Dan's desperate dash towards solvency

Drawingaline

Hey Dan, just checking in after a bit of a mse break. Fantastic news about a month off credit, and 5 years to debt freedom! Brilliant.

enthusiasticsaver

What a result Dan. You are doing so well. Enjoy your break.

natsplatnat

worriedDan wrote: »

Increased to £3800 - enough to transfer one whole card which is currently accruing 24.9% plus a couple of other bits!!! Thanks Suffolk Lass xx

Fab news! I always like to think about how to make my money work best for me.. and now your money is working better at reducing that balance!

Happier_Me

Hi Dan

You're doing brilliantly. What a turnaround from just a few months ago! Bring on the next five years...

Can I suggest though that you don't overpay your mortgage at the expense of your pension. You need to start paying back into your scheme as soon as you can.

I am aiming to pay off all our debts and mortgage in three years but we still make pension payments and I'm conscious our money would work harder for us if it was redirected from our mortgage into long terms stocks and shares. But there is something comforting about being completely debt free so I try to find a balance. Which I think means we are aiming for FIRE!

A massive well done for all you've achieved do far!

worriedDan

Happier_Me wrote: »

Hi Dan

You're doing brilliantly. What a turnaround from just a few months ago! Bring on the next five years...

Can I suggest though that you don't overpay your mortgage at the expense of your pension. You need to start paying back into your scheme as soon as you can.

I am aiming to pay off all our debts and mortgage in three years but we still make pension payments and I'm conscious our money would work harder for us if it was redirected from our mortgage into long terms stocks and shares. But there is something comforting about being completely debt free so I try to find a balance. Which I think means we are aiming for FIRE!

A massive well done for all you've achieved do far!

Hi HM

I have made arrangements with my pension provider that I will start paying back in to my pension from Jan 2019. They have calculated that I will need to pay an additional £60 per month in order to make up the shortfall for taking 2 years out. I am quite happy with this.

worriedDan

Start of another week and I am still feeling very positive! I break up on Friday for 2 weeks, and whilst I am looking forward to the break, it will be a real test of our budget!

Thankfully we have lots of plans that won't really cost us anything, apart from our few days away, which we have budgeted for. We are planning a couple of National Trust days with a picnic, a few trips to the park and a couple of days out at friends houses.

It's been well over a month now since the start of all this. It is great to know that we can live perfectly happily with out the use of credit. Using credit cards had become such a way of life for us. I used to just pay for everything with a CC without even thinking about it.

I have also come to the realisation that I need to be less generous. Without wanting to sound like a show off, i can definitely be over generous. normally at this time of year I would be spending £20-£30 on Easter eggs for my colleagues. I am not doing it this year. I am just not going to bother. Not everyone does it so I won't be the only one! If anyone asks I will just say that we are cutting back a bit!

I am also going to adopt this approach to birthday's and Christmas too. Family will still get gifts, but I won't be spending the amounts that I used to. Perhaps in a few years, when I am debt free I can become a bit more generous but for now I think I need to be a little more selfish ( in a positive way, of course).

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds very sensible Dan. Easter eggs for work colleagues!! I have never done that. Only DH, DDs and son in law and maybe this year a dairy free one for DGD. Plenty of time to be generous with presents when you are debt free. I am sure your friends and family would be fine with you being more MSE. We spoke to friends and family a few years ago and agreed no more presents for birthday and Christmas except for children. Also only close relatives, no more friends, cousins etc. I only buy presents now for 5 immediate family.

GeorgianaCavendish

worriedDan wrote: »

I have also come to the realisation that I need to be less generous. Without wanting to sound like a show off, i can definitely be over generous. normally at this time of year I would be spending £20-£30 on Easter eggs for my colleagues. I am not doing it this year. I am just not going to bother. Not everyone does it so I won't be the only one! If anyone asks I will just say that we are cutting back a bit!

I am also going to adopt this approach to birthday's and Christmas too. Family will still get gifts, but I won't be spending the amounts that I used to. Perhaps in a few years, when I am debt free I can become a bit more generous but for now I think I need to be a little more selfish ( in a positive way, of course).

Hi Dan, well done on your savings so far -a month off your DFD is brilliant news!

I have come to the same realisation about needing to be less generous. Buying gifts for other people is an area that I've never had control over (it seemed so easy to justify having no budgets because I wasn't buying things for me!) but the truth is that I am paying over £800 a month to service debts that are many times my monthly income, I just cannot afford to be "generous" any more! I do still feel guilty but the truth is that none of the recipients of my former generosity are angry with me for spending less, and I've enjoyed thinking up more creative ways to celebrate birthdays etc without reaching for my credit card.

chevalier

quite often it is the case of being a more savvy shopper. you can still get some great gifts if you keep an eye out. hotdeals.uk and the grabbit board on here are good for this. Also some people do surveys and get paid in amazon vouchers so you can get gifts for free!
good luck with your journey
chev

motivated

Hi Dan

Usually at this time of year I would too buy chocolate eggs etc for colleagues. This year I will be buying a big gateaux from Iceland and dig out some serviettes.

At break time it will be first come first served.:eek: there will be a stampede :rotfl:
M