Every single penny counts!

[Deleted User]

GaLa15 wrote: »

It's amazing how addictive paying off debt becomes when you're in the right frame of mind. (yes I sound sad I know!)

You don't sound sad at all.

I was exactly the same.

Toward the end, I put a printed sheet on the wall, listing the amount I had left to pay, and the amounts I expected to pay each month.

When I reached the line with £0.00 on it, I drew a smiley face next to it.

I still have that sheet of paper.

GaLa15

thank you so much everyone. We did an SOA and it was awful! I've since cancelled direct debits and luxuries so need to update it all and then I'll post it

I do feel completely annoyed I managed to get into this amount of debt - this seriously could have been paid off by now if I hadn't buried my head in the sand. It just didn.t seem like a problem because I was able to pay the minimum payments. I'm obviously now a lot wiser! Completely addicted to paying this debt off and very surprised how ready I am to give up on coffee shops and holidays for a couple of years to get this paid off as quick as possible!

I think I feel lucky that my children are still small (5 & 3 years) - they're not bothered whether we are in a caravan, Florida or in the back garden at the moment. phew!

I aim to pay the debt off by September 2016 - yes this is very ambitious - fully aware of that. I did feel though that I needed to challenge myself. I have a 100 square on the wall and I colour in one square every 1% (£668) I pay off. I find this super motivating! I then have another 100 square for the current debt I'm trying to pay off which at the moment is £4000. So every £40 I pay off I get to colour a square So much fun - ha! I did need a visual daily reminder. If I choose not to log onto MSE I still have the piece of paper staring at me saying please pay off this debt.

I want to be debt free and then I want to be mortgage free. I want to be sensible and set a good example for my children. I WILL do this!

NHS_worker_bee

Just read your diary, it sounds like you are in a great frame of mind to tackle this debt. Best of luck

GaLa15

Uch! ups and downs this paying off debt business!


I have been doing my best to tackle the debt - to the point where I am eating beans on toast a lot! This I don't mind, but I think the reality of working a full time job and an extra 25 hours on top of that with a second job are starting to take their toll.


I wanted to be positive and pay this debt off as quickly as possible but the thought of working all these hours until the Sept 2016 is seriously dragging me down. It's not that I am unable to do the work - it's that my children and husband are starting to suffer without me.
I'm forgetting little things for my son's school and missing appointments.


I think now that I am over the initial excitement of paying off the debt - doing the big things! Now I am left realising that if I don't have balance I am going to miss out on the next two years with my children.


Therefore, I have decided that I will work full time and keep my second job but I am going to reduce the hours for the latter by half.


This realistically means it will take an extra 9 months to pay off the debt - but I feel that this is a sensible alternative - and I might get to keep my sanity.


In other news...I have started my vegetable patch and hoping next summer my husband will agree to keeping chickens! Hope everyone else is doing well.


I am paying all minimum payments monthly and nothing is incurring interest. I was just wondering if people concentrate on one debt first or do they work on a few at the same time?

LittleMissGiggles123

Just read your diary. You have been doing great.


As for your question, I think the usual advice is to concentrate on the debt with the highest APR first & then when that one is paid start overpaying the next highest etc etc. However, I know that some people find it motivating to see a debt completely wiped out so pay off some of the very small debts first. Definitely don't pay your 0% off first though, but make sure you have the funds to pay them off when the 0% comes to an end.


Good luck


x

GaLa15

Thank you! All my debts are on 0% - and I'm paying them off in the order of which 0% runs out first. Will balance transfer if I don't manage to pay the full amount in time - although hoping this won't happen!

Thanks again.

GaLa15

What a lovely sunny day. Had a quiet couple of weeks with debts. Got around to doing the 'whatsthecost' snowballing. Very exciting seeing everything so clearly and watching things go down. As we have everything on 0% I do feel quite positive that we will make headway. We are making all our minimum payment and are now on average throwing an extra £1000 at debts a month.

Currently working on my third debt of £6000. Goal is to get it paid off by Christmas. This is much larger than debt 1 & 2 (see signature) and I must admit it is hard to keep on track as much because the end is 6 months away.

Any tips on how to keep motivated?

mfmaybe

I seem to have subscribed to your diary without posting before . So firstly, good luck, you are doing really well already.

Re keeping motivated, I guess mini-goals are the answer. Some people on here would have a sheet of paper with 100 squares. Each square in your case could represent £60 of your next debt. Colour a square in for each £60 paid off. Or how about aiming to pay x% of it by selling stuff? If you can get a good boost early on, it seems so much easier.

Dobbibill

GaLa15 wrote: »

Uch! ups and downs this paying off debt business!


I have been doing my best to tackle the debt - to the point where I am eating beans on toast a lot! This I don't mind, but I think the reality of working a full time job and an extra 25 hours on top of that with a second job are starting to take their toll.


I wanted to be positive and pay this debt off as quickly as possible but the thought of working all these hours until the Sept 2016 is seriously dragging me down. It's not that I am unable to do the work - it's that my children and husband are starting to suffer without me.
I'm forgetting little things for my son's school and missing appointments.


I think now that I am over the initial excitement of paying off the debt - doing the big things! Now I am left realising that if I don't have balance I am going to miss out on the next two years with my children.


Therefore, I have decided that I will work full time and keep my second job but I am going to reduce the hours for the latter by half.


This realistically means it will take an extra 9 months to pay off the debt - but I feel that this is a sensible alternative - and I might get to keep my sanity.


In other news...I have started my vegetable patch and hoping next summer my husband will agree to keeping chickens! Hope everyone else is doing well.


I am paying all minimum payments monthly and nothing is incurring interest. I was just wondering if people concentrate on one debt first or do they work on a few at the same time?

Just read all your diary and well done so far. You are making fantastic progress and you should be very proud of yourself. :T


Just make sure you get the right balance with family life, beans on toast and so many hours at work are not sustainable long term.
That said, making small steps is still the path to the end of the journey, it just takes a little longer (call it the scenic route) so don't feel disheartened that you have had to lengthen the DFD a bit. You still have a DFD to focus on while enjoying your family life along the way. :T


All the best, keep up the good work, Dec 2017 will be here before you know it


DB

GaLa15

Aww thank you for your lovely words. I am very happy to be taking the 'scenic route' - what a great way to put it! Although still very much focused on paying it all off!

I've got to the point where I need to go back to basics. Starting to let a few little unecessary spends slip in and not entitrely focused on 'every penny counts'.

So here I am.... back to basics I go.

The current goal is my Barclaycard - I have around £5700 to pay off it...every penny counts here I go!:)