = £2990 left
I will then use my £1000 EF if I still have it = £1990 left

So, I have a £1990 shortfall to make up by the end of 2013... Where's the FUN if there's no challenge?!?! That should be do-able if I do overtime!!! Even if I don't find it - I will still clear my debts on this plan by around March 2013 - a whole 6 months earlier than I had originally planned!!! It's a WIN WIN!!!

It's good to be aboard!!!

:T

NinjaSavingKat

Right then you lunatic - WELCOME ON BOARD!!!

I have recalculated my out-goings. I am going to pay off my highest interest loan first over January and February! Then hammer the last remaining loan! This see's a left over amount of £342 a month for Jan and Feb. But this means I have to hit the overtime hard and work every weekend! GREAT!

SO January and Feb's Challenge's are going to pull everyone in tight to see us on a route as we mean to go on!!

My stress over this should peter out a little for March onwards but I have to go away for my 30th otherwise I will go mental and I have two other events this year (July and September) that I would like to plan for!

Right then - lets do this shizzle!!!

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!!!