Debt free before August 2023

Poppy1984

enthusiasticsaver said:

I can definitely understand why this curveball of the roof is throwing you but unfortunately life is like that and a reason why emergency funds are needed.  You have done everything right in that the debt is reducing, you have an emergency fund and once the roof is fixed you can go back to debt busting. Maybe instead of focusing on the end date which still seems a long way away focus on the balance coming down?  Next month I reckon it may be in the £12k bracket. 

You are right @enthusiasticsaver and years ago if this had happened I would be panicking about the money and where I'll find it etc and using credit cards/ overdrafts etc. Yes this is a sharp lesson for me as to why I MUST have an EF.

Its just disheartening as when i pay for the work on the roof I will then have to save my EF back up so it's going to be quite some time before I will be able to make another overpayment. My next goal is to get my debt in the £10,000's by the end of the year. I don't think I'll be quite in the 12s next payment if I'm not I won't be fat off though. 

Poppy  

Poppy1984

FootyFanDan said:

Aww Poppy *big hugs*. All the roof stuff on top of a stressful work situation and the panic it has caused you by not having the mental win of reducing the debt free date must be so overwhelming and I can understand that totally. However you have done an amazing job so far to get to where you are, please don’t let this one life hiccup make u feel down too much! You are in a good mindset and you will make up that month forward somewhere else. Your contractual payments are good so your not losing ground, once roof hiccup is gone you can then focus on other small wins that can bring in the debt free date. Keep smiling you have got this x

Thanks for the hugs @FootyFanDan I need them at the min. I know you are right it's just a hiccup but it's just so frustrating it feels like one step forward 3 steps back. I'm just not very good at accepting how long it is going to take me to be debt free and I fantasise about paying it back much quicker than I practically can! 

Thank you 

Poppy  

Poppy1984

Sarahwithlove said:

I have to agree this is what an EF is for and you have a good chunk of time to make more overpayments. Just think December 2022 is 17 months away so that's £15 a month you need to overpay between then and now each month to get your debt free date to then. Seems much more doable doesn't it? 

Thanks @Sarahwithlove
yes this is very true it's just that I want to reduce my DFD to much closer than dec 2022 really. I was just hoping to get it to that date this month but that's not going To happen now and I can't see when I'll next be in a position to make any over payments now. 

Poppy

Sarahwithlove

It might be several months before you do and that's where its hard when you have to use up your EF but just try and thjnk about how far you have come. Not that long ago you would probably of not even had an EF to pay for the roof and end up in more debt. It's hard when things go wrong and you can't get it down as quick as you would like but all you can do is keep going and just pay what you can when you can. At least you are doing something about it. 

FootyFanDan

Poppy1984 said

Thanks for the hugs @FootyFanDan I need them at the min. I know you are right it's just a hiccup but it's just so frustrating it feels like one step forward 3 steps back. I'm just not very good at accepting how long it is going to take me to be debt free and I fantasise about paying it back much quicker than I practically can! 

Thank you 

Poppy

Its understandable to feel deflated Poppy, as you had set your goal to overpay, its hard sometimes when we set goals and don't hit them we feel frustrated, but the position could have been worse you could have had to get into more debt to service the roof fix - every cloud . I would imagine if you keep being as focused as the last few months there is going to be plenty of places to bring that debt date forward, so as flat as you feel you will get there 

Be kind to yourself and take care of yourself Poppy x

savingholmes

You will make it. We often fixate on something random and it can motivate us - but at the moment it seems to be draining you. We can't choose what happens to us sometimes in life - all we can choose is how we respond. I keep trying to tell myself this at the moment too.

Poppy1984

Thank you everyone! 

I have calmed down a little and accepted that until the roof has been fixed and the EF fund is topped back up there will be no loan overpayments. 

You're right I do tend to get a bit fixated! I was reading a diary yesterday can't remember which one but they had done a bit of a review of where they were up to and I thought that was a good idea and maybe if I did that it would help me to see the positives. I do tend to obsess over the negatives. 

I've been feeling really unwell this week I think it's due to stress. I'm not very good at just accepting I have this debt and that it will take a considerable amount of time to pay back. I tend to fight against that and work out how fast I can get it paid back. I sometimes feel like life's just passing me by and I'm wishing time away to when I'm debt free. 

Thank you for all your support! 

Poppy

savingholmes

It's natural to just want the debt gone but at least its going in the right direction. I have often felt alone on this debt free journey in RL but when I open up to others I find far more of them have issues than I would have ever thought. So stop beating yourself up. Think Jungle Book and accentuate the positive...

Poppy1984

Hello 👋 diary world 
I thought it would be a good idea to list everything I've done to change my spending habits and pay over £16,000 in debt off. It might end up a bit of a ramble so I apologise in advance! 

My lightbulb moment was when I realised after consolidating my debt for a second time and then continuing to spend on credit cards and buying buy now pay later I gave myself a shock and thought what the H am I doing!!!!! When reading debt free diaries a few people had mentioned Dave Ramsey so I looked him up, I watched a few of his YouTube videos and listened to some of his podcasts and what his was saying really resonated with me, in his words I was definitely sick and tired of being sick and tired! I then listened to his audiobook I think it was the total money makeover. I honestly found the book amazing it helped me so much and woke me up from the fog I had been living in! 

Dave constantly talks about having a budget, so I downloaded the spending tracker app on my phone. Which I confess I'd used a few times but never really stuck to. This time I was determined! It might sound a bit odd the way I have mine set up but it works really well for me. 

Spending tracker: I have 3 "accounts" on my spending tracker 1: Bills 2: Shopping 3: Spending money. So in my bills account I have my total monthly income as and when it comes into my account. 

I then have ALL my outgoings. That's every Direct debit, standing order etc. In the bills account I also have £200 for Shopping, which is all groceries and household cleaning products, toiletries etc. And I have £200 spending which is anything else that I may need to spend money on either for myself or my son that doesn't fall under the category of groceries. 

In the 2nd account I have an income of £200 for shopping And outgoings are every shop that I spend money on that falls under that eg food shopping, cleaning products, toiletries etc. Tracked in that account. When it's gone it's gone so I aim to spend around 40 a week.  

In the 3rd account I have £200 income and any other spend that isn't a bill or groceries gets recording in this account. Again when it's gone it's gone. So it really helps to focus my mind if I know I have some costs coming up that month.

At the end of my month (14th, day before pay day) if there is any money left in my spending or shopping budget I use that to over pay my loan. It means every penny is accounted for. 

As well as the spending tracker, i have also set up a few saving pots for expenses that pop up every year. Eg I have a car expenses account that I put a monthly amount in enough to cover my insurance, tax, MOT and a little bit of money if the car requires work at its MOT. 

I have a xmas/gifts account which I save enough to cover Xmas presents, bday presents and any socialising for myself and son over the festive period. 

I have a school uniform account because he needs that every year, although this year will be the last as he will leave school next spring. 

I have a holiday account which I only put a small amount of money into each month for cheap breaks away. 

I have an emergency fund account which I like to have £300 in minimum. Although after the roof scare I feel as though I might like to have it bolstered up to £500.

To try and keep my costs to a minimum for food shopping I cook a lot from scratch and I meal plan. I keep a list of what I've got in the freezer.  Check what's in the cupboards and fridge and make a meal plan from that listing anything I need to buy to go with. I try and get yellow sticker stuff where possible and fill the freezer. I batch cook a lot also. 

If we go on days out I take picnics and flasks of tea and coffee we very rarely have anything in a cafe these days. 

I don't get on too well with survey sites I hate it when you answer questions and it says you're not eligible. I do like prolific though and have made over £270 on there which I either use to overpay my loan or sometimes to pay for a treat and not feel guilty. I also use receipt scanning apps shoppix and zip zero. 

I have switched current accounts twice to get the switching bonus, it's a little bit of an inconvenience but worth it for the free money, I've earned £375 doing that. 

I also look around for the best deal every time a utility bill is out of contract and switch to the best deal for any regular bills I'm paying. 

I think that's about it really. Still open to any other money making/money saving ideas. I keep looking into match betting but I really don't understand it. My friend does it and was going to try and explain it to me then lockdown happened, however now sports back on I might have to revisit that again. Any of you got any tips for MB? 

Poppy

DancingInTheRain

Great summary @Poppy1984 & hopefully this has helped you. Once the roof is sorted you'll be right back on track with the debt busting as well as being safe in the knowledge your home is secure, there's a lot to be said for that too. Think of it as a small detour, you've got this 💪