Crunchy's Final Debt Free Diary! 16 June 2018 at 12:12PM in Debt free diaries 396 replies 32.2K views

crunch_time

Hello everyone!

Yesterday I celebrated 4 years of keeping a diary on here!

So much has changed in that time. We have moved house twice, welcomed our daughter into the family and paid down a whole lot of debt and also racked up a whole lot more.

Last year we managed to pay off around £12k of a loan in about 5-6 months and a year ago we had only £2800 left to go. We then decided to move and at the same time I quit a job I hated to do a course and I'm now about to set up a business doing something that I love.

Moving house and living off one income has meant that we are now around £13k in debt again. I no longer feel guilty about it I just want to pay it off as soon as possible in a sustainable way that has little impact on our current living standards (we are quite frugal but could def improve).

I'm calling this the final diary as I really mean it. This is my 5 diary I think in 4 years and we want to get our lifestyle nailed once and for all so we don't have to do this again and can move onto tackling our HUGE mortgage!

I look forward to this challenge and hope that you will join me!

Crunchy x

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

dawnybabes

Whoop, onwards and upwards x

enthusiasticsaver

Living off one income is hard these days but hopefully your business will start to bring in an income soon. The credit cards all appear to be 0 so are you tackling the overdraft first?

crunch_time

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Living off one income is hard these days but hopefully your business will start to bring in an income soon. The credit cards all appear to be 0 so are you tackling the overdraft first?

My signature needs to be updated for sure. My HSBC one is all 0% but husbands saisnburys one is not all 0%. I recently tried to apply for a new 0% for him but was rejected so we are stuck for now paying about £20 interest a month.

My sainsburys one is about £4k now with about £1.5k at 0% until August next year.

We also have husbands HSBC one with about £500 on it as have had to have new tyres put on the car.

The overdraft will stay on the back burner for a few more months. It costs us £10 a month but we do need to be rid of it by the end of the year.

At the moment I need to work out exactly what is on my sainsburys card and work out a plan with that one as it is the biggest and most expensive. I also need to make sure we have enough money to get us through the month.

Last year husband got a 10% pay rise in July so wondering if the same thing will happen this year. Not relying on it but it would be nice!!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Morning debt free diaryland!!

So yesterday I registered myself as self employed and bought the url for my company! Such a great and big step for me.

Next step is to sort out the website and my pricing structure and I!!!8217;m off!! Oh just need to get my head around selling myself too! Ha ha!!

I have also made an appointment with a supply agency for work 1-2 days a week to supplement my income. Day rate is £120 so a nice little earner if I can get the work.

I checked out husbands potential pay rise as well. Last year!!!8217;s payslip says he was paid an extra £150 a month from end of July. So if the same thing happens again it will be then. I should imagine if it does he!!!8217;ll get a letter.

I still need to go through my cc with a fine tooth comb and figure out exactly what is on there and then devise a plan of action.

Pay day is next Friday! Yippee!!

Crunchy x

hugglemonster

Best wishes Crunchy, you sound determined!

onedaysomeday

Good luck

crunch_time

Just looked at my sains credit card account online and its a horrific £4784!!!!! I can't look at statements as it said that part of the system was down but it's about £700 over what I thought.

Ah well. It will all get paid off for sure!!

Crunchy

crunch_time

Signature now updated £12,205 in debt and ready to SMASH!!!

Crunchy xx

crunch_time

Right,

£519 will come off the debt next Friday just from a combination of min payments and planned overpayments. I also have some shoes to return tomorrow which will knock £20 off.

My HSBC card is the one that is just going to run for the time being. It!!!8217;s the only one that is completely 0%. The min payment is £79 this month.

I need to review our budget for sure. The great thing about this debt is that it is a great indicator of how we are spending our money. We haven!!!8217;t gone overboard in anyway these last 6 months just struggled to make ends meet in a bigger house with only one income. Time for an honest look at our lifestyle and see where we can make changes if any.

Crunchy x