I'm going to buy a ski lodge.......

Mara_uk7

daisystar wrote: »

Afternoon!


So, here is Big Goal Number One: I am going to pay off 20K of the debt by 31st December next year :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

There, its out there. No going back now. Bring it

Woohoo Go You !! Thats £1428 a month ! So ambitious but totally do-able if you really get torn into it . Will be watching with bated breath ! Good Luck to ya ! :T

daisystar

Mara_uk7 aaaargh thanks!! It is a HUGE amount of money per month and as we are paying interest on much of it then it is going to be even more than that, but as the saying goes - go big or go home So here goes......!!

CaptainAmerica - thanks for your comment - that's exactly the attitude I will have from now on - this will happen!

heartbreak_star that is an awesome dream!! Are you a gymnast? Or a coach? Aim high and you never know what you can achieve!

MrsBrownBear hello! Being a SAHM is lovely isn't it? I feel very lucky to be able to do it. But it is a massive adjustment living on just one salary when you've been used to two. You sound very like us, using credit cards and not really considering the consequences, then one day you wake up and realise just how much you owe :eek: You've made amazing progress though - would you care to share any tips? I feel like I've done the obvious things to get to this point and now have to be more inventive in order to spend less and try to make some money here and there so any pointers would be very much appreciated!

Daisystar

brizzledfw

Hi daisystar!!!

Your diary title caught my attention! Like Indebted I am pretty keen on the skiing..yep anywhere in the Trois vallees would do!

Have subscribed and will cheer you on your way!

timetogrowup89

Hi daisystar...

Everyone who reaches their dreams starts by planning them out

Mine is to buy a flat with a good amount of deposit by the end of next year and be debt free. Not very exciting, but it will do me.

Good luck on your debt busting x

daisystar

:mad:Hi Brizzled!! :wave: Thanks so much for posting - I checked out your sig and you're soooo close to being debt free, wow!! And yep the Three Valleys really is the dream isn't it - nothing like aiming high eh?!!

Hi Timetogowup89!! Thanks for sharing your goal and to be honest I do really think being debt free is probably the most exciting goal any of us on here have - think of everything that this could bring

So, in preparation for the next 14 months of debt busting, I've been thinking about the potential pitfalls that might come my way. This might appear slightly negative, but I reckon its important to be prepared rather than being completely derailed should something happen that could have been planned for. Here goes then:

Myself

These are my weaknesses and therefore things I need to be really strong to avoid/minimise:

• Magazines. Apart from a subscription to Glamour which cost £9 for a year, from now till next Xmas I will buy NO magazines :eek:
• Travel. This one is going to be so tough. I am queen of bargain travel which never ends up being so much of a bargain e.g. cheap flights to an expensive city, a budget hotel but splashing out on meals. This will ALL stop.
• Meals/coffee out. Such a cliche but there it is. DH and I have decided we will allow ourselves a treat for each £5K knocked off the balance.
• Toys for DS1. He has plenty and I could be way more imaginative with way less stuff
• Gifts. Partly because I love treating other people, partly to save face. Nobody in the real world knows about our debts BUT as I don't work and we will soon have 2 children I don't think people will be surprised at fewer/cheaper gifts.
• Top-up shops. You know, the old 'pop in for milk, spend £20' chestnut?! This WILL stop.

External

Things that we/I can't control, or that are happening and we will have to plan for them big-time.

• New baby. Now we've learned a lot from first time round about what you actually DO need, so we plan to be as sensible as possible around this.
• Three weddings. Two potential hen doos. Two weddings are local (phew), one requires a family week away. This is half paid for and will be super frugal once there.
• Tenants potentially not paying. We rent out a house which basically breaks even, however the tenants have had phases of not paying so I get The Fear every fortnight as to whether they will put their rent payment as a priority or decide to pay it on the date they choose :mad: There is just no knowing so we need to ensure we keep a small emergency fund to cover non-payment from them.

Phew!! Lots to consider. Dealing with all of this will mean that I need to be super-strong and also quite inventive in terms of making extra money and finding cheaper alternatives to the usual gifts/outfits etc. I'm definitely going to need the help of these boards!!

Daisystar

[Deleted User]

daisystar wrote: »

MrsBrownBear hello! Being a SAHM is lovely isn't it? I feel very lucky to be able to do it. But it is a massive adjustment living on just one salary when you've been used to two. You sound very like us, using credit cards and not really considering the consequences, then one day you wake up and realise just how much you owe :eek: You've made amazing progress though - would you care to share any tips? I feel like I've done the obvious things to get to this point and now have to be more inventive in order to spend less and try to make some money here and there so any pointers would be very much appreciated!

Daisystar

Afternoon Daisystar - it has been a big change being a SAHM - I have always worked since I was 15, though school, college and Uni - The only time I took time off was my maternity leave to have my children.
The best couple of tips is I work with 2 x bank accounts and 1 x online savings accounts - I do all my banking online and I have an excel spreadsheet that lists income and outgoings for both accounts - money goes into account A and all the direct debits go out of this account for the month. A set amount of money goes into savings (which actually starts this month as just opened) and the rest goes into account B which will pay for food, petrol and anything else. This way we do not touch the money to cover the direct debits. As some of the direct debit can vary i.e phone bill, mobile bills, I have taken the highest bill I have received and rounded it up. Hopefully there will be a few pounds left over at the end of the month which will be transferred to the savings account to help build it up (every little helps!!) I work with my spreadsheet throughout the month and highlight in bold when it goes out of the account. Not all our direct debits go out at the 1st of the month, hence why we have a second account now.

I check home insurance, car insurance and engery deals ensuring we get the best price. For example, my home insurance was £223 this year for buildings and contents with Swintons, as I had saved for this to be paid in full instead of direct debit I will get £100 cashback. So it does pay to shop around.

We have also tided up our finances so we have just two loans and one interest free argos card now, so I am not trying to move money around and paying minimum amounts which was costing us a lot of interest and not making any difference to our overall debt.

Right I will stop waffling...and do some more washing

timetogrowup89

Magazines are a huge weakness of mine too and I dont think I realised it until just now when I read your post. I can see 3 sitting on the coffee table....

CaptainAmerica

daisystar wrote: »

• Tenants potentially not paying. We rent out a house which basically breaks even, however the tenants have had phases of not paying so I get The Fear every fortnight as to whether they will put their rent payment as a priority or decide to pay it on the date they choose :mad: There is just no knowing so we need to ensure we keep a small emergency fund to cover non-payment from them.

Daisystar

Can you not get rid and pop some reliable pay rent on day it's due type people in??

Surely there must be some somewhere............

NinjaSavingKat

Oooooh DaisyStar you have hit the ground running. :j

Love the thread and your dreams. SO important to have a goal in your little head ( or pinned to a wall to stare at ) to keep you on track..

Those tenants must be driving you nuts - any chance of changing them? I guess it's always the issue of whether or not you find more to take over.. what a connundrum? Perhaps a word in their ear...."pay up or else"....**kidding**..:p:p:p...Surely CaptainAmerica could get rid of them for you?..:rotfl:

I would suggest, which has been my rule from the off, pay the amount you want towards debt first, then live off whats left (after essentials)...

Can you pay off that £1428 and live on whats left... The whole idea of " well lets see whats left at the end of the month and pay that towards our debt" never works.

You have the right attitude to be entirely ruthless so I think you can cope...:T

I am going to watch you and track your progress and jump in with the boot when it's needed and hugs aplenty...

Good Luck...

x x x

brizzledfw

Like the plan daisy. Sounds good to me!:)

Tend to agree with Captain America. If it's relatively easy to rent may be worth trying to get someone else?