Small Business, Big Debts

Catscoffeecake

Doing great with the debt busting. Enjoy your holiday sounds like you've earned it

OldTimer2023

Update time again, and this year is absolutely flying by…

	LBM Oct-23	Jul-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	£4,836.77	£2,538.73	34%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (MBNA)	£12,388.88	£7,537.72	£4,851.16	39%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£28,758.26	£19,557.71	40%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£41,132.75	£41,652.71	50%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£12,374.49	£22,095.00	64%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,725.33	£725.33	+73%
Credit Score	582	630	+48	"Excellent"

So this month I FINALLY reached the 50% repaid mark on my Total Debts!!!

It is also feeling good to dip below £5k on my Halifax card (#1 Priority), and I will try to make some overpayments here before having to do what will be my last ever Balance Transfer next month :-)

Definitely feels like I'm on the final slope towards the finish line now, just ~6 months left to go - and my trusty old mobile phone is still holding up strong (if I stay close to a charger at all times), hence why that extra cash is sat in my Emergency Fund, waiting for the day when it finally packs in.

As predicted, the big bump in my Credit Score last month was because the reporting RE my latest Balance Transfer had not caught up yet, so it's back down to 630 again this month - which is absolutely fine.

Oh and my holiday last month was great! I had an amazing time AND stayed in budget too without having to be too tight about it. My mate probably didn't even realise I was keeping one eye on costs.

Okkk I think that's everything for this month. My focus for August will be making an overpayment to the Halifax card then getting that BT done before the end of the month. I was tempted to move it over to my MBNA card and then just have one final Credit Balance to focus all my energies on, in fact, I'll reflect on this over the coming weeks. No need to make a decision just yet.

Right, that's me done!

Take care all,
Old Timer

Lolina

Hello! I've just found your diary and read it all start to finish tonight - you are inspiring! It's amazing to see those numbers go down month after month. You must feel really proud :) I'll be following your adventure with interest, keep going! 🙌

OldTimer2023

Thanks Lolina!

I think one of the best things about posting on these forums is the sense that we are not doing it alone - so I'm really glad to hear that reading nearly 3 years of my ramblings was helpful to you :-)

Another cool thing is that we are all running the same race, but each of us is running it in our own separate way. Meaning that some people choose to go super-hard and intense, whereas others take a more relaxed approach - and there is not right or wrong here, only what works best for you.

Speaking for myself, I could definitely have been a bit more intense over the years, but I seem to have found a good balance between paying my debts off and still enjoying myself at the same time. Not in an extravagant way, of course, but just making sure that I set aside a bit of cash to enjoy the small things that make such a big difference to me.

Wishing you all the best on your debt-busting journey,

Old Timer

OldTimer2023

August is here, and it's time for the monthly update!

	LBM Oct-23	Aug-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	£4,036.77	£3,338.73	45%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (MBNA)	£12,388.88	£7,337.72	£5,051.16	41%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£28,162.98	£20,152.99	42%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£39,537.47	£43,247.99	52%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£11,374.49	£23,095.00	67%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,728.95	£728.95	73%
Credit Score	582	630	48	"Excellent"

Steady as she goes again this month, and I managed to make an additional £500 overpayment to my Halifax card :-)

The 0% B/T on my Halifax card runs out towards the end of this month, so I'm planning to move it over to my existing Virgin card at 0% for 12 months with a 2.5% fee - which will be the last time this balance ever gets transferred, woo-hoo!!!

Other than that, it's nice to see my Total Debts dip down into the £30k's for the first time - and the next big milestone after that will be getting my Challenge Debts down to below £10k. That should happen around Oct/Nov time, according to my latest budget, meaning I will be starting 2027 on the final slope, the last leg, one more for the road et al.

I don't want to celebrate prematurely, but I really do feel like the end date is getting ever closer now. I just need to remain focused and make sure that I keep making those regular overpayments, rather than finding things that I 'need' to buy and/or do. Focus, focus, focus!!!

Right, on that note, time to catch up on other diaries.

Have a great day,
Old Timer

in_need_of_direction

amazing progress, well done

OldTimer2023

Update time again, folks!

	LBM Oct-23	Sep-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 (Virgin)	£7,375.50	£4,100.00	£3,275.50	44%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (MBNA)	£12,388.88	£7,137.72	£5,251.16	42%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£27,566.44	£20,749.53	43%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£38,804.16	£43,981.30	53%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£11,237.72	£23,231.77	67%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,734.69	£734.69	73%
Credit Score	582	624	42	"Good"

Not a lot to report numbers-wise, but quite a bit to update life/strategy-wise…

Let's do the numbers first. My Virgin balance didn't go up due to spending, that's just the impact of the Balance Transfer fee and 'skipping' a monthly DD because of the transfer timing. I think it's the same story with my Credit Score dropping a bit too. The transfer hasn't updated correctly on my report, so it's showing as a balance on the new card AND the old one. That should correct itself next month, and I'm not too bothered about my Credit Score, it's just some useful external validation that I'm moving in the right direction.

RE Life/Strategy stuff, unfortunately the business has had a bit of a tough time over the last 3 months. Luckily it seems like things have turned a corner in the last few weeks, but I've decided that it would be a good idea for me to stack some cash. Knowing that I have a buffer in personal savings would be such a great help - financially and psychologically - in the event that I might have to reduce/stop my Salary at some point over the next year or so.

I have therefore dropped my DD payments on both Credit Cards to just over the Minimum Payment. I will continue to go after the debts with the exact same intensity - BUT - I will do it via my Savings Account first (as a buffer).

The Debts are 0% and my Savings are ~3.5%, but I'm not trying to make a mathematical argument here. This is purely about risk, comfort and peace of mind.

So, yep, starting from next month, you will (hopefully) see my debts coming down a bit slower but that will be offset by my Emergency Fund going up each month.

I don't have any big payments to make until my MBNA 0% expires in May 2027, so by that point I should be able to either a) cover the final payment from my Savings if things are going well, or b) make another Balance Transfer, worst-case. There's not much point in stressing out over it. All I can do is make a plan and be prepared - whichever way it goes.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now officially entering the "Stack Cash" era!

My first target is £5k by the end of 2026, at which point I will review everything and adjust accordingly as-needed. If the business has picked up, £5k should be fine. If not, £10k might be more appropriate. We shall see!

Onwards and upwards!
Old Timer

in_need_of_direction

best of luck with the new plan

OldTimer2023

First month of the new 'stack cash' era and, well, I didn't actually stack any cash this month… but I can explain :-)

	LBM Oct-23	Oct-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 (Virgin)	£7,375.50	£4,000.00	£3,375.50	46%
CC2.2 (Halifax)	£1,470.00	£0.00	£1,470.00	100%
CC3.1 (MBNA)	£12,388.88	£6,937.72	£5,451.16	44%
Bounceback Loan	£48,315.97	£26,966.74	£21,349.23	44%
TOTAL	£82,785.46	£37,904.46	£44,881.00	54%
Challenge Total	£34,469.49	£10,937.72	£23,531.77	68%
Emergency Fund	£1,000.00	£1,738.23	£738.23	174%
Credit Score	582	635	53	"Excellent"

As planned for some time now, I replaced my mobile phone (after 5 faithful years of service) and I was able to do this from cash flow without touching my Emergency Fund - which I am classing as a win! Next month is also looking a little tight, but hopefully I will still be able to get £500 set aside, chipping away nicely at my new £5k savings target once my bonus clears in December.

It has also been 3 years since I started this diary! Wowwww!!! How the time flies, eh?!

Back then, I said that I wanted to clear the challenge debts by the end of 2025… yet here we are almost at the end of 2026 and I've still got about £10k to go.

I'm not mad about that though. Life happened. I wasn't reckless. I didn't splurge. Things changed, and I responded accordingly.

Focusing on the positives, I have repaid just under £45k(!) of debt in 3 years. My Total Debts are now 54% paid and my Challenge Debts are 68% paid. My MBNA balance just dipped into the 6's, and next month my Virgin balance will dip into the 3's. Slow, steady progress being made.

Looking forward to the end of this year, my Net Challenge Debt (debt minus savings) should be just over £5k, meaning that by Q2 2027 I should be in a position to pay everything off - depending how the situation is at that time.

There really is a lot to be proud of in the above, and I'm so happy that I decided to take control of my situation and take some action back in October 2023, rather than just burying my head in the sand and continuing on as before.

The business has had a better time of things this past few months too, so all-in-all, life is good.

Just one last push, for another 6 months. I can do it!!!

On that positive note, I will leave things there.

Take care everyone,
Old Timer