LullaBelle's long road to being debt free!

kindofagilr

Well done at being below 24k

And £1k emergency fund is amazing!!!! mine is only £50 lol it needs sorting out xx

LullaBelle

Hi all,


I am getting really bad at updating my diary. Life has just been crazy busy lately. But I am still keeping up with my debt busting. I have sold some more stuff on ebay so my total from April was £65.21. I have 2 more things listed and loads more that I just need to get time to take photos etc of.


Payday is this day next week. May is going to be a really tight month. Actually, April was really tight too. We had to chip in money for MIL's 70th birthday present. It was more than I would have spent if I was buying a present myself! We also have her birthday dinner at the weekend which we have to chip in for too. So that is what my ebay money will be used for. obviously I would have preferred to get it paid off the debt but what can I do!


We have applied for a remortgage as our term was up. Our mortgage advisor gave us all the options and we found out we could pay a few pounds less a month and take 2 years off the mortgage. Sounds great. But I have just received an email from him today to say our affordability is tight and they want the credit cards to be below £7800 - our credit card debt currently stands at £9533. So looks like we could be turned down. We can stick with our current provider and pay £36 less a month but we wouldn't be able to take any years off the term as that involves apply for a new mortgage and I don't think we would get it. So that gives us 2 years to clear as much debt as possible so that when our 2 year fixed deal ends we might be able to reduce the term then. According to the snowball calculator, in 2 years the total debt should be at £10k if I don't make any overpayments (which I totally intend to do!!!) I really hate this bl00dy debt! Roll on being debt free.


My car insurance is due out next week too. I got my renewal in the post and it is £40 dearer than last year. Not happy about that. I have been on all the comparison sites but can't find it any cheaper so looks like I will have to stick with them!


Hope everyone is keeping well. Speak soon xx

LullaBelle

Good morning,


It's that time of the month again... Payday!!! So the debts have come down again. I think by next month we should have the debts below £23k. Getting closer to my aim of having it below £20k by the end of the year. Debts now stand at:


Loan: £13528.27
Virgin: £4230
DH Virgin: £5163.20
Sofa: £534.48
Total: £23455.95


I got an extra £60 in my wages this month from working a few extra hours. I have transferred this into my 'car funds' account. Car tax and car insurance for DH is due in October so I want to be well covered for then. My car insurance is due out today. I couldn't find it any cheaper than what my current provider was quoting! ah well!


Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine. Roll on 5pm so I can get out and enjoy it!!

kindofagilr

Hey, how you getting on xx

LullaBelle

Hi Kindofagilr,


All is going well with me. Hope you're doing ok.


I haven't been on in a while to update my diary. Life has been totally crazy both at home and in work. I have recently taken on more work which has resulted in a payrise. It hasn't been signed off yet so I am hoping to be back paid 2 months in August. I think I'll will put the extra away for Christmas.


Some more bills have come down. My husband's mobile phone contract has expired so I am going to look online today for a sim only deal hopefully with some cashback. Our mortgage term ended and it is now £40 a month cheaper. My daughter has finished pre school so that saves us £80 a month too. So from July's pay we should be saving about £140 a month. That saving along with my payrise will make a massive difference to our debts. I plan to pay the difference from the mortgage payments direct to the loan. So that will be £400 a month off it.


A bit more has come off the debts since I last updated. it now stands at:


Loan: £13281
Virgin: £4180
DH Virgin: 5073.20
Sofa: £503.04
Total: £23037.24


So close to being under £23k but in 12 more days it will! The loan will also be under £13k. There is something quite satisfying about getting in to a new number.


But anyway, I'm still here and still trying to clear as much debt as possible. Still on track to get below £20k by the end of the year.


Hope everyone is good!

LullaBelle

Payday again!


Debts now stand at:


Loan: £13009.34 (made a £30 overpayment to this too)
Virgin: £4130
DH Virgin: £4983.20
Sofa: £471.60
Total: £22594.14


Yay... we are now below £23k. This time last year it was £28k so we are slowly seeing progress.


Good news for a Monday... I got my pay rise confirmed today. It will be back dated to June so I should see an extra few pounds in my August pay. I'm going to put that away for Christmas though.


I have decided to do a boot sale at the beginning of August. I have so much junk in the house that I'm sure someone would want. If I even made about £60 I would be happy. I'll use that to pay for shopping and put my shopping budget from the bank account in to the loan. I just can't wait to see the back of the loan. Every extra penny I get will be going off it. I am waiting on £50 from O2 topcashback as DH changed to sim only. So that will go off the loan too. I still plan on having it as close to £10k by the end of the year.


Hope everyone is doing well!

LullaBelle

Hi everyone,


hope you're all well.


So I did my boot sale yesterday and it wasn't very successful! We made £20 each. Not great but it's something. I really didn't have a lot to sell as the mse'er in me doesn't own an awful lot of possessions! Anything I didn't sell went straight to the charity shop this morning. At least it is some clutter out of my house. So that's my selling done for a while. I just have nothing else of any value! I'll use that £20 towards filling up the fridge this week. I shouldn't need to use too much from my account then. Just 10 more days until payday again. :j

LullaBelle

Good morning,


Happy Monday!


Payday was on Thursday so the debts have come down again! Debt now stands at:


Loan: £12742.53
Virgin: £4080
DH Virgin: £4893.20
Sofa: £440.16
Total: £22155.89


Next month we will be below £22k. I'm still on track for getting as close to £20k before the new year.


I have also transferred all that's needed into my savings pots. I booked mine and DH's mot on Thursday and had that money already saved in the car fund. I'm so happy I finally figured out about saving pots. So helpful! My Christmas fund is doing well and I am back at doing my surveys for nectar points (Fell out of the way of doing them for a while!) In 1 lunch hour I managed to make £5. So that is all going towards Christmas.


Other than that nothing else to report. Still doing my best to cut back on expenses. I'm proud of how far we have come on this journey. I know we still have a long way to go but we are miles ahead of where we where this time last year.


Speak soon :-)

LullaBelle

Hello everyone,


some good news today. I got a loan statement last week and due to my over payments I have taken over a month off the loan term. It was due to finish on 17th April 2023 but is now finishing 3rd March 2023. I'm delighted to see some movement with it. my aim though is to get it paid by December 2022 at the latest. If I carry on making my over payments then that shouldn't be a problem! It's great to see the light at the end of the tunnel is a little bit closer!


Have a great week!

LullaBelle

Hello everyone,


How time flies. Life has just been so crazy lately. I haven't had time to log on and update my diary. Still debt busting though! My debt now stands at:


Loan: £12458.95
Virgin: £4030
DH Virgin: £4803.20
Sofa: £408.72
Total: £21700.87


So we are finally below £22k. I still aim to be as close to £20k as possible by the new year. Not long to go now!


I have done a good bit of my Christmas shopping too. I don't think I have paid full price for anything and I haven't got in to 1 bit of debt. This will be our second Christmas not using credit cards to pay for anything! So I am quite proud of that.


Have a fab day everyone.