Time to clear the remnants of my old life 11 September 2021 at 9:27AM in Debt free diaries 136 replies 12K views

leftatthetrafficlights

I've decided to start this diary as I have some very old debts that I want to rid myself of! All of them are interest free and on token payments which is great - but as a result, they've sort of slipped to the back of my mind, the money just goes out every month and I don't really think about them 🙈 

A bit of background- dh and I spent years struggling financially - almost to the point of bankruptcy nearly 13 years ago - but have worked really hard for a long time to turn that around. These debts that are outstanding are from that period hence the interest free and token payments.

My current situation is good - there is just myself and dh at home now, we paid off the mortgage almost two years ago and completely renovated the house, we both have reasonable salaries and have a small emergency fund (it was a lot larger last month but I did a 'bank of mum and dad' loan to my dd which reduced it by 70%) and we don't really have expensive tastes. So that's the good stuff 😉 

The bad stuff is that the outstanding debts are large and I'm not willing to give up our new financial freedoms to clear them quickly. That may sound wrong but the reality is that should anything happen to us, the house sale would easily cover the debts and still leave plenty for the kids and grandbabies. The two biggest debts are secured on the house anyway. 

Basically, the additional debt repayments are going to be made (well, put in a separate account until substantial enough to pay them off) from living more frugally, thinking more about what I spend and not being frivolous!!

My bad habits are: I'm a food hoarder (I'm totally minimalist in everything else! 😂), I spend a fortune on my grandbaby, I spend stupid amounts on amazon (something pops into my head, I check on amazon then buy now! 🙈)

So, the plan - use up my hoards of food and reduce the grocery spends; limit my grandbaby spends to a toyshop visit on the weekends I have him only (once a month) and have a limit on what I spend on him; if an amazon purchase springs to mind, put it in the basket and go back the next day to see if I really need/want it. 

Hopefully this diary will help me feel accountable! Sorry for the mega-long first post!! 😂

leftatthetrafficlights

First job done - new savings account applied for this will be solely for the debt repayment amounts! 🙌

Dd is starting to repay my loan to her from the end of October so I'm going to have that money going into the debt account. Any savings from groceries and petrol budgets will go into the account along with any 'leftovers' from the current account once I have built the buffer in there that I want which hopefully should be in around 6 months time. 

I'm also going to do a SAR for one of the debts as I'm pretty sure that they added interest to the balance years ago when I did a CCA request and I'm certain that they weren’t allowed to - more research required on that I think 🤔

BellaLasagna2018

@leftatthetrafficlights, I can totally understand the spending on the grand baby! My grandbaby is just 6 months old and it takes a lot of willpower to stop myself from buying him treats! So, I got his mum to open a junior ISA and I save for him ever month. 

I’m also a good hoarder. Again, I need lots of willpower! Are we long lost twins?  😂 

Good luck on your journey! 

leftatthetrafficlights

@BellaLasagna2018 - distinct possibility!! 😂😂😂 

Good day today - cleared the freezer, made soup for lunches during the week, re-purposed leftovers into bubble and squeak and made jam from the greengages that I made greengage gin from last autumn 😊

Told dh my plans to tackle the remaining debts and he's totally on board 😊 We've decided on a meal plan for the next few weeks too so hopefully that will make life a lot easier  🙌

leftatthetrafficlights

Yesterday was a busy and expensive day due to dd's birthday but worth every penny as we had a lovely time 😊 

I got an email through this morning from the bank to state that I'll receive the details of the new savings account in the next few days 🙌 As soon as it's through I'll put the first £10 in to start the process! 

I sorted the budgets out on Saturday- it's all fine but I've tweaked it slightly to accommodate a few bits that were needed. 

We've received a statement from our second largest outstanding debt and I will post a figure once I receive others as at the moment I only know approximate amounts 🙈 

I'm hoping to go for full & final settlements where possible so I'm thinking that trying to clear this within 5 years may be achievable 🤔 

Bubble and squeak again for dinner tonight - going out for lunch yesterday pretty much covered the food needs for me - it was nice but I couldn't face anything else food wise last night! 😂 

I'm starting a healthy eating and excercise plan tomorrow- I've dabbled over the past few months but never really committed to it - I've gained lots of weight and become very unfit over the past 18-24 months and I feel that if I'm tackling the 'old life' debts now, it's a good time to tackle the 'old' habits and lifestyle so that once I'm totally debt free, I'll have the standard of health and fitness that I'll need to enjoy it!! 😊 

Right, better get on with some work!! 😂

leftatthetrafficlights

New savings/debt account is now operational!! 🙌 

I've put the first £10 into it so I'm finally off the starting blocks on this journey 😊 

I've been doing well on the food front, all meals have been from our own produce and stores.

I made cabbage beans and rice yesterday - chopped an onion and carrot, sautéed in oil for 10 mins, added half a sliced cabbage from the garden and 250ml (approximately- I tend not to measure stuff! 😉) of vegan 'chicken' stock and cooked for about 20mins until the cabbage was reasonably tender. Added 4oz basmati rice and 750ml more of the stock along the black pepper, stirred and cooked down for 15mins, added a tin of drained kidney beans, stirred in and continued to cook for another 5mins. Tastes lovely and very cheap to make! 😉

We'll be having the leftovers tonight as there's still plenty left over 😊 Tomorrow we'll have one of my freezer 'surprise' boxes and broccoli from the garden! 

Hopefully next week I'll be able to add more to the debt fund - our food and petrol budgets run from payday to payday so anything left from this month will be transferred 😊

savingholmes

Good luck on your journey

leftatthetrafficlights

Thanks @savingholmes! 😊 

Still doing well on the not spending 🙌 the last freezer surprise box was a seitan curry so munched that with wraps and mango chutney 😊 

Another surprise box today- I'm onto my last 3 now which will hopefully mean that I can defrost the freezers soon. 

At the moment I'm just counting down until payday so that I can get some cash put into the debt account- it's frustrating having to wait! 😂

savingholmes

Hi. Perhaps try one of the increase your income challenges. I also tend to stage debt repayment so I make some progress throughout the month. Helped me stay motivated

leftatthetrafficlights

Well that all went to poo!! 🙈😂 had visitors last weekend which turned out to be expensive but fabulous so worth every penny 😉 dh's car finally died so we had to buy a new one - thankfully we had the money for it but it meant that what I wanted to put into the debt account just wasn't possible 😔 the healthy lifestyle plan also went out of the window so all in all, it's start again time! 

Current balance in the debt account is still £10 - however, I have about £40 left from the scrapping of the car still so will chuck that at it tomorrow 😊 We've decided to shop weekly from tomorrow too - dh tends to go to the shop every couple of days and frequently comes home with stuff we could do without so I've written a meal plan and we will be sticking to it. Thankfully, it's a healthy one so I'll get on the healthy lifestyle too! 🙌

castlelough

Best of luck with your efforts! 
I don't think there is any harm in being a food hoarder! 😜 It looks like it is serving you well now when you are trying to cut back. 

I wonder though would it be better to just make the debt repayments as and when you can? I know if it was me, and I had the money set aside in a seperate account, I would be really tempted to dip into it. Assuming you have some savings set aside for emergencies and unexpected expenses, I cannot really see the point of holding out to clear the debts in full?