Washing Away My Debts By 2024

Sarahwithlove

That's great news about your refunds coming in and extra payment to cards. With it being payday tomorrow I transferred all my spare to my card too. Its a nice feeling when that happens. 

Squirrelz92

Morning folks,

I am down to £14.15 in my bank account! Scary! CSA should be sent across today providing a small buffer after paying for childcare up until term finishes. 

My monthly minimum CC1 payment came out today so a PAD of £29.61 there Because I am so low on funds in the main account I shall not make a PAD to CC2 even though it would only have been £1 anyway.

Nothing much else to report really for once! 8 days until payday and it couldn't come soon enough! My bank has never cried this hard in a lonnnnnnng time!

Keedie

It's such a great feeling to make a large payment isn't it @Squirrelz92? It's a very scary feeling indeed, but liberating. It's a bit of a mindset shift, to send money to debts rather than slowly living off it or spending it, but it can easily become addictive! It's such a satisfying feeling to see the % of debts repaid slowly but surely creeping up and going in the right direction... 🤗.

I've learnt the hard way, that I can't pay lump sums unless I've been food shopping. Strange I know, but psychologically I don't feel as poor or stressed by a low bank balance if I'm able to feed me and my son. And if I'm able to snack 🙈. If I'm low on food or essentials, and I've made a decent sized overpayment, I tend to get all anxious. But that's just me. I need to start getting more organised in terms of thinking of how many days I have left with the money that I have etc.

Squirrelz92

That's entirely understandable @Keedie! Makes sense in paying for bills and food first and then play with disposable income knowing the household wont be without for the month. That's why I love waiting until the evening before payday to throw another load at it, as I know for sure that I won't need anymore of it so it's sole purpose goes to paying off more debt

LittleMissDetermined

Pay-day-eve is definitely a great time for surplus debt payments!

Keedie

LittleMissDetermined said:

Pay-day-eve is definitely a great time for surplus debt payments!

Yeah, but I've only just had that lightbulb moment 😂. I used to always pay the extra when I was paid and then regret it at times 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Squirrelz92

Keedie said:

LittleMissDetermined said:

Pay-day-eve is definitely a great time for surplus debt payments!

Yeah, but I've only just had that lightbulb moment 😂. I used to always pay the extra when I was paid and then regret it at times 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Oh nooo @Keedie😂 Definitely better late than never. Love emptying my bank account on payday eve to pay off some of a CC! Don't know what I get more excited about, that or getting paid! It's a close call! 😂

LittleMissDetermined

Keedie said:Yeah, but I've only just had that lightbulb moment 😂. I used to always pay the extra when I was paid and then regret it at times 🤦🏾‍♀️.

I was late to the party too… and it caused a HUGE wobble for me a few months back. 

Squirrelz92

Ok so CSA has hit my bank thank the heavens so I can now arrange to pay off the last 2 and a bit weeks of DD's wraparound childcare so I can work. I AM KICKING MYSELF as I have just been chatting to my boss and he told me about the tax free childcare scheme! I pay a fortune for my youngest (used to pay for both of them) to attend breakfast and afterschool club so I can work my 8.30am - 5pm job so to now know that I could have been saving myself 20% on fees for god only knows how long has really naffed me off!!! I have now signed up for this scheme and have just made my first payment of £51.20 to the HMRC childcare account. They have added their 20% totalling £64 which is set to transfer to the school account tomorrow morning. So for every 4 days I pay, I get one free. Better late than never right?! Over 4 weeks this will save me £50 which is decent but wont stretch far given my next predicament...

My mortgage deal ends soon!!! It's the first time I have had to re-mortgage/switch to a new deal and I have done nothing but read read read about it to make sure I am fully clued up. The best deal I can find is a 5 year fixed at an eyewatering 3.56%! Gutted as I am on a 1.79% for 2 years. This will add just under £100 to my current mortgage payment of £313 So, the £50 I will now save in childcare costs will get sucked right back out again to pay the mortgage. Shall have to try and find another £50 to claw back to net off the amount of money going out. I have decided to switch deals with my current mortgage provider as its far less hassle, no charges, no paperwork and the deals offered are exactly the same as what's available on the market. Sucks it is for 5 years but god only knows what will happen If I don't lock in now, chances are the rates will only continue to rise. What is everyone else's situation regarding mortgage rates?

Got to find the funds for 2 and a half weeks of holiday club for both children yet. Sadly they aren't able to use the tax-free childcare scheme so I will have to pay in full. This still works out cheaper than using my alternative holiday club which accepts the vouchers.

Sorry, this little update turned into a right ramble!

Squirrelz92

Good morning,

All my bills came out of their relevant pots this morning including my second debt payment to DWP of £31.94 so this is my PAD for today  

I have £40 owed to me from the lady who part loans my horse has I think a change in DD amounts the week before has messed up the flow of the DD overall. Lovely lady though so no doubt she will be fully apologetic when I ask if she can send me across 2 weeks worth of payment. Still feel bad asking as money is a touchy subject isn't it? I will pop this into my horse pot as whe she lost a shoe the other week my farrier forgot to charge me £15 He text last night asking if I could whack it into my next farrier bill but I would rather just get it out of the way. Makes me feel so guilty!

My DS has his second high school trip today with his year 5 class. He was adamant after the first high school visit that he wanted to go there but now he knows someone from his football team is more than likely going to the high school being visited today, he soon changed his mind! It shall be so difficult to choose next year as where we live is not near any high school at all. There are three in a circle around us all a decent bus ride away. Shame really as I used to love walking to school but this won't be an option for my two. Cycling isn't either as there are 2 motorway junctions off a roundabout to cross. 

Another £150 has come out of CC1 to pay for my quarterly ACCA online learning subscription but this will once again be reimbursed by my work. I think I missed the cut off for being paid on Tuesday so it will definitely be the week after. I won't add this to debt owed as it will be a net effect in less than 10 days and it isn't me that owes it back. 

Not panicking quite as much about the upcoming summer holidays now as childcare has finally fallen into place. My mum is having them for the last week of the hols and my Dad is having them for the first week. The second week I have booked off as annual leave as my sons birthday falls here. That just leaves weeks 3 and 4 of which they shall both be attending a holiday club. Works out at £114 a week so £228 needed for the full two weeks plus an additional three days needed the following week before my Mum collects them Wed to Wed. Not quite sure how much those days will cost as I always tend to book only full weeks. Sadly the club don't accept tax free childcare so I will have to pay this in full. Just not sure where it's coming from yet.. shall work it out!

Finish work early today with it being a Friday so its Enchiladas for tea LOVE these sooo much! After that its a big walk with the kids and horse in tow! It's around a 45 minute walk when riding so perhaps a little longer on foot but a friend from the yard is coming with me with her horse too so it shall be a nice evening stroll for us all! x