A debt free Beautiful - Moose

Beautiful-Moose

Ok so here is my story, the short version so as to not bore you all.........

I racked up a lot of debt between 2010 and 2015. I was stupid, I used my credit card to bail my parents our of trouble after my dad lost his job and my mum got diagnosed with cancer and couldn't work. I had to do it but I now realise I will never see that money paid back so their debt is now mine.
I also fell into a depression and used my card to try and spend my way to happiness. Needless to say in the short term it worked but long term it has not.
I met my partner in 2012 and rather than tell him about my money problems I kept on spending to allow us to do nice things together in life. Holidays, football matches, nights out. In July 2015 we moved in together into a lovely little flat which we are very happy in.

At the beginning of this year we both had a bit of a light bulb moment and realised we need to sort our money out once and for all. We both need to change our ways with money and start to make a better life for ourselves so we aren't struggling every month from one pay day to the next. We are both 30 next year and want to start thinking about having kids and having a nice house for them to grow up in and right now with our current debt that dream is all it will ever be if we don't change.

Currently as a household our debt stands at £20k on cards and I have a £12k loan that will finish in October 2019. Our aim is to both be debt free by 1st Jan 2020 :beer:

So here is my little diary to keep me on track and hopefully one day I will be able to read this back as a debt free Beautiful - Moose.

Beautiful-Moose

So since we have decided to take control of our money in the situation we are currently in we have had a very productive few weeks.

The OH has done a balance transfer for 0% for 36 months. He has closed down one of his credit card accounts last night. He went to cancel his other account with Barclaycard and he got given £50 to spend on his card! We plan to use this when we travel to Liverpool next week for our 4 year anniversary on a meal. Thanks Barclaycard for that little treat!

I applied for a balance transfer for my biggest card amount (£14k) but got declined. I had a little cry about it but I now feel more determined than every to get rid of the card. I can't wait for the day when I can cut it up into little tiny pieces. I am going to try and get a balance transfer done for my smaller card (£2k) even if it's only for 6 months every little bit helps.

I am going to cancel my gym membership today as I have taken up running in my local park with a friend. We are training to do the Race for Life in July and want to run the whole way round so I need to get as much running in as possible between now and then. I am currently doing the Couch to 5k plan, it is a killer for a girl who doesn't even run for the bus! By cancelling my gym I will be saving £55 a month.

I managed to haggle my mobile contract down from £45 a month with Vodafone to £19 a month and 12 months free Spotify subscription. So not only have I saved £26 a month on my tariff I have also saved myself £10 a month that I was paying for Spotify so £36 a month saved.

Me and the OH also sat down and did a freezer and cupboard inventory and plan to eat everything up that we have indoors and use what we have to make our lunch/dinners this month. Apart from buying the odd loaf of bread, pack of ham and cheese to make sandwiches for work we shouldn't need to buy anything else this month. Last night I made Mac and Cheese from a jar of mac and cheese mix had been sticking in our cupboard since October time. It was a lovely little dinner but we would never have made it normally, we would have ended up ordering a take away as we were both in a mood where we couldn't be bothered to do much cooking. I now have some left over for my dinner tonight after I have been for my run. Another little victory for us!

BEAT_THE_DEBT

Well done. It's the little things you do often that make the biggest impact

dottydebts

good luck with your journey I only took control of my money this year too, and I feel so much better mentally than I did before!

ChicaBonita

Hi there, I have subscribed
You are very kind to help your parents like that, I hope they are ok now.
Good luck!

Beautiful-Moose

Well done. It's the little things you do often that make the biggest impact.

I am hoping doing little and often will help keep me on the debt free path

good luck with your journey I only took control of my money this year too, and I feel so much better mentally than I did before!

I know me too! I know it sounds silly but by actually writing it down and admitting I have a debt problem I feel like a massive weight has been lifted from my shoulders already.

You are very kind to help your parents like that, I hope they are ok now.
Good luck!

I had to do it. I think most people would do it to help their parents out and keep a roof over all our heads. I had so many arguments in the years after over money with my parents about paying me back that I can no longer be bothered to fight about it and will just get it sorted and pay it off. I made the choice that money is not worth losing my parents over. Things may change in the near future though as they have just sold their house as it was too big for them now me and my sister have moved out and I think they just want to use the money they have made on the house to pay off their debts and enjoy their retirement. I honestly don't blame them! Who knows they might even give me and my sister some money if there is any left over.

Kitten868

Told you I'd come find you well done. You sound much brighter and more in control. Most of us here can't tell you what we spent the money on and it never seems fair to have all this debt for nothing. At least you got it by doing the right thing.... Even if it has gone unnoticed.
Have you looked at the snowball calculator? Xxx

scotdebs

Well Done BM certainly sounds as though you are making some good early progress - once you have done all the easy / quick wins like cancelling gyms, lowering mobile costs it really is the things that you will do every day that will help you to your goal. As Kitten said many of us had no idea where all our "supposed" extra money went but knowing in the future what your potential areas of overspend will be is the key. For us although we budgeted for grocery shopping, takeaway and eating out we always spent far in excess of what we planned - getting on top of the grocery spending and keeping to the planned treats is what is really making a difference for us - although tis early days with a sizable debt mountain to move - good luck on your debt free journey

Beautiful-Moose

Have you looked at the snowball calculator?

I did have a look at one ages ago but I think I will do a fresh one and see how long things will take, print it off and stick in up indoors somewhere so I can see it everyday and look forward to striking a line through each monthly payment I make!

I downloaded a spending tracker app for my phone to keep tabs on my little day to day spends and see where all my spare cash is going. I have My Fitness Pal on my phone so I am thinking if I can keep tabs on my calories then I can keep tabs on my pennies at the same time too.

Yesterday was almost a NSD as all I spent was 60p on a can of diet coke.
Today I am buying my lunch as I am off to a Hula Hoop exercise class for the first time ever with a friend tonight (free trial session) so will need something big, healthy and filling for lunch so will be getting a Jacket Potato with baked beans from the cafe near work to keep my energised until my class tonight. If I decide to sign up to the class then I will need to start planning my meals so I have something big and filling to bring to work with me, but I will cross the bridge if/when I get to it.

Also thinking of taking some time off work next week and using the time to sit down and sort out getting my next few bits of money done. I am thinking a balance transfer done for my Natwest card (£2k) and opening another 2 savings accounts. I currently have one which is our emergency fund.

So the first new savings account would be to start putting money aside for car related costs as advised to me on here rather than just waiting to pay out for things as and when they happen.
The second savings account would be for Christmas spends and doing the £1 a day challenge, if both me and my partner do it then we should have a nice little pot by December time. Christmas just gone was mad, we had to buy a tree and decorations for the first time ever for our new flat plus presents too, I admit it all got a bit out of hand, I dipped into my overdraft but I have paid that all back now so we are all good. I don't want to be in the same position again this year if I can avoid it.

Willowpop

Hi BM, sounds like you've taken great steps already and have quite a saving sorted out going forward.
Keep looking for places to cut back where yiu can and you will be ebt free in no time at all.

Beautiful-Moose

Well today I am having a massive down day.

I entered all my details into the spend tracker, all my bills have come out, food shopping all done and I am left with £36.47 to last me until 28th April when I get paid again. I honestly could cry in work right now! How did my money and my life get to this point?! I am getting paid more than I ever have yet I am the poorest I have ever been. I suppose I should be happy that I am in the plus numbers rather than the negatives. Next month will be better once my mobile bill comes down to £19 a month and the gym isn't part of my life anymore - £91 a month back in my pocket.

I am looking forward to having time off next week and my trip to Liverpool with the OH for our 4 year anniversary. Hopefully he will be able to pay out for a few things while we are there as he doesn't have as many outgoings as me now. Thank goodness my Grandparents are able to put us up for the few days we will be up there and doing so for free. I am going to look into some free activities that we can do in Liverpool and Manchester. I am determined to have a good time despite the lack of cash.

This weekend I am planning to have a NO SPEND WEEKEND! First one in a long time. Me and the OH are going round to my parents house to clear our my old room now they have sold their house. Hopefully there will be a few gems in there that I can start to sell off on ebay and make some money to chip off the credit card. We are staying over as well so I won't need to pay out for food as my Dad is quite the chef so he will more than likely cook something up for us.