My long overdue journey to becoming debt free!!

MissPennySave

Hello, I've been lurking on here for a good few years now, and I have decided its time to finally, and for once and for all, to sort my sorry financial mess out!  I wont bore you with all the gory details of how I got here, it would just be a list of excuses and justifications, when the hard reality is I spend more than I earn, and have done for a long long time!  This time, when working my budget out, I have tried to set myself up to win, and not fail with an unachievable budget, as I have done so many times in the past.  So here are the cold hard facts.....and the grand total....its a BIG one!!!! (*hangs head in shame*).  They are listed in order of how I am tackling them, I'm starting with the smallest to give myself a win and a boost to keep on going!

Balances as at 14.11.22:
CC1 (0% until May 23) - £1669.23
CC2 (0% until Sept 23) - £7980.00
CC3 (0% until Jan 24) - £4825.00
CC4 (4.9% until May 26) - £16888.98
Total CCs = £ 31,363.21

Loan (ends April 27, £342.60 p/m) - £15263.75

Grand total = £46,626.96 

So there we have it, its a lot!  I am fortunate that I have a good salary, and I will be paying back £750 per month on the CCs, plus the monthly loan.  I have dropped the CC payments to £635 in November and December to give myself a fighting chance with Christmas and to not end up having to use more credit because I've run out of money!  I have deleted all my credit cards from online payment methods and only have my 2 bank cards in my purse.  One I will use for shopping, and the other is for any non shopping spends, with anything left over at the end of the month to go towards paying back the CCs.  Any work bonuses will also go towards the CCs.  I know two of the CCs 0% will end before they are paid, but hopefully I will be able to move them to a new 0% deal, as I do have other CCs without balances on that often have offers on them, so I haven't closed them yet for this reason.  I have downloaded a snowball spreadsheet and worked everything out and the end date for the CCs is Feb 26, but I will give myself a 2 month buffer and say my goal is Apr 26.  I will then throw everything I have to get rid of the loan early.

So that's it, today is the start and the number will only go down from here on.  

Have a nice Monday all! MPS.x

foxgloves

Best of luck with your debt-busting goals, @MissPennySave. As an ex-silly spender who has been reformed for over 10 years now, I can honestly tell you that there is nothing as good, financially, as the feeling you get when you make the very last debt payment. There is simply no bag of tat I could come home with now which could make me feel as happy as being debt-free does.
Keep plugging away at it. Every £1 saved is an extra £1 paid off your debt total. That's how I looked at it, because once you start stopping all the regular fritterings, those £1s add up.
Good luck!
F

MissPennySave

Yes! I haven't frittered anything for 2 weeks now, and I absolutely love looking at my bank account and it being the same! I'm already getting a buzz from just that so I cannot wait for that last final payment, and I'll try my best to enjoy the ride whilst I get there!!!

Doris17

Good luck on your journey @MissPennySave,I recently became debt free after spending the majority of my life in debt. You can do this.

MissPennySave

I signed up to a survey site today and have made 12p today whilst that isn't going to solve my problems it's better than spending 12p!

MissPennySave

A pretty successful day today, spent £3.15 on breakfast, but I managed to find a spare 15mins and did some surveys which earned me £1.85. I also received some coupons cashback, £4.85, so although I didn't manage a NSD, I am ending the day with more than I started with, so I'd say thats a win. 💪

MissPennySave

Happy hump day all! I'm aiming for a NSD today, will update later if I manage it. Have a good day all. MPS.x

MissPennySave

Evening all so I have managed 2 NSD! Whohoo! I currently have £4.87 in my survey account and with 8 days until payday I still have £180! What an eye opener that no frittering or impuls buys is! I'm swapping the buzz of a parcel arriving to the buzz of my bank balance staying the same! Excited to see the final overpayment I can make on payday. Although I am thinking of starting an emergency fund, so maybe split whatever is left 50/50. Any thoughts welcome! MPS.x

MissPennySave

Morning all and a very happy Sunday! It's been a good weekend, and more importantly yesterday was another NSD! It's so refreshing! And for the first time in what feels like forever I am not in my overdraft, I still have money left in my spending account and payday is next week! Patting myself on the back this morning. I used to anxiously wait for payday so I could try and undo whatever it was I'd overspent on that month, only to do it again! Now I am excited for payday to see those CC balances go down! MPS.x

MissPennySave

Happy Monday all!  Aiming for a NSD today!  MPS.x

enthusiasticsaver

Good luck on your journey and it is certainly sensible to address this especially with the likelihood of 0% deals becoming scarcer over the next few years and higher interest rates. 

Sensible also to address the Christmas situation and not over commit to debt repayment only to put more on credit. I realise that you want a fairly quick win and the only credit card you are paying interest on (CC4) is a fairly low rate so I don't think that is the worst plan in the world.  What rate are you paying on the loan? Was that a debt consolidation loan? 

As you say you have a good salary, presumably are budgeting from this point forwards and have a sensible plan. Hopefully your job is secure as it can be in this day and age.  

My advice would be as well as sorting out the debt sort out your spending going forward.  It is a good plan going forward to separate household essential spending like fuel if you drive and food and non essential discretionary spending.  My only suggestion would also be rather than throwing everything at debt you also need some emergency savings and savings pots for things like Christmas, holidays, pets or car if you have them.  I also have a house pot for white good replacement, essential repairs and maintenance and house insurance  etc so we do not need to stick anything on credit.