One £ at a Time

shell16

Well done on starting your debt journey.  We would be happy to see you on the Payment a day thread where you will get some support too. June saw total PAD payments over £7k! 
PADS do definitely work. 
Have you completed a budget and set up an emergency fund? Personally I prefer a smaller EF instead of usual £1k suggested, I set mine at £500.
Good luck,  I have subscribed and will be cheering you on! 
Shell x

Sarahwithlove

Viki2410 said:

Hi @Sarahwithlove

we have an appointment with the mortgage advisor next week to discuss best options. I work in an industry where I see the cost of living going up probably more so than others. 

We pay £41 a month for the TV which is not bad at all. That was only negotiated in April, as should have been £85. We have to have a separate internet supplier as we live on a new build estate and as the builder owns the fibre cables and won’t sell, we’re stuck with them at £35 a month. That said it’s reliable and we rarely have outages and as I work from home occasionally we need the fibre option and for it to be reliable. 

We do have a monthly budget for ourselves yes, starting this month. As it’s month 1 we will see how we get on and adjust accordingly. I don’t expect everything to be perfect from the start. Also, I don’t pay for my phone, it’s a work phone so all expense covered and DH is on a low contract til May which he will then switch to sim only. 

We probably do have things we can sell yes and I will get to that but first and foremost being accountable and accurate on where we spend our money is top priority as we will be able to pay the debts down quicker by not wasting. 

Thanks for your advice and best of luck on your journey  

Good luck with mortgage advisor, hopefully it goes well. Sounds like you have a plan in place. Good luck. 

Viki2410

shell16 said:

Well done on starting your debt journey.  We would be happy to see you on the Payment a day thread where you will get some support too. June saw total PAD payments over £7k! 
PADS do definitely work. 
Have you completed a budget and set up an emergency fund? Personally I prefer a smaller EF instead of usual £1k suggested, I set mine at £500.
Good luck,  I have subscribed and will be cheering you on! 
Shell x

Hi Shell,

Thanks very much for the support. Yeah we have gone through and broke down all payments and outgoings and made a budget which we’re both aware of and a budget for personal spends too. We’ve also set our emergency fund off with £50 this month. We will be aiming for £500 like you in the first instance and depending how well the debt repayment goes we will up the target as we go along. I’m going to go have a read of your diary shortly, thank you for your support  

Viki2410

Today will be NSD day 1!

I had a brilliant day out yesterday with friends, which didn’t cost too much in the end and it’s not something we do regularly so I can plan it much better for next time. 

We’ve got some left over chicken curry from the slow cooker so that will be portioned up and will go in the freezer for an easy lunch. 

Today will be spent doing some gardening work and enjoying a lazy afternoon. We will be taking the dogs for a nice walk at some point, but the big older dog has bad arthritis in his hips so he can only go for about 30 mins and has had enough. DH will probably carry on with the small one and I’ll take the big one home. 

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday! 

Viki2410

NSD number 2 today. 

PAD of £1 made to CC2. 

Been a busy day at work, but an enjoyable one. I feel very lucky that I do really love my job so it doesn’t feel like it’s “hard work” really. 

In for half a day tomorrow then off until Thursday as DH goes for an operation tomorrow afternoon and will need some help. Tomorrow will be a treat tea, budgeted and accounted for. 

Nothing much else to report for now. Hope everyone is having a good start to the week 

Viki2410

Today won't be a NSD, but the good thing is the spends are planned and budgeted! 
PAD of £1 made to CC2.

My thought process with PAD's are to keep them low through the month, then when I get to the end of the month I can sweep what's left onto a PAD or split between PAD and EF. Will see how that goes, I expect things to be trial and error.

Half a day in work today so I am cracking on to get things done so I can be at home for DH. Though I will be heading to the gym whilst he is in the hospital as I can't wait there with him so I may as well. 

Hope everyone is having a good week.

shell16

Viki2410 said:

My thought process with PAD's are to keep them low through the month, then when I get to the end of the month I can sweep what's left onto a PAD or split between PAD and EF. Will see how that goes, I expect things to be trial and error.

Hi there, this is a good process to follow.  It will keep those PADS ticking along and if you do have anything left then a great way to reduce debt even further with a 'bulk' payment.

Shell x

Viki2410

NSD number 3 today & £1 PAD made to CC2. 

We will not be venturing far today. DH is feeling sorry for himself (understandably) so is dozing in and out of the sofa. I’ve been out with the pups and I’ve put a batch of chicken curry in the slow cooker so I can freeze later. Next job is making some shepherds pie and then later some frittata so they can be portioned to heat up for DH whilst he is off. He is a gym goer everyday so the fact he can’t even drive at the moment let alone go there is already making him climb the walls! 

Other plans are to also enjoy my day off an indulge in some reading. Will also get a few bits of cleaning done. 

Hope everyone has a good day! 

Squirrelz92

Congrats on your shiny new diary! PAD's have been my saviour so far in my DF journey! Have bookmarked to cheer you on! x

Viki2410

So it’s been a while since I’ve been here! Lots has been happening life wise but the biggest news is we’ve paid £7k off ours debts. Sadly a relative passed away and left us some money in their will, which we have mainly used to pay off some of our debts and we’ve put the rest away in some savings and also for some fees as the other big news is we are moving house! 

We obviously still have debt to chip away at which is not a problem, but knowing we have some space to do that and don’t have to put the house move on a credit card is great. We are lucky enough to have taken decent equity from our current house too so fingers crossed we are on the up. 

Hope everyone is ok, going to catch up on diaries now.