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£67,031.92 is a frightening number indeed....

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  • Thank you so much for sharing a little about your journeys paiditalloff and lionheartedgirl! Always fascinating to see how others manage it.

    Back home and just about recovered from time away. Will be back tomorrow morning with a budget update and a plan for next week. Happy Saturday everyone!
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • Week 13: day 1
    Week 13! Almost 3 months since we started this debt free journey. There is still a terrifyingly long way to go, and I find it a bit (well, a lot) depressing to think about, but at least the debt is heading downwards rather than up.

    Excitingly, we are now into the £64k bracket, which feels like a real step forward from a starting point of over £67k. I'm staring down the barrel of a couple of fairly quiet weeks, work-wise, but I'm going to spend it getting my admin in order and scheduling plenty of social media, which is always the first thing to slip when I get busy again. I am desperately trying not to pre-spend the invoice I will be paid at the end of this month, as it will be a good chunk of money in (£750, about 3x my usual regular monthly income from this contract).

    The last couple of refunds from my shopping, erm, incident should clear next week and the budgets will balance again, with no shortfall as long as we are fairly strict. DH has done the food shopping for the last fortnight and unbeknownst to me had been doing it all at Sainsbury's instead of half Lidl, half Sainsbury's, so the food budget is a little tight, but hopefully we can make it work. We're going to top up on milk/fruit/bread today then try to have a bit of a store cupboard week.

    I feel like I have something more to say today, but my brain has clearly given up the ghost entirely.

    to do today:
    1. make sourdough
    2. menu plan and mysupermarket list for the week - would like it to come in around £50, but haven’t checked the freezer to see what we have in the way of leftovers. There seems to be a lot of food in the fridge and cupboard, at least.
    3. make flapjacks for snacks for this week.
    4. laundry, and associated hanging out, bringing in and ironing. Yawn.
    5. 10,000 steps
    6. plan working time for the coming week

    to do this week:
    1. lose another 0.5kg. Weight loss is going sloooowwwwwly, but at least in the right direction. Has taken me over a week to lose 0.7kg.
    2. make A Plan re debt overpayment priorities - we were turned down for the 0% we applied for, so going to wait another month or two before applying again, and close any unused credit cards and accounts (I have two totally unused credit cards, I think DH may have one too) and hopefully we’ll be a more attractive prospect in a couple of months. I think we need to reprioritise debt overpayments as I had been working on the basis we’d get another 0% card fairly easily.
    3. enjoy being a little less busy after a few manic weeks, clean the house a bit, spend some time with the children.
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • Suffolk_lass
    Suffolk_lass Posts: 10,258 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi TOPM,

    Sorry to hear you were turned down for a 0% CC - have you tried checking whether your existing CC providers are offering any deals? There is no harm in asking and the worst that can happen is they say no, which would mean you are no worse off than you are now. Sort of "here goes nothing!".

    We are also on a freezer and store cupboard week and apart from buying toothpaste (again!) when I did not need to, my shopping was a one-stop shop at Morries and came in at just over £50 - so in a similar position to you. I have also lost a little bit more weight this week so generally going in the right direction, albeit, without the instant gratification of mega-loss.

    Wow, Paiditalloff - impressive stuff. I think it is really important to keep tracking, squeaking out a tiny bit more from each transaction (who knew the 68p for 6 creme caramels were as nice as the branded ones for £2?!) and making those savings count - that is why I "Tilly Tidy" the balance from each transaction into my holding savings account. My shopping was £51.88 so I squirrelled £8.12 away. I still have that money but it's not in the spending pot so I economise somewhere else. I know it is there but I am in the mindset to leave it there until I need it - either for planned things or to accelerate the pay-down of my debts. It sounds a pathetic amount but over time it is thousands
    Save £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
    OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
    I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
    My new diary is here
  • Cherryfudge
    Cherryfudge Posts: 13,159 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Week 13: day 1
    Excitingly, we are now into the £64k bracket, which feels like a real step forward from a starting point of over £67k. I'm staring down the barrel of a couple of fairly quiet weeks, work-wise, but I'm going to spend it getting my admin in order and scheduling plenty of social media, which is always the first thing to slip when I get busy again.

    Well done for crossing that significant point! That's a lot to go in 13 weeks, and remember it's also 3K you aren't going to pay interest on. :)

    I like the idea of doing the admin etc. with your quiet weeks. You're freeing up time in the future really, aren't you, when you can earn again. So it's all towards the debt repayment. Onward & downward! :)
    I think a bit of sunshine is good for frugal living. (Cranky40)
    The sun's been out and I think I’m solar powered (Onebrokelady)

    Fashion on the Ration 2025: Fabric 2, men's socks 3, Duvet 7.5, 2 t-shirts 10, men's socks 3, uniform top 0, hat 0, shoes 5 = 30.5/68
    2024: Trainers 5, dress 7, slippers 5, 2 prs socks (gift) 2, 3 prs white socks 3, t-shirts x 2 10, 6 prs socks: mostly gifts 6, duvet set 7.5 = 45.5/68 coupons
    20.5 coupons used in 2020. 62.5 used in 2021. 94.5 remaining as of 21/3/22
  • Bigskies
    Bigskies Posts: 109 Forumite
    Am subscribing to your diary as I'm at about a similar level of debt and also looking to clear without a dmp. I have a diary on here too. Be good to hang out together on here! :j
    Jan 2018 £68,274 May 1 2018 £59,537
    Percentage of total debt paid 12.79%
    2018 target £10k So far: £8737
    Monthly target £833 January £1129 Feb £1278 Mar £1176 Apr £5152
    POAYDBX18 #124 £8737/10,000
  • Week 13: Day 2

    Another week, another mission to keep the budget balanced. I have a ton of little bitty jobs to do today, which I really need to get through in order to feel properly on top of things.

    No major money news, just ticking our way through the month. Discovered that when DH got turned down for the 0% CC he hadn't put in the sum of the other card as a balance transfer, which might have affected the decision (i.e. it looked like we were trying to open the account on top of our existing debt, rather than to move it). We're not going to pressure our credit records by applying again now though - we'll accept the interest this month and apply again next month - we'll be another £600 or so down on the total debt too. If that fails, we'll just go with one of the many Barclaycard offers that crop up - we have enough balance available on the barclaycard that we can move the whole of the MBNA card onto it, if they give us a half decent 0% offer. Not ideal, but not terrible.

    to do today:
    1. make sourdough
    2. make flapjacks for snacks
    3. catch up on my smaller business - a few orders to pack.
    4. pop to the shop for a top up of milk/butter/fruit and veg - trying to use up store cupboard ingredients this week, but we need a couple of bits. I'd like to keep the spend <£20, so there's room to spend another £20-ish later in the week.
    5. finish another bit of contract work.
    6. Get another laundry out onto the line while the weather's nice.
    7. clean the kitchen floor properly. The glamour

    to do this week:
    1. lose another 0.5kg. Weight loss is going sloooowwwwwly, but at least in the right direction. Has taken me over a week to lose 0.7kg. Down another 0.2kg today. I'll take that!
    2. make A Plan re debt overpayment priorities - we were turned down for the 0% we applied for, so going to wait another month or two before applying again, and close any unused credit cards and accounts (I have two totally unused credit cards, I think DH may have one too) and hopefully we’ll be a more attractive prospect in a couple of months. I think we need to reprioritise debt overpayments as I had been working on the basis we’d get another 0% card fairly easily. Sat down with DH last night and did this. We have a plan now.
    3. enjoy being a little less busy after a few manic weeks, clean the house a bit, spend some time with the children. Went for a lovely lunch out (paid for by another company as a work perk for DH, so completely free!) which was just fab, so nice to all spend some time together. First time DH and I have spent a whole day together with the children in a good 6-8 weeks.
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • DawnW
    DawnW Posts: 7,749 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Just a thought, but is it worth contacting the unused credit card companies to see if they would offer you a balance transfer deal? I bet they would, especially if you are thinking of leaving. Worth a try?
  • DawnW wrote: »
    Just a thought, but is it worth contacting the unused credit card companies to see if they would offer you a balance transfer deal? I bet they would, especially if you are thinking of leaving. Worth a try?
    DH suggested this, but I didn't think it would be worth it. Maybe I'll tell him to give it a go after all!
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
  • DawnW
    DawnW Posts: 7,749 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Well, the worse that can happen is they say no? And if they do, he can cancel the card while he is on the line :D
  • Not really MS related (although sort of).... I used a gift voucher on Friday for a manicure (got it for Christmas, haven't had a moment to go), and went for gel nails rather than normal polish. Well, I am really impressed. OK, it's only been 3 days, but they still look like new, whereas with normal polish, even with careful base coat/colour/top coat/quick dry coat they would be well chipped by now and need removing. I am contemplating splashing out £50 or so on a gel nail kit to do it myself, as I could never afford to keep getting them done at the salon (£20 a pop), but I waste an inordinate amount of time painting my nails for work. It might be another good place to channel some of the 'money for looking professional' fund as it grows.
    Trying to figure out a whole new life. Trying to figure out a whole new budget.
    Divorcing, unclear on final debt total right now, but focusing on building a financial buffer zone.
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