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

annetheman

Thank you so much for the encouragement, everyone, really appreciate it!

beanielou, 2Scratters, KeepOnKnitting, CMD79 - you are all awesome!

Going to need the positive vibes and looking at others diaries for inspiration this month, badly...

Major setback

So I did quit my job on the 14th August, and started a new one on the 22nd, meaning I didn't get paid for 1 week (was wonderful to have the time off, though  ).
I've received my pay and now know how much I've got for September (£1,819) and it is not looking good. So my debt reduction this month is looking like this:

• I will have to reduce all my debt overpayments this month a few pounds above minimum.
• My spending budget is gone: with no spend on food or "additionals", I will be £-296.11.
• I brought forward >£300 from last month, so overall I think I should not go over overdraft (some of the "Main bills" spend is not deductible in the month, but to keep aside for future e.g. annual RAC, annual Amazon prime, annual car tax).

At times like this, I really wish I had a partner to split my bills with (HA!).

I have some stuff for sale and some interested buyers that are undercutting me; I may have to give in to one of them. If I can make £100 from the sale of the speakers, that should do me for food shopping until end September...

I have not worked out how this month's low pay will impact my overall debt repayment plan yet, as I want make up for the minimum payments with top ups once I get 7 weeks worth of pay in my end September pay packet...

Battening down the hatches for a tough September...!

66 weeks to go?

Aimingforthegoodlife

I am doing the same, I leave one job and have a week off before starting the next, plus pay day is at a different time! Just takes some rejigging in the brain to get my head around it! Glad you enjoyed your week off, you are doing so well, I think it is important to remind yourself that debt repayment is never linear, there will be ups and downs and as long as it is more down you are doing well!

2Scratters

Can I ask are you in an overdraft? as the comment above mentions it. Would it not be cheaper to get rid of that if this is the case then work on OP's else where when that wasted money is released.
Would it be simpler to concentrate on clearing 1 debt and making smaller OP's on the others randomly over the month. 
It is about what works for you at the end of the day.
I found that clearing the smallest first was a game changer and drove the need to clear the next one and then the next. (Didn't have an OD fortunately) then any bits each time I went online were paid to the others. The small change certainly added up into the bigger picture. 
2Scratters xx

annetheman

Aimingforthegoodlife said:

I am doing the same, I leave one job and have a week off before starting the next, plus pay day is at a different time! Just takes some rejigging in the brain to get my head around it! Glad you enjoyed your week off, you are doing so well, I think it is important to remind yourself that debt repayment is never linear, there will be ups and downs and as long as it is more down you are doing well!

That's very true! I think I started with way too much hope that it would be a straight path, glad to learn this lesson early on... Hope you enjoy your break, too - and good luck with your new job!!

annetheman

2Scratters said:

Can I ask are you in an overdraft? as the comment above mentions it. Would it not be cheaper to get rid of that if this is the case then work on OP's else where when that wasted money is released.
Would it be simpler to concentrate on clearing 1 debt and making smaller OP's on the others randomly over the month. 
It is about what works for you at the end of the day.
I found that clearing the smallest first was a game changer and drove the need to clear the next one and then the next. (Didn't have an OD fortunately) then any bits each time I went online were paid to the others. The small change certainly added up into the bigger picture. 
2Scratters xx

Thankfully I'm not in my (generous) overdraft, never am (this is a HUGE step forward as a few years ago, I was living in 0% overdraft pretty much all the time)!

But this month, I will be skirting just above, and if I'm not careful (i.e. I don't sell anything to pay for food!) I will very likely be in it by the end of the month... On the plus side, I am pretty sure my very full freezer will be empty by end of September!

That is so good - I'm glad it worked for you! I did consider also doing the small debts first, but then the snowball calculator showed I can shorten the overall debt repayment timeline to December 2023 and pay the lowest amount of interest overall, so I'm following that method -- just concentrating OPs on the highest interest and snowballing over time to the next highest etc.

Looking at my snowball plan, the biggest debt should actually be gone by December 2022, even with this hiccup... Just need to remember that there will be hiccups, maybe not be so focussed on the timeline rather just keeping things green

liselle

Sometimes banks offer, with their home insurance, car recovery service.Just a thought.
Very best wishes for your debt free journey.

annetheman

I'm back to the diary! I stopped for a little bit because things got a little depressing over the past month with my lower pay!

Tough month
In September, I was paid £1,819.94 - my standard outgoings were £2,116.05 without food or any other spend.

How I got through it
I did sell a few things, made about £150 (breadmaker, faux flowers, monitor, shoes, jacket). Of that, I still have £30 left! Food spend has been VERY good this month -- it is possible to reduce this by more than I thought, if I am very careful

I did end up receiving the "you are in your overdraft" text today, just as I received my pay for half of last August and this month (thankfully, no fees charged!) in the nick of time.

Looking forward...
My total pay today was £4,371.31, of which I immediately paid £664.24 to cover September's overpayments which I couldn't afford.

I'm now on track for a much better month than I estimated - standard outgoings with my overpayments will be £2,847.11, leaving me with £718.79 for everything else this month. Any leftover will overpay to my 15.9% credit card.

The ups and downs of crawling your way out of debt are very up and down indeed... But today is feeling like a big up, I don't need to spend anything to be happy. 

I'm going to my church group and donating a few pounds a week, I'm fueling up at Costco only, haven't had a social event yet but one planned on the 5th, which should only cost about £15 (BYOB). So things are looking positive!

66 weeks to go!

2Scratters

Well done on your successful month of still having your head above water and realising you can reduce/have control over the food money and making do. I did think of you when you hadn't posted for a while. You are going to do this.

2 Scratters xx

annetheman

2Scratters said:

Well done on your successful month of still having your head above water and realising you can reduce/have control over the food money and making do. I did think of you when you hadn't posted for a while. You are going to do this.

2 Scratters xx

Thank you so much - as someone doing this on their own, it might not be a big deal to many but your and others' words of encouragement had/have a huge effect for me!

Really appreciate it! Grinding down that £17,000 feeling more hopeful than ever. I'll hopefully be back to say 65 weeks to go soon, despite the hiccup!

2Scratters

@annetheman hope you are keeping well and progress is still being made no matter how small. 
2 Scratters xx