I will be debt free by the time i'm 30!!

2catsandcounting

Been lurking around, and finally plucked up the courage to post, in the hope it'll keep me on track!

My debt isn't huge currently just under the £4k mark - started off close to 6 when i entered DMP with step change in November 2014. My goal is to be debt free by the time i'm 30 (april 2019) at which point i can start saving for a mortgage :cool:

my debt consists of credit cards, old student overdraft, catalogue shopping and the horrible PDLs.

Hoping to get my payday loans wiped through complaints regarding irresponsible lending - had 1 success so far, 1 I'm still waiting to hear about, and the last one has been escalated to FOS, although looking back on it, i borrowed £300, and was meant to pay back £9/week for 26 weeks, so i'm not holding out much hope, but i genuinely couldn't afford it at the time!

so thats me, plodding through my DMP

Florence_J

Hi there, you've made the right step coming on here, there is so much support and good ideas and it's nice to be with people going through the same thing. I am in a similar boat and am a similar age (27 on thursday) so i hope you have an easy journey. Good luck!

2catsandcounting

Payday is tomorrow, and i'm determined to have a good month. although i'm on a girls weekend away next week, so it could be tricky. but I'm luck enough to have a job where i get cash tips, so have been saving these up since the trip was first planned so hopefully will have enough, and not have to use the debit card at all.

i still need to escalate on my cases to FOS, but between doing house chores this morning, and another horrible migraine/vertigo attack this afternoon/evening i've just not had chance. Maybe tomorrow, along with some eBaying.

2catsandcounting

today has been good! did a food shop and kept to my £50 budget, and this included some lightbulbs, replacement heads for electric toothbrush (£9 for 2:eek:) and a few plants for the front garden.
worked out i'm 41% through my DMP, and once June hits i'll be at 50% :j:j:j just got a slight pay rise at work so have set my monthly payments to £175 from £150 so that'll bring it down quicker!
post a few things on eBay - still more to do, but just can't bring myself to it. Cashed in my jar of 1ps, 2ps and 5ps today also, and it was over a fiver, so that's going in the manchester fund, and any eBay sales and tips from now on are going into the edinburgh fund for my birthday trip that the bf has just sprung on me! :beer:

2catsandcounting

wow, i didn't realise it's been so long since i posted!

Back on hourly pay at work, which means my pay is a little bit more unpredictable, but at least it means I am earning above minimum wage, which is always a good thing! My old employer has just been investigated for not paying minimum wage, and so i've just had a payout from them dating back to 2013!! This has meant that for the first time in about 8 years i've not touched my overdraft, let alone ended the month at the bottom of it! This is such an achivement for me! :T

Feel like i've had a lot of good luck recently with money, and i hope it continues!!!
pay out from old employer
current employer has overpaid me and hasn't noticed (so ssssshhhh! i put the extra money in in a saving account so if they do realise i've still got it)
Complaints with payday lenders have come back in my favour, wiping off nearly £2k of my DMP (which was £6k when i started) bring my debt free day to next May!!
I'd tried to transfer £200 from one account to another but had put the wrong number in so the money went missing. TSB told me I had no chance in getting this back and gave me £50 compensation as they had misadvised me, but yesterday the £200 reappeared in my account, so i'm £50 up in this situation now :rotfl:

Much needed day off today - house is a mess and fridge is bare so a day of tidying, food shopping and laundry awaits me! Might have a cuppa tea before i get to work though!

Promise to post more often

-2cats

beanielou

All sounding positive.
Less than a year til May

2catsandcounting

Fast forward 4 months...
I'm now looking at getting debt free by January... whilst paying off my DMP i was also saving for a house deposit (naughty i know but debts are at 0% and ISA is 4%) but after talking with my partner we decided for my peace of mind, to just throw as much money at the DMP to get it finished. I'm so looking forward to starting 2017 debt free...!! and we can start saving for a house properly, we also recently got engaged so are saving for a wedding too!!

My good luck with money did continue, with a £400 tax rebate last month also!

I've also started my Masters, in the hope that at the end of it, and i can get out of the hospitality industry once and for all! It does mean i've had to drop hours slightly at work, but my fiancee has had a small payrise and is so supportive of me, we both no in the long run it'll all be worth it. We've certainly been taking advantage of having student discount! 10% at Morrisons has been the most lucrative so far, and the OH was very happy to get 10% off the new fifa game!

I need to start being careful with my money, especially with my reduced hours, and i need to take a packed lunch in everyday, otherwise i can easily spend £5 or £6 a day on lunch, and a new aldi has just opened near us so need to start food shopping in there!

Until next time!

2catsandcounting

Today i made the final payment towards my debt, so i am officially debt free for the first time since turning 18!
Now to properly start saving towards the wedding and house deposit!

JoJoC

That's amazing news - well done for getting debt free so quickly. It must be such a great feeling!