New Me 2020 31 December 2020 at 3:20PM edited 4 January 2021 at 11:30AM in Debt free diaries 18 replies 1.6K views

popsstar

Good Afternoon all.
Thought with the end of this horrible 2020 being upon us there is not better time to focus on the New Year and push towards getting my debt cleared my way.
So a little about me first.  I was very silly with money when I was younger which has resulted in me getting into a bit of a mess with my finances.  Just before Covid lockdown I changed jobs which resulted in me not being able to be furloughed by my employer.  Because of this I ended up in a situation where I was off work for 3 months with next to no income.  

I also suffer from Anxiety and Irritable Bowel Syndrome which are both made worse by stress.  With this in mind I have decided to try and pay off as much of my debt as I can and also try and declutter my house.  Ideally I might even use this as a general wellbeing diary if it is allowed. 
So as it stands here is my current financial situation
Money Owed
Capital One C/C - £179.43
Littlewoods - £1658.98
Think Money - £166.50
V12 Retail - £159.30
Family Owed - £1600.00
Overdraft - £100
Income Tax - £106.20
Rent - £400.00
Argos - £534.95
V12 - £524.66
Halifax - £2953.20
Barclays (PRA GROUP) - £3151.75
Car Finance - £13843.73
Black Horse - £7642.82
DWP - £880.50
Total - £33902.02

In order to repay this I have created an Excel based accounts program that will let me keep track of daily spends etc and help me work towards it. 

hev3049

You are on the right track, well done

popsstar

Thank you very much.
I have a 2.5 year old daughter and I want to improve my health for her and also show her the value of money for when she is older so she doesn't make the same mistakes that I have. 

sweetpea26

you can do this .... so many people have been in your shoes and will be more than willing to advise you.

Disney_Princess85

Well done for coming here, there are so many people on here that will be able to support and help you on your journey. You can do this!

FootyFanDan

I just wanted to pop by and wish you the very best of luck on your journey. The people here are so helpful and knowledgeable, you have taken the hardest step which is to even begin trying to change your approach to finances. I like you felt like I needed to change my approach to provide a more stable footing for my daughter and I wanted her to know how to handle money. I could only do that by learning myself haha, you have got this!

popsstar

Thank you all for your kind comments.
Today has been spent making some plans for this year and researching places to go that don't cost a fortune!
I have also managed to sort out some books to go to charity shops once they reopen.  I did think about Ebaying them but to be honest I hate ebay!! 
Oh and Happy New Year to everyone! 

popsstar

Day 2
No Spend Day!!
Had a day in the house today with family as we can't really do much else with being on Tier 4 lockdown! We would normally get a takeaway on a Saturday but we have decided to cook instead so more money saved.  

I have managed to find a few DVDs to get rid of too so looking into possibly using the Music Magpie or something similar to see what they are worth.  If anybody has any recommendations I would be grateful.

Squirrelz92

Congrats on making the the first step to becoming debt free and making your own DFW thread! I look forward to reading your progress. There are soooo many people on here who have been exactly where you are now who are now debt free so IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE!! Take one day at a time and try to focus on paying off one debt at a time! Best of luck!

popsstar

Squirrelz92 said:

Congrats on making the the first step to becoming debt free and making your own DFW thread! I look forward to reading your progress. There are soooo many people on here who have been exactly where you are now who are now debt free so IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE!! Take one day at a time and try to focus on paying off one debt at a time! Best of luck!

Thank you!
Today will be spent tidying and clearing out more junk from the house.  I need to book an MOT for the car too so hopefully I can get booked in somewhere over next few days.

BabyStepper

Well done on making a start and getting things sorted. Sometimes that's the biggest step. 

One tip, get your rent and tax paid off first. These are priorities. Maybe you have a payment plan for both? Let us know interest rates of all debts and we can try to help you figure out a strategy for what to pay off first. 

Good luck!