Debt free by 31/12/2016 - £36,500 to nothing!

iwishidbeenmoresensible

Hi guys,

Through what my wonderful other half would call "excessive !!!!!!!ery" with credit cards (excuese the language if it causes any offence, I have no idea if that's actually rude or not!) I've got myself into a rather horrific pickle with debt. It's been escalating for years and circumstances have made it difficult to pay and all the jazz that I'm certain we've all been through. All the usual excuses apply and I honestly do have nobody to blame for getting myself into thsi mess other than mysele. Admittedly the level of interest that the credit card companies charge hasn't helped, but I knew the rates when I got into this so I accept my responsibility.

Thing is, I'm done with being skint and in debt. I have a beautiful girlfriend, a 5 year old stepson and the most amazing dog called Ben. I'd like to get married and have a little one of my own soon, but I'm sure that bringing a dependent into the world with this looming over me is probably not the best idea. I know there's never the perfect time for kids, but given that my debt is affecting my mental health and the stress (oh my god, the stress), I think I'd struggle, and not just financially!

So here's my challenge, I want to be debt free by the end of next year. All of it gone. All £36,500 pounds of it. And if it's all gone, new years eve next year I'll be putting a ring on it (but certainly not paid for on credit cards).

The math's here works out pretty beautifully. £36,500 in a year... 365 bite sized chunks of £100. I've even got a handy buffer of the remaining days in this year to give me a little extra time.

Doable? Certainly!
Difficult? Definitely

I'll try to keep you guys up to date on how it's going, I'm going to put together a blog too to track my progress but I really need some support and encouragement because this is a going to be a real challenge for me, but the end goal of getting back on track with my life and showing my family the commitment they deserve is definitely worth it.

Catch you soon!

Sy

Pixie5740

Have you seen the Frugal 2015 challenge? People try to live on £4,000 a year by being ultra frugal, you might find some ideas there. They did the same challenge in 2014 and I'm sure it will run again in 2016.

Good luck!

sugarcube84

Good luck!

asparagus1968

wow, good luck! keep us posted

asparagus1968

http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/snowball-calculator.php


http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php


these maybe of help

rockm87

Hi! welcome.

Start with the Statement of Affairs (linked above) and post here, the lovely people will be able to give you some great advice to get you started!

It's great that you have a goal to aim for, I think that always helps keep you focused.

best of luck

martinnathalie9

That would be an excellent cause for celebration at your Christmas and New Year eh? Best of luck!

LondonGirl252

Good luck! Post a link to your blog so we can follow you!

mangle101

£100 a day! Good luck.

iwishidbeenmoresensible

Yeah, I know £100 a day is a big ask, that's why I'm setting it at 365 over the course of a year. I'm sure some of them will be more than one a day, but if you don't aim for the sky, you'll never reach the stars!

rockm87

I would have a little look over on the challenges boards, they may be a good start!