-£99,152 net worth - scary figure

charliedavis

He didn't want to report it to the police, didn;t think there was much to be done!

Ploughing away here, busy xmas shopping. Eldest DS coming home for xmas which will be expensive, but he's going to contribute to food etc while here, which is a new one for me to ask him!

Been busy selling on Ebay and then buying work outfits - swapping careers after a few years means I had no work wear that fitted me anymore, so have been getting a few bargains. My aim is to keep my clothes buying budget to zero by keeping it equal.

Using YNAB religiously now and feeling like we are learning proper control over our budgeting, which is great.

Had a £270 insurance repayment and paid it straight into the credit card. DH then got a cheque for £400 from Lloyds charging him interest a few years back - so planning on doing the same with his. Feeling as if everything is going really well at the mo - just wish the debt would come down faster as am feeling impatient lol!

pidge04

Lovely to read that you are feeling as if everything is going really well at the moment and that you are feeling in control. Fantastic stuff!
I completely understand about feeling impatient!!
I read a diary here once which talked about doing something everyday to feel like you are proactively doing something to reduce your debt. Resonated with me - feeling like I want to do something everyday to chip away at it.
All the best.

charliedavis

Net worth showing as -£82,597 versus-£83,725 earlier in the month and -£87,845 in October. The debt is coming down! OH has a £405 Lloyds interest repayment that he's paid straight off his Barclaycard. He loves seeing it come down too which is great to have him on board.
Feeling I don't have a lot of practical stuff or things to say in my diary right now as it's all been shopping for xmas (which was Aldi nort M&S so I guess even this is something to shout about, the change in my habits!)

ImpulseSpender

The debt really is coming down! Well done CharlieDavis :j

charliedavis

Thanks impulsespender! Been helped by a few random payments that keep coming in at the moment, plus OH is busy at work so earning lots.

Will be setting up new DDs shortly to ensure we prepay all self assessment and corporation tax bills as this is our downfall in the past - paying all personal debt off then needing to rack it back up to pay off a tax bill!

Big plans for paying off debt fast in 2019 - intending to overpay our DDs by £800 at least per month which will see us pay off over £26,000 per month.

Excited to see what 2019 will bring!

charliedavis

Happy New Year everyone! Feeling remarkably good today despite going to bed last night at 3.30am after 1.5 bottles of wine...(have cleared the house of all alcohol now ready to do a dry January!) There's such a buzz about this time of year isn't there? So much positivity!

Feeling excited to pay off debt at the same rapid pace as I have done so the past few months with your support :-)

So the past 3 months have taught me to completely fall in love with YNAB, I love the reporting element which shows me my total debt level so easily.

Our heating oil bill is astronomical at the moment but I have made peace with that, knowing we will move in August and save £1500 per month that will be put towards paying the debt off faster.

My business is undergoing a few changes at the moment too, meaning I'm spending a fair amount of time travelling and attending meetings. It's been fun acquiring an entire working wardrobe from Ebay these past few weeks, I now have 4 Austin Reed suits and 2 Next suits plus 5 work tops / blouses. They all cost from £3 to £22 each so a fraction of the cost of new ones. I asked for a garment steamer for xmas too meaning I can iron them quickly out of a packet lol!

My new business is taking me into a different direction but most importantly will lead to a large capital sum in a few years, enough to buy a large house outright for cash should we want to. The legals should be signed within the next few weeks so I'm looking forward to that. I feel strongly that without the financial learning exercise I am going through right now, we would have ended up either not receiving this sum or just wasting it once we had it! Instead I look forward with excitement, knowing it will make a huge difference to our financial future.

Current debt stands at £82,786 - net worth is higher as we have paid ourselves salaries ready for the months ahead. It will come down to around £80,000 by the end of the month with just basic direct debits, so the aim is to once again overpay by at least £800 whilst saving for our EF and house deposit due in August.

charliedavis

Two debt repayments came out today for £550 and £686, so total debt stands at £81,417 today. Also made a payment to EF savings of £180.

Feeling strong! Not a lot else has happened since I last posted so will leave it there

charliedavis

First NSD of the year yesterday. Won't have one today as we ordering a Chinese tonight.

Feeling a bit freaked out as OH's phone has stopped ringing yet the ads have still been costing a fortune and he is £250 down in 3 days. I hate it when it goes this way. With the business only just having become limited, we haven't yet got to the stage of having enough in the bank to smooth out a poor month. And as our overheads are so high - with a bad month we'd need to go back into our savings (yet even this wouldn't cover our bills). I feel as if writing this diary is allowing me to see what a rollercoaster of income we have and why we have had issues! This is why in the past I've started saving but then a few months later they disappear in a bad month.

In other news I've signed up a new client myself on £660 per month which is great.

ImpulseSpender

Great news on the new client. Hope your OH’s business picks up soon.

charliedavis

Staying in a lot more than usual - we used to go with OH at weekends when he was working and stop off at various shops/restaurants but this is where so much of our spend was going - just pointless stuff. Finding myself spending a lot more time just browsing forums, updating budgets and working!