22 months to work, dig, tidy and declutter my way to debt freedom

peaceandfreedom

DRUM ROLL PLEASE ........

I have actually put 5 things up for sale ... and already sold 4 of them for ready cash :j:beer::D:beer::j.

I sold them on local selling pages rather than using fleabay - so much easier and no commission to pay .

Might get into this selling lark .

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

DRUM ROLL PLEASE ........

I have actually put 5 things up for sale ... and already sold 4 of them for ready cash :j:beer::D:beer::j.

I sold them on local selling pages rather than using fleabay - so much easier and no commission to pay .

Might get into this selling lark .

Wooo hoooo!!!!! :j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j:j

Well done! So impressed

brizzledfw

YAY!!!!!! GO YOU!!!

Xx

peaceandfreedom

Hi everyone - now officially on my Christmas holidays - no work for two whole weeks :j.

Christmas tree is up, house is decorated and all is Christmassy. :xmastree: Present-shopping not quite done but nearly. I am going to be a little bit over-budget this year but I can divert other funds to balance the budget. I have been slightly over-generous to the kids, as always . I think I will increase the budget for next year - in fact generally I need to work on my YNAB budget for the year and make sure I am adequately catering for everything.

My Christmas cake is smelling divine, I've been feeding it whiskey . Haven't made any mince pies yet but I have some homemade mincemeat ready to use.

Decluttering is still ongoing, running a bit behind on this but I'm making progress. I hope to make some more money selling stuff in the new year but also plan to make money from freelance work, as I could do with some extra money to throw at the credit card. Will be looking much more seriously for freelance work with the aim of making a fairly hefty extra sum every month. Will probably put together a professional website in order to improve my chances.

My Mum has sent me money for Christmas and as there is nothing in particular I need right now, I will add that to my personal spending stash for when there is something I fancy. Maybe I might find something in the sales but I don't think so. I am not buying any more clothes until I lose at least half a stone, I'm a bit of a porker at the moment and Christmas is not going to help much with that :D.

Must go and get some shut-eye, lots to do tomorrow (mainly decluttering and tidying-up).

jwil

All sounds good

brizzledfw

Hi :wave: how was your Christmas P&F? Good I hope

peaceandfreedom

Hi everyone :wave:

I had a lovely Christmas break, thanks Brizzle . Lots of long lazy days doing not much as well as lots of evenings out at drinks parties. All is done and dusted now, though the Christmas decs have yet to be put back in the attic - a job for this afternoon.

It was lovely to have a Christmas that was entirely and 100% funded by my own money, rather than credit cards and overdrafts. Last year was credit-card free but I dipped into the overdraft. This year, there has been no overdraft on any accounts :beer:. Of course, it's the way things should always have been done but I've decided that the mistakes of the past can be zipped up, locked away and forgotten about other than to teach me what NOT to do in the future . This whole beating-myself-up business is not helpful.

I have a number of plans for 2016. The primary one as far as MSE is concerned is to move my debt-free date forward a bit - I would very much like to start 2017 debt-free other than the mortgage. At the moment, the credit card is due to be cleared by July and the remaining debt cleared by May 2017. Somehow I need to speed things up but it will not really be possible by the end of the year unless I increase my income a bit. Working on that - need some freelance work to earn anything worth talking about.

The rest of the plans are a follow-on from last year, get fitter, sort out the house etc. But the getting debt-free is the biggie for 2016.

Hope everyone is well and happy. Soooooo fed up of the rain, I am looking forward to a cold snap .

peaceandfreedom

Just posting again as I realise that from updating my sig - I have now passed the 50% paid-off mark :j.

Hope I can accelerate things to get to the 100% by this time next year - won't that be amazing? I have also done a few calcs though and moving things forward that much adds a huge amount to my monthly repayments. I've had a look at the budget and there's not a lot of leeway in there, as I want to keep up the savings side of things which has helped so much in keeping everything on an even keel.

Also, DD2 goes to uni in September and she will need some financial support as the student loan won't even cover the accommodation. She has said she'll get a job but she will need money all the same. Will need to plan that in.

So the upshot is - I need to earn more money, proper money not just a few quid here and there. Luckily, my line of work is very suitable for freelance working. Need to get things rolling on this.

Wish me luck :T.

jwil

Well done on passing the 50% mark :T :T That would be great to be debt free by the end of the year.

Also great about a credit free Christmas! Glad you had a good one

brizzledfw

Wishing you luck P&F