Our Journey to a Debt Free 2016

killerpeaty

Hello pink, it's really positive to hear about your journey so far.

I hear quite often about these phone purchasing companies lowering offers after they get the phone.

PinkPoppies

Home after a lovely (fairly low-spend) Bank Holiday weekend with family- nice to return to see some kind posts on my diary, thank you pennywise and killerpeaty!

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the norm re the phone prices killerpeaty, sounds about right!

We had our resolve to knuckle down and get this debt paid off properly tested for the first time today, having been invited on a VERY reasonably priced winter holiday with good friends.

This little temptation really sums up part of our problem. The minimum payments on our entire debt 'only' total £600pm, and we are paying no more than 3% interest (with a large chunk on 0%) so despite owing such a large amount, there isn't the massive pressure there to force us to keep up the momentum. We budget £1600pm to pay off our debt but if we let it slip for a month to, say, go on a trip away, there aren't any immediate financial restraints/consequences.

Now, of course, I realise there ARE consequences, hence this diary... but having (in the not so distant past) been in a situation where the minimum payments on a similar level of debt were more like £1400 with £100s down the drain in interest each month, the challenges we face now are kind of a different kettle of fish. It's clearly much easier, cheaper, and far less stressful on one hand, but on the other it takes so much more focus and willpower- too easy to coast along, spend money, and delay that DFD for another month, and another...

Anyway, we said no to the winter holiday. A shame as it would have been brilliant, but when we have shifted our debt we can go on a fantastic holiday with all the wonderful savings we will soon build up after everything is paid off- something to look forward to :beer:

Igamogam

PinkPoppies wrote: »

Anyway, we said no to the winter holiday. A shame as it would have been brilliant, but when we have shifted our debt we can go on a fantastic holiday with all the wonderful savings we will soon build up after everything is paid off- something to look forward to :beer:

A brave and wise decision PP I dont believe in beating yourself up about debt and a little treat is needed now and then but you are at the early stages of jumping on the DFW wagon and it would be easy to talk yourself into a treat now for all the reason you outlined but in a few moths time when that debt is looking even smaller it will be easier to say OK lets put off the DF day by a month or so............an after all there will be other holidays and other winters!

*subscribes*

killerpeaty

Well done Pink! I very much concur with Igram (hello). To start with, it is the most important to start your good habit accumulation. With so much to dedicate to your debts, you'll make so much progress in so little time that you could put a little bit away to treat yourselves in the future

PinkPoppies

Exactly Igamogam!

It worries me how much easier it will be to succumb to temptation once our debt is lower. We have been so focused and frugal this month and as EVERYONE on this board knows, it takes a lot of dedication and determination. I think there is a certain culture of debt in this country, and almost the norm to be in debt (albeit at a much lower level than we are), which sort of makes it socially acceptable and mentally 'not a problem'. BUT we have future plans that mean we want to be totally out of debt and focusing on saving and are both 100% behind our debt free journey. If we get on with it we could be debt free in less than 2 years- not a long time really.

Thinking more positively though- if we are in the right mindset (which I hope we are), and putting all our surplus into paying off debt as we have this month, then it doesn't matter how much the surplus is and hopefully we will get even more satisfaction seeing the total go down by bigger amounts each month.

Here's hoping!

PinkPoppies

Morning all! Despite the miserable weather (have we all woken up in October?!) I'm feeling quite cheery this morning! :j

Sat browsing Pinterest this morning while sipping my coffee in bed- has given me some inspiration for cheap meals using up stuff we already have in the house. Going to make some pizza roll things tonight I think (homemade pizza dough topped as usual then rolled up, sliced, and baked in a muffin tin- looks tasty and the kids will love it).

Going to try not to go food shopping this week! We have plenty of pasta, cheese, tinned tuna/mackerel, fresh/tinned/frozen veg, bread flour, potatoes, spices/sauces and other bits and pieces to get creative with. Could be a fun challenge! :rotfl:

Have a massive pile of school uniform that needs name tags sewing into before the start of term next week; should keep me out of trouble for a bit!

PinkPoppies

:eek:After weeks and weeks of saying I was going to do it (and not doing it), I have actually got some stuff put on ebay!!!:rotfl:

Had forgotten how moreish listing a few items can be... found myself traipsing round the house looking for more bits to flog!

One of my items was a fairly high value but broken electronic type thing. I replaced it about a year ago after it stopped working (needed it for my work) and having earned a bit of money selling broken things like that in the past I held onto it meaning to stick it on ebay at some point. Well, I'm feeling a bit of an idiot now as when I switched it on to remind myself what bit of it wasn't working I discovered it wasn't broken at all, I had just flipped a switch accidently that disabled one of it's key functions. How I didn't cotton on to this fact when it first stopped working I have no idea. Needn't have forked out £100s replacing it :mad:

Oh well, at least I'll get a better price for it now I suppose! :cool:

The children have been surprisingly on board with the ebaying of their toys, I have been offered a steady stream of worthless tat! Sadly, I am pretty sure that discerning ebay buyers are not interested in cheap plastic toys that come free with CBeebies magazine. A few nice quality long outgrown preschool type toys are now listed though, so hopefully the children will be able to choose a treat to buy themselves with some of the proceeds!

killerpeaty

You'd be surprised what people buy on eBay.

Gutted about the electronic thingy but some people purchase the same thing (with a .5 added onto the name) each year or two. Understandable if gadgets are your passion, but not as much if it's just because it's new and shiny, in my opinion.

Igamogam

PinkPoppies wrote: »

Sat browsing Pinterest this morning while sipping my coffee in bed- has given me some inspiration for cheap meals using up stuff we already have in the house. Going to make some pizza roll things tonight I think (homemade pizza dough topped as usual then rolled up, sliced, and baked in a muffin tin- looks tasty and the kids will love it).

I recently discovered P!nterest.......I regularly lose hours trawling through it:D

PinkPoppies

Very true! Totally agree.

Thankfully we are not a family who really cares about the latest technology, never have been. I genuinely am thankful we aren't fussed about it as it all costs SO much!!! We have one TV and it's a crappy 24" affair, with a £10 DVD player from Tesco No games consoles here either. We have frittered lots in the past but rarely on that kind of stuff, dread to think where we would be if that was our bag!

Stayed with relatives a few months ago who had a HUGE almost cinema sized new top of the range TV... I just don't think that when you are watching it you really see THAT much difference anyway???

The aforementioned electronic thingy being ebayed is a bit of a specific device hence me being a bit cagey about it, in the interests of not being identified