Wobbling my way out of debt

findingthisdifficult

So, with us taking such a big hit on our finances due to being furloughed, I haven't paid my CC this month yet, payment is due 27th April so think I'll wait until later in the month to make a payment.  

Payment for the loan has gone out, next payment sees us in to single figures on repayments left and below £5k.

Sadly I don't think the CC will be gone before the end of the year due to this unforeseen setback, if we hadn't have helped out a relative late last year, it would have been cleared next month!  Hopefully said relative will start to pay some money back to us soon, so if that happens that will all go towards reducing the bill.

findingthisdifficult

I've taken the plunge and requested a mortgage repayment holiday for next month, I think we may have been ok without but I couldn't take the risk just in case we're not ok.  Still on track to be able to pay £200 off the CC this month so I'm happy with that.

findingthisdifficult

So I only paid £100 off the card this month but will update the figures in a couple of days when the loan payment goes out.

Got paid today and we could have managed without the mortgage repayment holiday so I don't think we will bother getting another holiday next month. Both Mr FTD and I are furloughed again, difficult not to take it personally and I'm really running out of stuff to keep me occupied.  I just keep reminding myself that I am lucky to be able to stay at home and stay safe.

clearmydebts

findingthisdifficult said:

So I only paid £100 off the card this month but will update the figures in a couple of days when the loan payment goes out.

Got paid today and we could have managed without the mortgage repayment holiday so I don't think we will bother getting another holiday next month. Both Mr FTD and I are furloughed again, difficult not to take it personally and I'm really running out of stuff to keep me occupied.  I just keep reminding myself that I am lucky to be able to stay at home and stay safe.

Hi FTD,
So sorry to hear that you were both furloughed. But really well done on your diminishing debt. I can't ever imagine being in that position!

findingthisdifficult

clearmydebts said:

findingthisdifficult said:

So I only paid £100 off the card this month but will update the figures in a couple of days when the loan payment goes out.

Got paid today and we could have managed without the mortgage repayment holiday so I don't think we will bother getting another holiday next month. Both Mr FTD and I are furloughed again, difficult not to take it personally and I'm really running out of stuff to keep me occupied.  I just keep reminding myself that I am lucky to be able to stay at home and stay safe.

Hi FTD,
So sorry to hear that you were both furloughed. But really well done on your diminishing debt. I can't ever imagine being in that position!

Thanks for popping by @cl@clearmydebts I didn't think I would ever see the day that we would see the light at the end of the tunnel during our debt journey.  We had a nasty spiral of consolidation and spent far too many years 'keeping up with the joneses' by living outside of our means.   I 100% wouldn't have got this far without reading other people's journeys on here, I remember reading when people were coming to the end of their journey and thinking that would never be me.

Now seeing the end in sight makes me so determined to get it gone once and for all.  
Being furloughed hasn't been great but the positive to the pandemic is that we haven't wasted as much money on food by just popping to the shop whenever we feel like it and some of our annual events are cancelled so there's money saved there too.  Our house move is also postponed, which is another positive as it means when we finally get to move, the only debt we should have will be our mortgage so that puts us in a stronger position as well.

In other news, the relative I helped out with my credit card has finally started paying me back (a standing order has been set up so fingers crossed this will become a regular payment)  
Although I'm savvy enough to know that I can't rely on any money until I know it is 100% in the bank.

Anyway enough waffling from me for now!

clearmydebts

Our debt was accrued in much the same way. Spending our 20's and 30's going on loads of holidays and generally keeping up with the Joneses too. 

findingthisdifficult

It's so easy to get in to debt though isn't it, buy now pay later, 0% interest for X months...all the deals to lure people in.  
I think after the loan has gone, I wouldn't be against 0% purchases on household appliances/essentials if I didn't have enough in savings to cover the purchase.  I'll definitely be reluctant to buy anything charging me interest though.

Mr FTD and I were talking about how far we've come, I think I may have had 1 or 2 diaries prior to this one where I thought I had had my lightbulb moment, on them you can see that I had a littlewoods account, a next account and maybe a couple of credit cards, the loan and a few HP purchases.  

Now I only have the credit card and the loan to get rid of...the loan is taking care of itself as in it's a fixed payment and forms part of my budget, the credit card is having random payments between £60 (rarely) and £400 each month (depends on what else I've got going on)

I think I'll probably need a balance transfer on the card as not sure I can clear it before the 0% runs out but I'm keeping a close eye on it and potentially towards the end of the promo interest rate I may be able to move some money across from savings to get rid instead of transferring.

I just noticed that my diary reads like I'm fighting this debt myself but it really is a joint effort (all of our money is pooled and I look after the finances)  I occasionally get excited about the amounts going down and share that with Mr FTD but he doesn't really share the excitement...I think he needs to see the money left in the bank at the end as it is hard to imagine after 12 years of paying off loans, we will have around £700 a month more to divvy around the budget pools.

Ok this is very long and waffly, I only popped on to update my signature and share with you all that not only has the loan dropped to the £4k bracket (for 1 month only, in to the £3k bracket next month), I am finally in single figures on payments left for the loan!!!

Check out my signature 

findingthisdifficult

Also I haven't paid my CC bill yet, but looking like I'll be paying £200 off this month...watch this space, I have until 27th to pay.

findingthisdifficult

I spent some time reading on here earlier and it made me so grateful to be in a much better position than I used to be.  
I always think back to a thread where paying off debt was referred to being like emptying a lake with a teaspoon...it really is like that.

I looked back at some of my old threads and found this statement from January 2015 (it made me feel sick)
A personal loan from the bank of £20k - £620 - this is now £4.5k with repayments of £565
5 HP payments which add up to £70ish a month - all but one of these have gone £21 a month (ends in 2 months time)
Littlewoods account £500 - £30 a month - gone and I think Littlewoods have closed my account without me asking them as I haven't used it since. 
Next account £500 - £50 a month - gone, likewise this account says closed on my credit report although I logged in yesterday and I still have credit available to spend here...not that I am going to use it, I don't need to.

I hate wishing my life away but I cannot wait for this 'journey' to be over.  Lockdown life is showing me what life could be like without debt, definitely not spending/wasting as much money.   

findingthisdifficult

Still holding out on the credit card payment, may potentially be able to knock £300 off of it this month... that's the result of being at home and not wasting so much money on top up shops and stuff I don't need. 
In other exciting news, I finally got some self raising flour delivered today...there will be baking in our house in the very near future.