Three years to get debt free

Willowtree222

janb5 said:

I totally understand your reasoning over this and another forumite has done a similar thing. I have a direct debit toward a loan which is nearly finished thank goodness after 5 years and I try to pay extra odd amounts( Polly tidying) to get it down faster.  You`ve done so well with your sales...I get frustrated when people bookmark an item and then don`t bid.

I’ve had a few who have bid and then not paid which is very frustrating. I have some niche items too that don’t look like they’ll get bids on anytime soon. 

Amazing that you’re almost at the end and have paid extra. I’m trying to get rid of it and then do the snowball method and go for another 
x

janb5

it took me 5 years tho- it was for altering a shower room downstairs. It`s very easy to get disheartened and guess what, ex`s don`t have the right to enquire as to how you spend your £.  At least he is ` off your back` and doesnt have any reason to harass you now. 

janb5

Ha- I think I meant Tilly tidying ( not Polly)  Some bank account have this facility too where you can put odd amounts into other accounts.

janb5

Here is the link re Tilly tidying.  I only send extra amounts across to my bank loan when I can do it .  I pay a monthly direct debit so this is on top.

Hi. It's when you tidy an account up into a savings or overpayment pot. For example if I had £289.56 in an account I could Tilly Tidy the 56p to make it £289.00 or you can tidy a bit more to make it rounder so £4.56 to leave £285. It's a way of making continual progress towards your goal without really feeling the difference in one big hit if money is tight. It feels good too! Hope that makes sense.

Willowtree222

janb5 said:

Here is the link re Tilly tidying.  I only send extra amounts across to my bank loan when I can do it .  I pay a monthly direct debit so this is on top.

Hi. It's when you tidy an account up into a savings or overpayment pot. For example if I had £289.56 in an account I could Tilly Tidy the 56p to make it £289.00 or you can tidy a bit more to make it rounder so £4.56 to leave £285. It's a way of making continual progress towards your goal without really feeling the difference in one big hit if money is tight. It feels good too! Hope that makes sense.

It does all make perfect sense, thank you Jan.

we still have a child so do have contact. Interestingly he never asha how much any of her things cost. I wonder if he realises he doesn’t pay enough towards any of what she does.

pay day this week so hoping for another big extra piece x

Fidelia

janb5 said:

Here is the link re Tilly tidying.  I only send extra amounts across to my bank loan when I can do it .  I pay a monthly direct debit so this is on top.

Hi. It's when you tidy an account up into a savings or overpayment pot. For example if I had £289.56 in an account I could Tilly Tidy the 56p to make it £289.00 or you can tidy a bit more to make it rounder so £4.56 to leave £285. It's a way of making continual progress towards your goal without really feeling the difference in one big hit if money is tight. It feels good too! Hope that makes sense.

Couldn't agree more that Tilly Tidying feels good, jan.  I joined a DFW challenge on MSE in January specifically to save oddments that way.  It's not too crazy to say it's revolutionised my life.  I know, I should get out more!!!  Absolutely painless way of saving regular, small amounts that really do add up (see my signature).  I'm hopefully on target to have saved around £1200 by the end of the year.  My target could have been bigger than the £1000 I originally committed to but I'm only tidying  amounts up to £5 a time and wasn't sure I'd keep even those small amounts up..  Sometimes it's only a few pennies, other times it could be as much as £4.99 per 'tidy'.  It's fun too.. 

I check my online bank accounts every morning and then transfer the money into saving pots attached to the accounts.  I know there are apps that do this sort of thing but I like to be manually in control.  I'm a bit OCD that way.  I have other, more formal, savings plans too but this is separate.

Now I'm debt free at last, after too many decades of always  running just to stand still with debts, my Tilly pot isn't meant for paying down debts or loans but mainly to buy Premium Bonds.  Or perhaps treat myself. Since becoming debt free and having finally  learned a very hard lesson about my dysfunctional way of coping with money I'm miserly beyond belief.  I even feel guilty when I 'treat' myself to something from the Poundshop 

Willowtree222

Fidelia said:

janb5 said:

Here is the link re Tilly tidying.  I only send extra amounts across to my bank loan when I can do it .  I pay a monthly direct debit so this is on top.

Hi. It's when you tidy an account up into a savings or overpayment pot. For example if I had £289.56 in an account I could Tilly Tidy the 56p to make it £289.00 or you can tidy a bit more to make it rounder so £4.56 to leave £285. It's a way of making continual progress towards your goal without really feeling the difference in one big hit if money is tight. It feels good too! Hope that makes sense.

Couldn't agree more that Tilly Tidying feels good, jan.  I joined a DFW challenge on MSE in January specifically to save oddments that way.  It's not too crazy to say it's revolutionised my life.  I know, I should get out more!!!  Absolutely painless way of saving regular, small amounts that really do add up (see my signature).  I'm hopefully on target to have saved around £1200 by the end of the year.  My target could have been bigger than the £1000 I originally committed to but I'm only tidying  amounts up to £5 a time and wasn't sure I'd keep even those small amounts up..  Sometimes it's only a few pennies, other times it could be as much as £4.99 per 'tidy'.  It's fun too.. 

I check my online bank accounts every morning and then transfer the money into saving pots attached to the accounts.  I know there are apps that do this sort of thing but I like to be manually in control.  I'm a bit OCD that way.  I have other, more formal, savings plans too but this is separate.

Now I'm debt free at last, after too many decades of always  running just to stand still with debts, my Tilly pot isn't meant for paying down debts or loans but mainly to buy Premium Bonds.  Or perhaps treat myself. Since becoming debt free and having finally  learned a very hard lesson about my dysfunctional way of coping with money I'm miserly beyond belief.  I even feel guilty when I 'treat' myself to something from the Poundshop 

This is amazing but I always end up dipping in and taking the money when I need something. I’ve even tried paying my dad it but always end up reclaiming it at some point! 

I would love to do this and I always have every intention of committing but usually end up off it after a couple of months. I think I need to budget better and stop the nonsense spending I do. X

Willowtree222

Having a big shift in my mentality again over the last week.

I bought one of those Tower of London poppies back when they were £25 but ex took it and sold it a couple of years ago for an excessive £475. I was heartbroken as it meant a lot to me then. Anyway, I replaced it at the cost of over £200 which is exactly what they’re selling for now. That’s almost a months loan payment so I’m sat looking at it thinking it’s a months loan payment! I never ever thought I’d be doing that. I think it will find itself on a selling site later after I’ve been in the loft and got the box out. 

Targets for this week! 

Get the boot sale job lot listed so I can clear at least three boxes from the house. I know it won’t go for much but it’ll declutter a huge amount of things that are now just sat in the loft.

Organise a payment thing of which debt will be targeted next after I have finished with the loan. That way I have a clear path. 

Willowtree222

Just wanted to update as I have hit one target. I decided to stop procrastinating and went into the loft and took pictures and then dug around in some boxes and found some things I had forgotten that I had. So another load of things went on the selling site!

If they all sell (which I know is not likely) including the boot sale job lot that only has 99p on it, then I will be rid of around 40-50 items from the loft alone. Most of which are books, but still 40-50 items will clear out a pretty big space for me up there. I found some items that can be sold singular as they are worth a bit more and I have listed them already. The poppy box is down now but I haven't listed it yet. I will wait until tonight and see how I feel then. If I still feel like this, then it will be sold and perhaps another month will be taken off my loan payment. 

I'm about to cancel a couple of subscriptions that I don't need. I seem to be accumulating them again recently and it is having a negative impact on my budget as I can't keep track of what everything is. 
x

janb5

Without sounding like your ` Mummy` ( I`m old enough to be !)please keep in the foremost of your mind how well you`re looking after your daughter.  That`s immense. My ex left me with everything to sort out and only paid for the children for two months. I have made more mistakes than I`ve had hot dinners and would have loved to have had a site like MSE where everyone is plainly supportive and kind.

We`ll never meet as a group but it is so lovely to have somewhere where it feels safe to rant and know someone somewhere has been through the same thing..

Let your ex know that you are happy to discuss matters relating to your child but everything else is strictly off limits! x