The Four D's

[Deleted User]

Well done on being under £6k and making such a big payment to your Mum! It'll be gone before you know it

Karonher

All you need to to now is to aim for under £5,000 :-)

mark55man

Hi Dan

Love a good diary and with £6K gone right on plan I can see this one is going to be good to follow. There will be ups and downs and just don't give up - like dieting one big blow out sets you back, but it only stops you getting there if you let it get it you.

My story in a nutshell paid quite well but prone to indulging myself and the family too much and this has meant my debts have lasted longer than they should - there is always something to hold you back, but there is also something else to get you going again. Just need determination - I agree a strong focus to start with and then ease of when it gets boring. That's the main thing its just boring to be always watching the pennies.

However, you do also have to think that this change in behaviour is not just until the debt gets pai off, its to keep you honest therafter. I think you are right to try and find a way you can cope with long term (ie longer than £6K - maybe until that's +£6k in the bank

Last thing make sure you OH is in on this as well - makes it so much easier - even if its your debt and not her's it will still be happier if you share the load and agree that cheap entertainment is better than debt

FootyFanDan

SSDD23 wrote: »

Well done on being under £6k and making such a big payment to your Mum! It'll be gone before you know it

Thanks SSDD23,

Yeah I am super happy to have made a little dent in the payment to Mum, I am really hoping i can get her paid off by at least end of July as that would be a really big thing for me. It will also show how much can be achieved when i put my mind to it, i have cut out little bits but could defo cut back more so we will see where we are at once end of July comes.

FootyFanDan

Karonher wrote: »

All you need to to now is to aim for under £5,000 :-)

i think that might take a little longer but if i can achieve that within a few months i will be happy. I have a few targets over the next few months and have a few bills/monthly commitments that end so i will review where i am at end of July, although paying my Mum would be a huge relief so that is still my aim short term.

FootyFanDan

mark88man wrote: »

Hi Dan

Love a good diary and with £6K gone right on plan I can see this one is going to be good to follow. There will be ups and downs and just don't give up - like dieting one big blow out sets you back, but it only stops you getting there if you let it get it you.

My story in a nutshell paid quite well but prone to indulging myself and the family too much and this has meant my debts have lasted longer than they should - there is always something to hold you back, but there is also something else to get you going again. Just need determination - I agree a strong focus to start with and then ease of when it gets boring. That's the main thing its just boring to be always watching the pennies.

However, you do also have to think that this change in behaviour is not just until the debt gets pai off, its to keep you honest therafter. I think you are right to try and find a way you can cope with long term (ie longer than £6K - maybe until that's +£6k in the bank

Last thing make sure you OH is in on this as well - makes it so much easier - even if its your debt and not her's it will still be happier if you share the load and agree that cheap entertainment is better than debt

Hi Mark,

Thanks for popping in and reading. My journey is still quite fresh and at the moment I have paying off debt at the forefront of my mind so i am finding it easier to focus than i thought. The testing time i think is when i get to the stage of been at this a couple of months and it becomes routine, this is when i will need to persevere with the journey.

I like you have tended to kind of put money to back of my mind, i have always spent til gone and had the mindset(wrongly) of well i work hard i deserve nice things so i will buy nice things and take the family out to nice places and although i haven't had the urge to get into debt to finance the nice car/holidays i feel that had i concentrated a little more on not letting the debt get out of control i would now be getting the benefits of having for the 1st time quite a reasonable excess left after to paying expenses that could be being saved for the dream of taking my daughter to Orlando.

I have no doubt at stages i am going to have to sacrifice a lot more than i currently am as i am trying to adjust to finding the right balance, but i am determined that i will not fail

My OH is on board and very wise, way wiser than i and we will tackle this as a team and she is more than helping with the cooking from scratch but again that will be a learning process. I feel a bit embarrassed that we are in this mess but the figures show if we are tough we can get rid of this pretty quick.

DancingInTheRain

Well done for getting into the £5,000s:j not long to go until the middle of July and that will be another goal smashed

FootyFanDan

DancingInTheRain wrote: »

Well done for getting into the £5,000s:j not long to go until the middle of July and that will be another goal smashed

Thanks Dancing! Its a small step but i am hoping its the start of progress. I have a few other targets over next few months i would like to hit and if i can hit them it should see me scrape into the 4s by end of August / early September but lets walk before i run :rotfl:

FootyFanDan

Hey All,

Hope you have all had a wonderful Saturday.

Mine has been a bit mixed and restless haha. I worked the night shift last night and then took the DD to her drama club this morning as OH was feeling under the weather. All this meant i didn't get to sleep until midday and then the wonderful builders decided to start banging YAY! so not had much sleep and now feeling very sleepy and the fact not much work to do makes it worse!

In MSE news today has been a NSD so that is good and i managed to avoid the C*sta on the way to work so that is all good. I am now counting down to payday so i can officially write of target 1 and move on to the next target which is to clear some low level balances that i have been paying monthly for a while and are now with in reach of paying off.

Debt 1 -Moriaty Law this was for outstanding balance on a debt from ages ago and i agreed to pay £30 a month. The balance has decreased steadily since the end of last year and now only £150 to pay. So i want that off by end of August

Season Ticket Finance - (more of a pleasure than a debt) This is interest free on my football season ticket which i renew every year and despite saying i will save up through the year i never do! Well the new MSE me will be doing that for next season. However i have got 3 installments left so that will also clear in August. Current Balance 224

So all being well if i can hit the targets it will decrease my debt plus free up some monthly funds so that is my goal debt wise.

mark55man

You really are taking this bull by the horns. Giving up a season ticket must be a real blow, but on the upside you will save more than just that cost as travel and entertainment. And if you really need the fix, unless its a major major club you should be able to get in and watch a match now and again.

So good luck for the rest of the month and year!