zero!

ruth2

Ok so I'm starting this as I think it'll help me keep track of everything and give me the motivation i need to get to zero.

I started my journey several years ago owing £6k on my credit card, and some time around June/July I finally paid it all off!

I'm going to start from July 15th, and then do a second post with my progress so far:

So as of 15-07-13 my debts are:

Student loans: ~£6,000
I figure this is a 'good debt' as I needed my degree to get my career. So fair enough. Plus it's really low interest (tied with inflation or something?), and comes out of my wages before I see it; so no worries here.

Mortgage: ~£120k (interest only!) = £1,500
As I was struggling for a bit I took the decision to switch my mortgage to an interest only one. It was not avoidable unfortunately, and I actually quite like the flexibility, but I need to be more disciplined in paying it off. I think I worked out recently that I am ~£1,500 behind on capital repayments so I'm going to count that as the debt here, and try my best to do the repayment amount every month.

Car loan £6,072
Again, another 'good debt'. I need my car to get to work and to fery the little one! I have ~44 months left to pay which works out at £138pm.

For this I'm going to ignore these two:
006,000 (student loan)
140,000 (mortgage)

And focus on these two:
1,500 (mortgage)
6,072 (car)
--
7,572 Total

Aim is to pay off the car ASAP and then every penny that I have at the end of every month (the day before payday) I will put onto my mortgage. Once the car is paid off I'll try to catch up on the mortgage payments - which will be increasing every month until then!

I'm also selling everything I possibly can, and trying my best to have as many spendfree days, and to reduce my outgoings to the absolute minimum -- but never compromising on spending time and money on my daughter :-)

Wish me luck eh!

ruth2

05-Aug-13 update

Previously:
1,500 (mortgage)
6,072 (car)
--
7,572 Total


I got a rebate/refund from a holiday that I complained about (the resort was horrendous and not as advertised so I had sent in a letter of complaint). To my absolute joy I was given £100 - not in coupons or vouchers or anything like that - a £100 cheque!! I was absolutely amazed! I put the cheque in and as soon as it cleared I paid that £100 straight off of my car! Yay! My first overpayment!!

Next; We realised we had some shares laying around collecting dust. Checked the price online and saw that they were at a 5yr high so sold them for ~£500. Result! Straight off the car again :-)

The direct debit for the £138 minimum went onto the car, so that's good.

I did not put any of my 'spare' money directly onto the car or mortgage this month, so that's bad - but I needed a break having saved so hard to pay off the credit card.

But so far I'm ~£100 under budget this month, so I'm really hoping that I can put £100 onto the mortgage as a capital repayment. I should be putting £150 a month to capital repayment, so that still means I'd be £50 down. Best hit ebay!!


So;

1,500 (mortgage) (+150)
6,072 (car) (-138 -100 -500)
--
7,572 Total


End:
1,650 (mortgage)
5,334 (car)
--
6,984 Total
(588 repaid so far!)

roxy7699

Hi Ruth,

Good luck on your journey - You seem to have a good plan!

ruth2

15-Aug-13 update

Previous:

1,650 (mortgage)
5,334 (car)
--
6,984 Total
(588 repaid so far!)

Managed to save £50 from budgeting last month, so put that against the car. Also took the decision to put £300 towards the car this month. Hopefully will have some spare money along the way, but I think this one is going to be pretty tight! Paid the regular £138 off the car by direct debit too.

I also got a quote for a mortgage, and turns out I'd need to pay £215 more a month to repay in 25yrs ... so from now on the monthly increase of mortgage will be +215. boo :-(
So;


1,650 (mortgage) +215
5,334 (car) -350 -138
--
6,984 Total


End:
1,865 (mortgage)
4,846 (car)
--
6,711 Total
(861 repaid so far!)

ruth2

18-Sep-13 update

Previous:
1,865 (mortgage)
4,846 (car)
--
6,711 Total
(861 repaid so far!)

Spent a little bit too much last month (no charges though) so I can only put £225 towards the car this month plus the normal 138. Can't put anything off of the mortgage though (so owed interest goes up 215), so all in all it's quite a bad month I am due a bonus Oct/Nov so I hope to pay a lump sum off of the car then :-) hopefully £1k

1,865 (mortgage) +215
4,846 (car) -225 -138
--
6,711 Total -148


End:
2,080 (mortgage)
4,483 (car)
--
6,563 Total
(1,009 repaid so far!)

ruth2

01-Nov-13 update

Previous:
2,080 (mortgage)
4,483 (car)
--
6,563 Total
(1,009 repaid so far!)

I got a nice bonus last month and managed to pre-pay several bills to the end of the year, so although I've had very little money spare this month Nov/Dec will seem much easier. I didn't pay anything off the mortgage which is a shame, but I have a plan to start paying it again once the car is paid off. Hopefully that will be April. :-)

2,080 (mortgage) +215
4,483 (car) -855
--
6,563 Total -640


End:
2,295 (mortgage)
3,628 (car)
--
5,923 Total
(1,649 repaid so far!)