Head out of sand time! £63k to zero!

Bigskies

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Hey BS at least it's gone down and not up , which is brilliant. It's a journey , with bends in the road. Keep going , you just need to be focussed and readjust if necessary.

Everyone is different , but we all have the same goal (I think).

Thanks Cumbria Lass! So true! I think the numbers this time scared me into action, as the figure was (marginally) higher than our mortgage! Is now less than the mortgage -hurrah! ( And our equity is significantly more than the debt, thank goodness and is the only thing that lets me sleep at night!) :eek: I know it’s a long journey, and Uni stretches it out even further as we will be subsidising the kids so much, but as long as it’s going down I’m happy.

Bigskies

Hanging on in there.
This month we have:
-Redone the mortgage, which was on a fixed rate that was up for renewal. We briefly considered consolidating, then gave ourselves a good talking too, and fixed the rate for five years, which hopefully will see us through to our dfd.
-Paid off a loan. This frees up a couple of hundred pounds a month, which is going to be thrown at a credit card (that’s on 0% and want to clear before it becomes interest paying) then once that’s clear will start to go to Uni savings/emergency fund.
-eBay sales have dried up, I have not listed anything for ages, so need to get onto that.
-I am at target at fat club, so that means I won’t be paying out for that anymore. It has been much, much needed, and I have dropped over four stone but it has gone and I feel so much more healthy. I’m walking and cycling now and that should keep it off as I do not plan on ever having to do it again!
-Waiting on the last couple of bills so I can do month end totals. I am seeing totals dropping as the bills are coming in, which is really encouraging.
-Youngest child has an appointment for an NHS service. We have been paying for private treatment for the last three years so this is a massive deal and will save us 30-50 a month, to go into credit card payments. It’s likely to be another five to six months before they pick up full treatment, but it is at least a light at the end of the tunnel!

So all in all, going well. Some small spends are still happening, but actually we are in for such a long haul, we cannot live completely frugally for five years as life will just be miserable, but we are avoiding the big spends, long haul holidays and expensive clothes and handbags!

Hope everyone is well, will update next week once totals are all in!

enthusiasticsaver

Some really good successes this month then.

Bigskies

Yes, getting there, es. It’s a long slog and blooming hard work keeping motivated, especially I find at this time of year when it’s dark and gloomy and cold. I do feel I have a bit of SAD as struggle so much over Winter, and especially at this time of year, when Spring seems so near, yet so far!
Still no one else got us in this mess, so have to have my (slightly less) big girl pants on and just get on with it! I am determined to repay it all, and not go down the dmp or iva route. When we’ve paid it all off, I want to move, so will need to be able to get another mortgage!

Sunkencosts

Keep going Bigskies - kudos for losing the weight - I've been trying to lose weight for about 5 years now and never seem able to manage more than half a stone!
I think we're on a similar timescale and I'm at the very start, trying to look for inspiration from the long-haulers as I'm so good at starting something and not following through!

Bigskies

Another month end is here and so totals are in.

Total reduced this month by £1176.65, so sub 65k! :j

Total paid off so far, £3584.27 which is great.

I’d like it to be more, but this is the first time ever it’s not gone up, especially for three months in a row, so really chuffed.

Next target is sub 60k, which I am hoping to hit by the Autumn.

System

Well done on getting below 65k , onwards and downwards .

Bigskies

Well, Easter weekend is here, so four days off work -woohoo!
We are having a quiet weekend. Budget done for the month now all pay is in and it’s not too bad, April is horrific as there are loads of family birthdays (immediate, so this household and siblings and other small children) but have bought everything already from budgeted funds (:j) so just need to wrap and give out. We’re away for a few days the second week of the holidays but it was a super cheap break, in the UK. Really looking forward to just getting away for a few days, and spending some time as a family before the chaos of the exam season starts!
No huge financial plans this month, just carrying on plodding on with everything, keeping the numbers heading in the right direction and sticking to the budget.
Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, if you can!

brizzlegirl

Just read your diary BigSkies...:) have subscribed and look forward to cheering you on to sub £60k and below!! I have kids of a smilar age to you..and supposedly had a LBM in 2003.... ....(idiot that I am) well clearly it has an intermittent fault as I have been in and out and debt since then..most recently cleared in 2015 ( I think...you would think it was etched in my brain)... but then have run up some more. Holidays to see dear friends and be with those we love has been a big drain, (like you I love NZ, but taking 4 has been very pricey!) as has sometimes being PT, although it has probably saved my and OHs sanity.

Everything is a balance...just remember you need to keep everything afloat as you pay the money off. Exam season will be hard...I wish you and them the best of luck

Have a relaxing Easter

X

Bigskies

Dilemma time. I’ve come into some money. It’s not a huge amount, in the general scheme of our debt, but it’s about £4.5k

There are a couple of things we need at home, hubby needs new glasses, we need to replace a loo, and a window that are both broken, and have been for a while. But that should still leave us about 3.5k.

Part of me thinks we should put it in a savings account as emergency fund, as our boiler will need replacing in the next couple of years and will cost 3.5k. (It’s a very old back boiler so need rads changing and pipe work and the tanks taking out, hence the cost)

The other part of me thinks I should use it to clear a credit card. Which will bring our total to sub 60k.

I do have anxiety about how we would replace the boiler if it goes, so I guess I’m thinking that whilst mathematically it makes sense to clear a card as we will save the interest, from a sanity perspective saving it might be a more sensible option.

Thoughts?