Debt Free by December 2021

[Deleted User]

Hi,
Long time lurker and long time debt buster. Husband and I have been paying down our debt for almost 3 years now. Started following Dave Ramsey about a year ago and we're currently just over half way through BS2. Debt at it's highest was over £13,000. We have 2 children (dinosaur 1 and 2) who are our 'why'. Husband works full time and I work part time (not currently working as self employed and no work since March). We're aiming to be debt free before the end of 2021. We've recently bought a house which needs some work. Our aim is to not get in to debt for this so as well as paying off the debt we'll be saving for the house too. I wanted to start this diary because I feel like this is the hardest part and could really use the encouragement and wisdom of everyone here.

15/07/2020 debt total £5600

[Deleted User]

Pay day! £100 sent to CC

16/07/2021 debt total £5500

Bluegreen143

Happy new diary and happy payday! Have subscribed to follow your journey. You’ve done amazing with your debts so far 🙂 

[Deleted User]

@Bluegreen143 thank you. It was Daddy Dinosaur's pay but I have full control over it. It's been a long journey with a lot of sacrifices. I was a SAHM and I returned to work to give us more disposable income. I'm glad we did because it allowed us to save for our house and pay more towards our debt. 

[Deleted User]

Inspired by my new diary, I've been reflecting on our journey so far and the measures we've taken to pay off our debts. We have:
- reduced our outgoings (even started paying for things like car tax annually and TV licence monthly to save money)
- created a zero based budget
- created pots and sinking funds for eveything (we have a lot of bank accounts)
- I returned to work part time and with the help of family and working weekends we don't pay for childcare
- we only have cheap or free days out (so thankful for Tesco vouchers). We have an allowance for this and takeaways. I take this out in cash as soon ws we're paid. Once it's gone it's gone. 

One area I'd reallt like to address is our food budget. I currently budget £450 per month (this is for 5 week months too). We often go over this but I don't want to increase the budget because £450 should be enough to feed us. 

horseeatsallmymoney

I was drawn to your diary as we have the same DFD
Well done on your hard work so far- I look forward to following your journey!

ZaSa1418

Good Luck, I have just started my diary to keep me motivated too  

ImpulseSpender

Good luck! You look like you're doing really well. Having those reflection moments is really important. Especially when you might be having a down day or feeling a bit unmotivated, its great to see how far you've come and the habits etc you've formed! I'll be following along 

[Deleted User]

@horseatemymoney @ZaSa1418 @ImpulseSpender hi everyone. I literally can't wait. This credit card has been following me around like a bad smell for too long. Some days you just need to give your head a wobble and look back at what you've achieved. Just made myself a cuppa. Kids are entartained with their tablets (for educational purposes obviously) so I'll head over to your diaries for a read. 

Bluegreen143

Your situation sounds similar to mine in that you are the budgeter with your OH’s pay. I’m a SAHM so don’t have any income but I’m the one interested in sorting the finances as well. My husband just pays it all to me minus his spending allowance 😅

Thanks for sharing your list of what you’ve done so far, that’s really useful! Have you headed over to the Old Style board for advice on your food budget? There are lots of inspiring threads to read on this topic and you can join the grocery challenge too (I’ve joined again - I used to do it religiously - but keep forgetting to post on it so sorry if I’ve missed you’re already on there!).

[Deleted User]

@Bluegreen143 I was a SAHM for 4 years. I now work 10 hours a week so I'm very part time. We live comfortably on 1 wage (not that we're loaded, we just live within our means) though so my wage is more spending money. I was in no rush to go back to work and then my job came up and it was perfect, so I went for it. Haven't worked since March though which means no extra money for debt repayments. We've gone without our fun money since March so we could put something towards our debts/savings. 
I think the most important thing for us was breaking that cycle of creating more debt. I need a new car but I refuse to get it on finance. Once I return to work I'll be setting up a pot to save for a car. It means we have to wait a bit longer for things but it keeps us on the straight and narrow. I haven't to be honest. The food situation has kind of crept up on us. It took reading your diary for me to realise that I used to be a lot a better.