Time to turn this around

FiscalPickle

@Drawingaline I popped onto the WW thread before, looking forward to sharing some hints and tips :j

FiscalPickle

I'm going to see if I can save any extra this month to put towards the CC. I won't need any clothes, trying to hold off buying anything while I've still got a significant amount of weight to lose. It was my larger trousers getting tighter that spurred me on to rejoin WW

FiscalPickle

It's been a relatively uneventful month on the MSE front, just trundling on paying off the debt and trying to stick to budget. Some wins recently have been:-

• Selling a few more bits lying around the house, which is decidedly de-cluttered
• Staying out of the overdraft
• More cooking at home, which is WW as well as purse-friendly
• Feeling the need to 'treat myself' less - I am more content with what I have rather than feeling the need to accumulate more stuff

It looks like I may be in line for a significant tax rebate, subject to the tax office checking my assessment. Fingers crossed!

Cherryfudge

That sounds like a good month's progress! Are you on the decluttering thread? It's a good source of encouragement though you seem to be getting there anyway.

I hope the tax rebate comes through for you: that would be very useful.

FiscalPickle

Thanks Cherry, I'll bimble over to the decluttering thread for some tips. My credit score has gone up to 966 so is back in the excellent range, which is encouraging. The debt to income ratio has widened, which is such a comfort.

FiscalPickle

Well, it's been an interesting and eventful 6 weeks since I last posted. The debt has come down a fair bit, sadly a family member passed away leaving me a windfall which meant I was able to pay off the car loan. Although one of the smaller debts, it was carrying more interest than the HSBC loan so that has saved me a few hundred pounds in the long term.

The debt total now stands at £13,214.54, which means £8,8,051.93 has been paid off - almost 40% of the total at my LBM. I'm pleased with this progress, but sad at the circumstances which have led to the jump forward.

I'm feeling proud that I'm still managing to stay out of my overdraft, I'm really a lot better at living within my means and telling myself 'no' to purchases. Now, a purchase is thoroughly researched, shopped around for, bought when on offer if possible or with a benefit attached such as extra loyalty points. I'm going to need new work trousers soon but I'm hanging in until I'm hopefully a size down,

WW has been going well with slow but steady losses. I'm 10lbs down since May with some quite significant shrinkage on the inches front.

Drawingaline

Wow, well done on the weight loss. The 10lb I lost has well and truly been put back on these past few weeks on holiday. However I have to remember, I am no worse off than I was!

Sorry to here of the loss of your family member.

Cherryfudge

I'm sorry to hear of your loss, FiscalPickle.

It's great that you've saved all those interest payments - with a bit of snowballing it will take more off other debts too.

Nice one on the weight loss!

FiscalPickle

I thought I'd revisit my Debt Free Diary as it's been a while, I am now officially debt-free and have saved 9.5% of a house deposit! This also functions as an emergency fund if needed, £250 of £500 each month goes into a savings account with a rate of 2.75% over the year, the rest into an instant access account. I will look into another savings account with a better rate of interest once there is enough to warrant doing so. 

I allow myself a little more £ each month for personal spending such as make up and clothing, this keeps me on the straight and narrow in respect of temptation. I really do not miss the worry and stress of having large CC balances weighing around my neck like a millstone. My advice to anyone starting out on a DF journey is to keep plugging away, the view from the bottom of the mountain isn't great but once you reach the top and have freedom from consumer debt it is really empowering! 

FiscalPickle

Good news in the recent budget about 95% mortgages coming back, not sure if they will still be around when DH and I are ready to buy. I’ve started having an idle look in our area and have a spreadsheet of all our expenses ticking over ready for an application.