£50k to zero - made it across the finish line

One-step-at-a-time

Card totals have all been updated and I now have only £115 left on Bcard. 
Hoping to be able to chip away enough to pay it off before the end of August. I've currently got £6.28 outstanding in my Prolific account, £15 due in from craft sales and possibly another £10 or so in my PayPal account, so that's more than 25% of the balance covered already. I was paying £200/month on it which will be moved straight to the next card.
I'm starting to get really fed up with flaky, daft or just plain rude people on FB marketplace. I'm still trying to sell my bookcase (two no-shows in the last week) - it's listed with pictures, measurements, and a note to prospective buyers to measure their car to make sure it will fit. This morning's query: 'Will it fit in a small car?'
I despair sometimes! Too much mental energy spent on trying to make £10, but it's far too good to just ditch. I guess I'll just have to be patient...

One-step-at-a-time

Barclaycard now down to the last £95! Craft sales and Prolific still to add, so less than £75 to find over the next three weeks. I can do this!

One-step-at-a-time

Treading water now. 18 days to payday and every penny is allocated - no spare funds whatsoever in the current account. I have a feeling the time is going to drag! I'm waiting to find out what my final energy bill is from the old provider and whether I have it covered or need to dip into the EF for it. I can cash out from Prolific to do my next tiny payment to BCard when the latest survey gets approved. It would be oh so easy to just borrow from the EF to pay that last tiny bit, but I don't want to tempt fate like that!

At the moment I have my fingers crossed about a potential piece of work that I've been shortlisted for, which, if it comes to fruition, will take me a whole month closer to target. I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but the thought of being able to knock off almost four figures off the debt in one fell swoop is lovely!

One-step-at-a-time

Best news of the week - we switched energy suppliers a couple of months ago. The final bill has arrived and we're getting a £260 refund!
I can now wipe out the last £70 on the BCard and decide how much to pay off the next card, and whether to divert any to savings. Still waiting for some payments on Prolific to take me to the cashout minimum, but including pending payments that's now over £9, with £15 more in craft sales still to add to the overall total. So that's pretty good progress this week.

No news on the potentially lucrative bit of work - we were due to hear 'early this week' and it's resolutely midweek now, so I'm going to assume that the successful people have been notified and try to forget about it (while still secretly hoping for an email). Disappointing, but not unexpected.

in_need_of_direction

Do you realise that If you put the pots of money Mentioned above to debt, you’re within £50 of being under £15k

One-step-at-a-time

in_need_of_direction said:

Do you realise that If you put the pots of money Mentioned above to debt, you’re within £50 of being under £15k

Oh, I'm well aware (*post edit* it would actually be £116 away as the sig includes the BCard payment already made) Look back through any page of this diary and you'll see constant updates and references to spreadsheets. I know where I am to the last penny. This is money that was not expected, and it's nice to have the choice to give the EF or the annual bills pot (house insurance is due next month) or the savings an unexpected boost if I want to. I'll be under 15k in two weeks either way!

Elisheba

Hi One Step,

I have been looking through your diary and have found it very inspiring.  Its great how you have really taken charge of the debt, and have manged to reduce it so much!  I love how organised you are about it all - it really motivates me to be the same  :-)

Elisheba

Drawingaline

Two weeks to below 15k 😱😁

One-step-at-a-time

Drawingaline said:

Two weeks to below 15k 😱😁

So close I can almost smell it!
Round up of the week: did nothing (apart from work), spent nothing. Business as usual! Nipping to Lidl later this evening to pick up (hopefully) the last of this month's shopping and take advantage of the £5 voucher from the new app. The saved £5 will go straight to the card as the food budget is still on target. I'm not feeling particularly dynamic or inspired at the moment so haven't made any weekend plans yet - this may actually be the weekend that some woodwork gets painted. 
Also, hi Elisheba!
I confess that part of my determination is that I am a bit fear-driven (and more than a bit stubborn). I want this burden gone, for peace of mind more than anything else. Nothing about the future feels particularly certain, debt makes things more precarious, and as long as its within my power to tackle it head-on, that's what I'll be doing. 

Next milestones:
£58.79 to go before I have paid off £35,000. 
£227.7 to go before I hit 70% paid.
£301 to go to break the £15k barrier. 
All within the next two weeks

One-step-at-a-time

This morning I decided that a good bit of paper shredding and recycling was in order, and tackled what was left of the demonic folder of credit card statements of yore. It was sobering reading. I had kept the annual statements from my old cards. They confirmed what I have long since known, but never totted up before - more than 20% of my debt is accumulated interest from the 4-5 year period before reality hit. Basically from November onwards I will no longer be paying for past spendiness, I'll be paying off a truly gigantic sum of idiot tax.
I will be forever thankful that we managed to regain control of things when we did.