Determined diva's get outta debt diary!

Determined_diva

So .... tougher month or me. I had my own birthday plus countless others , land registry fees and didn't watch my spendingfor day to day stuff.. the result is that I am down £550 in my emergency savings fund (was £1k and now £450)

I wonder if I am ever going to learn?

Why do I keep repeating mistakes?

Now I have another 6 weeks of 2nd job work to add on to my already lengthy. Time that I have do it for to pay my CC off.

Going to have a slight change of tactic...
I wanted £1k as a very basic safety net in case anything went tits up whilst paying my debt off. BUT, the CC 's obviously charge me interest so thinking to split what I earn from 2nd job to be 75% debt and 25% savings.
Of course it's going to take me longer to get back up to that £1k but I, also saving my money as the interest starts to reduce.

Does this seem like a good plan? Advice needed

DDx

River.Bee

Sounds like a good plan to me, Determined Diva. As long as you have no more dips into the emergency fund for non-emergencies! Don't beat yourself up about that too much though, just think of it as a mistake to learn from; perhaps you need to plan ahead a bit more when you know lots of birthdays are coming up and stick to a strict budget for them?

In regards to the income ratio split, I think the quicker you're able to see your debt figure come down the more determined you will be to really pay off the last penny you owe.

Good luck and keep up the good work! x

Determined_diva

Hi all
Sorry I have been M.I.A the past few weeks!
I havent had any luck on the 2nd job front due to birthdays, hens, courses etc.. but back in tonight so my masterplan of 75% debt and 25% savings starts to come into effect from tonight!! I'm actually excited (not to work, but to pay off debt hee hee)

I cut my CC up a moment ago and because they are of similar debt and didnt know which one to pay off first, i held the half of cc1 and cc2 and asked my cat "which one" (crazy cat lady quite clearly)

He sniffed at the Capital One card.. so I guess thats it... Capital One first, Barclay Card second and then finally Tesco (the largest one with the lowest rate)

Keep with the grind people!

DDx

Determined_diva

Dear Diary,

Need to keep posting in here and stay on track and focussed. Finance updates to come but wanted to use this space to just download!

I was owed £135 by family member (same one getting me in trouble financially since the start of this diary - will never learn will I ) and they asked me which account to put it in, I had a delayed response as in meetings so they decided to put it in the one I was over my overdraft in. So now I have 9 days of trying to figure out how to travel, feed my cats and eat on £30!! Now obviously the cats go first, but it means I might need to do a 13 mile walk to get to work.. yep 13 miles!! I've ran a marathon and am still fit but I haven't run in ages and not that distance either. I cant afford to not go into work as I am now self employed so it means I would be short on my bills next month and in a vicious circle.

Now although it is said family members fault for not paying me to the account I wanted, it has also made me realise I am at fault also and need to take responsibility for my actions. I need to get out of debt and build a emergency fund for myself......It is like I am a serial "want to be in debt-er"

Time for me to figure this out once and for all. Its been bad in the past but this is on a whole other level and finally the light bulb (the real one not the one I thought I had) moment I needed.

S*%t just got real!!!

Will be posting daily from now on until I debt free.

DDx

Determined_diva

Dear Diary

Managed to get to work today spending £4.60 in total (as opposed to my usual daily cap of £12). I went into London and then walked around from place to place until I walked back to a zone 2 station to go back out to my zone 5 home!
Took food in to work so no spend there also.

DDx

Happierdays

Well done dd... keep going...
And keep posting!

Determined_diva

Have been paid and done the food shop. Extra job starts tomorrow also so I officially start my 2 year process of clearing my debt

It also ties in perfectly with my 5 year anniversary badge from MSE

Fingers and toes crossed for me!

DDx

Determined_diva

Have done my weekly shop and calculated how much I have in all my accounts today. I am sooo broke!!! But I am determined to do something about it and I mean REALLY do something about it now.
I started my second job last week and it is so tiring - I cant go through all of that to basically throw money down the drain eating at Pret because I am ill prepared or on bank charges as I haven't enough money in the bank.

It is overwhelming looking at all the credit cards I need to pay back so I am going to focus one CC at a time - pay as much as I can off of it and pay minimum on all the others.

Barclay card at £1.6k is my first one to tackle. Its the one I owe the least to, but will make me feel like I am achieving something and getting stuck in to clearing the debt. The card has been cut up (2/3 of them have) and I am planning to have it clear by May 2018 by paying it £300pm. I currently pay it £100-£150 so I will use the extra pay to go towards it...I think the extra take home pay will be about an additional £800 per month and I plan to use that as follows:
£200 -extra to CC
£100 - Emergency Fund Savings
£500 - Bills (and if I dont need all of this extra, I will build it up as a buffer for a few months before putting it onto the debt. I get paid seveal times throughout the month so my bills come out and I dont always have the money in the account to be able to pay - thus incurring bank charges)

The next CC to pay off will take me to the end of 2018 as there is more to pay on the balance unfortunately. That will then leave me with my last one to clear in 2019. Wow it seems to far away!!!

Onwards and upwards I guess!
DDx

Determined_diva

Morning!
Today I got up nice and early and went to yoga. I feel so focused and energised from it!
Finances have all been calculated and I am £50 better off than I was last week-so a step in the right direction.
Today I shall be starting my financial planning for 2018 which will be fun. I will start with my goals first and then figure out my budget from there... do I need to cut back? Earn extra money etc?

I love setting goals - this year I MUST stick to them though as I want to be able to move forwards off of the "get out of debt" goals.
I shall keep you posted!
DDx

Determined_diva

Morning!

So all my budgets and goals have been set for 2018 and I am feeling so pumped to get started with this and smash the debt to pieces!

I have set YNAB up, withdrawn cash so I am ready to go and also secured a few more hours work so I have a bit more money coming in!

My total debt of everything (exc. Mortgage but inc.my car loan) is £18.5k (precise amount in my signature).

My goal is to clear this off in 2018 which is very ambitious and quite daunting, but I will do everything I can to get it done as I am fed up of being partially broke for 5 years when I can just be super broke for one year. I want to be the Ninja Saving Kat (remember her!) who whips the plaster off in one go. Yes it hurts like hell but the pain goes away a lot quicker that trying to peel the plaster off slowly!

DDx