The Final Bite of the Cherry- Journey to Clear £66k

outoftheviciouscircle

Good evening, that train home was never ending....the train was full and I got a num bum and I'm sure I was annoying the girl next to me with all my wiggling.

Tonight, I've cashed out £12.43 on Prolific, still £3.50 pending, I also had £3.18 back from Sky from when we ended our contract. I've overspent on groceries again this month so this has all been sent to that. I really need to look into why we are doing that as for 2 people our grocery spend is massive. I'll address this after holidays. However during my meeting yesterday, I learnt I will be spending most of August and September in Scotland. The plus to this is that for the first time I've been offered to be paid to travel outside of my working hours as its so far away. I never have the opportunity to earn overtime before so this is something I need to consider.

enthusiasticsaver

Hope you manage to find receipts.  I always use my card these days so never have an issue finding them.  Your colleague is a bit annoying. 

outoftheviciouscircle

Thanks @enthusiasticsaver I did pay on card so I was thinking of pushing my luck and adding screenshots of the transactions to my expenses. My boss was with me so he'll know they are genuine so should approve them. The worst that could happen is he doesn't I suppose.

I noticed this morning that my First Direct switch has completed. My old bank sent £827 with it, I transferred £1000 in and out as I wasn't sure the money sent with it counted towards the £1000 deposit. Has anyone done this lately? How long does it take for the £175?

I have to get the suitcases out today, I'm working away until Thursday up north and 5 hours away and then leave to go to the airport at 8:30 on Friday morning, so no time to pack. It still doesn't feel like I'm going anywhere, maybe it will when things start going in the suitcase.

Mortgage_Minimiser

outoftheviciouscircle said:

Thank you @Mortgage_Minimiser, your user name relates to exactly why I want to tackle this debt so I can get on with over paying the mortgage. The sad reality currently is that my mortgage won't be paid off until I'm 72. If I didn't have all this debt I could be putting this money in savings to pay off the mortgage when my fixed term ends next September!!
Thats some impressive overpayments you've made.

Thank you. I really should update my signature. I want to carry on with the OPs as the mortgage is huuuge esp for 1 salary, but I think i have just had a reality check. been fooling myself that my CC debt is OK as it is all 0% and I have a nice(ish) amount in the bank. The plan was always save up and pay the CCs once the 0% ends, but I don't seem to do it, I like the cash so always balance xfre.. .. hence reading your diary. I am taking your advice  and paying little and often in addition to the regular fixed payments. I ahve done my LAST EVER balance transfer!
Best of luck!

outoftheviciouscircle

@Mortgage_Minimiser I really don't feel like I'm doing that well. Still booking expensive holidays although none of this will go on any credit. I justified it to myself by saying I need to have something to look forward to or I will fall off the wagon. In hindsight I should have just thrown any holiday savings to debt but I think holidays will be a thing of the past anyway when our mortgage payment goes up.
Wow that is a big mortgage for one, I think you've made the right decision on the cards. Being debt free will be such a good feeling.

Mortgage_Minimiser

outoftheviciouscircle said:

@Mortgage_Minimiser I really don't feel like I'm doing that well. Still booking expensive holidays although none of this will go on any credit. I justified it to myself by saying I need to have something to look forward to or I will fall off the wagon. In hindsight I should have just thrown any holiday savings to debt but I think holidays will be a thing of the past anyway when our mortgage payment goes up.
Wow that is a big mortgage for one, I think you've made the right decision on the cards. Being debt free will be such a good feeling.

@outoftheviciouscircle Well, you are doing VERY well! The debt isnt getting bigger!

I will let you into a little secret, that's only 1 of the mortgages. I have another so in total it's just under £197k. Always focused on the big one cos of the  daily interest etc, but the having come off a fix the smaller one is now far more costly in terms of daily interest. have just fixed it pre the latest rise, and now need to keep a focus on the big one as that comes off its fix in Nov! It's never ending. 

MM
x

outoftheviciouscircle

The interest is a killer and I don't even see rates going down by the time I need to remortgage next year. I had a chat with my mum about this yesterday and she kindly told us we didn't need to pay back the money we owe her which is still over £23,000. I told her I would never not do that but have considered maybe taking a payment break from paying my mum and using it to overpay the mortgage. That will be an extra £3000 paid off before the fixed rate ends. I think I'll have a play around with the overpayment calculator to see if that will make much of an impact.

I've made a plan on how we will give the FIL his £10,000 back before December 2024 and it looks like this:

• Any money made from mystery shopping/ surveys- aiming for £150 pm (£2,700)
• Any money left at the end of the month- normally around £200 (£3,600)
• Interest (Theres a story behind this- £2,000)
• Money already saved (£300)
• Holiday savings once holiday is done with £800 for 2 months)

If all that goes to plan, we should be well on track to pay him back by Christmas next year. It was always a worry we didn't have a plan for this.

ayupmeduck

I used to love YNAB until it tripled it's monthly price. I also budget 20th - 19th so that also didn't work, I still budget monthly just not 1st - 31st. Saving so my pay was used from 1st and not 20th just didn't work for me lol.

whats upper class flying? premium economy, business, first?

outoftheviciouscircle

ayupmeduck said:

I used to love YNAB until it tripled it's monthly price. I also budget 20th - 19th so that also didn't work, I still budget monthly just not 1st - 31st. Saving so my pay was used from 1st and not 20th just didn't work for me lol.

whats upper class flying? premium economy, business, first?

Its First class I suppose, you get your own little cubby and can make your seat turn into a bed.

I didn't know of YNAB until a couple of months ago so I just accepted the price I suppose.....but it has been worth the cost to me. I started using it in April and every month before that for years on end, I was spending more than I had. Now my debt figure is decreasing and I'm even making overpayments. I've tried loads of different ways of budgeting so I'll stick with it for a while unless the cost gets completely out of control.
I'm paid 4 weekly as is my husband and then I get my expenses and my other jobs income monthly. I've managed to make it work for me though.

outoftheviciouscircle

Good evening everyone, today has been a long day. I set off from home at 5:30am to get to Yorkshire where I am working this week at 10:45am, so that was a nice long drive. I got back to the hotel about 5:30pm had some dinner and have not done a lot else.

Let's talk money.....I'm feeling really hopeful since I made the plan on how to pay the FIL back. That one is a big debt with an expected repayment date so I should have started thinking about it more seriously before now. I have joined the make £10 a day challenge but with a target of £5 to try and stay on track with part of the plan but will use my diary to ensure I'm fully on track.

Today the TV payment went out and I got a mystery shopping payment so thats another £54.22 off the debt today. The mystery shopping money has gone to pay the FIL back....

Currently £26.44/£2700