Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

Payroll confirmed that they received the Stop Notification re: Student Loan Contributions from HMRC and that my February pay will be free from Student Loan deductions :T

The Student Loan Company confirmed that my first Direct Debit payment will be taken at the end of April, so this means that I get the next two months "off" my Student Loan repayments with the last deduction being at the end of October.

I could make manual repayments to the SLC in Feb and March but I think it would make better sense to make a payment of the same size to one of my high interest debts instead. Does that make sense to everyone else?

wishingthemortgaheaway

I absolutely think so, don't get used to having the money, so spend it on something useful.

GeorgianaCavendish

wishingthemortgaheaway wrote: »

I absolutely think so, don't get used to having the money, so spend it on something useful.

Definitely! It would be so depressing to get used to extra cash and then have it snatched away when the direct debit starts

DrSpendLittle

Absolutely! Throw that cash at the high interest debts for the next two months and then you can look forward to doing the same again come October!

Working_Mum

Book Clubs are a wonderful thing Georgiana!
I am in a couple of amazing and very different book clubs - I would recommend getting a little book to record the titles you have read, a few words of whether people enjoyed it and scores (we score our books!!). It is a fascinating record and we often refer back to our now 4 years of book club books comparing things, reminding ourselves of what we have read etc!!

We also host our Christmas Cocktail Night which are ace and a great way to start our Xmas celebrations.

The books book I bought was a Moelskin one and cost less than a tenner.

You won't ever regret being in a book club, mine has been a source of great joy and friendship over the years!

GeorgianaCavendish

Working_Mum wrote: »

Book Clubs are a wonderful thing Georgiana!
I am in a couple of amazing and very different book clubs - I would recommend getting a little book to record the titles you have read, a few words of whether people enjoyed it and scores (we score our books!!). It is a fascinating record and we often refer back to our now 4 years of book club books comparing things, reminding ourselves of what we have read etc!!

We also host our Christmas Cocktail Night which are ace and a great way to start our Xmas celebrations.

The books book I bought was a Moelskin one and cost less than a tenner.

You won't ever regret being in a book club, mine has been a source of great joy and friendship over the years!

Thank you for your lovely post I'm really enjoying the book club so far and looking forward to it growing. Good idea about having the record of our thoughts on the books we've read, at the moment we're using the GoodReads website but not everyone is comfortable with it so a physical book might be the way to go

GeorgianaCavendish

Not much going on at the moment, just puttering along and doing the quiet teaspoon-ey work of budgeting. I'm glad to be coming to the end of our busy social month, it has been really nice and I'm looking forward to the last birthday event this weekend but I'm craving the normal routine.

My goal for March (head start from next week!) is to do a proper clear out and spring clean, and to take advantage of ebay scrapping listing fees by selling as much as I can. I would really love to introduce some minimalist magic into my life (I suspect I will never be able to or honestly want to be a true minimalist but not to feel like we're drowning in stuff would be a great starting point!)

Seasidegal58

You're rather like me Georgiana in that I too never feel that I will be a minimalist in the true sense of the word, but I like clutter-free surroundings with just things around me that I love and appreciate. Also, like you I live in the proverbial "rabbit hutch" space-wise and this makes you more aware of "stuff."

GeorgianaCavendish

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

You're rather like me Georgiana in that I too never feel that I will be a minimalist in the true sense of the word, but I like clutter-free surroundings with just things around me that I love and appreciate. Also, like you I live in the proverbial "rabbit hutch" space-wise and this makes you more aware of "stuff."

Absolutely, I think part of what makes the "stuff" feel so ... invasive (if that's the right word!) is that our living space is so small that it really doesn't take much to make it feel cluttered, or for the clutter to feel overwhelming.
One of the reasons that I procrastinate so much on having a proper sort out is that dragging "stuff" out from its storage place seems to creates an unholy amount of mess that makes half the flat unusable. I think breaking down the project into bite size pieces is the key!

Seasidegal58

GeorgianaCavendish wrote: »

Absolutely, I think part of what makes the "stuff" feel so ... invasive (if that's the right word!) is that our living space is so small that it really doesn't take much to make it feel cluttered, or for the clutter to feel overwhelming.
One of the reasons that I procrastinate so much on having a proper sort out is that dragging "stuff" out from its storage place seems to creates an unholy amount of mess that makes half the flat unusable. I think breaking down the project into bite size pieces is the key!

15 minute bites may be the key........:)