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

DedicatedDFW

thanks for the info p&f it is very much appreciated and helped me to consider a few things about my future budget

And for the herb info too

the one herb i always want to grow is corriander but it just does not work for some reason

Ooh and how was le BBQ? i'm sure i read you were having one xx

peaceandfreedom

Hi all,

Don't have a huge amount to report, haven't been doing much, need to get my act together really. So much to do and have lacked the motivation to do it lately.

I made a random extra payment to one of my credit cards today (adjusted my YNAB spending-money budget accordingly). At the end of the month, total CC debt will be below 5K and overall debt below 11K. Pretty pleased with that - it is all at 0% so not racking up any interest.

I want to accelerate my debt-busting though, I am so sick of being in debt and really really want to be debt-free sooner than my current DFD. I just want that weight off my shoulders.

So I am looking into ways of earning more money. Proper money, not a couple of quid here and a voucher there. I will earn some money by selling stuff but I need to think of other ways of earning money. Multiple streams of income is the way to go. Need to put my thinking-cap on .

Until tomorrow.

jwil

Well done to getting below £11k :T

Good luck with coming up with a new venture as well

peaceandfreedom

Good morning diaryland

Well, still not a lot to report as have been working this week and not achieving a great deal the rest of the time. It is a soggy day here though it seems to have stopped raining for the moment.

DD2, like a gazillion other A-level results students, was out on the town last night. A large number of them went to a nightclub in Brizzle and they were going to be picked up by bus in the early hours of the morning so I was a trifle worried. But all is well, she is back safe and sound, I expect she will sleep most of the day. I know she is a big girl now but our kids are 'country' kids if you see what I mean, going into a city nightclub gives me qualms. But the whole thing was FOR school leavers and ticket-only entrance, so it was fine. Us parents worry about their kids forever, I reckon .

This weekend I will be mostly working on a computer-based project I am doing for a local organisation, have been deferring it for ages, need to knuckle down, hide myself away and do it. I will dole out housekeeping jobs for the 'kids'.

Last night I did an online shop and it was the first 'main shop' this month for various reasons - sooooo tempting to have such a big YNAB budget to play with . In the end, I spent only slightly more than usual and there are only two more 'main shops' to go out of this budget, so I hope the rest can go into the buffer.

Other household residents have been complaining about the lack of food in the house but they are all working and most have their own car, so there is nothing to stop people buying their own food. Whenever they live in their own place they will be baffled to find that when they open the door of the fridge it hasn't magically filled itself up :rotfl:.

Finances this month are looking very good - last month was a very high spend month and I coped with it admirably. Of course, the recent pay rise has helped considerably because this adds a good 300 quid into the mix - that money goes a long way when you are used to a tight budget and thanks to YNAB, my expenses won't just expand to eat up the extra cash - I have plans for that money.

Must go and do some work - have a lovely Friday everyone.

nathan86

Reading the 12 months results has really helped me know what to expect with YNAB! Thanks!

IWillBeFree

Hey P and F

Just read your entire diary Lovely read it was too!

Well done on getting below £11K - fabulous job!

I love that you love YNAB too, it is great isn't it? This is certainly the key to me paying off nearly £8,000 in under 2 months. I loved your annual summary and I look forward to being able to do mine, in 9 months time!

Your categories are very similar to mine, although I have just adjusted them again. Now that I have used it for 3 months, I am getting a better handle at it and the budget.

I will be coming back

IWBF x

peaceandfreedom

IWillBeFree wrote: »

Hey P and F

Just read your entire diary Lovely read it was too!

Well done on getting below £11K - fabulous job!

I love that you love YNAB too, it is great isn't it? This is certainly the key to me paying off nearly £8,000 in under 2 months. I loved your annual summary and I look forward to being able to do mine, in 9 months time!

Your categories are very similar to mine, although I have just adjusted them again. Now that I have used it for 3 months, I am getting a better handle at it and the budget.

I will be coming back

IWBF x

Hi and welcome, IWillBeFree .

I've been wondering while reading your own diary but couldn't quite work it out - how DID You manage to pay off 8K in two months - are you on a mahoosive salary?

(Just a bit curious and very envious, you understand .)

IWillBeFree

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Hi and welcome, IWillBeFree .

I've been wondering while reading your own diary but couldn't quite work it out - how DID You manage to pay off 8K in two months - are you on a mahoosive salary?

(Just a bit curious and very envious, you understand .)

Hey P and F

Thank you for the welcome, I shall be a regular! I thought I was documenting my progress clearly in my diary, but maybe not!

I am earning a good salary and that comes with a price of course, long hours and a lot of stress! This is partially the reason I am in the position I am in as I got used to thinking I 'deserve' a lot of things and I can afford it as I earn a good salary....too many of those things added up!

Anyway, my approach has been simple: increase income and reduce outgoings. I recently got a lodger and also rented my garage out, and now that I am budgeting correctly, I am paying all that income towards my debt.

I am living well within my means now and the last couple of months, after a disaster in my home, I have been living VERY frugally.

Finally, I decided to ask for a refund of my pensions contribution for the last 18 months. I subscribe to Dave Ramsay's thinking that the priority has to be paying off debt so when I finish clearing it, I will give the pension my very best. So the refund paid off a credit card and gave me some savings for emergencies.

I am selling odd bits and have done a car boot sale too which was a really new experience for me! Planning on another soon

Hope this explains - no secret formula, just a lot of focus and a desire to be free.

IWBF x

peaceandfreedom

IWillBeFree wrote: »

Thank you for the welcome, I shall be a regular! I thought I was documenting my progress clearly in my diary, but maybe not!

You are documenting it clearly and I've been reading it from the start but I still couldn't quite work out how you managed to pay off such a huge amount in such a short space of time. I am both impressed and jealous, as I've said .

IWillBeFree wrote: »

I am earning a good salary and that comes with a price of course, long hours and a lot of stress! This is partially the reason I am in the position I am in as I got used to thinking I 'deserve' a lot of things and I can afford it as I earn a good salary....too many of those things added up!

Anyway, my approach has been simple: increase income and reduce outgoings. I recently got a lodger and also rented my garage out, and now that I am budgeting correctly, I am paying all that income towards my debt.

I am living well within my means now and the last couple of months, after a disaster in my home, I have been living VERY frugally.

Finally, I decided to ask for a refund of my pensions contribution for the last 18 months. I subscribe to Dave Ramsay's thinking that the priority has to be paying off debt so when I finish clearing it, I will give the pension my very best. So the refund paid off a credit card and gave me some savings for emergencies.

I am selling odd bits and have done a car boot sale too which was a really new experience for me! Planning on another soon

Hope this explains - no secret formula, just a lot of focus and a desire to be free.

IWBF x

Thanks IWBF. It makes me realise how slack I've been lately. I am paying off regular amounts but not really making much effort to come up with more money to throw at the debt. I know I should, I just can't seem to get motivated at the moment.

I don't have room to get in a lodger and no-one would want to rent our garage (even if you could actually get anything else into it :rotfl:) because we are in the middle of nowhere. But I should certainly get back to the ebaying. As I'm a good bit older than you, I want to leave my pension pots alone - they are tiny anyway and I don't think I can get anything out of them now.

But there's still a lot more I could be doing - car booting is one, selling off bits and bobs is another.

Thing is, there is stuff that urgently needs doing around the house. So I have a dilemma - do that stuff, or throw more at the debt. I am trying to reach a happy medium.

Hmmm, need to do a bit more thinking :think:. I need a plan.

peaceandfreedom

Hello DFW-land

I have a massive list of jobs to do today so let's see how I get on with them. There is all kinds of household stuff as well as some computer-work that I've been putting off for months and months. I need to stop volunteering for these things.

The good thing is that it is dry and sunny today and looks like it will stay that way. So much nicer when you can have all the doors and windows open to let in some fresh air and get washing dried. Also just makes me feel happier and not so cheated of a summer.

The garden is still producing prolifically so I have started handing on some of the abundance to friends, they are very happy with that .

Kondo-ed a bit of paperwork yesterday and plan to Kondo more stuff today. Not really doing it the way it should be done, but a little at a time will have to do for now.

Have a lovely day, all.