Time for me to be debt free

Babybelles

@kermit2601 thanks for taking the time to comment. I have been thinking more about my future & what goals to aim for.  The things I really want aren’t money focused, ie I want to start to get fit & lose a bit of weight. I want to read more, & to fully declutter my house (I’m about 80% there so far). So I do have goals but have realised for the first time in my life none of them are financial goals (apart from paying off my debt).

Paying the debt off by myself will be a massive achievement for me, as it’s not just about the money aspect, but through me changing the way I shop for things, & dealing with the emotional side of being a shopoholic. I’m budgeting properly for the first time in my life & I’m not much older than you. It’s ridiculous really!

I think you have great goals, paying off the mortgage early & setting up savings for your daughter is a great idea. We have set up savings for both our children but maybe should think about adding to them more regularly.

I’ve always had financial goals, ie, buying our first home, buying a bigger one to accommodate our children, & then buying our ‘forever home’. We always had plans to save for new kitchens, bathrooms, windows, conservatories etc. I think we are just at a point where we don’t need to upgrade anything now so have no goals house wise. 

Another area we used to spend a lot of money was on holidays but it isn’t something on our minds anymore with what is going on in the world. There are still places I’d like to visit but I can’t see us booking anything for a few years, if at all sadly.

@savingholmes you are absolutely right. I have 3 CCs with high interest rates so the plan is to tackle them first. One of them I have paid off & maxed out a few times so my plan is for that to go first (it’s also the highest interest one). 

I’m normally a great sleeper but have spent the last two nights awake later than I would like working out how long it will take me to pay off that one CC depending on what amounts of money I put towards it. I’m aiming for a minimum payment of £300 per month but I might manage £400 as I want it gone as soon as possible. 

beanielou

Remember all these so called small payments really really add up.
They really helped me to become debt free.

Babybelles

Absolutely true @beanielou. I need to keep thinking that. I think I was starting to forget how much of an impact those small amounts could have, & was thinking of the debt as a whole rather than more manageable chunks.

I’m just going to keep chipping away & hopefully I’ll reach a DFD like you in the not too distant future.

savingholmes

You will get there - keep chipping away is the right strategy.

Babybelles

@savingholmes thank you. Every penny counts as they say x

beanielou

Have a wee look & see if the 100 day challange is still around.
I found that fab.
Cant find it which is a shame.
This is the payment a day thread which you could tailer to what suits you.  Just a thought 
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5590353/payment-a-day-chapter-18/p684

Babybelles

@beanielou I noticed another thread on that today but can’t remember where I found it. It does seem an interesting concept & will certainly bring the balance down. I’ll quite enjoying doing a few overpayments a week at the minute but might up this.

Babybelles

Well the weekend is here again! It’s been a bit of a game of ‘two steps forward & two steps back’ for me as I’ve managed to pay a few extra overpayments, but the interest has just been added making it look like I haven’t achieved anything. It’s frustrating but another remainder why debt is so rubbish for me! You live & learn as they say.

I also ended up ordering a takeaway last night as my good intentions to order it in my food shop didn’t go to plan as the items I needed kept going out of stock. So this was an unnecessary expense but it was paid for in cash I had ‘spare’ so I’m not too bothered about it.

I still haven’t added anything to the CCs & have no plans to so I just need to keep this up. I did get an offer out of the blue from my 0% CC to add another balance transfer. I only had a limit of £380 to use, but happily used it so I will have less interest to pay in the long run.

I feel as though I am squelching through mud at the moment. I’m making slow gains but it is going to be a bit of battle to get me where I need to be. I still have a couple of weeks before I get paid so am going to do quite a bit of eBaying this weekend & anything I make is going to be used to pay off debt.

Have a good weekend all.
Love  B x

Babybelles

Hello again, hope you are all doing ok?
I’ve not been on for a little while as there hasn’t been much going on. I’ve just been waiting for payday to come along so I could make some more payments, such is my life at the moment!

I did end up breaking my dry spell on not using my CCs & ended up making 6 transactions on them in Jan but have already paid off what I purchased so I’m not feeling too bad about it.

I wasn’t planning on using them at all, but a combination of discounts, & limited stock meant I decided to make the purchases anyway. I don’t have any regrets & either love or needed what I bought but my plan for Feb is not to use them at all.

I haven’t started off the weekend brilliantly as I made the error of taking my daughter shopping with me & ended up buying her a few unnecessary purchases. I bought her a few things for her room, a new rug, throw etc. She’s doing really well in the midst of this pandemic which can’t be easy for any teenager, so I don’t really mind buying her some nice bits. It would be great to chip away at my debt with that ‘spare’ cash but I’m happy to treat her once in a while.

My son is growing like a weed at the minute too so I bought him some new clothes. Well actually my DH bought them.

The way we work out our finances is my DH tends to pay the mortgage & bills, whilst I tend to buy all our clothes, necessities, stuff for the kids, family presents etc. 
We’ve never really discussed this was how we were going to manage our finances but have just fallen into this routine. Anyway, as I am trying to tackle this debt I asked my DH if he would buy them which he did so at least I’ve made a little saving there.

My total debt is down to £12,630 currently but I still have some payments to make, & will try to make as many extra payments as I can.
My worst offender CC card is down from £2,700 to £2,390 which I’m happy about. I’m aiming to pay off at least another £90 from this so this will be my priority for this month.

All in all I’ve still lessons to learn & no doubt mistakes to be made, but I’m still on the right path making tiny steps towards financial freedom.

Have a good weekend,
Love B x

savingholmes

Congrats on reducing your debt. We do our finances jointly - so there's no his and hers... although we allocate each other some personal spends - it's the same amount for both of us