This Duo's debt free journey

HairyHandofDartmoor

Nicnak wrote: »

The 1% is to divide your debt by 100 and that gives you 1% of your debt.

Every time you pay off 1% of your debt, you celebrate it and that's what you aim for.

I have written 1% 100 times on paper and cut them out and put them in a jar. Every time I pay off £170 I take out a 1% card and pop it into another jar so I can see it moving. As this is a long term thing, it is easier to hit the little targets and I can see the empty pot start to grow.

Does that make sense? x

That's a brilliant idea Nicnak, really visual

HairyHandofDartmoor

Enjoy your weekend with DS DFD and good luck with the ebay sales

Willowtree222

Enjoy Disney on ice x

DebtFreeDuo

Being away from here even for a few days is never a good idea for me, it is pretty much guaranteed to result in overspending. We have had a lovely weekend and I wouldn't take back a second of it. So now to move on to the damage, I think in total the whole weekend cost was around £75 and I need to fill my car earlier than I wanted to because of half term.

What remains of my money (until January) is as follows:
Cash/bank: 64.68
Vouchers: 68.29
Incoming (PA/eBay): 40 (will work on this area to lower overdraft usage)

What I will to spend on:
Christmas: 7 presents left, I plan to use the above vouchers and also my nectar points in the double up event so this is all covered.
Fuel: If I am strict on my usage of my car then I could potentially get away with £55 but realistically I will probably need more, around the £100 mark.
MOT: Due December, hoping and praying that my car doesn't need any work doing and therefore hopefully will come in at £50.
Food: My biggest cost, tried to keep this below £100 in October but my last shop tipped my over, going to really make an effort to keep this below £200 for the next 2 months.
Gas and electric: Thankfully this is covered now that my warm home discount has come through, this is such a relief!
Car parking: I am going to make more of an effort to cycle in to uni over the next 6 weeks, I'm hoping that I won't need any more than £20 for parking, the only other option would be to park about 1.5/2 miles away and then walk in but I'm not sure if I have the time in the mornings for this.
Entertainment: Going to set myself a budget of £50, I was going to leave this completely blank but then I know I would be setting myself up for failure, especially at this time of year.

Total: £420

This means going in to the overdraft by around £320 and staying this way until around May.

So what have I learnt for next term? I need to set my budgets first and then only overpay with what I can afford rather than picking a debt and paying it off and then living with what is left. I have already set my budgets for Jan-April but I will go over them before actually overpaying.

I have joined a challenge for November, as I did in October, and have set myself some goals. My biggest two areas for November need to be my studies and decluttering. Decluttering should hopefully bring in some extra money which I will put straight towards lowering the overdraft usage. I am extremely lucky in that I won't face any charges for using this facility because of it being a student account.

One thing I should think about is the possibility of going back to work over the Christmas holidays. I have the option of going back to work whenever I want to but I have always felt that for now the cons outweigh the pros.

Pros: Extra money (but reduced benefits).
Cons: Lose time for studying (exam revision time) and time with DS. Sorting out childcare.

So much to do and think about and so little time.

Willowtree222

Setting goals is helping me achieve other goals in money so fingers crossed it does the same for you as well.

It's good that you have planned everything out though as to where you are going.

The weekend was an enjoyable one for you both.

Decluttering always makes me feel like i have achieved something. It helps to clear the mind they say as well! I hate decluttering, but sometimes it just has to be done.

DebtFreeDuo

I really hope the goals will help, my DFD should still remain the same which is great but I'm constantly learning on this journey.

Yes I think decluttering will really help me, I've been down for a couple of months now and I need to get out of it, doing nothing certainly won't help me feel any better!

Willowtree222

I've learnt so much about myself too. Having a diary really has helped!

117pauline

Morning Duo

It's good you have come back feeling more positive.

Sometimes, even if I am the one to set the rules, I just have to break them. I think that's just human nature. We have ups and downs in our emotions as well as our situations. As long as you go back to the plan, amending it if you have to, means you are headed in the right direction.

Enjoy the rest of the week
Pauline

DebtFreeDuo

I feel the same Nicnak, a diary really does help, its hard to always keep it purely about finances but then I feel that everything that goes on in your life has an effect on your finances and writing down how you are feeling whilst also putting down where your finances are at really help you look back and evaluate your habits.

Thank you for your kind words Pauline, I know that I will have slip ups over the year, I think it would be completely unrealistic to expect everything to go to plan but I am headed in the right direction and as long as I feel like that then I am happy. I completely understand breaking the rules, I agree that its human nature.

DebtFreeDuo

Wow its November already! It completely went out of my mind that today is a day for updating totals (monthly payment and interest added). I have updated my signature but totals are now:

Loan: £1923.70 (woohoo below £2k)
Car loan: £2306.82
CC: £1036.90

Total: £5267.42

This time next month I will be in the 4k bracket, then January I should be in the 2k bracket! Getting there slowly.