Journey to reduce my £30k debt to Zero by 24th December 2024

MakingMoves

benbenandme said:

Just read your diary and its great, you are making huge progress already, well done! Can I ask about the money from dd's Dad - if/when he pays where does this go? Could this go into your emergency fund which would allow you to focus your money on your debts, that way it would still be benefitting dd if she/you need anything you would have some funds there? x

Hi Benbenandme,

Lovely to meet you! Thank you, of course you can ask - when DD's dad does send money over I  usually spend it on whatever still needs paying at the time- it has no fixed category. I don't always specifically use it for DD, as her needs are already met. I will pay for all her monthly costs when they arise so whatever he contributes to us I can use as I please. I never know the amount or when its coming- not that I'm not grateful when It does. It just means I can't budget for it or rely on the income

From now on, when it does come in I will use it to maybe subsidise her days out and use the money I put aside to pay off debt. He mentioned kicking in for school uniform which I've already brought, so if that money comes I will use that to pay down Debt 4 as my emergency fund is now fully funded.

I hope all is well with you and you have a wonderful day  

 MM x

MakingMoves

Morning All,

I hope you had wonderful weekends, I haven't been up to much I'm already at that stage where I am having no spend days and waiting for direct debits to drop out of my account. Only money I spent this weekend was ££20.85 top up shop and £4.95 amazon purchase for a t-bar key as I've lost mine to the electric cupboard and cant take a meter reading. Very annoying! I'm hoping it arrives and I can submit a reading before the estimate bill comes in. DD and I went to the park and had a picnic, went to a family party and then she spent a few hours yesterday out with her dad and I got to blitz the flat- All cost nothing! I paid £10  to Debt 4 over the weekend. Didn't have much else to spare but its still a win.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

MM x

londoner2019

MakingMoves said:

Afternoon All,
So I've worked out I need to pay £1680pm towards my debts for the next 18months to hit my goal. Its an eye watering amount. If I'm honest it made me feel sick when I saw it. It's such a large amount of money per month but I'm going to do this.

Following your diary - good luck on your journey! This bit can be disheartening, but flip it around - think of what you can do with this monthly amount once it’s paid off: think how quickly you’ll be able to start saving up! 

remote_control

Hey MM,

I sold something for £4! 🤣. And come to think of it they've not paid yet. But if and when they do I'll pay that off the debt! 

I've found two more small things over the weekend. I might try and get it up to 5 things and do a job lot of posting. 

Worked an extra day at work today which I'll take as pay and not TOIL.

X

MakingMoves

londoner2019 said:

MakingMoves said:

Afternoon All,
So I've worked out I need to pay £1680pm towards my debts for the next 18months to hit my goal. Its an eye watering amount. If I'm honest it made me feel sick when I saw it. It's such a large amount of money per month but I'm going to do this.

Following your diary - good luck on your journey! This bit can be disheartening, but flip it around - think of what you can do with this monthly amount once it’s paid off: think how quickly you’ll be able to start saving up! 

Hi Londer2019,

Nice to meet you!! Thank you so much! I truly cant wait to begin saving and not have this debt hanging over my head  

Hope you have a fab day!

MM x

MakingMoves

remote_control said:

Hey MM,

I sold something for £4! 🤣. And come to think of it they've not paid yet. But if and when they do I'll pay that off the debt! 

I've found two more small things over the weekend. I might try and get it up to 5 things and do a job lot of posting. 

Worked an extra day at work today which I'll take as pay and not TOIL.

X

Morning Remote_control 

That's fantastic, hey £4 is a good sale, I hope they pay, I'm sure they will! Every payment helps. Im also spending the week looking for things to sell..I will list on Sunday, will also aim for 5 things too ...Sadly my buyer still hasn't paid, so if the item isn't paid for by Sunday I will relist it too  

Loving the extra work day, that's a winning plan  

MM x

Spendless

Hi, I'm also hoping to have my debt paid off by the same date as yourself (or before) but I've had my dairy for 2 years and not the first one either - we ran up debt after that!  I also have a DD (plus a recently married DS), my daughter   a lot older at 20 but still expensive as she's just gone to drama school and student rent expensive - when you eventually reach your goals - start a nest egg for that too, you never know what direction they wish to go in at 18+

You're doing really well. Keep the momentum going. Good luck.

MakingMoves

Spendless said:

Hi, I'm also hoping to have my debt paid off by the same date as yourself (or before) but I've had my dairy for 2 years and not the first one either - we ran up debt after that!  I also have a DD (plus a recently married DS), my daughter   a lot older at 20 but still expensive as she's just gone to drama school and student rent expensive - when you eventually reach your goals - start a nest egg for that too, you never know what direction they wish to go in at 18+

You're doing really well. Keep the momentum going. Good luck.

Hi Spendless

Lovely to meet you and massive congrats on you DS getting recently married & DD into drama school, that's so lovely!
I know you can clear the debts, we can do it together 

 Thank you so much I hadn't thought about this, I can imagine how expensive DDs costs will be over time lol! Thank you I really appreciate this, I will factor DD savings into my plan Will get on this as soon as I've cleared my debt!

Wishing you luck too lovely...Right I best log on and get some work done!

Have a great day all!!

MM x

Spendless

Hi, looked through some of your first posts and notice you've put that you have a debt to pay back to HMRC by end of Jan. Just curiosity but am wondering if this is an overpayment of Child benefit - only cos your net salary amount suggests that you might be in the income bracket where you have to pay some back (the position we were in). If it is if you submit your tax return before 31st December you can just pay back the surplus via your wages going through your tax code (assuming you're PAYE) if you leave it  after this date upto the deadline of Jan 31st then you pay it back it one chunk - and ask me how I know this! 

Might not be relevant but just thought I'd mention it. 

MakingMoves

Spendless said:

Hi, looked through some of your first posts and notice you've put that you have a debt to pay back to HMRC by end of Jan. Just curiosity but am wondering if this is an overpayment of Child benefit - only cos your net salary amount suggests that you might be in the income bracket where you have to pay some back (the position we were in). If it is if you submit your tax return before 31st December you can just pay back the surplus via your wages going through your tax code (assuming you're PAYE) if you leave it  after this date upto the deadline of Jan 31st then you pay it back it one chunk - and ask me how I know this! 

Might not be relevant but just thought I'd mention it. 

Hi Spendless, I hope you are well 

Yes it is for an overpayment of child benefit.. I didn't even know that was an option to pay it back through my payslip. I missed the boat on this one but I will keep this in mind for this years self assessment...I'm sorry I have to ask- how did you know?

 Thank you that's going to be really handy next year. I'm not sure whether I will need to pay it next year, it all depends on whether or not I receive a bonus. Usually my pension deductions keep me under the maximum threshold...but my 2022 bonus pushed me over (not that I'm complaining) I guess time will tell. 

I should have this debt cleared by the end of the month, I'm still deciding whether to keep the saved funds in a saving account and pay on the deadline Jan24 or to just pay it now and get it out of the way. what do you think?

Happy Friday, hope you are having a great one and you have a wonderful weekend!

MM x