Last few steps of my journey need somewhere to keep focused

LastFewSteps

Struggling today
Wondering if I'm doing the right thing, questioning myself over and over, should I be focusing on saving towards the new house or carry on with hammering at the debt, I could save a decent amount towards the house while still paying the minimum towards the debt which would mean debt is still coming down, but ALOT more slowly and it would mean moving with debts which I really don't want to do, so I know focusing on the debt is the right thing but it feels like its all just taking so long and getting in the way of settling back into a home, I haven't been able to make any new xtra payments so that is probably why I'm feeling like this, feeling like I'm not getting anywhere, although I know I've done far more than I thought I could since starting my diary so I should stop doubting and just get on with it, also doesn't help that I'm really grudging all the spending that's being done on other things at the moment but I knew that was the case but now I wish I could use the money on the debt,
Ahhhhh bother !
Need to get a grip and refocus, moan over,
Feel better now

themarsbargirl

LastFewSteps wrote: »

Struggling today
Wondering if I'm doing the right thing, questioning myself over and over, should I be focusing on saving towards the new house or carry on with hammering at the debt, I could save a decent amount towards the house while still paying the minimum towards the debt which would mean debt is still coming down, but ALOT more slowly and it would mean moving with debts which I really don't want to do, so I know focusing on the debt is the right thing but it feels like its all just taking so long and getting in the way of settling back into a home, I haven't been able to make any new xtra payments so that is probably why I'm feeling like this, feeling like I'm not getting anywhere, although I know I've done far more than I thought I could since starting my diary so I should stop doubting and just get on with it, also doesn't help that I'm really grudging all the spending that's being done on other things at the moment but I knew that was the case but now I wish I could use the money on the debt,
Ahhhhh bother !
Need to get a grip and refocus, moan over,
Feel better now

The general consensus is that if you are paying interest on your debts then you should pay them off before saving....however if I remember correctly you're all on 0% deals?

What would make you feel better? Halving what you put into savings and putting it to debts instead? Will paying off the debt sooner help you to reach you savings goal sooner? Or will you stop all the extra money making things when the debt is gone?

DebtFree2012

Hey

Well I know exactly where you're coming from and trust me, if you do things whilst you still have debt you will hate the debt even more. Once you get your new place you may want to spend a bit on this or that, but you can't as you're still paying the debt.....so you may take on more debt (despite thinking now that you won't). Even if you're on 0%, imagine how you will feel wehn you are debt free and free. I am in the exact same position and feeling the same. It's because I can't make any more payments and i have to wait until I am paid and that is so annoying!!!! I want it gone now, but I know it's tough and I have to wait. It's hard, but it will be worth it. You will get your house and I'll get my bit of land and we will look back on this and be so glad we did the right thing!

IMO anyway LOL

LastFewSteps

Thanks so much DebtFree2012 and marsbargirl
I had a bit of a wobbler but I'm back on track now, definitely back on focus to shifting this debt then getting my home, roll on next year

We're off camping this weekend so I plan to spend most of it sitting with my glass of wine, relaxing, watching the waves of the sea, that's the plan anyway, but with the two dogs and three kids it may not be as relaxed as I'm imagining

Have a nice weekend everyone

themarsbargirl

Send the two dogs and three kids to a different section of beach

LastFewSteps

I'm back
We've had a really lovely relaxing time, I actually didn't want to come home which isn't like me at all as I only do camping because the children enjoy it so much. The weather was good and we've all got a little colour, except ds1 who has to be smothered in factor 50 as his skin is so pale and he just burns straight away ! We also had ds1 sports dinner before we went away, it was a lovely evening and I was a very proud mum but they are growing up so fast

Tomorrow is payday and I will also need to update our spending (which we have done a bit more of than I wanted to)
I also had tesco vouchers in the post which takes my Xmas voucher savings to £51 :j that will go towards our Turkey and other Xmas food, I've been wanting to do this for years but could never afford to save the vouchers before, it's such a good feeling knowing our Xmas food shop is going to cost hardly anything this year :j
A few eB@y bits sold while we were away so I will need to sort that out tomorrow and put the money towards catalogue 1 and I'm also close to my next SB £5 which will also go towards catalogue 1

This weeks tax credits were £50 less than usual, I've been expecting them to drop as dh had a pay rise but I didn't think it would happen until August so if everything is right then I will be losing £200 a month a bit earlier than I thought so I also need to check that out tomorrow, in a way I'll be glad when our tax credits are gone completely I loathe the hassle of form filling and then waiting what seems like forever for them to answer the phone when they've got all the information wrong :mad: but as its a bit earlier than expected I will have to see how this affects my debt plan

Dh has a work dinner tonight so isn't home until late which meant a very easy meal of pizza and chips for me and the kids and now an evening watching films
Tomorrow I will be catching up on washing, drying, ironing and restocking the very empty food cupboards :eek: after that it's back to course work and I also need to focus on getting some paid work in as I haven't done anything for a couple of weeks I think !

Back to normal with a bang ! busy busy busy !!

themarsbargirl

Normal after holibubs always sucks...especially with all the extra laundry!
So glad you had a wonderful time away...such a pity I can't loan out my caravan to all you guys while I'm staying at my parents...but there's too much stuff in there (and I'd come back to find my freezer and cupboards empty:rotfl:).

Boo to the tax credits going down sooner but I am sure that you will be able to juggle....superwoman that you are!

Just remember that you can have extravagent treats for very little moolah if you make them yourself at home (Total cost of cream tea for 5 adults yesterday that I made was under £5 - and that's including the jar of strawberry jam I filched from stock). Scones are incredibly easy and quick to make and taste sooo much better than shop ones (same for jam but I know not everyone has the 'knack' for homemade jam).

Ooooh, and if you eat a lot of salad you can save a packet by growing your own lettuce! You can do it almost all year round if you have a sunny windowsill inside for the cold months (or a greenhouse). I am standing over my lettuce going "c'mon c'mon hurry up I want to eat you" lol

DebtFree2012

Such a pain re the tax credits but these things are sent to try us and you will conquer I know. Lovely to hear you have had a great time away. Keep smiling, we will be debt free before we know it. Let us know your new date if you have one x

LastFewSteps

Just updated my book of doom :eek: overspent a little more than I thought after our weekend away but we enjoyed ourselves so it was worth it

After the cut in our money I have managed to rearrange a few things and now have a new DFD : September '16 which isn't too bad really it's only one month But I do have to be very strict for the next few months to make sure it all works out, also I usually make payments as soon as pay day has arrived but now I'm going to leave it until closer to the due dates so that all of our monthly income has arrived in the accounts, our money comes in at different times throughout the month, I haven't taken into account any extra money I will make as this will just be an added bonus to the DFD when it comes in

So my debt total has only gone down a smidge this morning due to my new payment structure but everything is all still in order

This month I only have a couple of spendy days, DS2 birthday next week, we are going for a meal with family this weekend at a local restaurant he likes, I also need to buy a present and cake, am tempted to make the cake and not tell him as he will complain about my cooking :rotfl: I think he'd just like cash as a gift which is good for me, I refuse to buy expensive gifts on birthdays as I always over spoil my children at Xmas time, and as they are now getting older gifts are getting more expensive so it makes sense for me to give them money and they then either put it with other money they've been given to buy something they want or they save it
Also I have to buy a new battery for my car fingers crossed very tightly she will then come back from the dead as she is sitting in my garage at the moment waiting to be repaired which I just haven't had time to do over the last week, I should be able to pick up the battery tomorrow and fit on the weekend we then will know if she needs anything else, after that's been done I really need to get rid of dh's old car, it's nothing but trouble with these cars lately, as soon as one is repaired the other goes, it's a blessing that I don't have to panic about taking the children to school when one car won't work but it's also costing me a lot of money, we did think of trading both in for a new one but the plan is to stick it out with mine until we are in the new house and then get a small car as ds1 will be learning to drive at the same time, and I'm all for sticking to the plans we've been making so that's what we have to do

I also joined a mystery shopping site and I have my first 'job' in two weeks, it's only for £4.75 but it's at a place I drive through after dropping the children in school so I won't be going out of my way to get it done and of course every little helps

All in all I'm keeping positive and this debt is being shifted no matter what hurdles keep getting in my way !
Onwards and upwards

DebtFree2012

Fabulous re the mystery shopping Your new DFD is great still - one month is nothing in the grander scheme of things. I think we will spend the last couple of months in sheer excitement that it will all be a blur anyway!

My DFD was Dec 16 but possibly a month or 2 before however life gets in the way alot lol, so I will assess nearer the time and keeping it at Dec 16 for now.