misstara's debt diary 2014

misstara

Have been in debt for about 10 years (and been lurking on here for ages) but had kidded myself into thinking I was doing quite well - always making the minimum payments plus a little extra, occasional purchases on credit cards but generally plodding along ok.

Until last week I calculated that last year I managed to reduce my debt by £350 - yep that's £350 for the entire year which is roughly about the same amount that I pay towards my debts each month. Clearly I'm going to have to make some changes or be in debt forever!

Current debt stands at around £10,500, split over 2 credit cards with about £2000 on each and a loan with about £6,500 left to pay - will have to dig out statements to check exact figures.

I'm going to turn 30 later this year and the realisation that I have been in debt for the whole of my 20s is scary. I certainly don't want to be in this position in another 10 years!

So to start off my debt free journey, I have made a £3.00 payment towards one of my credit cards today - not much but at least its a start!

misstara

Exact figures for debt: loan - £6409.78, cc1 - 1949.53 and cc2 - 2098.78, interest still needs to be added on for this month so this will rise a bit except cc2 which is interest free for another 20 months. Ideally I would like my total debt to be under £8000 by the end of the year. Think it is doable as long as I really focus.

Had the day off work today, sat down with OH earlier and made a meal plan for the rest of the week. So £19.32 spent on food shopping.

misstara

So a NSD today, mostly because I have no money until I get paid tomorrow but still good.

Not done much today, gym this morning then made a pot of soup which will do my lunches for the next few days, then work.

Looking forward to getting paid tomorrow to pay a wee bit off my debt!

misstara

So payday today! I have two part time jobs, one paid weekly and the other monthly so got £117.78 from weekly paid job today.

Paid £17.78 to cc1
Spent £18 on a birthday present
Spent £4.65 on eggs and veg at local market
Put aside £20 for electricity bill (due in Feb)
Put aside £10 towards wedding expenses (not my wedding!!)
Leaving £45ish to do me until next Friday

Will need around £10 for bus fares to work and going for lunch with a friend during the week, have budgeted £10 for that. Hopefully should not need much else so will put anything left by next Friday towards cc1.

Over the past few years, a lot of my family and friends have got married and I have two this year. One is fairly local so shouldn't be too expensive but one is the other side of the country so will need probably £150-200 to pay for travel/accommodation.

Kei

Hey misstara,

Good luck on your journey. When are you planning to get debt free? I am also turning 30 this year (eeek :eek: scary scary thought) and would be amazing if I can ditch the debt before then.

StressedSteph

Hi Misstara,

Sounds like you have a good plan in action.

I am similar to you, but turning 40 next July and haved vowed to have killed off all or nearly all of the debt by then. (Fingers Crossed)

Good luck, I have subscribed to your diary xx

misstara

Hello Kei and StressedSteph. I'm aiming for dec 2016, think 3 years is doable! Good luck to you both. Would love to get rid of the debt before the 'big' birthday but not going to happen in 5 months!

Quick update for yesterday as I was so tired after work I just crashed out and didn't post. Minimal spend yesterday: £3 to post birthday present and 50p on a baguette to go with my soup for lunch.

StressedSteph

Sorry Misstara I missed the bit where your birthday was in only 5 months. Wow would'nt that be nice to clear the debt by then, but completely impossible.

Good cheap days yesterday of £3.50. :T

misstara

Yeah would be nice but not going to happen! I quite often have days where I don't spend much but really really seem to struggle with NSDs so will try to improve this month.

Am currently enjoying a well-deserved gin and tonic at home after having a busy weekend at work. Have tomorrow morning off so looking forward to my lie-in already!

Spends for today are 6.43 in butchers and 4.96 on milk, sugar and bread.

DennyChomp

Hi misstara

Best of luck with your debt free journey. I had roughly the same amount of debt (maybe a little more) in my mid-20s and I was determined to put myself in a better financial position by the time I was 30.

It was a tough slog ended up (ended up selling my car and all sorts) but it was worth it as I managed to clear all the debt plus save a deposit for a house which i got in 2010.

I'm much better with money now and I'll be starting my mfw journey as of next month

DC

shinner

Good luck on your journey