Small Business, Big Debts

vampirotoothus

Hey congratulations on getting into the 5s, a big relief for you. You seem to have everything planned, so hopefully just a steady journey to get it all done. Well done on getting your flights sorted. V x

OldTimer2023

Update time again, folks, and plenty going on this month!

	LBM Oct-23	Jun-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Bank Loan	£12,263.16	£7,546.56	£4,716.60	38%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,695.00	£680.50	9%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (MBNA)	£12,388.88	£8,414.81	£3,974.07	32%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£36,400.92	£11,915.05	25%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£59,057.29	£23,728.17	29%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£22,656.37	£11,813.12	34%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,000.00	£1,000.00	100%
Credit Score	582	621	39	"Good"

So, it has been 'Balance Transfer' month, and I've finally got all of the balances moved around, meaning that by this time next month I will have consolidated down to 3 x 0% Balance Transfer cards.

The biggest win here was moving my Bank Loan to a 0% card.  Even with the £337 transfer fee, I was able to save nearly £796 in interest, meaning an overall 'gain' of £459.  It also means that I will be able to close the Loan account, which should hopefully help bring my Credit Score back up a bit.  The trick here will be making sure to get it paid off before the 0% expires, so I don't have to pay another transfer fee next year.

I could technically have squeezed down to 2 x Credit Cards, but I didn't want to hurt my credit utilisation score by fully-loading them - plus, thinking ahead, keeping all 3 x Accounts open should hopefully give me more options when it comes time to shuffle again next year.

None of these changes can be seen in the above numbers yet, but by next month these will all be showing on the progress update, and then it's time to get cracking with the Debt Snowball again.

As I said last month, it was a bit of a tough start to the year finance-wise, but my forecasts for the remainder of 2025 are looking really healthy.  I'm taking a holiday/staycation next month (nothing extravagant), but everything is already in-budget, as is my trip home at Christmas - so I'm really hoping to get some extra over-payments in (and I'm considering extending my Emergency Fund to £2k too).

Right I think that's everything from my end.  Just posting to keep me accountable, and to get a motivation boost from checking in on other DFDs.

I will report back from the other side of my holiday next month.

Take care all,
Old Timer

dawnybabes

Have a great holiday 😃

OldTimer2023

Hello all!

I am back from my much-needed holiday, and time to check-in already!

	LBM Oct-23	Jul-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£7,087.50	£5,175.66	42%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,628.05	£747.45	10%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,736.00	£3,652.88	29%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£35,819.38	£12,496.59	26%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£58,270.93	£24,514.53	30%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£22,451.55	£12,017.94	35%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£100.00	£100.00	10%
Credit Score	582	615	33	"Good"

Ok so a few changes on the above, after my latest shuffle around, with the main highlight being that I switched my Bank Loan to a 0% Balance Transfer which saved me ~£450 of interest.  This will now become my #1 priority debt, so that I can get it cleared before the 0% expires and avoid having to pay another transfer fee.

On the less positive side, I had to dip into my Emergency Fund to pay-off my Christmas flights back home, but this was expected (and in-budget), plus the flights have gone up by 25%, so it was definitely the right thing to do.  More importantly, I have already factored in £250/month for the next 4 months to get my EF back up to £1k (ideally I want to get it up to £1.5-2k).

I spent a little bit more on holiday than planned but, honestly, this was more a problem with my over-optimistic budget rather than any extravagances on my part.  This is a good lesson learnt, and will give me more clarity budget-wise if I do a similar trip in the future.

I was able to get a lot of time to think and reflect on my trip, so inevitably money/debts came up in my thoughts quite often...  I'm currently on-track to have my challenge debts paid off by the end of 2026, or perhaps a little earlier if I manage to sell a few items.  Even though that feels like a long time in the future, I'm sure it will actually pass by really quickly.

One of the greatest 'gifts' of this debt-free experience has been that it has really taught me about the 'value' of money, and I feel much better prepared and confident that I now know where I want to spend my money in that debt-free future, and where I definitely don't want to 'waste' money.

It sounds really cheesy, but 'experiences' are almost always worth it in the long-term, whereas 'objects/things' are very rarely worth it - at least from my experience.  That could be different if your passions are different to mine, but I'm genuinely feeling grateful for the clarity that this debt-free experience has given me, and I'm sure these lessons will stop me from a) ever getting into debt again AND b) will allow me to enjoy my money more - because, at the end of the day, what else should money be used for other than giving us security and bringing us joy?!

I feel like I've never quite got that balance right before (security vs. joy), and have always been too close to one end of the spectrum.  Overly-focusing on 'security' has caused me to miss out on some of life's experiences, whereas over-focusing on 'joy' has always been short-lived (e.g. once the 'new car' shine wears off) and landed me in a lot of debt.  This pattern repeats across a lot of other areas of my life too, and I'm starting to see the wisdom in all the ancient sayings about taking the middle path, finding balance etc - or maybe I'm just getting old hahaha.

Right, on that philosophical note, time for me to sign-off and go catch up on other DFDs.

Take care all,
Old Timer

OldTimer2023

Update time again, folks!

	LBM Oct-23	Aug-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£6,910.31	£5,352.85	44%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,561.77	£813.73	11%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,648.64	£3,740.24	30%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£35,239.09	£13,076.88	27%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£57,359.81	£25,425.65	31%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£22,120.72	£12,348.77	36%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£100.00	£100.00	10%
Credit Score	582	607	25	"Good"

I've had a bit of bad luck this month, and I've been feeling quite down.  Not just money-wise, to be fair, but it certainly doesn't help whenever I think about how much debt I still have after nearly two years of trying my best to get it paid off...

I was supposed to be moving into company accommodation next month, to start work on our new Project, but that has subsequently been delayed (possibly even cancelled), meaning I've had to fork-out my own cash to extend my current place for a few more months - and I can't help but think about what different a position I would be in if I hadn't stupidly got myself back into debt again.

I'm going to do everything I possibly can to manage my rent extension without taking on any further debt, but it might be that I need an extra £500 or so to get me over the line - which I will pay back instantly the following month if I do.  I hate the thought of doing this, but it is what it is...

I've had this increasingly loud voice in my head since getting back from my break, telling me that I'm not on the right path at the moment.  I'm not quite sure what it means exactly, but I can feel that I need to make some changes in my life - potentially some pretty big ones.

Anyway, I probably need to take some more time to listen to that voice, rather than pushing it down (like I normally do).

Sorry that it's not a very cheery update this time, but I know that a lot of us go through ups and downs on our debt-free journeys, so I think it's important that we feel comfortable sharing during the bad times too.

Take care everybody,
Old Timer

OldTimer2023

Hello all,

Update time again...

	LBM Oct-23	Sep-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£6,710.31	£5,552.85	45%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,486.77	£888.73	12%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,548.64	£3,840.24	31%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£34,657.48	£13,658.49	28%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£56,403.20	£26,382.26	32%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£21,745.72	£12,723.77	37%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£0.00	£0.00	0%
Credit Score	582	615	33	"Good"

Ooft it has been a tough few weeks for me, money-wise, and it looks like it's going to stay that way until the end of year (when my bonus will be paid).

I mentioned last time that I had to find the cash to extend my house for a few more months, which I managed to do without adding any more debt (yay!), but literally only just, and it wiped out what little was left of my Emergency Fund.

I was able to use my daily spend Credit Card to help a bit this month, but this card always gets 100% paid off in-full every month, so I don't class that as 'adding debt', I see it more as 'helpful phasing' :-)

Anyway, unfortunately this means I won't be able to make any overpayments until my bonus gets paid, but at least I will still be chipping away, and every little helps etc etc.

Looking ahead, I feel like my Budget for 2026 is more realistic than what I set for myself in 2025, so hopefully this will help too - at least mentally - so that I don't always feel like I'm falling behind.

Someone just told me that it is 100 days to Christmas today.  Not the biggest Christmas fan if I'm being honest, haha, but I guess that also means only 100(ish) days until Bonus Day, so I can focus on that and know that I will be in a much better position once that cash hits the bank.

Take care all!
Old Timer

Fabulous50

£26k paid off is a fantastic achievement! It's the change in mindset, a proper budget & steady progress which is important. Imagine what will you will achieve in the next 12 months. Keep on keeping on ! ☺️

OldTimer2023

Wow, I can't believe it has been TWO YEARS(!) since I first posted and started this diary!

	LBM Oct-23	Oct-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£6,510.31	£5,752.85	47%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,411.77	£963.73	13%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,448.64	£3,940.24	32%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£34,072.35	£14,243.62	29%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£55,443.07	£27,342.39	33%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£21,370.72	£13,098.77	38%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£0.00	£0.00	0%
Credit Score	582	615	33	"Good"

Taking the positives first, £27k paid off is a huge amount, and it's a huge achievement too.  I'm feeling proud of myself.

My Challenge Debts are 38% repaid, and my Total Debts are 33% repaid.

My original aim was to have my Challenge Debts repaid by the end of this year.  If my Bonus comes in as-planned at the end of this year then I can get my Emergency Fund back to £1k and then probably clear all of my Challenge Debts by March/April time, which is a bit behind plan, but would still be a great result (~£35k repaid in ~2.5 years).

I can then focus everything on clearing the Bounceback Loan, so that I can be 100% Debt Free ASAP - or, actually, maybe I should say 100% Debt Free 'sooner' rather than 'ASAP', because...

Despite me being a big follower of the Ramsey method, I have deliberately chosen NOT to follow the method in-full.  There are a couple of items that I could have sold to help clear my debts sooner.  There have also been a few holidays that I could have skipped to win back a few extra months, and perhaps a few devices that I could have stretched a few more months of usage from... but, looking back, it would have been a completely miserable and joyless 2 years, and ultimately I think I would have given up.

At the end of the day, it is my personal debt repayment journey and I am (really!) happy with the balance that I have found.

The #1 benefit for me, without a doubt, has been the mindset change.  Yes, I still set aside some money to enjoy myself and allow some 'joy' into my life, BUT, I have completely stopped the excessive spending that was causing all of the problems.  So, yes, I have had some fun on the way, but I haven't taken on any new debt in order to go on a holiday, or have an experience etc.  I have learnt to live within my means, and I have learnt the discipline of not only making a budget but, heck, I've even learnt how to enjoy sticking to it too.

As mentioned on my first post, I have been on the DFD journey before, and I managed to stay Debt Free for a long time.  Where I slipped up was basically an inability to live with 'delayed gratification'.  I'm not going to blame social media and our dopamine society, it was 100% my fault, and I take full responsibility for my situation.

Even until relatively recently, I would think "once I get these debts paid-off, I can finance a car / buy a new watch / go on that holiday" etc etc, but I have already seen that movie once before, and I know where it ends.

I think one of the biggest Ramsey slogans that has helped me with this mindset change is "solve for peace", and that is exactly what I am trying to do these days.  If I can save the money up to buy something that I need/want, then great, I will buy it, but there is just no way that I am going to get back into Debt for anything other than a property - and even then I'm going to do everything I can to pay as much as possible in cash, and pay the balance off as soon as I can.

So, on that note, I wish everyone all the best on their own personal journey - especially my fellow long-termers!  There is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for me, and I know it is coming for you all too.

Take care everyone,
Old Timer 

Humdinger1

Utterly wonderful @OldTimer2023! Please keep posting as your journey is inspiring.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

RedLipstick

Just found your diary. Amazing achievement, you should be proud of yourself! Please keep updating us, looking forward to read more about your journey. Best of luck!