Debt free by 40

WinterWarrior

Ah, I totally agree about the over focus! I have just done my own monthly roundup and said the same. Although mine isn’t debt paying exactly, I am trying to save for my next car in a few years, so I don’t have to get a huge loan, so it’s almost like debt paying in advance. I had a huge blip where I spent some savings and have been slowly pulling them back and did muse over the same thing…I’m so desperate to save, I’m getting mean about spending. Your boys will really appreciate their meal out.

jokono

That's a great idea WW, my car lease ends in just over 2 years. I reckon I will be out of debt by then but won't have enough savings for a new one. Might get a new lease and save at the same time. Plenty of time to figure that one out.

I finished another quilt top. It's using half square triangles and I'm very proud of the neat central part where 8 triangle points meet. I made a right mess out of the placement, several fabrics had directional print but I only thought of one of them when sewing it together. Oh well, it will have to do. I managed to finish the first quilt with batting and backing from stash, but for this one I'll have to buy some. 

sashybo

Hi jokono, delurking to say thanks for the mention of the debt payoff app. I’ve been looking for a replacement snowball calculator for ages and this looks fairly similar. 

Also well done on your debt repayments. 👍🏻

EssexHebridean

Well done on a great month Jokono - your signature really says it all about the sheer amount of work you’ve put in, it’s incredible progress. 

I think you’re right to ease back on things a bit during holiday times otherwise debt-busting fatigue creeps in - and then it becomes more likely you’ll go completely “off piste” with spending. If it’s budgeted for, and you’re still making some headway, you should maintain the feeling of being focused on clearing things as well. 

jokono

Thank you both! I did make a lot of progress in the last year, more than I thought I would and I can feel me getting in the fatigue zone. Last night I made an executive decision to spend the 'wants' pot on a few quilting accessories and more batting. I spent £8.50 more than I had in the pot, I put it on the spending CC and will cover it by rounding up my grocery spends. I could've raided other pots as I have just over £600 in all of them, excluding the weekly spending one, but this felt like a better idea. Maybe I should start a hobby pot.

@sashybo I found the app mentioned in another diary last year, I really like it. It tells me me debt free date, I can change the monthly overpayment amount to see how that affects the DFD, I can change from snowball to avalanche to custom order. I guess you could do all this with spreadsheets but this is easier and it looks ok. I went back to your diary, I started reading it last year but looks like forgot to bookmark it. I'm now at the 'poop all over the wall' incident 😆

sashybo

I I’m liking the app so far 👍🏻  A hobby pot sounds like a good idea, then it’s less guilt inducing when you want to spend.

🤣🤣 oh dear it’s bad when I think to myself “WHICH poop all over the wall incident??” There have been a few!  Children are delightful creatures. 👀

jokono

I spent most of yesterday thinking it was Thursday, eventually realised it was budget reset day which was good as I was already on -£8 from the previous week.

I decided to up my weekly budget to £110 in July and see gow it goes. It's very frustrating to keep going on minus and I've been on £100 for over a year during which prices went up considerably. I'll see how it goes for a month and review. 

A spendy day yesterday - we took the boys to a fair but all came out of the Boys pot which has been topped up generously this last pay day.

During the last few months I've been overpaying the loan with any extra money as it's the only interest bearing debt. BUT... I have a card with £412 left to pay. A £100 payment goes in every month to be cleared before the 0% deal ends, I think I'll start overpaying that to pay it off at least a month sooner, it will feel great to have another one cleared. I'll then refocus on the loan.

jokono

Mr JKN went to get a t-shirt from tkm, I gave him my survey vouchers in exchange for cash and paid that to the CC, £392 to go!

I was thinking about my £110 weekly budget, I'm not completely happy with doing that. I'll see how it goes this month, if anything is left at the end of a week I will leave it in the pot for more expensive weeks.

jokono

Oh I finally made the red cabbage and cauli dhal yesterday. The cabbage was getting mouldy at the bottom and I had cauli in so I had to cook it even though there's lots of meals in the freezer which also means I don't have any empty containers to freeze some. I'm the only one who will eat it - it looks vile as you can imagine but it's tasty.

WinterWarrior

Clearing the small card is a great idea. Is the weekly budget for food and everything?