The dreaded D word

snorfing_along

Hi thank you both for the tips, my DH and I have already discussed getting things 2nd hand to help keep the cost down and we have agreed that shared parental leave will work out best for us financially and it will mean that we both have the chance to have time off with the baby, if we have one.
Waiting until the debt is paid down/off isn't really an option for us unfortunately as we are getting a bit older and the only way we will be able to have children is through IVF. With only a 30% success rate if we don't fall pregnant on our 1 free NHS round we will have to save up ourselves to try again so we need to start our journey sooner rather than later. However we will be saving up as well as paying off the debt so we will either have money ready for a baby or trying IVF again.
We are fortunate to live nearby to family and friends who we will be able to help out with child care and if possible we would like to be in a position for my husband to reduce his day to 4 days a week from 5 but we'll have to think carefully about this if/when the time comes. I would also love to be able to do the same if at all possible but as the main bread winner it makes more sense for me to keep to full time at least until we are debt free


EDIT: forgot to say that starting the IVF is also time sensitive as it needs to be started within 6 months of all the tests being complete, or they all have to be done, and with waiting for referrals for appointments is taken 5 months to complete all the test that we have need (just 1 more blood test to go!)

snorfing_along

Last week I was waiting for what felt like forever for my Barclaycard statement to generate so I could do a balance transfer and this week I'll willing it to be payday so I can start to make payments again. I'm starting the emergency fund again this month and I'll be paying off 1 credit card and I have a plan in place to pay of 2 more in full before the 0% period ends and then onto tackle the last 2 which might need a BT when they get to the end of the 0% but when I get to that point the debt should be half the amount it is now. Also I'm planning to try and clear almost half of my card loan by this time next year to get the monthly payments as low as possible (hopefully to help the finance if I'm on maternity leave
I've also created a chart so that I can colour in a box for every 1% paid off my debt and I've managed to colour in 10 so far.
Overall I'm starting this year with slightly more debt than last year but I'm properly focused for the next 12 months

EDIT: forgot to mention that I've lost half a stone this year already, so just another half to go!

beanielou

YOu a certainly on a roll.
Great news on the debt & the weight.
Funny how they often go hand & hand!

snorfing_along

I'm sooooooo excited about payday tomorrow. I can't wait to make my payment and update my spread sheet, I card will be paid off and I can delete it from my list! I'll be making my first of many extra payments of my car loan as well so my total debt will reduce by about £600!


Yesterday I sat down and planned out all my payments to my debts for the next 2 years! Including the time I'll hopefully be on maternity/shared parental leave, and when my income should be across this period and surprisingly I don't think it'll be quite as financially tight as I thought it might, especially as we are going to start saving properly - in the past I've saved up then spent it. I've also accounted for annual bills like card insurance where I will save up extra in the months before. I've not left myself much spending money so I need to remember it needs to last the month and not to but thing that aren't needed. I've also planned my husbands payments in the same way - I'm hoping he'll appreciate it

beanielou

All sounding good

dimsumdimple

Good luck with your debt busting for the year! I’m on maternity leave at the moment (number 3) and debt busting. I made sure I had a ‘buffer’ of savings before I went on maternity leave which would cover all of my bills etc. for my 3 months on SMP. I work for the NHS which fortunately has a really good maternity pay and I received almost 90% of my wages up to 6 months so still managed to overpay a little while I’ve been off.

I’ve found eBaying and surveys etc essential while I’ve been off to enhance my income too.

snorfing_along

Wow dimsumdimple, that's great. I've had a look at what I would received and I get 90% for 6 weeks, so I'll be needing some saving to get through. Good idea with the ebaying and surveying that should help.


On the debt front it's going well I've paid £705 this month so the debt is below £16k now so I'll update my totals this week

snorfing_along

Signature updated and by the end of Feb the total will start with a 14 which i'm looking forward to already. Maybe if i'm feeling brave I'll add my car loan on there. I'm starting to look at it as part of the debt rather than a home expense but I've paid an additional 70 over the contractual payment this month and i'll be gradually increasing this over the next 12 months until i'll be paying and additional 350 per month as I pay off the Barclaycard and Tesco card

beanielou

Tesco looking good

snorfing_along

I've done my monthly signature update and added my car loan amount on. I've made a big decision with work - I handed my notice in 2 weeks ago. I have a 13 week notice period so I have 11 weeks to find another job. I realise it probably seems a little reckless to leave without having something lined up but things move quickly in the industry I'm in. I've had 4 telephone interviews 1 face to face interview and another lined up soon, so not bad from only 2 weeks of job searching.
I have been up-happy with work for month and I've been trying to make the best of the situation (toxic colleague) but after coming home upset again I had a good chat through with my husband and we decided that I needed to make a change and the sooner the better