Debt Free by 2017... (Hopefully)

SMD_1402

Hi all,


This is my first diary on this forum - I have been doing a money earning one on The Money Shed though.


I am determined to become debt free by (going by my calculations) sometime in 2017! I have a couple of credit cards with silly debt due to being on maternity leave and still spending like I was working full time. I also have an overdraft.


I have been doing bits and pieces where I can to earn extra online (surveys etc) as I am only working part time now - childcare costs just didn't justify me going back full time. I would be working to pay someone else to watch my child basically!


Totally inspired by all of your diaries so I hope this works out. I have created a budget planner using excel and given myself a budget for each week - which I hopefully will stick to! :j


So....here goes...
CC1 - £6,788
CC2 - £1,340 (interest still to be added for this month)
Overdraft - £2,900


= £11,028 - EEEEEKKK


The plan is to pay £200 to CC1 each month but aim for £200-250 to CC2 and hopefully pay that off within the next six months. I can then pay £450(ish) to CC1 until that is FINALLY paid off. I will then concentrate on the overdraft.


I did apply for 0% card to do a balance transfer but unfortunately I haven't been accepted :eek:


Any tips are appreciated


Wish me luck x


PS - I am 26 years old and do live with my partner (mortgage is not included in the debt) and he isn't paying towards any of this as it is all my own spending!


I also have an emergency fund of £2100 (for the moment) - I will try not to touch this at all!

SMD_1402

I should be able to pay an £100 extra this month. I almost have enough points to cash out £40 on GTM, £10 on MySurvey (think I will take as Amazon vouchers to fund my ebook habit ), £14 in Pro and £52 in Pop!


I have budgeted myself £70 for spending each week between now and payday, to include half of the grocery shop as well so it might be tight but I am hopeful I can do it! Any leftover cash (even a few pounds) will go towards another payment to CC1!


On a mission!


x

SMD_1402

First day and I am struggling...NSD so far though. I was tempted to go out and buy something for lunch but managed not to!


Did however sign up to Kindle Ultd as it's £7.99 per month and I probably spend that in a week (if not more) at the moment so hopefully that will really cut back spending there. Every little helps!


If I can manage NSD until weekend I should have another £40 to put towards one of the cards. My bill is due in next few days and I dread to think what the interest is going to be this month...


On a cheerier note it's nearly time to finish work and get home to see my favourite boy

SMD_1402

Have redeemed £45 from GTM this morning so hopefully that will hit PayPal in next few days and I can make another payment off the card! Statement is due in next few days so no doubt that will only cover the interest but oh well.

I really want to get this all paid off and start saving...can't believe it's going to take two years to feel normal again and actually be able to start saving and doing things! At the moment I am not saving anything monthly at all. I do have a coin jar I use but don't think that will amount to much!

Not spent anything today so far..I will try to keep it that way.

Happy Easter x

MoneyMission2015

Hi SMD


Have you done an SOA? I haven't put one up on my own diary but I did do one for my own personal use & found a few places I could cut back on things, particularly things like insurance, gas & electric etc. It's worth a shot and even if you have nowhere to cut back, at least you can identify areas that you might have previously forgotten to budget for & you will also have a list of your bills so you know how much you need per month to pay everything.


Another suggestion is You Need A Budget. It's £29.99 but absolutely worth the money. You can sign up for a 30 day trial. I recently finished my trial & bought the software because it has helped me so much.


On another note, have you really paid for Kindle Unlimited? I've heard bad reviews about it saying it's not worth it, a lot of authors wont sign up to it so there are a lot of books you wont get, it's also only worth it if you're reading something like 4 books a week! Are you still on the months trial? Might be worth you just seeing how you get on with the trial & if it's rubbish make sure you cancel it before they start charging you.


I do some of the survey sites. They are great for me as I keep a lot of the vouchers for Christmas. I also use TopCashBack & have earned over £500 on there which all comes in handy. Sometimes I convert it to cash paid in to my bank account but sometimes I get it converted in to vouchers. Usually if you get it in vouchers they add around a 5% bonus on to your payout, so I try to do that more than cash payments because it's extra money in the Christmas pot then.


The good thing is you have a date in mind, I think it's good to have something to focus on. If you find yourself tempted to buy something keep reminding yourself of your debt free date & hopefully it will stop you spending the money :rotfl:


Just one thing I was thinking, I know you did say you want to keep your emergency pot, but they generally advise not to keep savings earning pitiful interest while you're being charged high rates of interest on your debts. So my suggestion would be to pay your CC2 debt which would still leave you with some money in your emergency pot. At least then that's one debt gone, which would be a huge motivator & the money you would have been paying towards that every month can then be paid towards your CC1 debt so it will reduce quicker & less interest will be paid.


Just a thought.


Good luck, I will subscribe to see how you're getting on.

SMD_1402

Hi MoneyMission, thank you for your comments. I was beginning to think I was talking to myself :rotfl:


I have done an SOA and did manage to cut back a lot - changed gas and electricity tariff, cut back Sky package to basic etc. (I can't cancel completely as I am on a contract at the moment) and cancelled all other extras that I didn't need. The money I saved has been added to the debt payments.


I do read a lot, whenever I've got 5 minutes I'm on the iPad or I have the Kindle app on my phone too so it's definitely going to save me money - if there are books for me to read. I will try it for a month and see how I get on. There's no contract so at least if I find there is nothing else for me I can cancel.


I joined TopCashBack but haven't used it yet as I have been trying to make any purchases!


Thank you, I will try to think that. It just feels hard right now to think it's going to be so long before I can get back to normal.


I have read that on this site but the money I had saved had been put by slowly for my son really, I was thinking for a family holiday but not brave enough to take him on a plane just yet - maybe next year. I was thinking it would give us something to look forward to...a holiday after all the debt is paid! I feel like because I saved it with him in mind I can't really use it to pay off my stupidity. I am only going to dip in to it if absolutely necessary - which hopefully it won't be.


Thank you for all your advice x:)

mumstheword***

Hi SMD

I've also racked up a bit of debt due to maternity leave and now determined to try and cut it right down!

I'm looking for anyway to earn a bit extra -- at the moment its limited to swagbucks, ebay and quidco. What are pop and GTM?

SMD_1402

I have received an e-mail from PopMe to say my £50 cheque is pending so will hopefully get that in next couple of weeks 😁

Still haven't got the £45 in PayPal but do have £9 from other sites. £20 to come from Swagbucks as well so that'll add up to a good extra payment to the card this month.

On another note...I've failed miserably at my budget and now have nothing left (apart from food budget) to last until 13th! Joy! Looks like it'll be a quiet long weekend for us, should be plenty to do at home though ☺️ Planning to paint some eggs with little one tomorrow.

X

SMD_1402

mumstheword*** wrote: »

Hi SMD

I've also racked up a bit of debt due to maternity leave and now determined to try and cut it right down!

I'm looking for anyway to earn a bit extra -- at the moment its limited to swagbucks, ebay and quidco. What are pop and GTM?

I'm not doing too great with Swagbucks, still getting the hang of it! GlobalTestMarket is a survey site, you need 1,000 points to cash out which (i think) is £35! Populus is another survey site that has a £50 cash out. Valued Opinions is good too but they cash out vouchers rather than PayPal.

Good luck with Your extra earning x

SMD_1402

Not a great post today...as you will see from my signature!

Credit Card Statement is out and interest brings total up! I have cashed out another £22 from various survey sites so that means - Paypal Balance is £9(ish), £45 to come from GTM, £50 from Pop and now £22 from the other two sites! £126 to pay to CC2 when they all clear. Swagbucks still to be cashed out...currently waiting on a ticket being approved as one of the offers I completed didn't credit.

NSD so far today

SMD_1402

Okkkk, keeping a diary didn't go as well as I had hoped. I have NOT done well this month..at all.




I thought by creating an excel sheet with income/outgoings and setting myself a budget I would be able to stick to it - it seems not!


I have had to spend on CC for shopping as my partner's wage cheque hadn't cleared - I am determined to pay it back when he is paid though. I also had a couple of silly spends


I need more will power to stop spending!! Have set up excel again for payday coming this month and I am DETERMINED to stick to the budget I have set. I haven't made any extra income since the last update but some sites are slowly building up again.


Having hoped to have CC under £1,000 mark this month (which would have been easy had I stuck to my plan), unfortunately, that is not going to happen. So mad at myself :mad: