Debt free before August 2023

savingholmes

I would do a 12 month - monthly plan - including your annual bills. That way you can plan in any treats or holidays etc too which will help you not fritter your hard earned cash

FootyFanDan

Poppy1984 said:

FootyFanDan said:

Happy New Year Poppy, rolling into 2022 debt free whoop whoop. Well done on an amazing achievement last year. I have really struggled to find balance from being ultra-strict to not caring within a month of been out of debt (oops), but this year I am determined to put good solid foundations in place. Here is to 2022.

Thanks @FootyFanDan Dan I'm so happy to be debt free😁

It's really really tricky finding the balance isn't it? I feel a little nervous if I'm honest. I had gotten a little lazy with my spending tracker in the last few months because I was so strict I barely spent anything on anything other than essentials and debt repayments so didn't really need to track. I think I'll go back to using the spending tracker and recording everything for a while until I feel comfortable with my new budget. 

Any tips? 

Poppy

Yeah trying to find that balance can be tough. I am in the middle of trying to adjust my budget to factor in enough saving to get me to my next target of an house deposit but also living a bit as well. I have done a full 12 month plan and factored in all the expected costs including annual bills / savings and some personal spends. It gives me a running balance of where I might need to adjust slightly but so far it is all green which is a plus hahaha. I expect that it will need some tweaks as life happens but it gives me a real good overview of where I am at. I am hoping this gives me a good balance as I can see what needs changed and where so I know I am pretty much on track - I would imagine council tax / Utilities may increase at some point though so I will review that as I need to. The good thing is that I seem to be in a place where I have a bit of wiggle room in the budget too.

Poppy1984

savingholmes said:

I would do a 12 month - monthly plan - including your annual bills. That way you can plan in any treats or holidays etc too which will help you not fritter your hard earned cash

Thanks @savingholmes that sounds like a good plan, I'm starting to have a think about my priorities for the year so I don't just fritter away the money that otherwise would have gone on my loan, hope you're doing well?

poppy

Poppy1984

FootyFanDan said:

Poppy1984 said:

FootyFanDan said:

Happy New Year Poppy, rolling into 2022 debt free whoop whoop. Well done on an amazing achievement last year. I have really struggled to find balance from being ultra-strict to not caring within a month of been out of debt (oops), but this year I am determined to put good solid foundations in place. Here is to 2022.

Thanks @FootyFanDan Dan I'm so happy to be debt free😁

It's really really tricky finding the balance isn't it? I feel a little nervous if I'm honest. I had gotten a little lazy with my spending tracker in the last few months because I was so strict I barely spent anything on anything other than essentials and debt repayments so didn't really need to track. I think I'll go back to using the spending tracker and recording everything for a while until I feel comfortable with my new budget. 

Any tips? 

Poppy

Yeah trying to find that balance can be tough. I am in the middle of trying to adjust my budget to factor in enough saving to get me to my next target of an house deposit but also living a bit as well. I have done a full 12 month plan and factored in all the expected costs including annual bills / savings and some personal spends. It gives me a running balance of where I might need to adjust slightly but so far it is all green which is a plus hahaha. I expect that it will need some tweaks as life happens but it gives me a real good overview of where I am at. I am hoping this gives me a good balance as I can see what needs changed and where so I know I am pretty much on track - I would imagine council tax / Utilities may increase at some point though so I will review that as I need to. The good thing is that I seem to be in a place where I have a bit of wiggle room in the budget too.

@FootyFanDan this all makes sense, exciting to be saving for a house deposit 😁 once my budget has settled down I'd like to start putting some money aside for a house move, there's not much equity in my house at the moment but id like to move at some point in the future and I think I'll need to save additional money for a deposit as if like something a little bigger with a garden but could be just a pipe dream! 

I definitely want to be able to have a few treats now that I'm out of debt but nervous about getting the balance right! 

Poppy

Poppy1984

This months pay day will be the first time in years and years probably about 10/15 years (I don't even know how long honestly) that I don't have a single debt payment coming out of my bank account, that includes catalogue payments, overdrafts, credit cards and loan payments. That feels incredible!!!! To be honest I got my first overdraft age 20 for university and dipped in and out of credit agreements ever since, so I'd say it's more like 17 years! 

Feels so good to know I don't owe anyone a penny! (Well i do still have a mortgage and my student loan) but I don't view those as debt and owing because in terms of this debt free diary I mean consumer debt, the mortgage is my home at the end of the day and the student loan is more a tax that comes directly off my wages. 

Im still jiggling my budget about I have several "pots" that I moved money out and around in order to pay my loan gf early, so my first priority it to replenish those. That's going to realistically take a few months but I'm ok with that. Once those are replenished I can review my savings goals. 

Feels exciting to know that my wages coming in this week are mine! I remember years ago before I had my lightbulb moment, my wages would be paid into my account and be swallowed up by my overdraft so it never felt like the money was mine. I remember thinking I'm just spending the banks money when I bought things it felt horrible but I felt trapped and like I couldn't do anything about it. 

I think I've sorted it so that any bills that can be paid annually which is cheaper than monthly are and that I have pots set up for them, so that includes car insurance, home insurance, car tax, is there anything I'm missing? I changed my council tax bill from 10 to 12 months to help me budget easier when i started my debt busting journey so im going to contact them and change it back to 10 months. Exciting to think next year I'll benefit from the 2 free months 😁 in Feb and March. 

Poppy  

savingholmes

Enjoy your debt free pay day. I've still not had my first of those - although I do have an EF.

I'm doing okay. I've hopped over to the MFW board and am currently trying to declutter, have fun making art and hold down a job...

FootyFanDan

Hiya Poppy

Yeah it is exciting to be in a position to be able to review my options and see where I want to take it. I think frustratingly I tend to sway between what I think is the best thing to do. In theory having our own home would be amazing, but there is aspects that scare me about it too. For instance in the boiler needed replacing last year in the house we rent, our landlord is great and just paid for it to be replaced £3k just like that and whilst I understand he has a responsibility to do something, if that was our responsibility in that position no way do we just have £3k like that. Then saving a deposit is worrying - yeah we can save but can we sustain putting the amount we need away in a timeframe I would like without putting financial pressure on us elsewhere.  I like the idea of owning an home and not needing permission to do our own thing with it and the fact it would be an asset. I am just too unpredictable in my own mind at times haha, one day I am like yep we can do this and then the next I think actually for what we get for the money we pay it is reasonable...anyways.....

How does it feel to know that you now have the flexibility to decide what you do with all your income rather than having to ship part of it out to the creditiors? Do you have any interesting plans with the budget

enthusiasticsaver

Poppy1984 said:

savingholmes said:

I would do a 12 month - monthly plan - including your annual bills. That way you can plan in any treats or holidays etc too which will help you not fritter your hard earned cash

Thanks @savingholmes that sounds like a good plan, I'm starting to have a think about my priorities for the year so I don't just fritter away the money that otherwise would have gone on my loan, hope you're doing well?

poppy

Why don't you join the savings challenge Save £12k in 2022? It does not have to be £12k, it can be anything.