Finally feel like I have a plan that's going to work and I can stick to!

Penguin8410

Hi everyone 😊

So I have been on this forum for a long time and my debt situation has changed quite a lot over the years. I am currently on maternity leave after having my second daughter and am having to go back to work when she is 6 months old because we just don't have the money for me to stay off any longer. This has been my real lightbulb moment. I thought I had them in the past but nothing hits home like having to leave your baby knowing you're probably not going to always be there to see their firsts.

Since being on maternity we've managed to accumulate approx 3k in debts on top of what we already had. We took out a loan a year and a half ago to cover our debts (yes yes I know this is isn't advisable) and it worked for us while I was working but now this is not the case! My stat mat only just covers my car loan and debt loan, hence the accumulation of more debt! We now owe approx 7k on a credit card, have 2 overdrafts, one of £700 and one of £1500, plus the 2 loans. This needs to get sorted!!!! The loans both finish in July 2017 so my aim is to be debt free if not very close to being debt free by then!

So the plan.....I've had a look at you need a budget and I bloomin love it!! It's made everything I already knew about budgeting, but didn't do, a lot clearer! I have redone our budget for when I go back to work, I've worked out how much we need to put aside for yearly costs and which debts are best to be paid off first so they free up more disposable income. So plan is to have paid off both overdrafts by the end of this year, if not sooner and then get cracking on the credit card. By the time the loans finish and free up £530 a month i should then easily be able to clear the rest of the card by the end of that year by the latest. Ideally I'd like to get debt free completely by then but we'll see how things go!

So anyways, if you've got to the end of my ramblings, thank you! It makes it more real putting it all done on writing and I'm pretty excited to get cracking!!!

Sazzie23

Congrats on second baby.

Well done for taking a long hard look at the debt and trying to sort it. Sounds like YANB have another fan, I haven't tried it but everyone seems to love it.

Good luck, sure when you are earning again it'll get easier.

cookson

Congratulations on your new arrival,

It sounds like you're really motivated, and with good reason too, to be debt free would be a great position to be in. Sending all my best wishes and luck for achieving your goal.

2017 is not too far away either, you can do it!

Pepperoni

Totally know where you are coming from - I hate having debt and kick myself for not clearing it before our daughter was born. But heyho, its still here no matter how much I beat myself up over it, so best to just get on with clearing it now and never get into debt e-v-e-r again. Good luck with your journey!