This Duo's debt free journey

117pauline

So now I am turning you to drink!!

Debt busting is not a straightforward curve. You have done a really great job so far and you are learning.

I guess that in the past you would have a s#d it moment and just keep spending. So now you are looking at ways to minimise the use of the overdraft.

I've spent my weekend watching MotoGP. I love it and there was some fantastic racing, not like F1. We've been to Silverstone a couple of times to watch and it is really awe-inspiring watching the bikes close too.

Take care, have a good week
Pauline

DebtFreeDuo

Haha having a nice G&T is treating myself, I barely drink anymore as it is now more of a luxury.

It is definitely not straight forward but I do feel that I am learning more each week. I resisted the half price toy sale where before I would have thought 'ooh lets have a look if there is anything I could get for DS'

It sounds like you have has a nice weekend, my dad really enjoys F1 so I only know bits about that. Silverstone must have been so exciting, I think I heard something a while back about the potential of losing Silverstone? I could have just made that up and getting something else mixed up. I hope there was lots of tea and relaxation mixed in with your weekend.

I have taken the small steps approach today but I have combined different things, I have been doing 20-30 minutes of studying then a 15 minute clean followed by a 5-10 minute rest. Its actually working really well and I feel more motivated, I think the mix of different things is keeping my focus.

HairyHandofDartmoor

It us really hard to stick to a low food budget, especially when the prices keep going up but you are spending less than before which is what counts

Your small steps idea is very good

DebtFreeDuo

Ok so I have now adjusted my 2018 spreadsheet for Jan - Apr, instead of prioritising overpayments and then splitting what I have left between my pots I have instead worked out what I need in each pot and then worked out what I can overpay. Luckily I think I can still afford to clear the car loan (£2100) but at the end of April I will be around £300 into my overdraft. I think going into my overdraft (0%) will be worth it to save me £65 over the term of the loan.

I should also point out that during that period I will also be continuing putting £200 away each month in to my ISA which I have also continued to do over this period.

Willowtree222

Sounds like you're all ready and planned for next year. That's fantastic, I will need to sit down and do that myself.

Putting money away at the same time sounds like a great idea too.

DebtFreeDuo

Confession time, this morning I bought myself 2 new tops, total £11 and I bought DS a book to add to Christmas presents £3. I know Its because of how I'm feeling and I'm trying to make myself feel better, it could easily have been a lot worse as I was feeling very spendy. I'm going to get onto eBay tonight and list some of the things that I have been telling myself I will list for months, if I can get the £11 back from sales of some of my old stuff then it won't be such a bad thing.

Willowtree222

Don't be hard on yourself. You obviously recognise your emotional connection to spending. That's not a bad thing.

Like you said, you can also make the money back x

DebtFreeDuo

I'm not being too hard on myself, I think I realise that I need to treat myself so I've decided the money I get from my dad for Christmas is going to go on a couple of new bits of clothes for me, along with this I will list the huge pile on eBay and this will also go into a pot for me. Anything I sell that belonged to DS will go in a pot for him.

I definitely have an emotional connection to spending because I always want to try and make myself feel better by treating myself.

Willowtree222

I do exactly the same, but then I'm very negative about what I've done.
My little one has just announced she's asked Father Christmas for a hatchimal. They're really expensive so I've asked hubby to get that one. I get presets for everyone else so he should be ok with that.

DebtFreeDuo

I used to be but I think because it was a relatively small outburst then I don't feel too bad, I felt that I had control over what I was doing in the moment rather than thinking 'screw it I'm already headed for the overdraft anyway'.

Hatchimal's are very expensive and I don't think they do anything once they have hatched do they? Have you seen the little hatchimals? I bought some of those for my niece last year and she liked them at the time although they are probably all lost by now. Good that you can ask someone else to get it though and try and keep your personal spends down. I'm dreading DS getting a little older and asking for the more expensive things. He asked for a huge batman robot type thing that was £100 but I have had to tell him that he could have either that or the other present he wanted because Santa has a lot of children that he has to give presents to, luckily for me he chose the cheaper option.

In saying this I'm not sure how much to talk about Santa, I want DS to have the magic of Christmas without forcing the idea of Santa on to him if that makes any sense, they should have a manual for parents for this type of thing so that all children hear the same stories! I saw something doing the rounds on fb that said to only give one small present from Santa so that when the children went back to school the children who didn't get very much wouldn't feel that Santa bought them less which I thought was something to think about.

Sorry I got a little carried away there and went off on a bit of a tangent!