Spender to Saver - I want to be Debt Free before I'm 30!

adg89

Statements are in for VM and Aqua....


The interest is really making me feel a bit ill and I can't wait until VM is low enough that I can balance transfer it.


£37.84 for VM
£25.28 for Aqua


Total interest & overdraft charges so far: £75.12 :eek:


It's scary to think that we are basically paying my phone bill and extra each month just to have the pleasure of owing money to companies. Signature has been updated. I'm going to pay the minimum payment on VM this week plus a little more and then my big payment will go in next week when I am paid.


OH and I had to do some deliveries for his work last night so had a bit of a run-around mid-Essex.
We stopped at the last place for some dinner (we both got discount as we both work for the company) so final cost was £24.37 which has come out of the entertainment budget. We also used the time to go over our spreadsheets and budgets to see where money has been going this month - some discoveries were made...


OH is unable to come with me on Saturday to best friend's birthday so the budget for that night is now down to £20.

adg89

Oh, another one I forgot to add... we're paying off my best friend for the drag queen tickets on Friday when we see them so that will be another £36 off the total
One less person we owe money to!
Signature updated!

adg89

£39.76 spent in Aldi last night from the Groceries budget (although this came out of my Nationwide and needs to be paid back as I didn't have my wallet on me, only Apple Pay).


Out of this, I have managed to also get some cleaning products, bath/shower products and toothpaste so the food cost was only about £35. Considering our budget is £50 a week on Groceries, I think we're doing really well. The best part is that we have done no top-up shops in three weeks, and I'm learning to use what I have in the cupboards... small achievement!


After looking at the budgets in more depth, it looks like I need to be putting in about £65 extra a month to the house account as we seem to be falling short each month. I will be paying close attention to this account in the next couple of weeks as we have rent, water and internet all due out next week (total of just under £900 in one go).


I hope you're all having a good week

adg89

Pets at Home last night for a few needed doggy bits - food, biscuit bites for her puzzle ball and Dentastix.
I went in wanting to only buy 1 x 28 day pack of Dentastix but the offer was on for 2 months for £10 (usually £7.49 each) so this will save me during December!
Her food cost is going up as she has grown a lot in the last couple of months so she is now consuming an extra tin of food a day. This means we need to buy 4 double trays of food a month instead of 2. We should have 11 tins left going into January so we will start building a surplus.
Her booster jabs will be coming up in January as well, so we will both be putting in an extra £10 a month to buffer some of this.


OH's phone buyout is due to leave his account today but this hasn't happened yet.


No other spend yesterday.


Tomorrow I will be buying my best friend's birthday present & card however this is already budgeted for as I have the money set aside in a savings account - really proud that that account hasn't been touched all month!

lonelyrat

Hello Just found your thread and I am also aiming to be debt free before I'm 30! I'll be 29 next year and hopefully have my debt paid off before then, but who knows what will happen!

I have paid £1050 to my debts this month (overdraft & credit card).

:T That's fantastic! That's such a lot to pay off in one month which is fab!

I know it feels great making massive headway but there's no harm in adjusting your plan a bit to include more spends in the household budget
Will subscribe to cheer you on :beer:

adg89

Hi lonelyrat

Thanks for subscribing!


30 feels like it is still feasible but we wanted to really try and make as much headway as possible so we look good to creditors if I need a personal loan to pay off my car. The aim is to be paid off or as close as I can be by the target date so I look like a good risk.


We've paid off another £107.74 to my VM CC, £125.28 to OH's Aqua and £55 to OH's Capital One this morning as we were both paid by the restaurant. It's another great dent and the signature has been updated (we're over 20% paid off in the 1st month!).


Unfortunately, his phone buyout didn't go out yesterday and is actually due to go out on 3rd December so (fortunately, really), this gives us a few week's breathing space for him to make some savings towards that!


We are both just really excited about getting our debt down, as we spent the start of our relationship (last year) trying to impress eachother, and we now both look back and see how silly that was!


We've now paid off almost £2000 between us since 22nd October which is amazing but also shows how much money we were wasting previously so this month has been a real education in money management.


I think the adjustments in the house budget need to be made so we don't start to feel short. We want to get to the point where that account looks after itself and just builds up a little bit each month in case it's needed, so lowering the debt repayments to allow for this makes sense.


I'll have to find your diary and have a read, lonelyrat!

[Deleted User]

You've paid off so much in such a short time! Well done x

adg89

Thanks SSDD23

It's down to a lot of NSDs for both OH and me, and making sure that we are actively saying no to the things we don't need. We're both just desperate to see this gone as soon as possible.


OH is still on track to be debt-free by the end of the year on his credit cards, but he does owe some to mine so he will be helping me make payments to my card from January.


At the moment, it looks like I may miss my DFD of 25th March, but only by 2 weeks so it's not too bad, and it's making me look at where else we can make savings so I can meet my target

[Deleted User]

You've paid off more in a month that I make in a month I'm very jealous :rotfl:

adg89

Completely blew the budget for weekend spending :-(


Pretty much used up the savings I had and OH had a spend as well. We didn't touch our credit cards but although I had a great weekend, I'm disappointed as I could have definitely spent less.


I will explain more in another post but I have probably spent around £130 this weekend which includes two dinners out, alcohol (as part of a night out), petrol and a brunch.


I have my tail between my legs today :-(