Debt Demolisher

motivated

Evening all and a nice chilly one it is too :eek:

Paydayyyyyyy :T

• Standing orders paid - check
• Direct debits paid - check
• Short term goal payment paid with a little extra, now sitting at a nice round £900 - check
• Money left to finish Christmas - check
• Budget done for the week ahead - check
• Shopping list done and ready for the weekend - check
• Signature amounts updated - check

Regarding our short term goal, I even added an extra £6 to it to round it to a nice round number. so glad it’s under 1K now.

Even managed to add £10 to my 52 week challenge.

By the time the weeks out I will feel like I’m in poorland again but looking at where the money has gone and the things I’ve paid and saved I’m actually doing ok. DH gets paid tomorrow (weekly paid) so we will be organising funds there too and will be able to relax again for another month chipping away small amounts each week as and where possible.

Hopefully our new more realistic budgets and plans will allow us to plod along and still live as normal as possible.

Feeling happy tonight as we are now in the next thousand down. One more small baby step along for us and only 2 and a half days left in work then break up till January :beer:
M

boxofpaws

Motivated - agree with everything eveyrone else has said. I keep telling myself we could have done so much better but equally, we could have done SO much worse.


Lets just plugging away at it, shall we?

motivated

boxofpaws wrote: »

Motivated - agree with everything everyone else has said. I keep telling myself we could have done so much better but equally, we could have done SO much worse.


Lets just plugging away at it, shall we?

Totally agree BOP

If I had a pound for every time I’ve thought ‘if only’ I wouldn’t need a DMP

Looking forward to a fresh new year to see how much I can pay off in a whole 12 months.

Keep plugging BOP
M

motivated

Guess what, I’ve been looking at my finances :rotfl:

I’ve just logged into our TV licence account, we are scheduled to pay £3 something a week. The account says balance £8.00. I paid the £8.00 and then realised we have now paid for next year’s licence in full :T. We have a payment card and I log in weekly and pay £5.00. I do this religiously and have done for a long time not taking too much notice of it. What a result! I am going to carry on paying every week and keep us ahead on it.

Am going to spend a couple of hours this evening looking and hopefully ordering online the very last of our Christmas presents that we need. All :money: mind.

Will also be checking food stocks against my shopping list before I do the food shop at the weekend and then see how our budget is looking.

Great start to the weekend
M

HairyHandofDartmoor

motivated wrote: »

After a heads up from enthusiasticsaver I thought I would check all updated credit reports and all accounts are now showing as defaulted and we did manage to make a slight difference to our debt total to the tune of £2531. Not a huge amount but considering it’s Christmas and this time last year I was out trashing the CCs (again) Not this year though :beer:

I didn’t think we had made a difference at all to be honest. We started on our DMP around April I think. Another boost for me

Payday Friday too so more payments going which will bring our total into the next thousand down :eek:


M

That is a significant difference and as each debt is paid off, the others will be paid off quicker, like dominoes :T.

EmmaMicawber wrote: »

When I get frustrated that the debt isn't going down faster it also really helps to think where we would have been if we hadn't 'seen the light' last Christmas. We would have kept adding to the debt, not kept it stable.

If OH had continued to add to his debt at the rate he was we would have increased our debt by another £9000 or so this year.

If you think of it like that, your actual progress in numbers is
= (debt paid off this year) + (additional debt not accrued)
= loads!!

So well done!!

I love that formula Emma it really gets things into perspective :T.

motivated

:xmastree: Christmas shopping all done :xmastree:

Finished off the few bits I needed to do. Bought our turkey and gammon and a few extra bits we will need, and then home.

I’m only cooking on Boxing Day and already have the dinner and dessert and chocolates, nibbles etc. I’ve been picking up extra bits each week. Gone are the days where I would hit the supermarket on Christmas Eve at silly o’clock to avoid the crowds. Buy a trolley load of food and think nothing of whacking it all on a credit card. :mad: What on earth was I thinking.

Need to wrap the last of the presents, I hate this job. May put a Christmas film on tomorrow afternoon and sit and do it all then.

I can’t believe we’ve managed to do Christmas within budget and it’s the first year for as long as I can remember that when it’s all over I won’t have added anything at all to the debt. Last year and the year before and the year before that :eek: well we won’t talk about that

Now I know that I can do it and am already starting my Christmas saving for next year.
M

EmmaMicawber

That's fantastic M- starting your saving for next Christmas is impressive!
I'm not as organised as you but also haven't paid for anything on a credt card. It's all from real money we actually have which feels great doesn't it? (but strangely makes me much more reluctant to actually spend it).

motivated

EmmaMicawber wrote: »

That's fantastic M- starting your saving for next Christmas is impressive!
I'm not as organised as you but also haven't paid for anything on a credt card. It's all from real money we actually have which feels great doesn't it? (but strangely makes me much more reluctant to actually spend it).

Do you know what Emma I was only thinking that this morning. By having to pay everything in cash I’m actually more careful with what I spend. It does feel good to know that our Christmas has been budgeted and paid for in our money and not someone else’s.

I could’ve probably paid some extra off the debt but my plan seems to be working so far and I don’t want to rock the boat so to speak. I needed to organise and pay for Christmas that’s why I have started saving for next year already. Only small amounts but it soon builds up

Whether my organisation will last who knows but I have to make it last. I have to be on the ball or things will slip backwards again.

Well done for not using the dreaded CCs again too, it feels good doesn’t it
M

Cherryfudge

motivated wrote: »

I can’t believe we’ve managed to do Christmas within budget ... Now I know that I can do it and am already starting my Christmas saving for next year.
M

Wow! That's a brilliant result and so encouraging to see it can be done.

I think you should publish 'Motivated's Guide to Christmas within Budget' - it would be a best seller! Or at least do a post we can all read once a week next year to keep us on the straight and narrow.

motivated

Cherryfudge wrote: »

Wow! That's a brilliant result and so encouraging to see it can be done.

I think you should publish 'Motivated's Guide to Christmas within Budget' - it would be a best seller! Or at least do a post we can all read once a week next year to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Thanks cherry but I have to admit I wouldn’t want advice from me with the amount of debt I’m in :rotfl:

I simply opened an online savings account named it Xmas and added to it monthly sometimes rounding down accounts and transferring that over after my payday too. I knew I had no source of credit whatsoever once January this year went and I had my true LBM.

Now I know I can do it I will be doing it again. Even £10 a week from now will give us £520 plus the bits I add as I go along will boost it a bit more. When I think what I would waste £10 on just popping in the corner shop. I would buy a paper and milk and I would see biscuits or whatever on special and think oh I’ll get those too. (We didn’t even need them) Before I knew it a tenner was History.

I also have a sealed pot that I’m adding bits and pieces to but to be honest I tend to pay everything online now and rarely carry cash. Listen to me I sound like I’m rich :rotfl:

All the ideas and tips I use I have stolen from people on here. I am constantly learning new ways of budgeting and saving
M