My Debt Free Journey

Keedie

Oh I'm so pleased for you all that she got her first choice! It'll make a big difference having that extra money each month even if it's not a large amount, it will add up. 

I'm also aiming to be debt free in 2.5 years and have just over £13,500 to go. It's so so easy to get in debt and takes an absolute age to get out of it. But you learn a lot along the debt free journey though (well I am anyway)...

abaka

Yep.  I'm almost 12 months in my journey.  I've cleared a massive amount since then and I've developed financial discipline and I've managed to avoid an overdraft for 11 consecutive months now.  I was probably in my overdraft every month for the past 7-8  years!

End of month for me - Pay day was the other day.  My payscale has increments and I went up to the top of my scale.  Meaning I have an extra £30 in my wage each month.  

Yesterday - we had a lovely day and went to a farm nearby, daughter had a lovely day.  Although she was frightened of the larger animals (Horse's and Cows) and she usually loves them.  Bit of lunch at the place and the customary cuddly toy.  Today is a lazy day...We were going to go out for dinner but with the bank holiday and the Belfast Marathon is today so we suspect places will be bunged so we'll laze around home.

I'll do a first of the month update tomorrow - Tomorrow is also 6 month period for when our mortgage deal expires so I believe we can look at what our options will be for a new deal.  I know our mortgage price is going to go up...but question is by how much.  We're hoping it might only be around £70 or so....We traditionally fix for 2 years, but I'm torn between fixing for longer this time if it means we secure less of a price rise....But I firmly believe rates will fall again.  So a decision to make based on the data!

abaka

Busy 2 days at work and at home.

So we managed to get our mortgage fix in. It's increasing the monhtly payment by about £50 a month. That's for 5 year fix so means the mortgage isn't a worry for 5 years as absorbing £50 between is isn't the worst case….Especially not with how I viewed things back in Sept!!!!

We could have fixed for 2 years and cost £70 a month more, but having the extra money spare to cover other bills/etc and having peace of mind for 5 years is the best case for us. I suspect rates will fall in the next year or two, but I don't think it wll make a signfificant difference.

First of month update though! Not much difference as my last update was close to end of the month when all payments were collected

Tesco - 3938

Virgin - 3640

MBNA - 3107

I expect to make a significant chunk out of the MBNA between now and August - I will have to balance transfer it in August but should be hopefully around 1 or low 2k mark when I transfer so the fee shouldn't be too hard and I aim to have this cleared by January 24.

Virgin & Tesco I'm just making DD payments of £40 (the minimum is is 39 & 36 so I just round up.

LittleMissDetermined

Well done on securing the fix, I’d have opted for the 5 year too, just knowing you have that period without having to worry about it is a big positive 
LMD x

abaka

LittleMissDetermined said:

Well done on securing the fix, I’d have opted for the 5 year too, just knowing you have that period without having to worry about it is a big positive 
LMD x

That was my thinking also.

However that was also my thinking back in 2018 when I fixed for five years, and missed out on fixing again in 2020 when rates were super low.  

abaka

Just an update on me.  Made a significant payment to my smallest debt this afternoon.  £160 towards the MBNA of £3107.  A bit of a milestone as that debt is now down to a 2!!!!  Plan is to hopefully have that cleared by January but might not be achievable as I'll have a few months where I'll not be able to pay as much as I would like but progress is progress.

I think when I started this journey that account was my 4th priority debt (it was my 3rd smallest) but I wanted to focus on the PayPal which was a potential killer with interest rates.

So in 11 months (I had my LBM in May 22), I have managed to bring this balance down by almost 1k, even with focusing on cleating other debts totalling £9784.

Not bad accomplishments....Of course I had a help with inheritance and selling products....Plus this year I'm having to pay more money towards home stuff/childcare and other everyday expenses so I can't see me reducing the debt by anywhere close to the same figure this year...But It was an incredible first step.

This payment also means I'm within real touching distance of bringing my credit card debt down to less than £10k....Seeing that go from 5 to 4 figures is going to feel incredible....Hoping that will happen next month!!!

abaka

Hi all.  Nearly a year since I last posted.  My debts are still in the wrong place although I’ve made some efforts in them.  But unfortunately had to take on some new debt which is being paid between me and my wife but it’s in my name.

I’m still getting good BT offers on my existing cards and also approved for a new Tesco card with 22 months BT for a debt that is coming to the end of its interest free period…when I started this journey I wasn’t getting any offers and had been just declined for a card, so I assume I’m in a much better place.

For those who have followed my diary previously. I’m still in the temporary job.  Unfortunately the job went out for Perm recruitment in Oct and I got 1st reserve which was the best worst case scenario!  It could become available again this year and if it does I’ll be offered permanency, but in the meantime I’m still trudging along!  

Will have a read through my previous posts and do a full update in due course….the last 12 months have been very eventuful!!!!!