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Breaking through the £37k of debt
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Had a really good week last week, booked the time off work with no particular plans, the kids were on school holidays so we had some nice days out, a day at Chessington and time for some gaming with the kids. We were a bit disappointed at the ride height restrictions at Chessington, our youngest couldn't go on any of the big rides aside from Vampire and after Disney last year where she could go on what I would say are bigger rides than most of the ones at Chessington. But we still had a good day and the bigger 3 got to go off on their own in the afternoon to do the bigger rides by themselves.I also went out on my mountain bike, just me and the dogs, I used to do a lot of mountain biking but haven't really done much for the past couple of years so plan to get back doing it more often.Had the results back from the lump the vet removed from the dog, it was cancer but they're confident they got it all out so we've been told to just keep an eye on the area. But she's back to her usual self now, the wound has healed well and she's not having to walk around with the cone of shame on her head.0
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Back for the usual monthly roundup and it's been quite a good one, I got a nice little bonus paid this month so have used that to top up the savings accounts.I also got a preapproved 0% BT CC, I know in the last roundup I had planned to clear CC4 from my savings accounts but given that my various savings pots are all at a mimimum of 5% and I would have had to BT CC6 in a few months anyway I decided to take on the new CC to replace CC4 plus I did a BT to my monthly spending card rather than paying it off this month, this means that I can now clear CC6 when the 0% expires and will have also made some £'s from the "stoozed" money.Given the above I spent some time working out a full month by month repayment plan which will see me completely clear everything in 2 years and this is it now, no more balance transfers needed and all cards can be paid off within the 0% period, I have also managed to budget in £400/month to split between my ISA and SIPP. I'm feeling much more positive about the new plan as I don't feel like I'm having to put everything on hold to pay it off.
- April 2024 -
Debt
CC1: £1775 / £2463 (28%) [10/24]
CC2.1: £1706 / £3104 (45%) [11/24]CC2.2: £3915 / £3915 (0%) [3/26]CC3: £9638 / £7676 (-25%) [7/25]Total Debt - £36,992 / £33,642 (-10%)
CC4: £10612 / £12239 (13%) [5/26]
CC6: £8624 / £9500 (9%) [12/24]
Finance - £722 / £2405 (70%) [11/24]Savings ("Stoozed"): £13,106 (+£7051)Overall Position: -£23,886Wedding
It's starting to get close now and that means balances are becoming due with about £1900 going out in April.Total Budget: £22,000 (100% funded in savings account)
Already Spent: £97840 -
It's been a couple of really good weeks, had a nice day out with my sister and family last weekend, our children are similar ages and get on really well. Then had a spa day with OH and we've just generally made the most of the nicer weather spending time outside.We've also been cracking on with sorting out our garden, it's a big garden and with how wet it has been this year it has just been taken over by weeds, but we've got a lot of that sorted now. Still loads to do, the huge hedge needs trimming, that might be a job for the pros.Our wedding is fast approaching now, we've been for a catchup at our venue, it's so stunning! I'm not particularly great at showing emotion but I'm very excited to be marrying my OH and can't wait for our wedding day.Spotted the new S@nt@nder bank switching offer yesterday and have now set that up and maxed out the associated 7% savings account with £4k from one of the lower % savings accounts I have. I've done most of the regular bank switch offers over the years and don't normally qualify so I will take this free £175. I might look at setting up a burner account for OH as she's never done any switches which could be a few hundred to be made there, she hates dealing with things like this though so I might have to promise her I'll do all the work for it.0
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We've had a busy month, I've been on my stag do which was good fun, nothing too extreme and survived without too much of a hangover! We've had our engagement photoshoot which turned out really nice and OH has had hair and makeup trials.Other than wedding stuff I've been trying to get out more on the bike and walking/running with the dogs. We've carried on with the gardening, although for me that's mostly mowing the lawn and weeding, our garden is large and the weeds seem to be never ending, I'm having a huge battle at the moment with bindweed that seems to have gotten everywhere.The kids keep asking to put the pool up but I'm not convinced it's hot enough yet, I have been looking at some solar heaters for it and possibly a better pump which should give us more use out of it.DD turned 17 so sold her 50cc moped and has bought herself a bigger bike so she can finally get over 30mph and this one should be much more reliable. I had the pet insurance payout come through so I paid for her insurance with this. We've got 4 more kids that I'm sure are all going to want cars at 17 so trying to balance out how much we put towards it so it's fair on all of them as the chances are we'll be in a much better position to help when the others are older and I don't want DD to feel like the others all got more help than her.
- May 2024 -
Debt
CC1: £1750 / £2463 (29%) [10/24]
CC2.1: £1526 / £3104 (51%) [11/24]CC2.2: £3915 / £3915 (0%) [3/26]CC3: £9397 / £7676 (-22%) [7/25]Total Debt - £36,061 / £33,642 (-7%)
CC4: £10347 / £12239 (15%) [5/26]
CC6: £8524 / £9500 (10%) [12/24]
Finance - £601 / £2405 (75%) [11/24]Savings ("Stoozed"): £13,317 (+£211)Overall Position: -£22,743Wedding
Just a handful of weeks to go now and invoices are coming due. I've upped our budget number from £22k to £23k as a couple of things have ended up costing more than expected and there's been a number of smaller bits that we've had to get recently but this is now a pretty solid figure as all remaining balances are set.Total Budget: £23,000 (100% funded in savings account)
Already Spent: £13,8380 -
You're doing really well, and good luck for your future wedding.Gambling Addict - Acting now before it's too late. Gambling losses well over 25k.Current Situation Started Posting in Apil 24:Unsecured Personal Debt - June 2025Natwest CC 0% - £3000 (Cleared November 2024)
Lloyds CC 0% £4500 - £1000
Barclaycard CC 0% £12,567 - £7800
10/6/24 - 16 MonthsGamble Free - Longest in years. Gambling is an illness. Seek help. It is not worth your life.0 -
Thanks @Lonelygambler, I've been following your diary from the start, you're doing great too.0
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The kids finally got their wish and the pool is now up, they managed about a week of great weather where they were in the pool every day. But the cover is back on it now with a "pool" of it's own sitting on top from all the rain!I've been shuffling money around between accounts a lot this month, trying to make the most of the savings accounts before paying off the remaining balances for the wedding, Everything has now been paid including the honeymoon hotel which I wasn't expecting to be taken yet but looks like they've taken the payment early, luckily have enough to cover it, some of the payments won't be reflected in the below figures as they were made at the start of this month. I've also got a couple of bank switches going on so moving direct debits and balances around.We've got the wedding, school holidays and our honeymoon coming up so I will try and get updates posted here but it might be quiet for the next couple of months.
- June 2024 -
Debt
CC1: £1697 / £2463 (31%) [10/24]
CC2.1: £1346 / £3104 (57%) [11/24]CC2.2: £3915 / £3915 (0%) [3/26]CC3: £9162 / £7676 (-19%) [7/25]Total Debt - £35,113 / £33,642 (-4%)
CC4: £10088 / £12239 (17%) [5/26]
CC6: £8424 / £9500 (11%) [12/24]
Finance - £481 / £2405 (80%) [11/24]Savings ("Stoozed"): £11,310Overall Position: -£23,803Wedding
Well, we're almost there, everything is done and ready now and the excitement is really kicking in.Total Budget: £23,998 (confirmed final cost of the wedding)
Already Spent: £18,8920 -
We did it! Had the most amazing wedding day, everything went perfectly and exactly as planned.Just popping on for a quick update on the figures for the month, I've cleared CC1 and made the usual minimum payments for everything else. The finance and the first transfer on CC2 are the next 2 items to clear, the finance has 3 payments remaining and CC2 should be mostly cleared by the time the 0% is over in November.
- July 2024 -
Debt
CC1: £0 / £2463 - CLEARED
CC2.1: £1166 / £3104 (62%) [11/24]CC2.2: £3915 / £3915 (0%) [3/26]CC3: £8933 / £7676 (-16%) [7/25]Total Debt - £32,535 / £33,642 (3%)
CC4: £9836 / £12239 (19%) [5/26]
CC6: £8324 / £9500 (12%) [12/24]
Finance - £361 / £2405 (85%) [11/24]Savings ("Stoozed"): £11,572Overall Position: -£20,9630 -
Congrats on the wedding, glad it went well for you. Will you be reallocating the finance payments to CC debt? That should help clear it a bit quicker.*Dad loan - £5300 - £7300
*Virgin Credit Card - £3552.50 - £0
*Natwest - £1828.35 -£400
Barclaycard - £2315.25 - £0.00
Creation Finance - £960.32 £860
*Total debt - £8560/£11641.17*
Savings
*Savings Buffer - £1000/£1500
*Emergency Fund - £1000/£1500
New diary- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6474943/the-three-cs-coffee-clothes-credit-cards/1 -
Congratulations 🥂🥂🥂🥂Sealed pot challenge 822
Jan - £176.66 :j1
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