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

DasDachs

Wow that’s fantastic and inspirational- I’m at the start of my DFW journey, but am really pleased for you! All
of these diaries are really helpful 👍
Well done!

One-step-at-a-time

Thank you all! It was a bit anticlimactic on the day, but yesterday I arranged to close the card that I took out 16 months ago for my final balance transfer and cancelled the direct debit, and that was a good feeling. 

I'm also back to the decluttering and organising things to freecycle or sell - no resting on laurels around here! There's a series of planned expenses coming up over the next few months (deferred maintenance/replacement of things that are truly worn out), so the next phase of serious saving etc. is unlikely to begin before March or thereabouts. The important thing though is that we have a plan.

mark55man

Agreed, it's your call obviously, but if I can add some reader feedback, I do enjoy reading dairies which cover "the first few months post DF", as people get used to paying themselves first and yes taking the foot off a little, but basically maintaining the discipline that got them DF and not the earlier circumstances that got them into trouble - like maintenance mode on a diet  

One-step-at-a-time

Cheers @mark55man. I'm aware that we might be a bit of an anomaly in that our planned expenses for the next few months are going to look like a firehose of spendiness. We have at least 5k of deferred maintenance tasks to do in the form of replacements and repair that have been waiting YEARS to be done. While we're still firmly in the 'none of this extra money is ours' mindset is the time to do the stuff that will only get more expensive if we delay it for much longer. This will take us through to next spring. Additional squirrelling in the meantime is in the form of increased contributions to my pension (deducted from payroll) and ISA (standing order at the end of each month) as well as what goes into the normal savings & expenses pots, and I will not be dropping the ball on finding extra ways of earning money to pay for extras (see also: will run for cake ). We've been in the habit of paying ourselves first for the duration of this (even though sometimes the amounts have been tiny) and the only thing that will change over time is that future us will be given more!

mark55man

Sounds very familiar - I think we will be in the same spot when we finally get clear.  Although not sure that to start doing DIY in mid winter is as good an idea as the early months of Autumn

One-step-at-a-time

Ooh, a pay rise effective from the end of the month! First one in a good few years. It's hardly enormous (1.5%) but I will be upping my ISA contributions accordingly. If I don't see it, it can't be frittered. No hedonic adaptation allowed

remote_control

ahhh I missed the big day! Congratulations!!!! I have enjoyed following your diary and look forward to following your MFW one too 

One-step-at-a-time

Thanks @remote_control!

I'm calling time on this diary - thanks to everyone who has joined in over the last few years!