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

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enthusiasticsaver said:

The soa looks good.  Presumably the holiday is already paid for? Do you just save in one pot or do you have a pots system for car/holidays etc.

Getting away from the rain sounds like a great idea. 

I use YNAB, so I keep all the money together ( Savings and current account) but there is an allocated amount for different things that I don't go over for example, I know that there is £433.19 in my savings account for birthdays and Christmas. YNAB really has changed my life and when I'm out of debt, I really think I will continue to use it.
The holiday is all paid for, including spending money. We want to just enjoy this one without watching the pennies as it will be the last one for a while but I do think I have over budgeted the spending money so we may come back with some that we will just put towards the debt.

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Happy Easter everyone. We don't really celebrate or do anything for easter. I bought an easter egg for my nephew and thats as far as it goes. Its just lasagne and chips for tea tonight!!
Being Easter Sunday means my store is closed so no work today, I got all the housework done on Friday so I can have a nice relaxing day. Being the last day of the month, I need to do my end of the month bits on YNAB, anyone who uses YNAB will understand how exciting the last day of the month is!! Theres about £80 left in the fuel pot, £3 in groceries and not much else. I'm still not sure how much money I need to allocate to fuel as I haven't long started the job so I'd rather be over cautious for now.
The dog needs a walk but she developed this massive fear of going out over the last couple of weeks, she puts the airbrakes on and just refuses to move. Its so sad seeing her like this. She's always been afraid of her own shadow but something seems to have really scared her lately and we just can't pinpoint what it is. If we can't get her past it by the time we go on holidays, we will be rolling her out of her grandpawrents house when we come home as they love to spoil her!

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Good evening, I've had a busy day at work today but at least its kept my step count high, always a positive.
I had £170 confirm in Quidco today from our holiday last November, that has been paid off my debt to my ex ex employer. When I say, paid off, its been allocated to that pot. I'm kind of at the mindset at the moment that this money is earning interest in our account but is not costing us interest so I may as well keep earning the interest. I feel confident that we have the motivation not to spend it, so I'm happy to keep it there.

I have also had a mortgage light bulb moment!!! I still have 30 years left on the mortgage and at 42 years old, that means I am not retiring for a long, long time. So mission clear the mortgage begins as soon as this debt is gone!!

vampirotoothus

Hi why not phone your mortgage provide and round your monthly payment up to a round 00 amount. It may only be a small amount, but then you will be able to say that you are overpaying your mortgage each month

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vampirotoothus said:

Hi why not phone your mortgage provide and round your monthly payment up to a round 00 amount. It may only be a small amount, but then you will be able to say that you are overpaying your mortgage each month

I do like that idea, I may take a look at that!!

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DH's pay day has come and felt so good to be able to put it all towards the debt. Money has been allocated to pay:
My Phone: £409.50
DH Phone: £637.77
Loan from Ex Employer: £423.10
TV- £555.60
Sainsburys Credit Card £409.00 (but there is now £1467.31 available to pay off the £6000 balance)

As I've said before, I do feel very fortunate to be in the position where I can pay my debt back quickly and lesson is well and truly learnt not to get ourselves back in this position. The hope is that the Sainsburys card can be paid by the end of May and we will then start work on the loan from FIL, with the hope that is gone by the end of September. Things will slow down then as it looks like the mortgage payment is going to increase by £350 a month but we will start working on that kitchen payment then.

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Happy Sunday!
I am enjoying the first weekend I have had off since I started my new job 9 weeks ago now. On the note of the new job, it's very easy and should be enjoyable but I am having so many people problems that it is making me really unhappy some days. I really hope I can get through these as I know when some of the teething problems are ironed out, I will really enjoy it. Maybe everything seems worse because I haven't had any time off since the beginning of November, so I'm really looking forward to 2 weeks time when I have nearly 3 weeks off!!

On the money front, we appear to be going through cash very quickly this month. I think we are getting a bit relaxed due to the holiday being so close but I'm going to go through the freezer today and put a meal plan together. May just have a little splurge on Tuesday as it's my birthday.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Great work on the payments this month, some great movement. We have also remortgaged to a higher amount, but decided to extend back to 30 years to keep it at the same rate as before. Made me feel quite miserable, I won't lie! It is really good that you are able to increase the amounts to meet the new rates, good work! We are also off to Disney really soon, 29 days for us! Just like yourself, I cannot wait! Keep up the great work

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Aimingforthegoodlife said:

Great work on the payments this month, some great movement. We have also remortgaged to a higher amount, but decided to extend back to 30 years to keep it at the same rate as before. Made me feel quite miserable, I won't lie! It is really good that you are able to increase the amounts to meet the new rates, good work! We are also off to Disney really soon, 29 days for us! Just like yourself, I cannot wait! Keep up the great work

Wow I bet you are there now. Hope you are having a great time. When we were there, there were record high temps for this time of year, it was so uncomfortable walking the parks in the 40c heat!!

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I am getting really bad at keeping up with this diary and did question whether I should come back to it when I very clearly am not very good ay updating it. But even though I have not been consistent at posting, I am still well and truly still on my debt free journey. Using this diary daily as I used to really did help me focus so I really am going to try and make this work.

A lot has changed since my last post. Some of the extra work I was doing has dried up and this significantly reduced my income. While I am still in a fortunate position, it's not quite as healthy looking as it was 2 months ago.
Reading my last post I can see that I still had £4500 to pay off my Sainsburys credit card before the interest free period ends in September. That is now completely paid off and I am now looking at paying the kitchen debt off. Its a big one at just below £13,000. This was taken out over a 5 year term at £297 (interest free). I currently have £670 saved towards that.
Officially the debt has not really decreased. I have all the money sitting in my Kroo bank account earning me interest at 4.35%. Its around £50 a month. A year ago I would never have held onto it, I would have been worried I would spend it. My attitude towards money has changed considerably and there is no doubt in my mind that I will spend it. I'd rather earn £600 in a year on it, which essentially covers one of my debts.

So basically, I'm taking it one debt at a time. The kitchen is the last debt that isn't owed to family and we are under no pressure at all the repay that straight away. The time line is slightly ambitious. I would like to clear it this year.(That's the kitchen, not all of it). Theres a plan, I've tried to leave contingengy in it as I know things don't always go as expected. I found that out this month when I've had to pay out close to £600 for 4 new tyres on the car.
Anyway, I will do my very best to keep this updated along the way!!