A return to MSE with a DMP so I can be debt free

pencakes26

Sarahwithlove said:

Well done that's great crossing the half way mark. It's only down from here! 

Exactly 😊🤞

pencakes26

All quiet here, not much to report. Work is busy but Thursday is my last day of proper work until the new year which feels SO nice to say! I'm chipping little bits off my debt here and there and have one final payment to go off my family loan and then I'm done for the year. Gotta get thinking about those 2021 goals soon. I want a challenge, but a realistic one I can stick to. 

pencakes26

Well here we are, just days away from Christmas and I think I'm about ready. I'm slowly getting used the the fact I'm in Tier 4 and have had to change my plans, but luckily my OH is my support bubble so even though we can't see our families, at least we have each other. We were also due to have a sort of Christmas Day on the 24th so at least I have food planned and can just move the eating part to the 25th.

I've been off work since last Friday but have still been working here and there which isn't ideal but it's not unusual in my line of work. I did receive quite a bit of wine as an Xmas present from work so that will definitely be taken off the shopping list 😂

Pay day is on 24th so later than previous years but I'm grateful as it will make budgeting in Jan a little easier. 

I hope everyone else is doing ok, it's such a funny time and emotions are all over the place. It will be ok soon. ❤️

pencakes26

A belated Merry Christmas to all. I've had a quiet one, spent with the OH. We both videocalled our families on the day which was nice, and I cooked Christmas dinner for the first time in my life! Luckily it all went well, made much easier by the fact we only bought a small turkey joint for the two of us. I've somehow mastered roast potatoes after a long road of failure so I was very pleased with myself when they turned out as they should! 

OH went home on Sunday so I've just spent the last couple of days half relaxing, half cleaning and organising. I'm itching to get the tree down but will wait until after NYE. Obviously we won't be going out so it'll be nice to have something sparkly in the house. My boss sent me some champagne so we've got some nice bubbles to enjoy.

I made my final debt payment of the year this morning - my usual amount towards the family loan I have. So my final figures for 2020 are: 

DMP = £17,792
Family = £6,748
Total = £24,540 

Meaning this year I've paid off nearly £12,500 worth of debt, including my car. 🎉 Given that I spent 7 months of the year on 75% pay, I am really happy with this number. It's the most I've paid off in a single year and I have a feeling I can do better in 2021. For someone who only really added to their debt every year from about 2008 to 2018, I can't tell you how nice it feels to actually be making a proper effort to reducing it. If only I'd seen the light before. 😂

My focus for 2021 is my DMP, so whilst I will continue to pay off the loan to my family, my efforts firmly remain on the DMP until it's gone. I'm setting myself a target of £15,000 to pay off in 2021. It's a big ask but I need the challenge. Wish me luck! 🤞

pencakes26

I refused to watch Boris on the TV last night, I knew what was coming and I just couldn't bear to hear it. I caught up on the important info after, and whilst it doesn't change much for me really, I do feel sad that we're here again after all this time. I'm so lucky to have my OH as my support bubble, but living and working on your own in the same one bed flat can take its toll on your brain. 

Hopefully I'll get settled back in to the work routine and find my groove again, but today I just feel like an old deflated balloon. 

pencakes26

Ok so slowly finding motivation but not really getting there. It sounds weird to say, but I wish I was back in the office, it sort of gives you that extra boost and I'm having to really dig deep to find it myself. 
On the debt front, my first DMP payment of the year came out on Monday so just waiting for that to be reflecting in my totals. I'd love to clear it this year but I just don't think it'll be possible. 

Naomim

pencakes26 said:

Ok so slowly finding motivation but not really getting there. It sounds weird to say, but I wish I was back in the office, it sort of gives you that extra boost and I'm having to really dig deep to find it myself. 
On the debt front, my first DMP payment of the year came out on Monday so just waiting for that to be reflecting in my totals. I'd love to clear it this year but I just don't think it'll be possible. 

I posted very similar about being in the office. I thought I would love WFH all the time but I'm finding motivation hard and even missing the commute as it was my winddown time.  I don't think the weather helps, cold, wet and miserable. January blues 😢

Naomim

pencakes26

January blues indeed @Naomim. I really want to try and stay positive but it just feels a bit relentless. Hope you're doing ok? 

Really busy day of work today, non-stop meetings and conversations which leaves me feeling very zombiefied but at least it's Friday and I can relax soon. My DMP payment cleared today too so all signatures and budget spreadsheets have been updated. I need to work on reaching my DFD when I want to (March'22), but it's still away off my projected DFD date (June '22) by a few months. The amazing thing I can now say though it that I will be debt free next year! In all my years half heartedly working away at debt, I was always three, four, five years away from being debt free so to be within touching distance is almost unbelievable to me! 

pencakes26

It's hard to know what to write these days. Life is very much work, eat, walk, sleep. I wish humans could hibernate, it would make life so much easier! 

I've been nibbling away at my savings and debts in between the larger payments I do so that's one positive. I keep daydreaming about being debt free too. 😂 I've realistically got about 18 months left of this journey to go so it's a long time day dream but I don't think ever let myself realistically imagine debt free life before! 

BlueJ94

pencakes26 said:

It's hard to know what to write these days. Life is very much work, eat, walk, sleep. I wish humans could hibernate, it would make life so much easier! 

I've been nibbling away at my savings and debts in between the larger payments I do so that's one positive. I keep daydreaming about being debt free too. 😂 I've realistically got about 18 months left of this journey to go so it's a long time day dream but I don't think ever let myself realistically imagine debt free life before! 

Good work so far!! I'm also aiming to be debt free March 2022! Good Luck