3 Year Goal *******

workaholic789

Morning All
Newbe here Divorced mother of 2 (live at home) adults.  Light Bulb moment yesterday - I tried to top up a loan, it was declined.  Worse than that, I had to borrow £100 off my eldest to last me until payday on Thursday - he didnt mind at all but it made me realise what a shambles my life is.  I am late forties, good job, relatively healthy (ishhhhhh)  with not too huge a debt to tackle, discounting my car loan and my Amigo loan (which will both be finished in the next 18 months)- I have about £4K of debt.  I want this gone by the end of 2023.  I wont be posting my SOA yet, I am fairly happy with my bills (may do this later) this is just for me to record my progress.
In retrospect, I am glad the loan was declined because it gave me the motivation that this is the last month I will EVER (hopefully) finish with not a penny to my name.
My biggest challenge is that the Debt is spread over about 10 accounts BUT, the good thing is that 4 of them are under £100 so I can make a pretty good start which will be a boost.  So I will need to trawl through and get all of the details, accounts, log ins etc which will take some time but will help me feel more in control hopefully.
I get paid next week and I have a garage bill to pay and a Birthday to buy for so its going to be pretty tight, but is looking roughly like this

Salary + Board = £3000.00
Bills (housing, loans etc) for this month £1900.00
Food & Household stuff £500
Fuel £120
Electric £60
Mums Bday £60
Spending £100
Saving £100
Garage Bill £160

I MUST get to the end of September with £100 to start my emergency fund as this is what worries me most, having nothing put back for something going wrong.  I have 2 working kids with plenty of disposable income between them, but there is nothing worse than having to ask them if I can borrow some money, awful feeling.
They bot pay rent and buy their own alcohol, takeaways and toiletries etc which is great.

Will be back later with some more musings no doubt, but just thought I would introduce myself

workaholic789

I have also just realised my own stupidity as, once my loans are finished in 18 months, I will have that money to throw at the debt thats left, so this may only take me just over 2 years

Fatsdom

We recommend an SOA before we can help. 

Smashingitnow

Good luck! Sounds like with a bit of determination and organisation this will be quite manageable. 
Might be worth thinking of that food and spending money weekly...if you're used to overspending. And identifying three habits to change like takeaway coffees, brand swapping or whatever is relevant to you. This can reinforce your new style spending and make a big difference. And are you absolutely sure there's nothing missing?

I'm guessing it's support and encouragement you want. Good luck!

TheAble

Sure you need 3+ years to clear £4k? Great that you're planning to sort it but I'd maybe pitch a little higher.

workaholic789

Thank you both.  Its more the encouragement side I am looking for.  I worked from home during Covid so my grocery spend went through the roof!  (any saving on fuel was swallowed up and then some!)  Weirdly , I have asked for my board money to be paid weekly rather than at the beginning of the month now.  That way, at least that will be enough weekly to cover food and fuel.   Lunches and snacks all packed up for the next 2 days and for once, I have resisted the urge to cash in my club card points as I want to save them for Christmas.  We have enough food (thanks to a meal plan)  so its just fuel, electric and a couple of prescriptions so plenty to last until pay day.  My biggest problem, is thinking "yay its pay day!!!" rather than just thinking of it as another day - that is the biggest challenge for me.  Rewind back 3 years and I would have spent 3 days crying if a loan was turned down, now I am actually pleased and its a question of having to tackle it rather than just adding more on.  Forgot to include that I also have a small overdraft of £200 which needs clearing as well.
I pay my electric by meter, I know its expensive but its easier to manage and no big bills.  I have no gas, but I do have to buy heating oil.  My sky bill is £130 (for TV, internet, phone etc) but we split that 3 ways.  I didnt upgrade my phone and have swapped to a £10 top up which is plenty.   I have made my own lunches, snacks and iced coffee for work for the last 3 months so thats saving me money.  I have made lots of little changes which are now just habits which is good

Smashingitnow

Sounds good! 

workaholic789

No I dont think I do need 3 years   I dont intend it to take that long.  Once the 2 loans are finished, I will have another £400 to throw at it so I think I can do it in 2 years!  I am also aware that there are bumps in the road, little things that happen and unexpected things that crop up  (rightly or wrongly, its those that worry me more than clearing the debt quicker)  I badly need an emergency fund

workaholic789

So, got to work super early today so I would have an hour spare before I start, which I have put to good use!  Have logged on to credit site so that I can get a complete picture of where I am (will also do the same on a different one tomorrow to make sure I have everything).  As I thought, I actually have 6 items that are all under £100 so I think that I will tidy those up in the next couple of months which will give me a good start.  
One bit of bad news, I found a CCJ for £2501 - but this leaves me with a question.  The Judgement was issued on the 5.2.15 which means that at the beginning of Feb next year, that will be six years.  It takes me (non loan) debt from £4488 to £6989, what do I do?  Do I ride it out until Feb next year, or pay it - I really dont know what to do?
I also need to register on the Electoral Roll but, for some reason I am nervous of this............ what to do?

workaholic789

Ok so I have made a list of everything I can see on my Credit Files and I now need to find all of the details so that I can contact the companies.  This shouldn`t be too bad as is only across  companies, the challenge is going to be finding all of the relevant account details (as it only shows you the last 4 digits on the Credit Files), this means tackling the rather large pile of unopened post that`s chucked on a Kitchen Shelf...........   That`s is going to be my job for this weekend.   Next weeks job will then be to register with the companies so that I can make online payments, payment proposals etc.

The next 2 months are tricky as I have the Garage Bill this month, I am booked to have 4 new tyres next month before the bad weather sets in and I also need heating oil.  But, at least if everything is organised and I have all of the up to date information, its a start.

Could I make a payment proposal to the 3 companies involved but defer the start?  For instance, start throwing as much as I can from end of November (lets say £100 each + anything extra I can scrape together) and maybe just make a payment of say £25 to each of them for Sept/Oct (as I need to deal with the above 3 things first).  Or, am I better not to contact them until I am ready?  The one that worries me is Lowell?

Any advise would be appreciated

workaholic789

No spend day here. Lunch and dinner sorted for tomorrow.  Also have run out of a couple of beauty bits, rather than dash off to buy more, had a good sort out and found some samples, travel sizes and left over Christmas presents so will use all of that up first.

Have a grocery delivery booked for Thursday evening (pay day), would normally go silly, but, went through and deleted lots, meal planned and managed to cut £40 off, pleased with that. Also went through cleaning cupboard, so much in there so again , will use it up before buying more.

Small changes but I have to start somewhere.

Am also feeling a bit cross, several debts under £100.... I know they are an easy win but how on earth have i let such small amounts become debts in the first place ?! Madness 🤪