Wobbling my way out of debt

findingthisdifficult

Thanks Pidge!

Whilst I sit and enjoy my Sunday morning coffee, I'm thinking about how the journey has been so far and maybe I've been too hard on myself.

Just at the start of this year, I had no savings to speak of at all and was only making tiny over payments to the debts whilst frittering away money on who knows what?! It's not like Mr FTD & I are walking around in the latest fashions or driving a brand new car, literally been throwing money away.

This morning when I did my banking app checks, all 5 of them :eek: I can see I have:
Enough money in the bills account to cover the month's outgoings with a tiny buffer too
A little savings pot for the home emergency fund - it's tiny to some but it's the furthest I've got so far without dipping in. :T
A little savings pot for holidays/weekend away plans - I can dip in to this for Mr FTD's birthday as this is what it is there for.
The spends account is looking a little tight, we've got a longer than usual month so going to have to stretch this out.
The joint business account is looking a little on the light side, probably for the best given this was the one that some douche tried to nick money from. Also the business isn't our main income so not worrying too much about this one right now.

I never thought I would become somebody who has money in multiple accounts, reading the above update back to myself, I guess some people might say quit the savings and get that debt paid off but my issue would be that if I don't build up the savings I will have to resort to credit if anything goes wrong.

Happy Sunday to you all, back hopefully tomorrow with a signature update! :j

findingthisdifficult

So today I got to update my signature for the loan, down to £11,385, at least it's going the right way. :T

I'm holding off on the credit card payment at the moment, I have a few days before it is due and as I'm resigned to having to transfer the balance anyway I'm going to pay a little less off this month to allow me a little extra funds to put towards Mr FTD's birthday present.

When is the best time to transfer the balance? I've never done it before.

findingthisdifficult

I just remembered something else, this morning I had a revelation and said to Mr FTD
"do you know, I think this is the first time we have got to Thursday without having to go to Mr T at all?!"

4 NSDs in a row, I'm pretty pleased with that :j

This has got to be a first! We had to go tonight as I had nothing in for my breakfast tomorrow and our dinner plans for tomorrow night have been cancelled so we got a few bits to tide us over until we go shopping Saturday evening.

findingthisdifficult

Another Monday over with and fortunately a bank holiday is now in sight, I could really use a long weekend!

So I've paid £150 off the credit card, not a lot but better than just the £25 minimum payment that will take the balance down to £1600, I'll update my signature when the payment has cleared in the account.

In other news I've been busy sorting Mr FTD's birthday, I'm pleased that I've managed to plan 3 days out that I know he will love and some special presents all for under £200 so far thanks to some shopping around and Mr T vouchers, not a single bit of credit used :T
Any spending has come out of the account specifically for weekends away/days out.

I know some may think this an excessive amount especially whilst we are trying to battle the debt pile, however it is a special birthday for him so I felt I wanted to do more than just a card and meal out.

Sofee3

Well done you are doing great, we spend too much topping up too but have been getting better a it.

Sounds like Mr FTD is in for a lovely birthday ��

enthusiasticsaver

findingthisdifficult wrote: »

So today I got to update my signature for the loan, down to £11,385, at least it's going the right way. :T

I'm holding off on the credit card payment at the moment, I have a few days before it is due and as I'm resigned to having to transfer the balance anyway I'm going to pay a little less off this month to allow me a little extra funds to put towards Mr FTD's birthday present.

When is the best time to transfer the balance? I've never done it before.

Loan is going down nicely.

Apparently the 0% deals are starting to get shorter. I would transfer the balance any time from now until June. Ideally though look for a long deal so you don't need to transfer again.

Well done on savings pots.

findingthisdifficult

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Loan is going down nicely.

Apparently the 0% deals are starting to get shorter. I would transfer the balance any time from now until June. Ideally though look for a long deal so you don't need to transfer again.

Well done on savings pots.

Thanks enthusiasticsaver, I will look to sort that out at the weekend then whilst it's still fresh in my mind.

findingthisdifficult

I think I'm nearly done on Mr FTD's birthday now, just need to get a couple of helium balloons the day before, I've sorted the presents, cards and decorations. Now I can concentrate on rebuilding the treats/weekend away funds prior to our next big spend in July.

Mr FTD is busy doing his own thing, so I've got me a nice lemon squash on the go whilst watching Bridget Jones' Diary. Enjoy your evening all and I'll be back for another update soon.

enthusiasticsaver

I think you have found a nice balance between living and repaying debt. You have a savings account for treats/weekends away and as you say it is a special birthday. Life cannot only be about repaying debt.

findingthisdifficult

Thanks enthusiasticsaver, I think we could definitely clear the debt quicker if we didn't spend so much on food in 21 days we have spent £345 :eek: on groceries just for the 2 of us excluding takeaways but including toiletries/cleaning products.
I think we're stuck in a food rut, always seem to be eating the same thing, we generally buy fresh food and cook from scratch most nights.
I'm super fussy about food, I worry about how long to leave before chilling or freezing, then I'd worry about reheating so we've always avoided batch cooking and leftovers.
Maybe I need to research this as I think it could save us lots of £s and lbs in my case.