Debt Free December 2023

Silver_Queen

IMO, Birchbox is not worth it. It's just a load of tat that you can get at TK Maxx for cheaper. I was signed up for about 6 months and ended up with a box full of tiny samples that I never wanted and would never use. I understand wanting a treat though, so would it be worth saving the money you'd spend on Birchbox each month and every 3-4 months, buying yourself a big beauty product that's nice and you'd definitely enjoy?

DebtFree2023

Coming up to the end of the month and I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. I have said a lot of No's to myself this month and have stayed indoors playing with the children and reading instead of going out and spending money. Pretty much stuck to my budgets and today have sat down and worked out where I am debt wise.

- Virgin Money (Non Secret Credit Card) £900. Currently interest free. Will pay off in full in March with bonus.
- Tesco Credit Card - 0 balance, have been using this card to spend on and paying of within a day or so from my weekly allowance.
- Natwest Credit Card -£3850. Paying £100 per month. Planning to pay an extra £50 off in March to bring it down to a nice round figure. Based on this plan will be free of this credit card March 2023. Its interest free for another 22 months however, I dont think I could stretch to pay an additional £70 per month whilst I'm still paying minimum payment on the Virgin credit card and trying to clear my overdraft before it becomes chargeable.
-Nationwide Overdraft - I receive money on 1st so have worked out what is due to come out between now and then and I am using that as my overdrawn balance -£250. I get paid twice per month and my balance the day before my mid month pay day was also £250 so I'm happy this is the debt on the account. This one is interest free until November 2020 then interest rate sky rockets so I want this cleared by then. Would love to have a £300 emergency buffer in there too. To achieve this I would need to hold back £550/10=£55. Will attempt to work this into the budget so I can clear my overdraft and have an emergency buffer in there too.

Next step just recheck the budget, put the £55 emergency buffer in and keep sticking to my weekly spending allowance!

The futures looking bright and things are on track so I'm feeling pretty happy right now.

Thanks for reading xx

DebtFree2023

Monthly budget tracker updated as I can still keep my £150 per week allowance. Happy Days!

Poppy1984

Hey just wanted to drop by and say hello and show you support as I am also hoping to become debt free in 2023. I don't want to wish the years away but I can't wait to be debt free! 

I hear you with the budgeting it's so hard! I use spending tracker on my phone that does help me stick to a budget. 

I didn't realise Martin Lewis had a podcast, I'm going to give that a listen. I find Dave Ramsey's podcast and YouTube videos really changed my perspective about debt. 

Good luck! Poppy