Plan to clear £34k debt mountain

IrishSean

Mid month sucks

jls85

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments, I really appreciate them. I definitely like the idea of focusing on smaller numbers to break the big goal down into more manageable chunks. I think that will help keep me motivated and make it clearer that the small amounts will all add up over time. After all, £20 off £1000 feels a lot more beneficial than £20 off £30,000! So thanks again guys.

Now for the rest of my news. The good news is I made a decent haul over the weekend Matched Betting - £235 altogether - so that will go straight into my savings account once it clears. The bad is it looks very likely that I am going to lose my job within the next couple of weeks. There are lots of conversations still going on at the moment so it's not a totally done deal as yet, but it's looking like our show is going to be cancelled. So for the next couple of weeks I'll be putting any small gains into my savings account rather than straight towards the debt just to be safe and generally trying not to panic too much.  I'm not going to lie, I'm struggling with that last part, but I just keep trying to remind myself it's out of my control so worrying isn't going to change anything. Until then, it's just a waiting game...

jls85

Actually here is something that cheered me right up - I just updated my signature to add the £235 to my total and realised it has taken me down into the £20k debt bracket. Yay for small wins!

jls85

So it's been a little while since I posted. Things have been a bit manic the past few weeks so it's slipped down my priority list a little, although I turned 35 this week so that has given me another reality check - I do not want to be celebrating another birthday with debts hanging over me!

Work wise, not much has changed but thankfully I still have a job at the moment. There is still massive uncertainty around whether our show is going to continue or not. Rumour has it we should hear one way or the other this week, but we've been told that a few times now and we are still waiting. I really hope it's soon though as I think it's the not knowing that's proving to be really stressful.

As for the debt payments, I've paid the last of my payment break money into Loan #1 so that takes it down to £5,490 which is great - almost half what it was when I started my journey in May. So that's given me a good boost. The matched betting has been much slower this month though - the reload offers aren't worth nearly as much as the sign up offers were and it feels I'm having to put a lot of effort in to make even a couple of pounds per bet. I'll stick it out for now though and reevaluate next month re whether it's worth sticking with it or not. I'm hoping I find all the little payments add up to more than I think they will...

In other news, I've decided to sell my house. My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a place together soon anyway, but we currently have a property each so it makes sense that we get rid of one of them first before seriously looking. So I'm going to spend a couple of weeks getting my house prepped and fixed up (just minor cosmetic stuff like scuffed paint etc) then get someone in to value it. I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but based on a house the exact same as mine that sold in my street last week, it looks likely I could make a profit of around £40k, which would clear my debts and leave me with a decent chunk left over to put towards the deposit for the next one. Obviously nothing is guaranteed, especially in a post-COVID market, but fingers crossed!

The only slight concern I have is around the fact I took payment breaks to begin with, as I've since found out they can impact on your ability to borrow further down the line. I'm hoping it will be ok by then as realistically we are looking at around 3-6 months before we even start look at buying somewhere new, but it's still a slight worry. Just trying to tell myself that there's not much I can do about it now anyway so there's no point in worrying. But that's never stopped my worry-prone mind before so I doubt it will start now!

jls85

Ok so it's been a while since I last posted but a lot has happened!

Firstly, I have been assured that my job is safe for at least a year. So that's a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I knew it was getting to me but i feel so much lighter since it's been confirmed, it's made my debt busting feel much less of a challenge which is great.

Next up, I have put my house on the market, I got it prepped and valued last week and am delighted to say the one report valued it at £10k more than I expected (the last house the same as mine went for £15k less two years ago and I had hoped for maybe a £5k increase on that but it's gone up by a lot more). Provided I get the home report value, that will give me a whole £17k to put towards my debts - woohoo! I just need to decide what loan to put it towards now. My thoughts are to get rid of the big Tesco Bank one as that would be such a big boost, but the NW one does have higher interest so maybe I should clear the rest of that first then put the rest towards the TB one? Open to suggestions on that.

In other news, the Matched Betting has pretty much stopped now as the football is mostly finished, and my attempt at casino meant I lost £30 so I'm not going to continue with that. I've never had any inclination to gamble at all before but I can see now how people can become addicted to the online slot machines. So I'll be steering well clear of those from now on! Aside from that I've been so busy with the house I've not managed to get much on eBay although I do have a lot of stuff ready to sell after de-cluttering so I'll try to list some of it this week. 

Sadly my emergency fund has taken a bit of a hit too as I've had to pay for my home report and a woodworm call out, but I still have £800 left so it's not all bad.

I have two house viewings tonight so fingers crossed something comes of those. It's early days though - it only went on the market on Friday - so there is still plenty of time.

J x

jls85

Just a quick update today. I've been rubbish at taking lunches to work this week so I've spent £9 there, but managed to make £50 on Matched Betting again so I'm still in a good position. I just need to get back into the swing of getting lunches sorted to take in again. 

On the house front, no luck with either of the viewers sadly. The first one felt the house was too small and the second didn't like the position of the boiler (!), but I have another one booked in for Saturday so we're still on the right track.

jls85

So I got some amazing news - my house has sold! And I've worked out that I will have £18k left at the end to put towards my debts which is such an amazing feeling!! So my plan is to pay off the Tesco loan in its entirety. I know the percentage of the NW one is higher, but given there is only £2,900 left on it, I think it will spur me on so much more to get rid of the big one all at once. Plus, my boyfriend is happy to let me stay at his for no cost for the first few months until I pay the NW one back which is amazing. Based on what I will save from no longer having a house, I actually think I'll be able to pay the NW loan back in 2 months, as I'll have £946 left each month after bills and the TB loan and I can keep putting £500 towards it as I have been. So that pretty much covers it! I honestly can't explain how much of a weight this will lift getting rid of so much of this - I've been in solid debt for 17 years now and by Christmas this year I'll only have my car loan left. I don't really want any debt, but a single car loan feels like 'normal people' debt rather than a dark secret I have hanging over me all the time.

That being said, work has been absolutely manic over the past few weeks, and I've noticed some old bad habits starting to creep back in, like buying lunch at the work canteen. I'm super aware that with so much light at the end of the tunnel, I could fall into the trap of thinking I have more money free and start to spend too much again so I'm going to be extra careful to make sure that doesn't happen. So I've made a list of everything I need to make 3 different meals and a big pot of soup, so I can batch cook tonight and have stuff there for lunches and dinners when I need it rather than doing a small shop every day. I am also going to start keeping a proper spreadsheet of all of my spending again. I am still tracking it but not as meticulously as I was. 

I'm also finding more stuff to go on eBay as I'm clearing my house out now, so I'll try to list that this week, and I've decided to cancel my matched betting subscription so that will free up £17 per month too. There is still definitely money to be made but it's not as much as it was and I feel the benefits don't justify the time commitment for me at the moment. Once the house sale has gone through I may look at it again though, when I have more time. 

And finally, I got a phone alert today to say my mobile contract is up today so I'm going to go on and try to get them to cut it right down. If they don't budge I'll go elsewhere - I'm on a SIM only deal so there are lots of great deals out there that will be much cheaper than what I am on.