Crunchy pays off the loan early, and other stories

remote_control

Excellent work on the driveway!!

crunchy_time

Morning all!
Husbands pay day yesterday so money all shuffled around. We now have approx £400 towards house/garden costs thanks to not paying for council tax this month. We are trying to decide what to do with it - what job is the most urgent. We still haven’t got the quote from the carpenter for the pergola so we can’t make a decision about it yet. But we have decided to put the fence off until the autumn now. Min payments will be taken off the loan on Monday but I have taken them off the signature now. Husbands £356 has gone towards the car on the spreadsheet rather than the consumer debt as husband and I have decided but I have managed to slush £41 off the consumer debt with extra money left in accounts. So it is all going in the right direction. The two loans are still being paid we are just changing what they are reducing according to our spreadsheet.
Todays plans involve lots of cleaning tidying and sorting with a dog walk and a run thrown in as well. And it looks like it is going to be good weather too.
Crunchy x

crunchy_time

Oh forgot to say the car has gone from £10,082 to £9726 which is probably getting closer to its current market value.
Crunchy x

crunchy_time

Morning!
Also forgot to say that I have made approx £30 from eBay sales this month! I have already paid £20 off consumer debt and there is £10 left to pay off today!
Both of us have runs today and then we are going to do house jobs before going for a family walk when the sun is shining later!
Everything feels better when the sun shines!
Crunchy x

crunchy_time

So husband and I have already decided roughly what we are spending the £400 that we have saved so far in the coming weeks and months.  I’m not seeing the point of keeping that as a line on my signature so I am going to remove it. Once the quote comes in for the pergola and we make a decision we will need to think of a way to fund that. I also feel that I want to (in my head) start paying off the £5k house renovation so perhaps split the £200 a month between consumer debt and house renovation. It means the line on the spreadsheet for consumer debt will take longer to pay off but our overall plan of paying off the loans earlier than their term is still in play. 

I think something has clicked inside recently - getting rid of the consumer debt on the loans first isn’t going to make me any happier and technically I won’t be debt free by the time I’m 40 anyway so the notion is useless to me. Finding a way to be responsible with our money rather than trying to meet milestones is the way forward. We also need to live and that is what this last year has taught me. I’m glad that psychologically we are now paying off the car as well. This is the scenic route but it means that all aspects of our lives are ‘covered’ rather than just focusing on one thing at a time and I think this is more sustainable for us going forward. 

Crunchy x

Aspiration

Sensible and sounds like it’s going to give you longevity!! Hope the pergoda gets put up soon and you enjoy it 

remote_control

Hi Crunchy, 
Your realisation is similar to the way we operate. We aren't going to add to the debt but on the other hand we aren't going to rush to pay it off. We will have holidays and we will need to pay for house things as they come up. For me I've accepted that the debt is there and I'd rather not add to it than race to pay it off and then borrow more. If that makes sense. 
Good luck!

crunchy_time

I’m so tired of feeling ashamed for having debt. Shame is not going to make it go away any quicker. And life isn’t going to be any sweeter when we are debt free. If we think like this we are putting off happiness. It’s about dealing with the here and now and also paying off the past alongside it. Making sensible choices. Taking small steps towards goals each day is the key. 

Crunchy x

remote_control

Don't feel ashamed. Everything in your life has brought you to where you are now. That sounds really cheesy sorry! You've moved house and been on holiday and had maternity leave and children (who cost money). As soon as I stopped spending on credit and had affordable monthly payments set up I stopped thinking about it so much. And I guess that is why you took out the loan? We have payments of around £650 going out each month and when the debt is gone I plan on putting that to the mortgage.
It's just another outgoing. So please stop stressing about it and over thinking it and thinking about where it came from. It will be nice to be debt free a burden will be lifted. But you won't necessarily be happier. Your children will be teenagers and life will have a whole new set of problems! In my opinion (not that you asked!  ) just don't add to the debt. Then it can only go down! Focus on living within your means and saving for the house stuff, holidays etc. Put ebay money etc towards that, get on the frugal boards. Then this time next year you will have £xx less in debt and will be another 12 months on the date since you last added to the debt.  I tell people about our debt if it comes up in conversation as I want to change the way we all keep it a secret, lots of people have it too!
I'll be in debt my entire 30s. I think they're expensive years.
Keep going and find ways to frame it positively. 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Hi Crunchy hope you are ok?

I've had similar conversations with my husband about the mortgage overpayments. They are at 435 at the moment. When the loan is gone (by September! ) the basic payment will move to the mortgage but l am not scrimping for the next five years or so until it's gone. We need to have a life in the meantime, otherwise l can't see the point. Nothing extravagant, just to be able to decorate when needed and go on holiday once a year.