This Duo's debt free journey

DebtFreeDuo

Well I have a big spend coming up at some point in the near future, I think soon I will need to replace my laptop. I'm trying to wait to see whether it does actually die or not. If it could hold out until the beginning of next year then that would be fantastic as it would give me some time to clear my debt and then save for one. Fingers crossed!

I have just received my bonus nectar points from my CC sign up a few months ago, my total nectar balance is now sitting at around £190. I need to look into whether I can use any of this to save some money, unfortunately the nectar offers don't seem as good as clubcard. Will definitely be saving most of it for the double up event before Christmas though as that will be lots of presents sorted!

Had some money come in earlier than planned so have used it to pay off the debt this month rather than next month, total debt cleared in May now stands at £562.60, will increase when I receive the interest rebate too. I'm now well under the £3k mark at £2672. I'm really happy that this has come in this month as now I will have to work to find the extra £50 or so to bump June up to £500, I will certainly have the time to do this.

Falling a little behind with my yearly goals at the moment, this doesn't worry me too much as I know I will get back on top of them once this month is over. The summer will definitely be spent trying to improve my financial position.

DebtFreeDuo

My eye has seriously been off the ball since my last post! I will start with a positive in that I think I have done ok with my exams so that's something and I guess it make it worth the temporary blip with the finances.
Ok so here goes, my current debt total stands at £2598.53. On the face of it this doesn't look too bad in comparison to a month ago but in reality this should be at least £300 less and I couldn't even tell you where it's gone. I guess this is what happens when you're not thinking about spending, it just gets frittered away. I've spent the morning trying to get my spreadsheets balanced, I hadn't updated them in over a month. I think I am finally there with them. I'm doubting my DFD at the moment, I'm worried I won't clear it by the end of this year but I'm certainly going to try my best. I had a 0% coming to the end so I have transferred this over to another 0%.

June is going to be a tight month as I have taken out what I had spent so far from the budget I usually allow myself, as I had taken my eye off the ball I had spent a little more than I should have done by this point. I'm hoping that July will be a good month and that I can start making some overpayments again. I have £150 owed from a friend which I am hoping will come in this month to use towards an overpayment, current June payments are only looking at £299 so I want to increase this. If I have any hope of clearing this debt this year then I need to be clearing a minimum of £500 per month.

Apologies if this is just a messy ramble, I have been putting off coming here but now that I have owned up to it I can get back on track!

EssexHebridean

Haha DFD I sailed into last weekend saying it would be a low-spend one, then managed to remember loads of things we needed when I was grocery shopping and spent somewhere a bit over £60 across Lil's Al's and ThaT supermarkeT - so don't beat yourself up too much!

Well done on picking up on the offer end on that 0% card and getting it transferred to a new deal.

DebtFreeDuo

Thank you EH, I've had the 0% card for a while and they are always offering me balance transfers so I thought I would make the most of it. I really need to close down some of my cards though! I can close down the one I've transferred from and also the new one I got with the welcome offer as I have the £100 in nectar points now. That will leave me with 3 cards, one that is a pretty awful card but I have had for years so reluctant to close, one that I use for shopping and clear each month as I earn nectar points from it and the one with the 0% debt on it.

I'm trying not to beat myself up too much and I know that I now have a lot of time to get back on track. I have a pile of stuff that I need to list so I will get that done this week and hopefully that will help a little! Supermarkets really do get me, I think I might try a month of doing online shops, when I pop in I am guaranteed to pick up something that I didn't intend on buying!

DebtFreeDuo

Have had to go over all my finances as I have just been notified of a 12% rent increase! This has hit me quite hard, I really wasn't prepared for it at all. It means that between now and December I will be £500 worse off. I'm hoping that I can make some adjustments to cover this but I'm pretty certain it will push my debt free date back to next year. I know this isn't the end of the world but I was really looking forward to having it all cleared this year.

Not much else to report really, everything is just going along. No big spends or overpayments.

ladymay

Oh, how frustrating! Hope you and the little one are good other than that x

DebtFreeDuo

I'm feeling quite stressed out over finances at the moment, everything just feels impossible. I start getting on track and then something comes along to knock me right off track.

Having problems with my water bill at the moment, have been eligible for a discount on my water for the past couple of years and this year they have decided that I'm not eligible although nothing has really changed. I have reapplied since my rent has increased but if its declined again then I'm going to need to try and find £350 from somewhere.

Have had a few sales of some old clothes and bits, only around £25 after postage and fees but I will send it over to the loan once they have all finished.

I think I need to face the fact that my debt won't completely be cleared until January 2020. This is really bothering me as I had my heart set on it being cleared this year but its really affecting my mood so I need to accept it and move forward. Clearing it even by then is still an achievement with such a restricted income so I need to see it this way instead of always believing that I'm failing. Really I should apply this across all areas of my life, not just the finances. Failure is something I struggle with, I always feel as though I'm failing at something.

I'm going to try and get on here more regularly, my life is lacking routine at the moment and I think thats part of why I'm struggling. I think I will start to set aside some time every Sunday for keeping on top of the finances and also trying the reduce the debt little by little. My current debt total stands around the £2k mark, I have cleared £500 a month for around 4 months in a row earlier in the year but the end of the year is always the hardest for me.

Right thats enough for today, I will be back soon! Hopefully less stressed out and with a better plan.

DebtFreeDuo

So trying to be more on my finances now, mission clear debt in 2019 (trying to be hopeful).

Current debt stands at £2325.04, I am owed just under £500 from a family member which I have always deducted from my debt total but I'm not going to going forward.

Currently have £69.37 in my paypal account from sales, I usually deduct the postage and then send everything leftover as an overpayment but I am going to send over the whole amount as the postage has already been paid and the pots balanced.

So debt total now stands at £2255.67. The summer is the most difficult time of the year for me financially as it is the longest period without any student finance payments. That along with the rent increase will mean no big overpayments for a little while until I have adjusted.

In other news I have picked up a couple of things towards Christmas (very early I know). I received some vouchers in the post for £16 off an £80 spend instore so along with my usual food shop I popped in a couple of toys that were reduced from £10 down to £3 for my niece. I had already got her a book so the 3 combined and she's all finished, I may just add in a pack of hatchimals as she loves them but I will pick those up during the nectar double up which is usually in November. During prime day I picked up a bottle of whiskey that was on offer for my dad so that is him also done. I'm hoping that I will pick up most of my other presents with my nectar points, I've been using a nectar credit card for purchases and they had introductory offers on so I am currently up to £250 on my nectar card. I should be able to double up £100 of this during the double up if they have it on this year which will mean my boys presents will be covered along with some other family members.

Anyway, enough of getting ahead of myself with Christmas, it is still summer after all. I'm feeling a little more positive today and I'm ready to face the debt! If it is January before its cleared then so be it, it is only 1 more month in the grand scheme of things.

DebtFreeDuo

Balanced my spreadsheets and sorted my pots for August. Going to try to get back on track with my 2019 goals this month. Biggest one I have fallen behind on I think is the NSDs. Target was 160 for the year, I have 98 to go to hit this which is around 19 a month, with very careful planning it is doable.

Willowtree222

I am sure you will manage this! It will just take planning. xx