Small Business, Big Debts

OldTimer2023

Update time again, folks, and I guess this will be the penultimate update of 2025!

	LBM Oct-23	Nov-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£6,310.31	£5,952.85	49%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,336.77	£1,038.73	14%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,348.64	£4,040.24	33%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£33,488.36	£14,827.61	31%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£54,484.08	£28,301.38	34%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£20,995.72	£13,473.77	39%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£700.00	-£300.00	-30%
Credit Score	582	615	33	"Good"

Yet another month with no overpayments, but I'm still chipping away (as usual) - and I managed to get £700 back into my Emergency Fund this month 

Sooo it turns out that my end of year Bonus won't be quite as big as I was expecting it to be... which means that I was perhaps a bit premature declaring 'victory' over my Challenge Debts by March/April 2026 on my last post.

I am however feeling confident that I have a really good chance of getting my Challenge Debts paid off by the end of 2026 - so that is the new target that I am getting laser focused towards.

I've also been doing a spending experiment this month, to force me to become a bit more intentional with my day-to-day spending - which has had good results so far!  I could sense that I had gotten a bit leaky with eating out, small treats etc, so I need to get back on track there.

In the background to all of this, we are currently in the process of expanding the business to a new location, so by the end of 2026 I'm hoping that a) my Challenge Debts will be paid-off and b) my underlying Income/Net Worth will have (at least) doubled.

So, as usual with me, it's a bit more 'jam tomorrow' - but if I can just knuckle-down and focus on my debts for one more year then by the end of 2026 the ship will finally be starting to turn around.

On that positive note, I'll sign-out here and go catch up on other diaries.

Sending my best to everyone,
Old Timer

Humdinger1

Doing brilliantly @OldTimer2023! Keep going love Humdinger xx 

OldTimer2023

Good morning everyone,

Time for my final Debt-Free Diary entry of 2025!

	LBM Oct-23	Dec-25	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£6,110.31	£6,152.85	50%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,261.77	£1,113.73	15%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,248.64	£4,140.24	33%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£32,900.74	£15,415.23	32%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£53,521.46	£29,264.00	35%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£20,620.72	£13,848.77	40%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,000.00	£0.00	0%
Credit Score	582	615	33	"Good"

Couple of nice round numbers in there this month.  Total Debts 35% paid off, Challenge Debts 40% paid off - and my starter Emergency Fund is back up to 100% (£1k)

My bonus cleared this morning so hopefully there will be a bit more to update on next month, but for now I am celebrating clearing £13,824 off my Total Debts (incl. £6,865 off my Challenge Debts) in 2025.  That works out to £1,152 of my hard-earned money going towards debt payments each month - and this is precisely what is motivating me to get even more intentional for 'one big push' in 2026!

It is just about feasible that I can clear all of my Challenge Debts by the end of 2026, so this is the Big Goal that I am going to be working towards next year.

I feel that my budgeting is going pretty well these days, and I'm still leaving a bit of flexibility for a few treats in 2026 too, but I just know that it's going to feel so good once the debt snowball starts to build and I get that first Credit Card knocked out, hopefully around June time, all going well.

Right, I'm going to leave it quite brief this month as I know everyone is busy at this time of year.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas the happiest of New Years.

Take care all,
Old Timer

1stTimer

Amazing progress! Well done

dawnybabes

Slow and steady wins the race ! You’re doing great 

RedLipstick

Fantastic progress, well done!

Humdinger1

You're doing brilliantly! 2026 will be THE  year when you clear it, I'm convinced.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

Sarahwithlove

Congrats on a great 2025 of debt busting! 

OldTimer2023

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year!

I am starting 2026 with a bang at this end, so without any further ado...

	LBM Oct-23	Jan-26	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£4,110.31	£8,152.85	66%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,186.77	£1,188.73	16%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,148.64	£4,240.24	34%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£32,314.26	£16,001.71	33%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£50,759.98	£32,025.48	39%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£18,445.72	£16,023.77	46%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,000.00	£0.00	0%
Credit Score	582	627	45	"Good"

I paid £2k off my MBNA Card this month, which is the first time I have made an overpayment in sooo long, and it feels great  starting the year as I mean to go on!

My Credit Score also jumped to just 1 point below 'Excellent' (so close!), which isn't a huge priority for me, but is at least some nice validation that I am moving in the right direction.

I have some tech that needs to be replaced over the next few months, but the cash is already set aside, and I am going to stretch it out for as long as possible before pulling the trigger on the purchases.

Looking ahead, my Emergency Fund is fully topped-up, my 2026 Budget is in place - all I need to do now is stick to it.

I am going to get into the habit of sweeping my Accounts at the end of the month and making extra payments to my debts, even if these are relatively small amounts, just to keep the momentum up and keep me fully engaged.

I've got a cluster of 0% Balance Transfer deals ending in May, June and August - so I need to stay focused and get at least one of the Credit Cards paid-off before that happens, then I can shuffle the remaining balances around.  Focus!!!

Right, I think that's everything from me.

Wishing everyone a great start to the New Year,
Old Timer

OldTimer2023

Hello everyone!

I'm coming in hot today with another positive update to keep the good vibes going in 2026!

	LBM Oct-23	Feb-26	Repaid	Repaid %
Loan (MBNA)	£12,263.16	£0.00	£12,263.16	100%
Bank CC	£971.95	£0.00	£971.95	100%
CC1 (Bcard)	£0.00	£0.00	£0.00
CC2.1 (Halifax)	£7,375.50	£6,111.77	£1,263.73	17%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (Virgin)	£12,388.88	£8,048.64	£4,340.24	35%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£31,726.49	£16,589.48	34%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£45,886.90	£36,898.56	45%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£14,160.41	£20,309.08	59%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,000.00	£0.00	0%
Credit Score	582	620	38	Good

The big update this month is that I finally sold the item that I had listed months ago, and was then able to use the proceeds to clear off my MBNA balance! So, another one bites the dust!!!

It feels like it has been sooo long since I last settled an account, and I'm down to only 2 x Credit Cards now - so I am definitely feeling fired-up and ready to get those two cleared by the end of the year too.

My Challenge Debts are oh-so-nearly 60% paid-off , and it feels great to finally be on the 'downward slope' of my debt journey.

Unfortunately it was not all good news this month, my company relocation has been delayed by a couple of months, but I am able to cover the additional rent payments that this will trigger out of my Budget without touching my EF or using credit - and I'm still hoping that I can get the smaller Halifax debt paid-off before the 0% expires in August. It should all be doable, IF I don't have any further budget shocks, so let's see how the next few months play out…

RE 2026 momentum, sadly this means I will only be making my snowball payments next month, but it looks like I'll be able to make at least a small overpayment in April, and then things should be back to normal in May.

Ok, that's my update done for the month.

Onwards and upwards everybody!

Take care, Old Timer