Paddington's Debt Free Journey

Paddington75

Hi All

I'm new here and thought I would start a debt free diary to try and keep myself motivated.  I currently have the following debts:-

£750.00 Tesco CC, £2,570.00 Virgin Money and £3,360.00 to MBNA making a total of £6,680.00.

I'm fortunate that all of this is on 0% and I have worked out my monthly payments so that all three cards will be repaid before the expiry of the 0% offers.  All being well I should be debt free by April 2022.  In addition to this I'm trying to build up an emergency fund, which currently stands at £468.00.  My husband and I became home owners just over a year ago so need to get a fund together to pay for any repairs we may need to do.  We will also need to save up for a new kitchen, boiler and front door.  

Motivation however is my biggest downfall.  I'm quite an impatient person and because I get paid monthly I find that once I've made all my monthly payments I'm crossing the days off the calendar waiting for the next payday and the next time I can make some payments.  Sounds weird but I wondered whether if I made a small payment of a couple of pounds per week extra against each card that would make me feel like I'm being more proactive??  

If anyone has any tips in how to remain motivated they would be very welcome 

BadBookkeeper

Hi, have a look at the 1p a day challenge or the payment a day challenge.  All the little savings soon add up.  Good luck 

CreditCardJunkie

Hi and welcome! I also get paid monthly and I found throwing lump sums off the debt motivated me more! I only really started successfully paying it down when I worked out a proper budget which allowed for everyday spending (such as the odd sandwich, coffee, clothing, birthdays etc). Keeping a spreadsheet really helped me, at the beginning it was eyewatering to see how £10 here and there was adding up to £300 odd per month which is why my debt continued to hover around the same number.
Also like you I had a few home improvements to save for, unfortunately our boiler went so we had to use credit, but we paid it off much quicker than anticipated. Be sure to check if you are eligible for any boiler grants, we got £500 towards purs. We also had a new front door, I used Monzo and created a pot with a goal amount which I found really motivating.
Good luck, keep posting!

Paddington75

Hi both, thanks for replying

Yes I will definitely have a look at the challenges board to see if there's anything I can join in.  Although I like paying off big chunks each month I also wish I could make more of them lol.  However unless I win the lottery (not likely because I don't play) then this is not possible so I just have to be patient.  I've made a budget and I've started taking my own lunch into work so I don't need to spend any money on that.  I usually take my book in to work with me too so I can stay in at lunchtimes and read which also means I'm not spending money on frivolous things.  Obviously with lockdown at the moment I can't really go out at lunchtimes anyway!

I allow myself a small budget each month to buy a little something, even if it's just some new stationery or a new book, just something small so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.  I sit down at the start of each month and work out my monthly utility bills and credit card payments, put a certain amount into a separate current account which I use for my food shopping.  I've worked out that I should be able to save £200.00 a month towards the emergency fund so hopefully I can build that up quite quickly.

Paddington75

Good news today, found out that I will be getting a bonus in my wages at the end of this month - no doubt the taxman will take a big chunk of it, but I'm planning on putting whatever I receive into my emergency fund.  If I can save another £200.00 as well as the bonus I should reach £1,000.00 which will be a nice little buffer.  I was looking at Dave Ramsey's baby steps last night.  I think if I have a goal to aim for that will keep me more motivated.

Paddington75

No work for me today, so today's plan is to take an inventory of the freezer to see what meals I can make without having to do more shopping, and to sit down and work out what bills I have going out in February and what birthdays etc I have coming up in the first six months of this year and how much I need to save towards that.  I also have some laundry to do later on today and I'm hoping to finally finish the book I started a couple of weeks ago - I love reading but am really struggling to get through this one for some reason.  I also need to repaint my bathroom in the next couple of weeks so just deciding on paint colours.

No bills due to go out this week, the final bills for January are two credit card payments of £200.00 each which are due to go out next week, one on Tuesday and one on Friday.  Provided I don't spend any more money this month I should have about £80.00 left in my current account which I haven't decided yet whether to put towards my emergency fund or towards one of the credit cards.  Even though all my credit card debt is on 0% and will be until it's all paid off, I'd like to be able to pay it off quicker.

I use a planner for budgeting as I'm quite a visual person, I love to see things like that on paper rather than on computer or an app, even though I have this diary.  To be honest this is more for me to ramble and keep myself accountable!

BlueJ94

Well done so far on your journey ☺️ we're in very similar positions, similar debt etc. Ill keep looking on here for updates 🤞 I started on a dmp as I found I was just going in circles with paying off CC and spending them 🙃

Paddington75

Hmm took my freezer inventory yesterday and realised I haven't got as much in as I thought I had, so may need to do a small top up until my next shopping delivery, which is due on 2 Feb.  I've booked quite a large shop for that one so hoping it will keep me going for a few weeks.  I've sat down and worked out what meals I can make with what I've ordered (as long as it all turns up and there are no substitutions!) so it should just be fresh fruit and veg and stuff like bread I need to buy in between.

I sat down last night and worked out that if I can find about another £150.00 as month I can have all my debt repaid by the end of this year.  I really would love to be able to do that so I'm trying to work out my budget to see what I can do.  I don't smoke or drink, I don't have kids and I don't really buy a lot for myself so not sure what else I can cut back on though!  One way I could do it would be if I was to not save £200.00 a month and throw that at the debt instead, but is it really worth doing that when all my debt is on 0% anyway??  Ugh so much to think about!

bamgbost

Nice one Paddington. The end is in sight!

If you can get hustle that extra £150/month then the debt is history. focus on that goal! Im sure you can do it!

Paddington75

Thank you bamgbost, I'm determined to do it, or even if I can just cut a couple of months off that would be awesome.

Paddington75

Well I've been out for my daily walk today and called into B&M to get a few bits and pieces - £9.58 spent so not too bad.  They have Dulux easycare bathroom paint in there for £16.00 compared to £22.00 in B&Q so I may get some from there the next time I have some time off work, once I can decide on a colour!!

This afternoon's plan is to update my planner, watch the next episode of WandaVision and try and finally finish my book.  Hope everyone has a great day