Drifting in a Sea of Debt

milasavesmoney

What amazing progress! Into the 5's!!:T:j:T:j:T:j

lcc86

Just read through your diary, so impressed by your speedy debt busting! Am subscribing

BettyBones

Thanks LCC I'm trying so hard to just get this done. I've basically given myself a weekly food and entertainment budget of £45 and that's it... everything else must go to bills, debts or emergency/holiday fund. There is no compromise! lol I just want this debt monkey off my back. Having the month of August off was nice though. I feel much more energised and ready to get back into it now. So onwards and upwards... just 9 more months (or paydays as I prefer to think of it) to go. Yippeeee!

Jumblerina

Great work Betty your 1% payment approach is clever, I'll have to give it a try. You'll be debt free in no time with your plan and hard work :T I'll be following your journey.

Jumblerina

BettyBones

Thanks Jumblerina I think doing it 1% at a time is the only way I'm going to clear this pesky Tesc0 CC. And I kind of like it because it gives me something to do and the feeling that I'm making progress inbetween paydays. Good luck with your journey too. I've subscribed

Jumblerina

How's it going Betty? Hope you're having a good debt-busting start to September

BettyBones

Hi Jumble :hello: I'm so bad at posting aren't I?! Time just seems to be flying by at the moment...

Now that my debt busting plan is in full flow and things are ticking along quite nicely on that front I feel that I can start to focus on the other areas of my life that need fine tuning too and one of these is my health and fitness, or lack thereof! At the end of August I took part in a local 5k run which clearly showed how unfit I've become since starting my debt-busting journey. It took me nearly an hour to complete the relatively flat course and I felt sick virtually the whole way round :eek: Not good! So health and fitness has become a bit of a priority for me at the moment as I've been trying to re-establish some regular exercise and healthy eating habits. All within the confines of my limited food and entertainment budget of course So no fancy gym membership, personal trainers or diet food for me... it's just me, my running shoes and a few extra lettuce leaves :rotfl:

The debt busting continues apace though and I'm delighted to report that I've finally cleared the last of my Tax Credits debt. Woohoo!!! After 3 whole years of paying that bad boy off every month the final £130 left my account on Wednesday and I'm so pleased. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to see the back of this debt or how satisfying it was to log into my online banking this morning and cancel the direct debit to HMRC knowing that the whole £4,693.26 has been PAID IN FULL! :j

milasavesmoney

That is just a wonderful feeling when the last payment of a large debt is finally paid. Congratulations!!:j:T:j:T:j:T:j

Jumblerina

Well done Betty :T :T :T I bet you're so happy to have that debt gone, for good I'm loving a the sound of your fitness plan you'll have to keep us posted and we can cheer you on!

BettyBones

Wow... we're into October already.. this year is just romping by!

So the usual monthly summary is as follows and I'm over the moon to see that by the end of next month I will be sub £5,000. Can't wait! I really am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel now and it's just a matter of not deviating from the plan (easier said than done!)

Debt totals last month:
Tax Credits: £130.66
Capital One CC: £0.00
Santander CC: £0.00
Halifax CC1: £1,575.00
Halifax CC2: £3,090.00
Tesco CC: £1,175.00
Total Debt: £5,970.66

Debt totals this month:
Tax Credits: £0.00
Capital One CC: £0.00
Santander CC: £0.00
Halifax CC1: £1,050.00
Halifax CC2: £3,090.00
Tesco CC: £1,100.00
Total Debt: £5,240.00

So glad to see the back of the Tax Credits debt and now it's on to slaying those Halifax balances, the first of which should be done and dusted by the end of November. Then it's just the final Halifax balance and the Tesco CC to go.

Paying off the Tax Credits debt means I have an additional £130 per month now which I could sling at the Tesc0 CC, but I've decided not to. I'm on track to pay both Halif@x balances off before the 0% deals end and the Tesc0 CC is 0% until October 2017 so I'm happy to just continue with my current repayment plan. I do still intent to have the Tesc0 CC cleared by the end of May 2017 but this will be done by throwing any 'spare' money I have at it between now and then and continuing with my 1% challenge.

The extra £130 per month I now have is being invested. £50 is going into my pension, £50 is going into a S&S ISA and £30 is being invested in me. I've decided to hunt for a new job and £30 a month should cover any interview costs... travel expenses, new shoes, haircut etc... Can't believe that I've finally got to grips with the need to save money and spend it wisely. Feeling very :money: