Starting on the Debt-Free Journey

horseeatsallmymoney

Hi All,
I want to take accountability for the debts that I've built up over the last 10 years through a lack of budgeting and a "Sod it, I'll just get it" mentality, along with animals which had issues which weren't covered by their insurance. I've done my SOA and the biggest area I need to cut down on is buying lunch at work and Deliveroo in the evening when I can't be bothered to cook! I just wanted to write my debts down and have some form of accountability with someone to make sure I get them all paid off. I've cut down in lots of ways already, but I need motivation to keep going.
Debts as of Feb 2020:
Barclaycard: £2402.28
Tesco Card: £10.923.88
I've set up Plum as I've found this the best way to save as it does automatic transfers where I don't really notice the money going and have set up different pots to help me save towards spends I know are coming like the car MOT, Christmas etc.
Knowing I have this debt is always in the back of my mind and I want to get it cleared. It will take a couple of years but I am determined!

Plutonomics

Welcome and good luck on your journey. This is a great place to keep track, I find with other spreadsheets etc. I just update as I go and end up with no record of where my money has gone or why balances accumulated.

It sounds like you have a plan of what to pay off and what to save, are both of your credit cards on 0% balance transfers?

foxgloves

Hi, 
When we first started debt busting, a good few years ago now, we realised we'd need to 'design out' situations which led to wasting money. Meal planning every week without fail was a huge saver, especially as shopping lists could then truly reflect only what we needed. We worked out we were wasting about £2k per year on buying lunches & snacks on work days, so packed lunched became a firm plank in our daily tasks. A regular takeaway habit just isn't compatible with debt busting. We used to send out for one at least every week, despite both of us being good cooks. The excuses were all the usual ones..... Busy day at work, nothing in that we fancy, forgot to take intended meal out of freezer, need a treat, can't be bothered, etc, etc. We still have an occasional takeaway but it's maybe 4 times a year now. To 'design out' most of our old takeaway justification, we batch cooked & froze stuff so we could heat up our own 'ready meal', we made 'Fakeaway' type meals such as curries, pizza, Vietnamese pork, etc, so that our taste buds got a similar hit & I made use of my slow cooker on days where I knew we would get in late & start looking for excuses not to cook. We did have quite a lot of debt back then & spending so much on paying someone else to cook our food wasn't a viable option. The funny thing is that when we have a takeaway now, we actually enjoy it a lot more because it's now a genuine treat & not a weekly or sometimes twice weekly occurrence.
Good luck with your goals, 
F

horseeatsallmymoney

Plutonomics said:

Welcome and good luck on your journey. This is a great place to keep track, I find with other spreadsheets etc. I just update as I go and end up with no record of where my money has gone or why balances accumulated.

It sounds like you have a plan of what to pay off and what to save, are both of your credit cards on 0% balance transfers?

It feels good to finally have a proper plan in mind on how to tackle it.

Yes, both cards are on 0% interest. Neither has 0% on purchases and I haven't been using the cards for day-to-day purchases so at least I'm not adding to the existing debt.

I've set up saving pots on Plum so I am putting money aside for irregular purchases, rather than struggling on the month they are due so hopefully I will get there!

horseeatsallmymoney

I wanted to come back to this after lurking and reading other people's diaries to help keep myself on track. The Barclaycard interest free period was due to run out first so I focused on that and I'm pleased that's paid off  
Current Debt: £10,598.36/£13,212.12 (19.7% paid)
Barclaycard: £0/£2,326.24
Virgin (Transferred from Tesco): £10,598.36/£10,885.88
Savings: £874.04
I'm hoping to get the debt down to £10k this month. I started properly looking at my finances in February so I'm pleased with the amount I've paid off so far. Just need to keep plodding along with it!

horseeatsallmymoney

While I'm thinking about it, I'm going to note it down. I can't believe the amount of money I'm throwing at this every month and thinking of what else I could be doing with it! Definite motivation to not get into this position again.

I've been aiming to pay off £500pcm, but have been managing a bit more recently due to saving money during lockdown. This is the first time I've had savings aside for when things need buying, as well as managing to lower the debt, so I feel like I'm making progress.

Homegrown0

Hi @horseeatsallmymoney, thought I'd stop by your diary too

You've made some great progress already since February and sounds like you've got a good plan of action. All the little extra bits of money from lockdown savings make all the difference in terms of boosting savings and accelerating the debt payments. I just worked out recently that if i increased my DD for both credit cards by £10 per month each, I'd be shaving months off the payment schedule. It was a no-brainer. 

Foxgloves makes a great point about mealplanning. We dip in and out of proper meal planning but we've been doing it properly for the whole of lockdown to minimize trips to the supermarket as much as possible. I wouldn't say it's saving us money (as we are feeding 4 people 3 meals per day instead of the kids eating at school/ nursery etc) but we are eating a lot better, spending very little on snacks and seeing very little to no food wastage. 

I also think you're doing the right thing building up a savings buffer while paying off the debts. That's something I wish I'd done earlier as it'd have made out bathroom catastrophe last year a little easier to handle

ImpulseSpender

Wow great job @horseeatsallmymoney you've made great progress since Feb. Keep it up!
I also use Plum and love it, I'm like you and have different pots for different things. When it comes out little and often you don't even notice how much its building up to sometimes.

horseeatsallmymoney

ImpulseSpender said:

Wow great job @horseeatsallmymoney you've made great progress since Feb. Keep it up!
I also use Plum and love it, I'm like you and have different pots for different things. When it comes out little and often you don't even notice how much its building up to sometimes.

Plum is absolutely brilliant for me. I don't really notice the money moving over and since I started with it last year I've saved nearly £4k without really trying! I have a debt pot on there, so when it reaches £500 I put it onto the credit card which helps too.

horseeatsallmymoney

NSD today. Saw my Dad for the first time since December today which was lovely! Drove over to a country park near him with husband and the dog and spent an afternoon in the sunshine having a socially distanced picnic  

I’m very lucky that my job is secure so I feel like lockdown is giving me time to get myself sorted with my finances as I’m not paying out to commute, not tempted by buying lunch and don’t have to pay for dog care on the days husband and I are both in the office. Trying to see the positives in the situation and today has been a lovely day 😀

horseeatsallmymoney

Feeling a bit flat today.
It's that time in the month where it's 10 days until payday, and nothing is moving in terms of debt busting. At least  I'm not counting down the days as I've run out of money like I would have previously, and it's because I'm wanting to get the debt down more. Nearly the end of the work day and I can go outside and enjoy some fresh air soon which should cheer me up!