I can do it: £41,000 debt in October 2023. Debt-free in March 2025?

beanielou

Only 8 months to go.
It will be worth it!

annetheman

beanielou said:

Only 8 months to go.
It will be worth it!

Thanks so much, it will be AMAZING - but gosh does it feel slow! Appreciate the encouragement

annetheman

I haven't updated in a while and I haven't been great at sticking to the plan.
Things got challenging in April with my aunt dying - I sent the family £300 and I would have sent more or flown over for the funeral if I could afford it...

I then had my birthday, plus my good friend's birthday in May - both meals way over my monthly eat out budget (over £100 each). Followed now by:

• a baby shower tomorrow (£50 spent for present);
• another close friend's birthday next Sunday (14.35 spent + £unknown brunch, maybe £70);
• trip to see my sister in Tanzania with her new baby on 16th June (£187 spend on baby stuff - flight tickets paid for).

I've budgeted from this month's pay the trip and the birthdays and I will definitely be going over my budget - I will only have £26 with all the above factored in remaining, to include food spend - might be time to sell the unused Xbox, iMac or something else for food...! It was always going to happen.

On the plus side, I've added no new debt despite these big events. In the past, I would have put it all on my credit card, and look where that got me!

Now, at least, I am spending within my means. 

On the downside, I have not stuck to the overpayments this month and it doesn't look likely in June - I'm starting my new job in July with an increase in pay to take home +£764.13 so I *should* be able to - with DISCIPLINE - make up the lost overpayments in 3 months.

Theoretically, there should be no change in my DFD but this has been a stall, and I can't dress it up any other way. This last month has been anything but disciplined.

  nothing much to do now but hunker down for the month at home and on the plot. Tight month ahead, let's GO! 

annetheman

So we are back at payday again and I am  looking forward to the last month of low overpayments and getting back on track...

I've been to visit sister in Tanzania but no baby came, it was still lovely to see her as she is due any day now, and I didn't give a toss that the clothes and toiletries cost hundreds - it felt worth it!

Anyways, reconciling all costs from the trip:

£380+9.81+44.83+63.28+33.71+6.27+56.04+89.70+62.98 = £746.62 - all of this was put on my 0% NatWest credit card and to be paid back this month.

Cherry on the cake, I left by MacBook at her house (I let her keep it for her staff to use at company), so need a new used one ~£400.

So around £746.62 back to the card + £400 budget for replacement laptop = £1,146.62, which is about my whole overpayment snowball for this month. 

I anticipated this and knew I wouldn't meet my overpayments until July.

All things being well, I should be back on track with extra to put into the snowball from July 20th! I'm starting my new job finally next Monday 3rd and although I will have to drive in so factoring in higher costs for my fuel, I am not sure what this will look like. I don't anticipate more than £100 a month to start though.
Excited to get back on track soon!

Lesson learned this month...special once-in-a-lifetime events WILL veer me off track, but I should be able to bounce back immediately. Eventually, that must mean dipping into savings, not a 0% card, but either way, put it back, don't slack.

annetheman

I've made some updates today to my overpayment plan. The big thing is that my Virgin credit card, currently at 0%, will move to the normal rate on 1st October 2023.

The snowball calculator originally had my overpayment snowball piled onto the Tesco loan 5.84% next, but clearly it is better to pay off the credit card before the 0% runs out.

So I've done some rejigging, not sure I've done the calculations right but I've used the current debt remaining and today's interest amount on it, it keeps saying to pay off the largest one first. My maths isn't good enough to increase the snowball and work out swapping the payments so it's all gone a bit random :S I may ask for some help on Reddit with this one!

Also want to push myself to do this in 9 months not 11...

Pmt#	Natwest CC 0% [to 2024]	Smile Direct 9.9%	Virgin CC 0% [then 26.4%]	Tesco Loan 5.84%	o2 Phone 0%
1-Jul	1,065.09	70.09	25.00	144.44	29.33
2-Aug	1,065.09	70.09	25.00	144.44	29.33
3-Sep	1,133.42	1.76	25.00	144.44	29.33
4-Oct	1,135.18		25.00	144.44	29.33
5-Nov	1,135.18		25.00	144.44	29.33
6-Dec	970.07		190.11	144.44	29.33
7-Jan			1,160.18	144.44	29.33
8-Feb			671.81	632.81	29.33
9-Mar				1,304.62	29.33
10-Apr				1,304.62	29.33
11-May				711.49	197.52

annetheman

Great news - I finally paid off my Smile Direct loan! The bad news, I have decided to add my Student Loan to the list of debts - I can pay off in 2026 *cries* - but I want a long term plan, now that I am working really well on slowly bringing down the debt I started with.

If I can apply for my remortgage in 2026 with £0 debt, including my student loan, I will be thrilled.

So the repayment plan has been updated, this months overpayments have been made and the DFD has been updated.

The long slog begins again. I don't feel moving the goalposts is a bad idea, but I will celebrate each individual debt dropping off, rather than waiting for this elusive DFD.

beanielou

3 years will fly by 

Sarahwithlove

have you looked to see what balance transfer offers are available as you'll likely get one that's less than the 5.84% on Tesco loan. You may even be able to get a money transfer that's less which you could clear the loan with. Just something to consider. But you are correct in that life happens and these events need to be enjoyed and you did it without going crazy and getting into significantly more debt. 

Aimingforthegoodlife

You have made good progress since I was last here, totally agree with the losing focus after payday though!

annetheman

Sarahwithlove said:

have you looked to see what balance transfer offers are available as you'll likely get one that's less than the 5.84% on Tesco loan. You may even be able to get a money transfer that's less which you could clear the loan with. Just something to consider. 

Thank you for the great idea! I had not even considered that, so I'm gonna have to do some maths (badly) to see if a fee for transfer is worth it vs settlement amount. Will look into that ASAP!!

And thank you for the encouragement, everyone! 

I feel good about the longer-term plan, rather than focussing on the unsecured debt - so my debt (excluding mortgage) to pay off in 3 years is now gargantuan but I have an end goal - debt-free mortgage application at my renewal date in 2026!!

I'll then add mortgage...! Think it'll be a bit too crushing to add it now lol


I'll keep reading everyone else's progress and small wins to keep me going - let's do this!!