Six year retirement plan

Ninno820

So - here I am I staring retirement in the face and facing one of life's forked roads. I could do nothing and use my lump sum to pay off my debts. It would cover them but leave me with very little as a nest egg to enter the next phase of my life or I could do something now to reduce / eradicate my debts so that my lump sum is truely there to protect me in my old age. Naturally I prefer the latter!

How did I get into debt? Nothing special - I just spent my way into debt buying things that I believed I needed at the time but now cannot understand why? I did reduce my debt by around 5k several years ago but then took my eye off the ball and it has crept up again to an alarming amount - hence the reason why I find myself typing up this diary at around midnight on a very wet evening.

So what's my tactic for debt reduction? Truthfully I tend to go all gun ghost and then run out of steam. This time I want to take it slow and steady- tackling one debt at a time. Naturally it would normally be the highest percentage cc to pay off first but I want to eradicate my overdraft so that I can truthfully see what is left over for debt repayment each month. I already have a separate grocery / petrol bank account which I transfer funds to each month so will also see if I can reduce this / have money left over at the end of the month.

I also have an expensive holiday booked and paid for in august. I have a fair amount of euros saved for spends and so am hoping that this will not put too much of a dent in the repayment schedules.

So - take a deep breath and hold on - it's going to be a bumpy road. The financial spreadsheet has been set up and the next couple of entries has been reserved for weekly targets / progress checks. Let's go!

Ninno820

I want to record here a target to work towards and my progress against said target:-

1. Pay off bank overdraft £261.21 / £1950

Ninno820

To keep me focused I want to set myself weekly targets and record my progress against these targets. The only rule for the target is that it has to be so etching that will take me closer to reducing the debt mountain.

Week 1 - earn £35 through sales on ebay / Facebook etc, 3 nsd's, check through spending budget for any surplus. £19/£35, 2/3 nsd's
Week 2 - make £35, sort desk to be more financially organised, prepare for table top sale, 4 NSD's, attend YNAB webinar £45 / £35, 4/ 4 nsd's
Summer holiday - raise £300, do one thing each day to help raise funds / be frugal £231, completed
September - earn £100 through ebay, facebook and car boot sale, do one thing each day to be frugal, tidy the garden for winter.
100 day challenge - broken down into 10 ten day challenges - lose 2 pounds and pay £169 off the od. Challenge finishes on December 8th.(worked for 30 days but then took my eye off the ball)

44 day challenge
1. Reduce the OD to 3 figures by Christmas. That means I have two pay packets to fine around £650 which is doable and, when I put my mind to it, is more than achieveable.


2. Lose 12 lbs by Christmas - well you've gotta aim high and I have, quite frankly, been messing around! losing weight goes hand in hand with money saving - I am not wasting money buying rubbish!


3. Use YNAB religiously - I have got lax with this one and must keep a careful track of my money.

Ninno820

So - its nearing the end of day 1. I have posted a couple of things for sale but, more importantly, I spent an hour before work downloading a free demo version of You Need A Budget and updating it with figures. I will need to tweak it a little - dates etc since the program runs on calendar months and I get paid on the 23rd of each month - however the concept of assigning each pound earnt to a task appeals - trying to make the money work for me rather than being a slave to it.


I am also doing the frugal fast in order to release some cash towards a debt repayment. A poster posed the question - are you really saving money if you are simply using stock that will, at some point, require replenishing? They have a point but I just want to release some equity so that I can see some progress.

Seasidegal58

Hi Ninno. Thought I would pop in and wish you luck on your journey. YNAB can take a little while to get your head fully round it but once it clicks it's invaluable!

Ninno820

Morning - another sleepness night over! Woke up at 4 am so decided to just get up!


Have had another look at YNAB and have filled in everything. I think that I have entered a budget but will need now to refine it so that I start to put money by for things like oil etc. I have also taken Seasidegal58's lead ad have broken my fuel / groceries and incidental spends down into a weekly budget.


I get paid on the 23rd of each month and so am using the next week or so to get things straight and to focus on minimal spends. My planning then goes up a notch - the weekly plan runs from 23rd July to 23rd August. However the debt reduction should really start to fly at the end of august when I return from my holiday (its all been paid for and I have saved up the spends) when I can see if there is any fall out and really begin to push the money being saved for the holiday into the budget plan. As a teacher I also will have the time to sell items on ebay etc to raise cash. As a first step I am collecting together items for a tabletop sale on the 20th July - I am both tidying, organising and hopefully releasing the dosh.


I have to say that it feels good to take charge!

tootallulah

Good luck, you can do it. I will subscribe.

Ninno820

Thankyou tootallulah

Just popping back to say that I have read my stars in this months glamour magazine (bought for the free clinique mosituriser as seen on mse). Normally i steer claer from such pages but they were doing a feature on LEO's - my star sign. Spookily they said that i need tow atch my finances (duh - its summer time) but that around the 23rd (my pay day) i need to focus on getting my finances in order - its talking to me folks!!

Ninno820

So - day two and its been a miserable day here. However I have managed to reserve the table for the tabletop sale and have downloaded the YNAB app for the phone - watching as I entered an expenditure and it changed before my very eyes - the magic of dropbox I guess!


Nothing else to report but I did expect it to be slow at first!

Seasidegal58

Hi Ninno - Glad to hear you are finding YNAB so useful. Try to do a few of their online courses - I found the credit card one especially handy as I have quite a few credit cards with different debt on them. You also have the chance of being picked to receive a free copy of YNAB. There's also a couple of threads on the DFW board where quite a few posters have given tips about their experiences on YNAB. I love the app as well!

Hope the tabletop sale proves lucrative!

Ninno820

Thanks for the heads up Seasidegal58 - ill have a look at the weekend x