Debt free before August 2023

Poppy1984

SillyBovary wrote: »

Well I think you're doing really well! I have pretty much the same level of debt and you're inspiring me.

I'm waiting for January 15th for pay day too and I'm hoping to pay off a £150 overdraft, and over pay my smallest credit card.

I'm a terrible spender - mostly on days out with the children.

Aw thank you just to hear I'm inspiring someone has gave me a little boost. Good luck with paying your overdraft off and your overpayment to the credit card.

Poppy1984

Woohoo finally cashed out £20 on shoppix so I'm going to over pay that on my loan meaning I have over payed by £97 ok not the £198 that I'd aimed for but considering it has been Christmas I'm quite pleased with that. That means my debt total is £18,100

I've got £5 built up in prolific and £3 on zipzero. I think I'm going to let both of them build up to £10 before cashing the prolific out and using that to overpay my loan and with zipzero I'll pay it towards one of my direct debits not sure which one yet and use the money that would have paid that to over pay the loan. I'm new to zipzero so haven't cashed anything out yet so a little unsure about it at the moment.

Nearly pay day! I've got about £45 left until pay day (15th) so that's not too bad. I think if there's any money left by 14th evening I'll use that to over pay my loan before I get paid on 15th.

I'm not going to make any overpayments this time, I think I'm going to concentrate on refilling my emergency fund which currently stands at 0 and then once that's back up to £300 I'll go back to loan overpayments.

Eyebright

Hi Poppy,

Popping in after seeing you comment on Frank's diary earlier. Your diary could literally be my story too, I'm in £18600 worth of debt for basically the same reasons as you. I got myself in a mess a few years back, and in December I had my LBM. I turn 40 in 5 years time, so my goal is to be debt free before then.
I have a consolidation loan with my credit card debts too!
My first goal to clear my £125 O/D, then start overpaying the loan and save up for my EF and the various sinking funds that I need to ensure I don't need to ever put anything on a CC again!

Good luck, I'm subscribing xx:j

Poppy1984

Hi Eyebright
Thanks for popping by and subscribing.
Oh wow we are in the same position! I'm also 40 in 5 years, well 4 and a bit now actually, and want the debt got before then!

Good luck clearing your overdraft, that shouldn't take long?
Do you have a budget that you can follow? I stick to a very strict budget it's very boring BUT it works. I find posting an SOA's on this forum is a good way to get a budget streamlined.

I have those sinking funds you've mentioned set up. I have Christmas, holidays, school uniform, MOT &car tax, I even have a new glasses fund as these are things that I should be expecting and that don't come out of the blue!

However my EF has taken a battering so I need to focus on building that back up before I can continue making overpayments on my loan.

Have you got a diary I can follow?

Eyebright

I just created one! Hoping it will be keep me focused and accountable !:D:D:D

I'm hoping to clear the OD by the end of this week, though it's a bit bigger than I initally thought as a payment hasn't gone out yet that I didn't account for. I've hopefully sold something, which will be collected tomorrow and paid for, netting me £200, which will clear the O/D and leave me with some pocket money to keep me out of the O/D until payday! And also hopefully the start of my EF, I don't have one, and if I want to keep from adding to my debts then I'm going to need one!!!!

Poppy1984

Well it's pay day tomorrow and I have £35.94 left in my current account so I going to transfer that into my EF and that can start me back off. I'm aiming to get it back up to £300 before I start overpaying my loan again.

I always find the couple of weeks before pay day the hardest, so I'm exciting for the start of a new "month" my month runs 15th-15th because of pay day.

I'm aiming to have at least £10 in my prolific acc and £10 in my zipzero account this month. I also really need to list some stuff on ebay I've been so lazy with that recently, I find it quite stressful but I really must do it!

Going to try and keep my groceries spends under budget (I budget £200 a month for all food and house cleaning products etc. This includes pack lunches for me and my son and extra food at the weekends when my partner stays.) any money left over from that budget will go straight into the EF on the day before pay day, I think I get paid on the 14th next month.

I budget £200 for anything else that does not fall into food, household things, bills and savings. This includes things my son needs and any leisure activities socialising etc for both of us. This is my secret weapon for debt busting as every month I try to spend as little as possible of it and any left overs I can use as overpayments or for my EF. I do have two nights out planned one at the beginning and one at the end so I will need to use a bit of it but hopefully not too much.

Eyebright

Good idea having that £200 for miscellaneous spends that can crop up unexpectedly every month.
I hate ebay too, I usually wait until I get an offer for £1 max selling fees then list what I've set aside then, to try and help maximise my profits from what I'm selling.

Poppy1984

Thank you, it works for me. I work with a zero budget so every penny is allocated. I use spending tracker on my phone I have 3 accounts on there a bills account where all my direct debits and standing orders for savings are tracked. A shopping account which I track my £200 groceries spending and a "spending money" account where I track the remaining £200 petrol money, spends for my son, miscellaneous spends are all tracked there.

I find if I don't record every spend on my app I can end up overspending so it's best to keep track.

It's surprising how fast that groceries budget can go down though especially if I need to buy washing powder or things like that it soon eats into the budget!

Speaking of which I really need to do a kitchen itinerary and a meal plan/shopping list to get some shopping for the rest of this week and next. Did I mention I HATE doing this? Lol I really do but it's the only thing that keeps me on track.

EF is up to £45/ £300 now would love to have this at £200 by next pay day

Eyebright

I'm definitely going to look into YNAB/other budgeting/spend tracker apps, as this is an area I definitely need to pay close attention to.

Well done on the EF, it's building up nicely!

I've got my meal plan for this week, though I haven't allocated a particular meal to any set day, I'll just cook off the list whatever I fancy. It's a work in progress area for me to, I go blank when I sit down to plan our meals for the week, and I need to get better at utilising what's already in the cupboards/freezer etc...
I'm making a chicken korma for dinner tonight, with rice and some frozen pakoras that I found in the freezer that I bought for the festive period and didn't use!!:rotfl:

Poppy1984

Thanks eyebright! Hopefully I can get some more moved into the EF and fingers crossed no emergencies until it's built back up!