Wobbling my way out of debt

princesspennies

Morning FTD,

I have used muscle food a few times for the big bulk meat packs they do, only once did I have an issue (many moons ago) where it arrived damaged etc and they replaced the whole order on next day delivery so I can't fault them.

Did you manage to get to the cinema in the end? We rarely go on a weekend as I have the meerkat movies code for the week but our Odeon cinema have started doing a £5 offer which is brill took the kids to see alladin a week or so ago, don't know who enjoyed it more me or them lol x

findingthisdifficult

Thanks for dropping in Princesspennies, alas we didn't make it to the cinema in the end. We found out on Saturday that my Mum's funeral was planned for Monday (yesterday) so the weekend and yesterday were all a bit of a blur.

I spent some time looking at new glasses on Sunday, found some lovely ones so just need to renew my prescription as it's due in December before I buy them, my prescription changed nearly 2 years ago but I never bothered to change my glasses so I think the time is now.
Haven't really spent too much money, only been food shopping, it's been a bit hit and miss as I've obviously been pre-occupied with other thoughts so probably not been as sensible with our food shopping. I forgot to buy chicken at the weekend for our main meal this evening so that meant an emergency dash to the local shop.

findingthisdifficult

Just a quick one from me, balance transfer finally done!
Hopefully it will clear overnight tonight, seems I left it far too close to the promotional rate ending!!

findingthisdifficult

Fortunately the balance transfer completed successfully so Mr FTD's card is now clear and the balance is on mine. 0% until December 2021, should be able to clear that in plenty of time.

We've had a quiet day today, only spend has been the weekly shop which was a little expensive for 2 people. Tomorrow we need to get fuel as we forgot to do this today, then hopefully time for a couple NSDs.

findingthisdifficult

:hello: I've been missing in action for far too long!!!

The worst bit is, I don't have much to report.
I did sneak a bit of money out of my savings account last week (a week before payday) so that I could buy the dog a new lead and harness, he has had his for years and they were starting to wear, every time we took him out, I would worry that they would break so in order to help my worry I replaced them. (can't put a price on his safety)

Tomorrow I will hopefully see my loan drop below £10K for the first time ever since we got in to this stupid consolidation cycle. I need to work out how much I can afford to pay off the CC as well, July is an expensive month for the FTD household.

Interestingly, the time I have been away from here (not being accountable) I've had some wobbles, Mr FTD and I have been looking at new cars because it would be nice to have a new one, we even booked a test drive!!
But having come back here and reminded myself that I'm about to break the £10k barrier on the loan and I want a short staycation in September even though we still have little disposable income, I need to cancel that test drive!!! It's not the right time, Mr FTD will be cross and say I shouldn't build his hopes up even though I tell him all the time that we're making inroads on the debt and try to imagine our life without spending between £600-£800 a month on debt.

I'll be back in a day or 2 to share my updated loan balance!

dawnybabes

Let him be cross !

You’re doing so well reducing the debt.

findingthisdifficult

:embarasse So, today I ordered some new glasses, I had to put them on my credit card luckily I have 0% on purchases until next November and 0% on balance transfer until next December, I can easily pay it off in that time.

My short staycation is also likely to end up on my card which is very naughty but having used the snowball calculator if I tell mr FTD we can't test drive the car but we can put the extra £250 towards our debt we should be cleared of both the loan and CC by October next year, although could reduce that by a couple of months by paying extra when we have Council Tax free months. Our original DFD was March 2021 if we don't pay the minimum on the loan and just a little bit over the minimum on the CC.
I genuinely feel guilty about putting my glasses on the card but the savings aren't exactly buoyant at the moment and I didn't want to wipe them out in case anything breaks that I need to replace quickly.

I feel like I have failed on this Debt Free Journey maybe we're just not meant to be Debt Free.

Fla603

Hi FTD, thanks for stopping by my diary y’day, I have been reading yours and in a lot of ways our situation is remarkably similar. I’m trying to reduce my c/c bill quickly and then I have a 10k personal loan to repay. The last payment is due May 2023 and it is affordable with a low interest rate but it would be great to clear it earlier. I feel like we have the same attitude regarding living/debts. DH and I have just come back from hols and have a few other things planned for later In the year, finances depending.
Do you find your monthly expenses manageable or is juggling your budget difficult?

findingthisdifficult

Thanks for dropping in Fla603, I agree our situations are similar.
Our monthly expenses are manageable and for the first time in a very long time, we have savings building up and another account for fun (weekends away/birthdays etc) The only thing we really do wrong is grocery shopping, spending around £500 a month for 2 people is ridiculous, we're working on that though.

findingthisdifficult

So Mr FTD broached the subject of the test drive today and whether we should be toying with the new car idea especially given we want to move house next year as well, I took the chance to tell him that if we redirect some more funds to the debt we could be debt free (excluding our mortgage) by October next year.
Luckily he took it really well, no stropping and agreed we need to stay sensible. Now to work on our food shopping habits, we've made a start by bulk buying some meat and freezing some ready for next weeks meals.