4 months in and have hit a bit of a wall

Gladioli

I do not post very often on here by find myself on here mostdays. Since my proper light bulb moment(rather than the flickers that had happened previously) we have paid off 26% ofour debt in 4 months which has brought our debt down to less than 10k.



This is amazing as a few years ago it was around the 19kmark. I am really happy and proud ofwhat we have achieved, however….. the novelty of budgeting and living on tightfunds appears to be wearing off. At theend of the month we should have around £100 buffer which I then transfer to oursavings account. Last month I transferrednothing and this month I have transferred back into our current account tocover our outgoings.



I think I know what is happening, the £100 is becoming disposableincome rather than savings and also bad habits are starting to creep backin. We could be debt free by April nextyear, however I am worried that if I don’t nip this in the bud then that willnot happen. I really do want to be debtfree for the first time in my adult life, I just have to keep reminding myself ofthis. When I first started I wasobsessed by it and now that is slipping.



If there are suggestions or if anyone has experienced thisand has come through the otherside your experience would be welcome.

Georgina180590

I am only on the very start of my journey, so dont have an experience in how to help other than write a list on why you are doing this, what are you getting out of debt for, and what does it mean when you are debt free for you and your family. I know its all in your head but sometimes I find that it helps to write things out and visually have something to look at and aim for.
Good Luck xxx

Tixy

Hi

I think this is quite common, that it gets harder to be motivated for a lot of people, especially when the worst of the financial pressure is off.

Are you recording all your spending somewhere still? Or has that been slipping?
Do you know where this month's overspend was that meant you had to borrow from your savings?

japmis

Are you saving anything for Christmas? What if that £100/month was for Christmas (or another savings goal like holiday or new sofa) then it might make you more focused to reach your goal?

Could you take that £100 a month and give it to someone else for safekeeping? Then you definitely can't spend it! Then get on YNAB

WantToBeSE

My advice would be to remember WHY you are doing this. Give yourself a daily reminder, be that pinning a photo of a holiday destination on your fridge, a photo of a house that you could afford to buy if you weren't in debt, whatever inspires you and keeps you motivated.

Also, become more active on the MSE boards if you have time. Chatting online to people with common goals and the same priorities can help to keep you motivated.

Good luck.

andyfromotley

Hi,

why dont you get a calculator out and work out how much interest you have paid over the last 1, 5 or 10 years and then imagine what you could have done with that money? Pin that number on your fridge door?

This or other similar motivational challenge could help you renew your enthusiam for the task. When all is said and done i expect for most of us this is a medium to long term journey and i guess keeping focussed is tricky.

I use YNAB which helps me keep focussed.

patman99

If you have £100 per month spare, why not put £25 in an ISA, £25 over-payment to mortgage (if you have one), and £50 into an emergency fund.

That way, you are making your money work for you and will be able to enjoy life without worrying about money so much.

Gladioli

Tixy wrote: »

Hi

I think this is quite common, that it gets harder to be motivated for a lot of people, especially when the worst of the financial pressure is off.

Are you recording all your spending somewhere still? Or has that been slipping?
Do you know where this month's overspend was that meant you had to borrow from your savings?

In all honesty no, I did for month one and then thought I was ok and therefore didn't really need to do it... I am going to have a good look at what I have spent in the last few months and go from there.

Gladioli

There are some really good things on here, I think I need to find my motivation again.

I am going to do a true reflection of the last few months spending and compare it with my original budget and see where I am going wrong.

It doesn't help that my husband has not claimed for nearly £300 of expenses over the last few months... so at least when that comes through it will be a help.

I suppose I am just a bit bored of it (saving and budgeting) Not good this early on when I still have some much I want to achieve