Ultimate Challenge. 457 days / £16600!!!

NinjaSavingKat

his_missus wrote: »

Need to double check the finances tonight but I think between us we can afford to pay £1,000 off the CC this month. This would take it down to just over £700, an easy target to pay off next payday even with our holiday to Wales in May.

...........then my role may actually be one of carer for our parents (who by then would be in their 70s) or for Hubby's two sisters who both have Down Syndrome.

All in all I'm feeling rather positive.

I have quoted you simply as the CC payment is superb! Well done.. it will be great to see it down to 3 figures instead of 4 so a pat on the back for you. Come back and tell me if it was done though - sometimes things get in the way as I have noticed while tallying up my spreadsheet..

Regards retirement it looks like you will have you hands full. I want to create something that is managable for the day I have to go home to Northern Ireland and need to look after one of my parents... but it's so important to think about this now as you never know what might be required of us... where are your Hubby's sisters at the moment - at home with parents?...

his_missus

Hi Kat,

We have indeed paid £1,000 off the CC. It means I will have to stick to my £100 weekly budget and Hubby has thrown in all his spare money too. The £1,000 also included £70 of this week's budget as Hubby bought most of the food and drink whilst we were away this weekend and I'd taken the rest with us (frozen home made meals, bread, beans etc.).

Hubby's sisters do live with his mum and dad but Hubby has come to accept that there will be a time when his parents just won't have the time/energy to look after his sisters as well as themselves. As we're the couple with no children, we expect it all to fall to us in the most part so we do need to think ahead. We'll need to get the loft converted and plan to get a conservatory so our little house can accomodate 4 instead of just the 2 of us, things like that too.

When my mum broke her wrist a few weeks back it was a real eye-opener seeing how unsure my dad was of things. He'd never done a weekly shop before or paid bills. Mum seemed so fragile, kind of made me wonder how one would manage without the other.

That's why we have a long term plan starting with me being DF by June

NinjaSavingKat

So I have joined my local leisure centre in the hope that the satisfaction enjoyed by my current mental state can be joined therefore by my physical existance. My mind is tuned to what I want, now I need my body to shut up and comply as well! This will be hard - but having an addictive and slightly obsessive personality should help. It's why I've never tried a cigarette - it would be too hard to stop.:rotfl:

So my limbs ache but feel alive after my first session - heres to hundreds more, a bodyfat percentage of 19% and some muscle mass.

My bank balance is nearly empty but I know exactly where it all is, the debt will soon be under £8000 (or thereabouts) when I have the guts to transfer the £700 I have sat in another account waiting that "transfer funds" button.

There is a part of me wanting to make more money by any means possible in order to pay it all off at once this month. But the other part tells me to be realistic. I have more items to sell on eBay, no overtime this weekend (bar 4 hours on Monday) and a lovely landlady who is heading away for a few days so I shall drink copious amounts of tea and start listing things on t'interweb.. I want to make £300.. I think I mentioned £250 but really I want £1000 in total to go through at the Bike Loan.:T:T:T

On a better note, my student loan is sitting at £63.36. I rang them today to find out what the settlement figure is and they said their computers were all down and to call later today or tomorrow. I will be calling later today. I paid £195 out of my wages this month towards the student loan - it would be amazing to be told "oh madam we actually owe you £300"... One can wish! So having that amount not deducted each month will be SO helpful!!!:D

So I have been talking to a colleague and she is on board with me to smash her loan by the end of the year. Only when I talk to someone else do I realise the deep rooted desire to enter 2014 debt free by any means possible.

I do not want to start another year in debt. I will not start another year in debt. By hook or by crook 2014 will be for saving towards a house deposit of £25,000. It may not be enough by the time I am actually ready to buy but it's a start - no one else is going to help me therefore I will HELP MYSELF!!!

I find a little self reaffirmation is needed now and then! :T..."she says whilst eating 1 of her four bread rolls that cost 0.09p"...:p:p:p

Onwards and Upwards!!

P.S Watch out for those strike-through's on my front page!!!

his_missus

Well done Kat on joining the gym. I'm really not a gym kinda girl, I use my membership purely for the free badminton (if we go 5 times a month we're in pocket)

Now we're debt free, I'm trying to focus more on me and my health. There's no point saving for our future plans if we're not fit enough to enjoy life. I've gotta lose the pounds, lots of them, and I can only go so far with the healthy eating before Hubby starts calling it a diet and quits/relapses. So last night I suggested we try a running plan. We were up early at 6am (thanks to the kitties) so tried the first session of the couch to 5K plan - 90secs walking then 60secs running/jogging, repeated a few times. I say running...I think you'd call what I was doing staggering.

Go on Kat, transfer and get to below £8,000, another milestone cracked xx

NinjaSavingKat

Done! Under £8000!!!... WHOOP!!!!

Jonesy88

Good evening Kat,

I was wondering around MSE (as you do) and came onto your diary page . In relation to your diary, i have something similar - a beautiful paperchase diary/organiser received as a birthday present. Its an 18 month mid year one so doesn't start until the 27th June - bring on the organisation!

Also, i've noticed we now have similar debt levels/targets - i like a bit of competition (although i know its not) so, race ya? lol

catriona79

NinjaSavingKat wrote: »

Done! Under £8000!!!... WHOOP!!!!

Woo hoo!!! Well done Kat!!! :T:T:T

NinjaSavingKat

Jonesy88 wrote: »

Good evening Kat,

I was wondering around MSE (as you do) and came onto your diary page . In relation to your diary, i have something similar - a beautiful paperchase diary/organiser received as a birthday present. Its an 18 month mid year one so doesn't start until the 27th June - bring on the organisation!

Also, i've noticed we now have similar debt levels/targets - i like a bit of competition (although i know its not) so, race ya? lol

YOU ARE ON!!! Although I might never get any more overtime and might have to wallow in my own self pity so perhaps "support" each other instead of race... for my sake...?:rotfl:

My diary has given me the WORLD of grief. SO I ordered a Moleskine hoping it would have a notebook page on the right. It didn't. Sent it back for a "Note Letts" 18 month diary that I spotted in WHSmith but could get using my Amazon credit. It arrived as a size A5, whereas I want an A6 which is easier to carry. SO I have printed the return form and am due to send it back today... It seems to only start in June as well so I have time to get it wrong a few more times...:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:..which is when my Bike / Student Loans should be paid off and EVERYTHING will be going towards the land..

So lets plan our little hearts out. Might get the diary in WHSmith to avoid confusion AGAIN and leave my Amazon credit to build up... Think it's at £16 awaiting a refund of the £9.80 for the diary...

Oh the joys of money pots everywhere...:)

Onwards and Upwards!!!

Jonesy88

You need a diary thats right for you or it wont get used.
My paperch*se one is A5 with loads of sections. The notes bit even has some squared paper so i've transfered my debt free progress chart

PLANNING IS AWESOME.

liltdiddylilt

Fantastic news on the under £8k Kat!!! Very proud Lilt here. Is the student loan a goner now?!?! How fabulous if so... You now own your whole degree!!

Jonesy you make me giggle! Your diary sounds lovely. I have one sat by my bed, which I swore blind I'd use and all I have done is put birthdays into it with addresses, then went out and wholesale bought cards for the year so I don't even use it for that now! #uselessatorganisingmyorganiser...

The number of lists I make is incredible. I should be well in with diaries, notebooks and all the rest... but the prettier it is, the less likely I am to use it!

Ok, confession time. I have fallen entirely off the wagon. My debt free hat went under the wheels and is in tatters on the floor and all I have to show for it is a new desk, some clothes & plimsolls from Sainsbury's, and a couple of lovely days out/meals. Fortunately I am not stupid enough to have gotten even close to being in debt... but that is besides the point. I haven't saved ANY of my vast bundle of free cash this month. I budget/meal planned ONE weekly shop out of the last 6 weeks... and I have so much stupid incidental expenditure due to dropping into Sainsbury's for one thing and spending £30 half of the days of the week.

I'm off to rescue myself. What I lack in diary skills I make up for with excel & an accounting app that tracks my expenses... I fill it in myself, every last little thing, in and out.. and hey presto the spending stops and the guilt trips begin.

I need something concrete to aim for. Not just £Xk by the end of the year... I want X towards christmas, X towards savings, and X towards a house move by next year. I need 3 months salary saved, as an emergency fund. And I want to start trying for mini-lilt #2 at the beginning of next year.

I am woman, hear me ROAR!