Every single penny counts!

GaLa15

Well here I go! Time to tackle the debt and get control of my life.

LBM beginning of April and added the debt up to £65,000! Wedding, honeymoon, two children and our 'forever' home all happened in our twenties. I was quite happy to ignore the debt for a long time as we were able to manage the monthly repayments. However, very slowly I realised I was working more and more. I now work 2 jobs and my husband works full time. We can't afford to take the children abroad in holiday and we're worrying about paying bills (although we have never have missed payments).

So enough is enough! We've sat down and worked everything out and plan to live as frugally as possible to pay off ALL our debts as quickly as possible.

What have I done so far?
I've spent a week de-cluttering!
If we're not using it then it's being sold!!

All our debts are on interest free credit cards or family debts are incurring no interest.

Old clothes have gone to Cash4Clothes, sold my old phones to Mazuma, books and CDs have gone to Zapper, old camera has gone to Cash in your gadgets.

We shopped at Sainsbury's and sometimes ASDA. I'm now doing fresh shop in LIDL and frozen in Iceland.

I'm writing this diary to keep me on track ALL THE WAY! I want to cut out one job completely and maybe go down to 4 day week once we're out of debt. I want to enjoy my children and spend quality time with them and my husband. I need and want to do this....so here I go!

DawnW

Ooh a new diary :j
It sounds as though you have made a good start

I'm a Lidl fan too, the quality of much of their stuff is so good for the price! We have an Aldi as well, and surprisingly, they sell different things, and some things cheaper / some more expensive than Lidl, so tend to alternate

Looking forward to following your progress - good luck with it all

Determined_diva

I love a new diary!! Well done on making the first step hun and make sure you use this to keep posting all your ups and downs. It will be an amazing read for you once you are debt free!
DDx

killerpeaty

Good luck on your debt free journey! Remember to get yourself an iceland card, they send you coupons every so often for somewhere around £5 off a £20 or £30 shop.

Also, I went on one holiday abroad by the time I was 15 and I loved all my holidays.

GaLa15

Aww thanks so much for replying I'm so impatient so now I've decided I am committed I really hope I can start making a dent! Thanks for the tips - will be checking out ALDI and getting an Iceland card. X

Tink_04

I've just done a huge spring clean and sold lots of bits! It all adds up! Good luck x

GaLa15

Well today I have filled in my CPP claim form and posted it.

I have been doing swagbucks, roamler, iPoll & VoxPopMe.

I used the shopitize app and got £2.90 back.

I also used quidco for the first time - bought children new shoes and will be getting 12% cashback. woohoo.

My biggest accomplishment (for me!) though was going to Sainsbury's this afternoon to keep my mum company and I didn't pick up a new item of clothing! Something I would have done without even thinking before i.e. a new top for work, some summer sandals.

Olivia-Louise_2

Look forward to following

*Subscribes

GaLa15

Thank you xx

jwil

Good luck

GaLa15

Well another day with big changes for me.

1. I took over £700 in savings and paid a chunk off debt no.1

2. I dropped into a lower £1000 bracket today £65,000 to £64,000. (small victory -I will never see £65,000 again!)

3. I transferred a debt with interest to a 0% interest credit card for 2 years.

I am so committed to this I don't think my husband can quite believe it. I do not want to spend a penny more than is necessary because I know every single frivolous purchase means longer away from my debt free life. I'm not willing to wait any longer than I have to.

My DFD works out as October 2016 - even sooner if I have anything to do with it