Final steps to debt freedom 9 December 2020 at 5:09PM in Debt free diaries 147 replies 6.6K views

gymgirl11

riotlady said:

Congratulations!!! Sounds like you’re very prepared already 

Thank you so much! I like to be as prepared as possible and I have so many iPhone notes to help me! 

gymgirl11

My credit card debt is now below £3,000 for the first time since I can actually remember. My total debt currently stands at £2,940 so it’s coming down slowly.

I’ve started doing surveys on prolific again and have managed to earn £16.14 in 2 days. I’ve decided once I get to £20 I’m going to cash out. I need to invest in a few maternity pieces as I’m struggling to fit in some stuff so this will hopefully get me a pair of leggings or trousers. 

gymgirl11

Ok, so I haven’t updated for a while! 

Work life, pregnancy life and home life have all been stressful so I’ve had many days trying to switch off, which means a lot of technology free evenings. We’ve implemented a 1 weekday and 1 weekend evening (7pm - bed) technology free evening per week as we found that we would have the TV on in the background but not really be paying attention as we’d be on our phones and not really spending any quality time together.

Since my last update a lot has changed in terms of finances. My OH received his 50% of his Nana’s Estate, which was a lot of money. He split it for now across two bank accounts and he used part of it to fund:

- A few new pieces of furniture (desk, a single bed, a sideboard)
- New soffits & fascia on house & garage
- August Holiday spending money
- An engagement ring(!!!!!)
- Deposits for wedding arrangements (as we had been discussing this for a while we already knew the place we wanted to get married and the date)
- Rest of house windows 
- Built in Wardrobe (paid in advance and due to be fitted in Jan 21)

He has also set some money aside for:
- Decorator for the nursery (due 1 day in October)
- Garden landscaping (due to start Dec)

In terms of our joint finances and funding my maternity leave, my OH has already stated that when my salary drops he will make up the difference from his wage to top up the joint account. 

The plan is I will use my work money to fund my personal account first (an agreed £500 to pay my DD per month & money for personal spends) this will be the same that OH gets per month. Then on the months that I receive less than £500, followed by 3 months of £0, my OH will pay me the shortfall to get me to £500 and top up the joint account. 

His Nana’s estate money means for mat leave we can survive on his wages and my mat leave pay combined (but leaves us not saving any money for 12 months)

In terms of my own finances, I am now at £2,640 on my CC (interest free). OH did offer to pay my final part off for me, however, as I accumulated the debt before being in a relationship with him I said I would like to carry on paying this off myself. 

My finances are as follows for the next month: £600 in personal account (£200 is allocated to start my Christmas shopping):

- £150 CC payment 
- £29.50 football season ticket
- £43 waxing programme
- £36.69 phone bill (£20 extra in Oct as I donated to soccer aid)
- £10 gym (on hold payment for the next 6 months)
- £10 RSPB
- £0.79p for iCloud
- £200 Christmas presents 

BlueJ94

gymgirl11 said:

Long time, no update!

A lot has happened since April. So we didn’t go away in May in the end - so we saved all the money from that. And I barely spent any money in April and May due to spending a lot of time in bed as I’ve been having morning sickness (well, sickness that came at all and any time of day really!). We’re having our first baby which is due towards the end of the year. 

Due to the erratic eating habits and snacking, we have had to up the food budget by £50pp and have added a takeaway budget as the smell of home cooked food made me sick and gag for a while.. apparently the only thing that helped me was eating food with lots of salt in, Haribo sweets and drinking a lucozade. 

Congrats!

My sister is exactly the same right now, it's also her first baby! She's in and out of hospital constantly now due to the sickness tablets they've given her don't really work! She's lost 2 stone since being pregnant. She also can't stand the smell of certain foods! She was in my car not so long ago and I had to do an emergency stop and pull into some road work cones so she could be sick outside of my car  

gymgirl11

jadewest94 said:

gymgirl11 said:

Long time, no update!

A lot has happened since April. So we didn’t go away in May in the end - so we saved all the money from that. And I barely spent any money in April and May due to spending a lot of time in bed as I’ve been having morning sickness (well, sickness that came at all and any time of day really!). We’re having our first baby which is due towards the end of the year. 

Due to the erratic eating habits and snacking, we have had to up the food budget by £50pp and have added a takeaway budget as the smell of home cooked food made me sick and gag for a while.. apparently the only thing that helped me was eating food with lots of salt in, Haribo sweets and drinking a lucozade. 

Congrats!

My sister is exactly the same right now, it's also her first baby! She's in and out of hospital constantly now due to the sickness tablets they've given her don't really work! She's lost 2 stone since being pregnant. She also can't stand the smell of certain foods! She was in my car not so long ago and I had to do an emergency stop and pull into some road work cones so she could be sick outside of my car  

Oh no, that sounds like such an ordeal! I was mainly sick in my first trimester (5 weeks of constant sickness) followed by 3 weeks of feeling nauseous - think, stomach churning roller coaster feeling. I suffered with bad motion sickness as a child which can make the sickness worse - is your sister the same??

BlueJ94

gymgirl11 said:

jadewest94 said:

gymgirl11 said:

Long time, no update!

A lot has happened since April. So we didn’t go away in May in the end - so we saved all the money from that. And I barely spent any money in April and May due to spending a lot of time in bed as I’ve been having morning sickness (well, sickness that came at all and any time of day really!). We’re having our first baby which is due towards the end of the year. 

Due to the erratic eating habits and snacking, we have had to up the food budget by £50pp and have added a takeaway budget as the smell of home cooked food made me sick and gag for a while.. apparently the only thing that helped me was eating food with lots of salt in, Haribo sweets and drinking a lucozade. 

Congrats!

My sister is exactly the same right now, it's also her first baby! She's in and out of hospital constantly now due to the sickness tablets they've given her don't really work! She's lost 2 stone since being pregnant. She also can't stand the smell of certain foods! She was in my car not so long ago and I had to do an emergency stop and pull into some road work cones so she could be sick outside of my car  

Oh no, that sounds like such an ordeal! I was mainly sick in my first trimester (5 weeks of constant sickness) followed by 3 weeks of feeling nauseous - think, stomach churning roller coaster feeling. I suffered with bad motion sickness as a child which can make the sickness worse - is your sister the same??

Oh that's sounds awful! No she's never had motion sickness which is weird,

gymgirl11

I’m starting to gather a list of Christmas presents together for immediate family (2 parents, 1 sister, 1 niece, 1 nephew, 2 grandparents and my OH) 

I have a budget of £500. £200 to spend in October and £300 in November. 

Christmas is my OH’s favourite time of year so we do tend to go a bit over board with gifts for one another, however, I balance this out a bit as my sister is on low income (relies on PIP), therefore, we always agree a small budget of £20 for each other,. I do tend to spend more on her than £20, by about £10-£20, but I don’t want her to feel guilty about not spending ‘enough’ on me so we just say £20.

The perks of having a baby due early December are that this year I have already informed my friends and work colleagues that I won’t be attending any Christmas parties/meals and that I won’t be buying them Christmas presents or doing cards this year.

Me and my OH usually go out for a nice Christmas meal but again, this is on hold this year. 

gymgirl11

I’ve gone into nesting mode. Woke up at 8:30am and by 9:30am I had deep cleaned the whole kitchen and made myself some porridge with strawberries and banana. I also fed the birds and did a load of washing which is now currently in the dryer. 

We are going to attempt to assemble one item of furniture today. We have a sofa bed, a cot bed, a trolley and a dresser to do. We just need to decide which one to do.

Sundays are a good day for a NSD so that is the aim today. 

gymgirl11

Morning all. Still working from home until maternity leave begins and I will then start working part time after mat leave, again working from home.

I've been into the office once since 23rd March 2019 - which is quite scary - however, I have saved a lot of money on coffee, lunches & after work activities! 

I have a moral dilemma debt wise. My OH has asked me if I want (after paying my credit card direct debit for a October & November) his help paying the rest off my credit card off. The balance would be £2,340. 

He has kindly agreed that the money would be a gift and I would not have to pay him the money back.

I'm not sure what to do. It's a really sweet gesture, however, I feel quite guilty that he would be paying off the chunk for me when he had no involvement in building up the debt.

The positives are:
- We would have an extra £150 per month to add back to the savings account
- I personally would have no outstanding debt to pay
- I would not have to balance transfer across to an empty credit card (with a standard 3.5% fee)
- I would be able to close down 3/4 credit cards and keep one for my everyday spending.
- It would ensure a slightly stress free related maternity environment as one less thing for me to pay for on a monthly basis.

The negatives:
- He would immediately be out of pocket by £2,340 and it would take time to get the money back.
- I would, potentially, feel like I constantly owe him back and may feel guilt towards spending money on myself moving forwards.

Any advice would be great!  

Aspiration

Congratulations on the pregnancy, it’s such an exciting time!!

In terms of your OH paying the CC, I’m sure everyone will have a different view and feel comfortable with different things.

we were in a similar place when my wife got pregnant and we viewed everything as joint and attacked the credit cards together. Ultimately we view the household income as one and it made things simpler to manage.

It also sounds like it will simplify your life a bit so I’d definitely go for it knowing you’re having a child together which I view as the much bigger commitment. 

Exiting times and really pleased for you both!