Driving Down Debt

Sarahwithlove

Better to carry it forward a month then to leave yourself short 

ThatKiss

Agreed. It's a little frustrating being within touching distance of having everything cleared but it is what it is. Even if I had the balance paid in full next payday, it would be March's pay before I'd see any spare cash anyway so it's not really setting my saving plans back

ThatKiss

Been thinking about the above and as the final card payment will now be the end of March, I'm only going to pay half the balance at the end of Feb and the other half in March. I've been stretching to pay as much as possible each month since November or December 2018 so it'll be a bit of pressure off at the next month to not be sending every spare penny to card payments and to start to build up savings again - or have spare cash to spend if required!

Sarahwithlove

It's hard getting the balance between having some savings for emergencies or unexpected expenses and paying off debt. Well done though you're almost there. 

ThatKiss

Right, it’s payday!

As planned, I’ve paid off 50% of the remaining balance on the spends card, so this will finally be clear next month. Because I decided to do it this way rather than throwing everything at the credit card, I’ve topped up my savings for the first time since paying the car off.

I’m not sure the full amount paid to savings will remain there, as I have a heap of things to buy that have been neglected in the flat while paying off my debts, but finally having the flexibility to either save or buy some of the things I need can only be a good thing!

ThatKiss

Two weeks to payday, one week 'til the side gig pays up. Still on course to be debt free at the end of the month

The savings account hasn't been touched thus far and I'm probably now not likely to touch it this month.

On the money management front, I've done some admin:

• Council tax bill for this year arrived yesterday, it's unchanged from last year (thank you Scottish Government!)
• I logged into my Broadband account to check the contract dates and ended up taking an offer to extend my contract at a lower monthly rate, some accidental MSEing. 
• While I was at it, I changed the payment date to be at the start of the month as it was one of my outlying payments, so that's now a bit tidier.

ThatKiss

Side gig paid out and that has been immediately transferred to the card. Touch wood there's no setbacks, meaning I'll have a zero balance this time next week

ThatKiss

Pay day, and more importantly, DEBT FREE DAY!
Shuffled my pay around the various accounts this morning (still felt weird sending cash to savings!) and paid off the full balance of the spends card, so I now owe nothing other than my mortgage

I also set up my budget sheet for next month. Seeing how quickly my savings will build is insane!

vampirotoothus

Congratulations on being debt free

dawnybabes

Wow, congratulations x