Debt free by 40

jokono

Thank you @Jill12 and @savingholmes
I've done some forecasting and I think I will get to halve the debt by the end of the year unless circumstances change. I'm hoping they will change for the better. There's definitely a bonus coming next month; and a salary increase but that's always been tiny, I'm happy there will be one anyway. If I manage to find a new, more exciting job the increase might be more substantial.

I started the week in a very MSE way:
- got some free K4tK!n cat food from Olio. (I've seen people not using the actual brand names and I don't know why, but here I am following the crowd. Maybe it's so it doesn't come up in search engines?) My cat who is not fussy at all doesn't love it that much, I'm guessing the other cat didn't like it either that's why it's been given away. I'll keep offering bits every morning instead of the usual pouch, it should be better for him anyway. 
- a new 'community larder' opened in the town centre and I joined. £3.50 for 14 items every week, I got lots of fresh fruit and veg this week, some tomato passata and tins, oat milk, toothpaste and some tomatoes that were really soft and weren't included in the 14 items. I feel like I've hit jackpot. They are all 'surplus' and none of them were close to the BB date? You have to pay by monthly DD so I need to make sure I go every week to make the most of it.
- Te5sc0 (I did it again!) is the only supermarket that donates to Olio in my area and usually there's lots of bread and not much else. Yesterday I found easy peelers (got 5 bags and half have been eaten already!), radishes, nectarines, jackpot again! I got some bread too, some nice trio of olives bloomer (my favourite) that's been sliced and frozen and some white sourdough which made yummy cheese toasties for lunch yesterday. The leftovers were turned into crunchy croutons.

I feel like my £100/week spend budget will go a long way from now on.

Less MSE spending
- went to L!dl (!) yesterday and I bought some cleaning products I do not need (because I already have plenty) and a cordless vacuum which is ok for the price but not that great. I have already used it and will keep it, but I wish I didn't buy it. 
- I might need to buy a shopping trolley for the weekly larder trip, the carrier bags can get heavy quickly when loaded with spuds, apples and tins.

Had a chat with my manager, I'm not impressed but I'm in a better mood overall. I should be happy I have a job that pays the bills (and debt ) and even though sometimes it's really dull it's not always like that. I'm not desperate to leave but I will for the right role when it comes up.

New budget week starting tomorrow, I will only have £75 this time because of the above mediocre vacuum cleaner. 

Off to have some lentil & tomato soup with croutons for lunch

I hope your weeks is going well! Don't buy the Beldray Airspire Cordless 

savingholmes

Sorry the vacuum was disappointing but thanks for the warning

Yes - definitely reduce the search engines... and the bad mouthing legal risks I think...

Food options sound great. Love how you are reducing your spend...

EssexHebridean

Yes - as SH says it's a search engine thing - plus means that the stores concerned can't easily find mentions of themselves in diaries (which are open to the public, remember!). Some folk do obscure names, some don't, the etiquette is usually that if you are posting on someone elses diary and THEY choose to obscure, then you follow suit. 

What brilliant food bargains - especially the community larder thing, those are a great idea! 

GinoOhGinoGinelli

Hi @jokono,

I'm fairly new to the forum and just found your diary. The title caught my eye as my hope is to be debt-free by 40 too!

I've been reading about all your progress, and you sound super motivated and proactive! I need to look into doing surveys etc again too.

Couldn't agree more about running - it's the only exercise I enjoy too. Very impressed that you've signed up for a race! 

I saw in an earlier post you mentioned getting an Oddbox, did you try it in the end? We started getting these last year and I just love them. Has really encouraged us to eat a much wider variety of fruit and veg.

jokono

@GinoOhGinoGinelli I popped over your diary, I hope we both manage to achieve being debt free by 40
I didn't try the odd box in the end, and now I found the larder I don't think I will very soon. The variety was my main reason for wanting to try it!

I got paid today so it's time for the monthly debt update - last month I managed to pay off £1,372.00, which is great and more than usual. Some of that was top c4shback, some from prolific and left overs from my weekly budget. This next month won't be as much, maybe 1.1k, but then at the end of Feb I get a small bonus, I might double the payments that month.

I'm thinking more and more of changing my job. Can't find anything I'd like in the industry I'm in, so I might shift a bit and do more of what I've studied in uni over 15 years ago!  I'm thinking to take some time off and brush up on my knowledge, what I'm doing now is not completely different, so it shouldn't be too hard. Building up confidence will be the hardest part.

jokono

It's not even the middle of this short month and I'm getting a bit antsy, all payments are done, nothing else is happening on the money front.
It's half term in a couple of weeks and I normally keep the boys with me at home. But last time I struggled so much as they're always hungry, always wanting something, always having to entertain/take them out while I'm also working FT. So this half term I decided to take them to a holiday club for 3 days, which is almost £200. There's nothing left in the kids pot, I could've raided other pots but decided to pay by CC as I'm getting a bonus this month so I will cover it then. I have some money left from my weekly spends and I'm doing a 2 week Prol!fic study which will pay £18 when it's done. This will all go on the CC, maybe there'll be something left next week as well, I'm hoping to get the CC under £100 by the end of the month.

So I guess things are happening but the money doesn't go towards the debt. Annoying! But I need to keep sane 

I took a few days off next month which I could've taken during half term admittedly, but I really want to change jobs so I will spend those days updating my CV, applying and trying to improve the skills I need for the job I want.

savingholmes

Keeping sane is valuable. Good luck with the job hunt too. Well done on OPs.

anjyeah

Take it easy - you look like you already have your debt plans sorted and your money is put to good use (esp your mental health during this break included). As long as it's within reason and budget, I don't think there's any harm on having such spends.
 
Good luck on the CV updates and job updates. 

jokono

@savingholmes @anjyeah Thank you both! To be honest I am so anxious about changing jobs/industry, but I am really unhappy with my work at the moment, I feel like I have to give it a good go.

EssexHebridean

Sounds like  good plan to save the days holiday for using to get your job-hurting stuff in order. The kids will love the holiday club anyway and it’ll be better for you all to avoid the stress around trying to keep them entertained.