Target 31.03.19 23 June 2018 at 9:16AM in Debt free diaries 10 replies 943 views

Strictly_Serious

This diary is to keep me on the straight and narrow (as I've meandered off a bit recently) and focused on a debt-free date of 31st March 2019. Since I arrived at under £10,000 worth of debt, I've slipped back into bad habits. I buy food on the way home instead of meal planning, my internet shopping site of choice is delivering parcels more often than is healthy and I booked a holiday which was less affordable than I optimistically thought back in the dark days of January.

So I need to:
1. get back into the habit of having no spend days (4 a week is achievable)
2. Meal plan carefully
3. Take lunches to work
4. Go through each bill/supplier and check if I can get a better deal

The totals in my signature will be updated regularly in a mission to keep on the straight and narrow. I'm feeling determined! Pay day is next week but my first step is to tackle gas and electricity right now...

Scott_Chegg

good luck. I have subscribed and will be cheering you on toward your goals:T

Strictly_Serious

Thank you! The tariff on my gas and electricity was nearly up and, even after a look on uswitch, I couldn't find anything much better than a couple of £ cheaper than my current supplier. The direct debit may also have to go up after my next payment on the 6th. I have a smart meter yet I can hear my tumble dryer spinning right now so there's much 'smart' going on in this house (the sun is currently shining through the windows as the breeze dries my next-door-neighbours' washing ). I have a new item on the list of things I must do - stop wasting electricity (although the towels are so much softer...)
Next is to look at the TV, phone and broadband package. All any of the four members of our household seem to do is via streaming so I'm not sure why we need the biggest TV package.

pidge04

You have inspired me to get a date for my debt free target!

Good luck! You are off to a great start!

Strictly_Serious

Spoken to the TV, broadband and phone people. I do need to enhance my negotiating skills, however £13 off a month is not insignificant for chipping away at the debt. Now if only I could do that with every bill...

pidge04

Well done!

Strictly_Serious

Today is going to be a no spend day, the first one for a long time (football will have to be the entertainment for the day as well as concocting wonderfully strange meals from what's left in the fridge and freezer).
Tomorrow is OH's pay day and a standing order from him goes into my account each month for his share of the bills. My pay day will follow on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to chipping a little away from the debts. However, the final payment for the holiday is due on the 9th July. I have got some money saved for this but only £1050 (it's obvious from this total that there was more but I have been a bit rubbish and siphoned off £50 here and there - for birthdays mainly - another bad habit I've developed:() The holiday will go on the credit card as planned but -unlike my ambitious January plan - it won't be paid off immediately :mad: I have included the holiday in the signature so that amount will just move onto the cc and I can use the savings to pay down the cc. Due to the interest on the cc, I'll have to focus on that debt first.
Other money-saving endeavours this morning, the washing is on the line outside! The tumble-dryer looks dejected. I also have found out the smart meter reader/display whatever-it's-called and stuck it in view of the tumble dryer. This morning's task - to research into what people in households like mine use in fuel in a day and set myself another target to keep under that. Trying to save the planet and beat the debt tiny step by tiny step...

Strictly_Serious

My energy supplier's website has lots of statistics that basically say we're not normal. 23% in electricity and 31% in gas more than the average people (and average is just the middle part of the graphic, there's a 'good' bit too. Who are these 'good' people? How can I be one of them?! :laugh:). My inner dictator is stirring; I'm going to be busy switching everything off the second someone walks away from it...

Strictly_Serious

Paid £100 to the bank of mum and dad. It is usually more per month but as it's paying the holiday month, they have said £100 is fine. It's not fine really and I am really keen to give them all their money back - so much so I sometimes look at bank loans to pay them back. :eek: They don't need it in any rush; it's just I don't like the feeling of being in debt to them. A faceless bank is a different thing entirely.
I bought my lunch from the shop today despite there being leftover lasagne, salad and soups in the fridge. It's purely lack of organisation on my part but £3 which could have been put to better use. Tomorrow is another day... and Thursday is pay day. Roll on Thursday!

Strictly_Serious

A big chunk of this month's wages has gone onto the credit card (from which I had paid the remainder of the holiday). It means July will be tight but, before booking the slightly too expensive holiday, I had arrived at the stage in my debt-free journey where, if I used the cc, I paid it off religiously in full each month. So having even this reduced total of £1354 still on it makes me uncomfortable. And now there is nothing left in the savings account so if there is a disaster, the credit card will take another hit.
The target is not just to be debt free; it is really to get to a stage where I don't even think about money. I'd like to spend my time and effort on something else! That really means in the long term that I need to get rid of the debt and then build enough savings that it could act as a buffer for all the things that might go wrong in one go. My dad is about to be 80 and will have a pension rise of 25p a week! However, because they have been sensible throughout their lives (my mother was 42 when they paid off their mortgage... if only) they could see the funny side of the pitiful rise. They can do things like get a new boiler or windows when they need replacing. It seems like a small goal in life, but I've never wanted to be a millionaire. I just want to not have to think about money!
Next steps, it will take at least two more months to get the cc paid off. Then I need to work on slowly building the savings whilst paying down to bank of parents loan.
In other news, my daughter wanted a hoodie that went on sale last night on some vloggers' site for £50. It was her birthday 2 weeks ago and I promised that could be part of her present. I may now need to work on instilling some sensible-with-money orientated goals in my children as I'm not sure buying a £50 hoodie is really teaching anyone anything:o

enthusiasticsaver

Strictly_Serious wrote: »

A big chunk of this month's wages has gone onto the credit card (from which I had paid the remainder of the holiday). It means July will be tight but, before booking the slightly too expensive holiday, I had arrived at the stage in my debt-free journey where, if I used the cc, I paid it off religiously in full each month. So having even this reduced total of £1354 still on it makes me uncomfortable. And now there is nothing left in the savings account so if there is a disaster, the credit card will take another hit.
The target is not just to be debt free; it is really to get to a stage where I don't even think about money. I'd like to spend my time and effort on something else! That really means in the long term that I need to get rid of the debt and then build enough savings that it could act as a buffer for all the things that might go wrong in one go. My dad is about to be 80 and will have a pension rise of 25p a week! However, because they have been sensible throughout their lives (my mother was 42 when they paid off their mortgage... if only) they could see the funny side of the pitiful rise. They can do things like get a new boiler or windows when they need replacing. It seems like a small goal in life, but I've never wanted to be a millionaire. I just want to not have to think about money!
Next steps, it will take at least two more months to get the cc paid off. Then I need to work on slowly building the savings whilst paying down to bank of parents loan.
In other news, my daughter wanted a hoodie that went on sale last night on some vloggers' site for £50. It was her birthday 2 weeks ago and I promised that could be part of her present. I may now need to work on instilling some sensible-with-money orientated goals in my children as I'm not sure buying a £50 hoodie is really teaching anyone anything:o

Having an emergency savings account is a strong precursor to getting and staying out of debt. This avoids having to put further bills on the credit card when they crop up. Many people have a target to get out of date and slow up as you did as they get near so setting a target for savings is also a good idea. We save for holidays, car and house maintenance and a general savings pot plus our early retirement pot which we occasionally draw on now when our pensions don't cover our expenses during an expensive month.

Your parents are obviously sensible with money but I am not sure anyone can never think about money even when they have a big savings buffer. What they can do though is not have to worry or cut back when things happen like a broken car or boiler. That is the position we are in and I have to say we don't budget now as we did years ago when paying off the mortgage/saving for retirement but we do still keep separate pots for various things so we try to keep to an annual spend.

Teaching your daughter about financial discipline is definitely something you should do. My DDs were taught about the pitfalls of uncontrolled spending and taking out credit cards from their mid teens and they were taught to save from about 8 or 9. Never too young to start to get kids in a savings and budget habit. An acquaintance of mine was horrified and said kids should not have to worry about money but leaving it until they are much older means bad habits creep in. Her son spent his first student loan payment when he started University on having a great time in his first few weeks then had no money for rent, food, travel or books until my friend bailed him out. I think she still does that now from time to time and he is in his 30s. She says now she should have taught him about money when younger as he now resents having to watch what he spends.