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

annetheman

MatyMoo said:

It looks like you have missed off a lot of things from your SOA, do you really not buy clothes, have your hair cut, eat out or have takeaways (entertainment), watch tv or go away at all?

Until you put everything in there correctly it is difficult for people to advise where you could cut down.

Those are all exactly the types of things* I'm cutting out to focus on the debt reduction!

The big overspending and shockingly poor financial decision making reconciliation is done, and was my wake up call to do something about the debt and curb my wild spending behaviour.

There are actually 2 things I am actively tracking now that would be useful to get feedback on:

1) Debt reduction and repayments plan.
2) Monthly spending budget.

*Specifically about those things: I do cut my own hair, eat out about once per month (partner lives in USA, catch ups with friends are usually dinner out and I don't drink alcohol), don't buy takeaways and have no TV license. I won't be going away anywhere until the debt is gone, but might add a misc spend if a work trip comes up I want to tag a holiday on to. 

All my focus is on the debt reduction, so I'm happy to hermit away for 2 years - I don't go out much anyway! 

annetheman

Great news - I sold my mirror for £60 today!

That £60 in cash is enough to buy fresh fruit and veg for the whole of August. 

I'm only buying enough for me, but I haven't been keeping my food spend as low as I could - last month I spent over £500 on food.... My challenge for August is to only spend the £60 - for one person with inflation as it is, is it possible? It used to be, and I think it can be if I'm careful...

I will know by the end of August how realistic and honest I'm being with myself about how much I spend on food.

annetheman

Monday
So I've managed £0 additional spend over the weekend, which is great. Although the £60 cash for the mirror I have used to pay for a replacement sofa bed that is needed... No net spend but no net gain either, now!
I will see what else I can sell over the next few days, but if they don't sell, I will give to charity:

1. Gold floor lamp - £5
2. Old MacBook Pro for spares/parts - £60
3. Various clothes x11 - £1 each

Whatever I do sell will be used for fruit and veg! Speaking of which, I am going to my allotment to see how things are getting on - nothing growing there yet but weeds, but by next year, I should have a nice patch for growing seasonal veg.

After work, I'm going to go around the flat and find a few more bits and pieces I can put on Facebook Marketplace, since so little of have is what I use daily. I find it I do get very excited when I manage to sell my things, which is interesting - I was sure I  I held onto a lot of things for sentimental or "it may come in handy one day" reasons!

I guess I'm getting a little bit better at this, but we'll soon see!

beanielou

I take it that you don't have £1, 244 left a month?

annetheman

beanielou said:

I take it that you don't have £1, 244 left a month?

Nah, that is what the Lemonfool tool calculates as my monthly unsecured debt repayment at £382.99 (which is my minimum monthly). I couldn't work out how to put in my monthly overpayments that change, since I'm snowballing (overpaying every debt, highest overpayment is for the highest APR, then move that overpayment to the next highest etc etc).

Easiest thing I've found is my own Sheets - links are in the OP

joedenise

If you use a snowball calculator you can work out how best to pay off your debts and when you will be debt free if you stick to it!  This is the one Google found:

https://financialmentor.com/calculator/debt-snowball-calculator

annetheman

joedenise said:

If you use a snowball calculator you can work out how best to pay off your debts and when you will be debt free if you stick to it!  This is the one Google found:

https://financialmentor.com/calculator/debt-snowball-calculator

Oh my goodness that is AMAZING! Thank you ! So simple to use - obviously in £s not $s but, I think I can do it in 18 months!

The only thing that I will change is that the Virgin CC will be 21% in 12 months and so will Natwest, so I may swap the Tesco Loan overpayments at that stage, but otherwise a really great tool!

Pmt#	Natwest CC1 @ 15.9%	SmileDirect Loan @ 9.9%	Tesco Loan @ 5.84%	NatWest CC2 @ 0%	Virgin CC @ 0%	o2 Phone @ 0%
1	650.00	70.90	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
2	650.00	70.90	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
3	650.00	70.90	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
4	650.00	70.90	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
5	650.00	70.90	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
6	318.67	402.23	144.44	100.00	30.00	29.33
7		193.19	672.15	100.00	30.00	29.33
8			865.34	100.00	30.00	29.33
9			865.34	100.00	30.00	29.33
10			865.34	100.00	30.00	29.33
11			865.34	100.00	30.00	29.33
12			865.34	100.00	30.00	29.33
13			779.52	185.82	30.00	29.33
14				965.34	30.00	29.33
15				965.34	30.00	29.33
16				301.99	693.35	29.33
17					995.34	29.33
18					308.41	263.93

annetheman

Today, someone is picking up my lamp - I have decided to give it away for free, since I don't think it's worth the £5 I put it up for.
I have yet to put up my MacBook, mostly dithering about the fact that I need to format it to remove all my personal information and logins (which I can't do without an external monitor, as the display is FUBAR'd). 

Not the best reason in the world not to just ****ing do it, but I'm going to my church group this evening, so I might not get around to it until tomorrow. What I can do though is have a look at the price for similar models so I get a realistic selling figure.

So I'll be on that soon. 

Because I've decided not to spend any 'current' money on food (and I do need food!) I have the gift of desperation as a motivator! Whatever I sell will be my food budget for the month... Luckily I won't starve, but I do sure miss a fresh piece of fruit

kazwookie

Is there a food bank near you? maybe you could use that.

I see you have pet insurance, what does the pet eat? / how much £ per month?

beanielou

Just bear in mind you may need a referral for the foodbank.