Debt free by 2018

ljj1986

I have been reading through some diaries here for tips and I am so inspired by what I have read that I felt I have to start writing about my own debt free mission. A little background - my debt started at its highest point was £12,242.84 which was a mixture of loans and credit cards, this was in May 2016, my debt today stands at £7586.19 which means I have managed to clear £4656.65 worth of debt in less than a year, as you can imagine this is difficult with being a single parent with limited income. I am currently struggling with my mission to become debt free and then begin my journey to saving for a deposit for a house which I want to do around summer 2021. I think even though I have managed to overpay on a lot of debt I still have a lot of bad habits that need breaking!

angelpye

Hi and welcome, I am sure the the others will be along at some point to help squeeze the budget or make suggestions. I just wanted to pop int o ask if you have looked at YNAB (you need a budget) as you are a student you should get it free for a year and i have found it really useful for retraining my spending but also knowing exactly what my money has to do. Good luck

ljj1986

angelpye wrote: »

Hi and welcome, I am sure the the others will be along at some point to help squeeze the budget or make suggestions. I just wanted to pop int o ask if you have looked at YNAB (you need a budget) as you are a student you should get it free for a year and i have found it really useful for retraining my spending but also knowing exactly what my money has to do. Good luck

Thank you, I will look into that, apparently they require some evidence to be sent over so I will get on to that. I do have a notebook with everything written in as I do much prefer to have everything written down in front of me. I haven't done much budgeting over the last year so I know that this will be the most difficult thing for me.

ljj1986

So this week I should only have two spend days, parking at uni on Thursday at 80p which I can't avoid and Friday for a top up shop for just a couple of things. I spent a total of £14.30 on my shop yesterday which included laundry detergent and toilet roll which is a huge improvement on recent weeks where I haven't really cared about what I've spent. The next few weeks are going to be tough as I am having some financial issues and will probably have to rely on my overdraft for a couple of weeks until they are sorted out but this should only be temporary and should be paid back by mid April when everything is sorted out.

Have signed up to a couple of survey websites, one offered 50 points which appears to be around 45p and one for 88p, does anybody think they are worth it?

To do this week:
- Put some listings on ebay - I have loads to put on there!
- Have NSD other than Fridays top up shop and Thursdays parking (I have had a pot for this terms parking since before Christmas.
- Look at cutting down gas and electricity bills, I can be tighter in both these areas.
- Cancel disneylife subscription. Done

Just realised I had £30 more in my account then I budgeted for so I have used this to pay off my water bill for the year, I had just applied for a scheme that my water company does for those who don't have much spare money at the end of the month, you just put your information into a calculator and it tells you whether you are eligible, my previous bill was around £30 for the month and for the next year only I have paid that amount for the entire year! Worth a look if you could find something similar?

ljj1986

I have given myself different pots for different things starting from April to help me keep my focus with my budget.

Food: £100
Gas and electric: £60 (although after looking at my meters I have 47 days credit still left on my electricity so I will shift over whatever is left into the birthday pot)
Diesel: £60
Birthday's: £30 (I have my LO's birthday plus 3 other birthdays, I have no idea how I am going to do this)
Fun/holiday: £60 (I don't want to completely deprive us as I know it won't work if I do, we have a holiday during easter which doesn't cost us anything other than fuel to get there as we tag along with my dad)

I saw a fantastic idea on a diary here that splits any other money into different pots so I am going to us this when listing on ebay, the majority this month will go into the birthday pot as it is really needed.

copperman05

Another one here recommending YNAB, changed my spending behavior pretty much overnight.

Good luck

ljj1986

copperman05 wrote: »

Another one here recommending YNAB, changed my spending behavior pretty much overnight.

Good luck

Have had a quick look at it this evening and I can't seem to get my head around it, will have a play around with it though and see if I can grasp it.

angelpye

hi, I watched youtube videos to get my head into it and I saw quite a few recommending their webinars. HTH:D

ljj1986

Started my pots a day early so that I had to plan my meals for the next couple of weeks. Food shop done today should last me 2 weeks with just the odd top up of bread and milk. I'm not sure if I am being a little too harsh with my pots this month but I'm going to try my hardest not to go over and put as much as possible towards paying off my credit card balance (0%).

Current balances:
Food: £100 - 46.36 = 53.64
Fuel: £60
Gas/electricity: £60 - £20 to gas, both are now at 30 days+ so have moved £40 to birthday pot = £0
Fun: £60
Birthdays: £30 - This is going to be difficult with 4 upcoming birthdays. +£40 = £70
Going to edit this post after each spend rather than add new posts.

Debt still remains as above until tomorrow when Loan 1 will decrease.

ljj1986

This weekend will be completely spend free, I have a very busy weekend ahead with things at home. Debts have changed slightly, over the past few weeks I have had to rely on my credit card due to some financial issues that should be resolved in a week or two so currently my debts are as follows:

Loan 1: £2902.61
Loan 2: 3179.03
0% CC: £1323.77

Total: £7405.41

Desperate to get this figure in the 6k bracket but feel stuck for the moment until my financial issues are resolved.

indigowarrior

Following . I use everydollar which is completely free and easier to use then YNAB.