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

outoftheviciouscircle

I managed my 10,000 steps, I don't know how, I'm feeling absolutely dreadful today. This cold has been hanging on for over a week now. I'm really hoping it does one by tomorrow as I just want my own bed when I'm unwell and don't want to be moping around in a hotel room on my own.
I'm part of a Fitbit challenge group on Facebook and I joined a challenge to walk 2023 miles in 2023. That actually averages over 5.5 miles a day so that may be more of a challenge than I initially thought.

I have 4 days in work and then next week we have a log cabin break booked in North Yorkshire. We go every year. My nan is very generous with us at Christmas time but her one rule with the money she gives us is that we must spend it on something nice for us and not just on groceries or petrol. So we book this cabin, take our baby, a 5 year old Labrador along with us and just explore the outdoors all week. No phone signal, no internet. Its a lovely escape, so I look forward to that.

Early night for me now ready for the 3 and a half hour drive to Plymouth in the morning. My colleague from London normally calls me on the way so I've normally driven 100 miles without realising the time.

outoftheviciouscircle

Made the long drive to Plymouth this morning, I'm still not feeling very well but must plough on.

Last night, I made sandwiches to bring with me today and I forgot them. I've also forgotten my PJ's, so lets hope the fire alarm doesn't go off in the hotel in the middle of the night.
A few standing orders and direct debits have come out of the account today so another £232.88 off the grand total. I made a £1 token payment to the credit card as part of a PAD as I didn't have any survey money to pay towards it.
Surveys are looking very slow again today, just one 20p survey although I will keep my eye on them for a couple of hours yet.

Only 4000 steps today so I have no chance of getting to the 10k, I'm really hoping this cold does one soon so I can begin to feel slightly human again.

I have had to spend £15 for the upgraded wifi at the premier in and £25 on dinner but all of this can be claimed back and I've ensured I processed these straight away. Always forget to claim the internet cost.

I think I've warbled on for all I can now. See you all tomorrow. 

outoftheviciouscircle

I feel like all I do in this diary is moan. I am still  really unwell so much so I have had to call my boss this morning to ask if I can make my way home. I'm not one to call in sick at all. I was in my previous job for 23 years and prided myself on the fact I only had 7 sick days over them years. I've been in this job 6 months and have had one already!!

Not much to report really on the financial front. I haven't been bothered to log onto my laptop etc but I'll see how I feel when I get home, maybe there will be a few surveys I can do.

Right let get a move on, the 3 hour drive home is going to take much longer today as I will need to take my time and stop more. Hope you all have a lovely day.

outoftheviciouscircle

I'm home after a 3 hour drive. Feeling a little bit better, I'm putting that down to being home and having my own comforts.

I really needed to refocus on the debt after having a couple of days off. I have had NSD's everyday this year so that's an achievement. Thinking, I want a no spend day really makes me think twice about popping into the shop for something I probably didn't want anyway so that will definitely remain a focus.

I logged into Prolific when I got home and I completed £5.39 worth of surveys, although these have yet to be paid out. As soon as I have over £5 I will pay that's off the virgin credit card. I thought the 0% had longer but it actually ends the end of July. That works out a whopping £600 a month we need to pay off that to clear it completely but it is doable.

As part of PAD I have paid a £2 token payment to the Virgin today to cover yesterday and today. I had a email from virgin asking me what I wanted to do with the Cashback on my account. It was only £8.70 but I didn't even know I learnt Cashback so that was a nice surprise. Thats on the way to my bank account now. Taking about bank accounts, there doesn't seem to be any good switching offers around at the moment. I don't qualify for the First Direct one.

As for the rest of the day, I think that is a put my feet up and take it easy. I do need to get that Fitbit listed on the marketplace though, so I'll do that if I can find the energy. DH has agreed to cook dinner so thats another thing not to worry about.

outoftheviciouscircle

Good news, I had my weekly check in with my boss today. I have one every Friday as I don't actually every see him. In fact I've only met him in person twice. Well anyway, he told me that he wouldn't put me down as sick for yesterday and today. I was a little concerned about this as I wasn't sure if I would be entitled to sick pay as I've literally only been with the company 6 months. So I was really grateful to him for that.

Today has been a lazy day again. I haven't really moved from the settee as I didn't really sleep last night. On a Friday I round my account down as part of the virtual savings pot. Today was a whopping £8.72 which bought that account up to just over £22.00. I don't know whether to use that as part of my PAD on a Friday or save it up until there is a bigger chunk to pay off.

I have also completed £9.05 worth of surveys although I still don't have enough to pay out to make a payment. If they haven't paid out by 6pm then I will just make a £1 payment to the virgin credit card.

Today is a slight spend day. DH is calling somewhere on his way home to buy some logs to take to the cabin with us next week. Not sure how much they will cost yet but it was a cost we expected. Other than that, I haven't had to spend on any more groceries etc so I'm still at just £41 for the month of January. Thats a massive achievement for us. I'm making a fish pie for dinner tonight, thats when I can actually be bothered to get up off my lazy bottom. My sinuses are still painful and I'm sick of blowing my nose!!!

outoftheviciouscircle

Today has been a bit of a spendy day already. We were up early to go and buy some logs to take with us to the cabin next week. DH was going to get these on his way home from work yesterday but he got held up and couldn't be bothered. So we spent £22 on logs and kindling. We have plenty of logs in our store so I have been a bit annoyed that he wouldn't just take them from there but I suppose the fact that they are bagged means they will take up less room in the car.
We went to the shop to get bits and pieces for packed lunches, we will make lunches to take out on walks with us although we will probably eat out or order takeaway in the evenings. I don't go on holidays to cook. DH also wanted to wash the car before we go, part of his holiday ritual whenever we go anywhere and he needed car shampoo. That was £10 but will last him a good 6 months.

£8.70 Cashback cleared from the Virgin CC into my current account this morning so I paid that straight off the credit card, I should also be able to cash out from Prolific later on today so I'll pay that straight off too.

I'm feeling a little better today, not 100% but definitely getting there. I couldn't be bothered with the fish pie for dinner last night so we ended up with bits and pieces from the freezer so I need to make the pie now before the fish goes to waste when I decide I can't be bothered again later on. Also there's a mountain of washing with my name on it as well as a house to get clean.

CL21

Hi, just wanted to pop on and give you some encouragement! Well done for doing the hardest step - facing up to your debt. Sounds like you’ve made a great start and set some realistic goals. I haven’t updated my diary for ages and just plodding along but love to read others who are getting started and are fired up to pay off their debt. Will be cheering you on 🙂 

outoftheviciouscircle

Thank you CL21. I'm hoping that keeping on top of a diary will ensure that the debt is always at the fore front of my mind. Not to mean, I worry myself sick with it but it'll make me think twice about what I'm spending my money on. I can already feel myself being more conscious about our food spending. That was really out of control, I really think that we can potentially save close to £5,000 a year by meal planning, taking our lunch to work and reducing takeaways.

Today has consisted mainly of cleaning and tidying. DH is in work but we need to get on with the packing when he gets home. He's complaining of a headache, I really hope he hasn't caught my cold, especially with us going away tomorrow. He really is a dying swan when he doesn't feel well, not that I can say anything with the way I've been this week.

I probably won't be checking in during the week, there will be little if any internet connection. I could do with the break from it all to be honest. I have made a small £5 payment to the CC to cover PAD until Friday.
I must remember to finalise my weekly grocery shop that is being delivered when we get home Friday. 

outoftheviciouscircle

It's been nearly a week since I last checked in. We have had a lovely week away in the forest although it did manage to rain everyday. This made us look for things to do around the cabin and actually made us spend a lot less money than we normally would. Also having a Labrador with us that doesn't like to sit still and will just bark until she gets her own way means we don't like to sit down and have a meal or even a drink out. It was a spendy week, but all within budget.

Onto the financials. It was payday for myself and DH while we were away so I came home to do my favourite thing......work out the money!! I swap it between different current accounts that I have accumulated over the years from completing switches etc then work out what coming in and what's coming out. I worked out that there should be £1200.00 available for debt repayment this month. I've paid all the minimums and any extras will be paid just before payday next month.

One set back already as soon as payday hits is we came home to a parking ticket that DH has managed to get. The ticket was for £35 but because the car is leased they charge an admin fee to get the fine to us so that means we are down £65 before we start. Its not the type of fine that can be challenged either, he'd parked outside the white lines as he was only running into the shop, literally less than 1 minute but that was all it took.

I had a Tesco delivery for when we got home last night. it was £40.00 and includes everything we need for the next week. I'm really finding this online shopping financially savvy. I will have spent £80 up to the 20th January, if I had been going in and out of the supermarket as often as I did that would have easily been nearer £200 probably not even counting the running into the shop after work. I work away this week but I'm home for 2 weeks after Friday so the food bill will be slightly higher as I will cook from scratch every night rather than the freezer fillers DH lives on while I'm away.

The good news is that the debt is just £73 away from hitting the next £'000 bracket which will easily be achieved this month but if I can get to the next bracket, then that will be even better.

outoftheviciouscircle

Wow, it's been a week since I checked in. I've been busy with work but I have still be really focused in the background.

The payment for the kitchen went out on Friday, is it really strange that I get excited that a DD has gone out of my account. I am finding it really motivating recording every payment and watching the total figure go down. I am still making a payment a day to the CC, some days it just £1 so at least I've made a token payment, other days it may be a bit more if I've cashed out from prolific. I have another £60 of DD to come out of the account this month and I'm hoping to make an additional payment of £550. This means I will have paid off £1741 altogether in January. If I can keep this going for the year then I will have paid a total of nearly £21,000, meaning potential debt freedom in just over 3 years. I am not going to get too excited by that though. But I have also been adding savings, I have saved £325 so far this year.

I'm at the time of the month I need to sort my expenses out again, I have close to £500 to claim back so I don't want to miss my Monday deadline. I will make sure that I do this tomorrow. I'm 3 weeks away from having to choose my next company car. I toying with the idea of going electric. I will save over £120 a month in BIK. The problem come when I think about having to find somewhere to charge it when I'm working away from home. I can get a charger installed at home and could fully charge the car for £6.60 but I need to do a bit more research into this before I make my final decision.