10,000 steps, 1 step at a time.

Aimingforthegoodlife

Steps gone are still an amazing achievement! Slow progress is still progress, sounds like you have some good things to look forward to

13thlegion

209 steps this month. Result of some budgeting success and using pots as they are supposed to be used. CC debt down to £9,209.92. Nearly at start of diary levels. Soon I’ll sit and work out yearly totals and this will feel good as the joint loan is much lower and I have paid off a lot of debt this year, just needed to use some more along the way.

Not using debt for smaller things anymore. Wedding went great, and Christmas is all in hand.

Currently have a bank switch in process. Some issues getting it started but all resolved now. Once this is through, I’ll hop around any others bank offers I can. This makes 3 switches this year so far and I reckon I can do another 2 soon. This earner will close to me then as I’ll have done pretty much all of them and will have to wait until I’m eligible for incentives again in a few years.

13thlegion

Only 93 steps this month but it is Xmas and the car just had it's MOT. Bank switch is complete so going to move onto the next one as soon as the DD have come out. 

It was the 12th December I made the first post. A whole year already!

Here is a sort of annual update. As my pay day is the 27th of the month ‘January’ for me starts 27th December. So, I have some figures for a whole 12 months of pay days to show the journey.

Win - Paid off £7050.70 from the CC.

Not so win - Increased debt on CC by £7245. See posts above and some TLDR below

Current CC debt is £316.88 more than this time last year. £194 is balance going up and £122.88 from transfer fees.

CC debt now £9,109.43 – Fixed monthly payment of £100 as a minimum. This is not contractual minimum but the very bottom end of what I pay off each month.

Take home pay now £2443.26 per month.

Loan has dipped below £5000! This will be paid off in full August/September 2025. So overall debt amount is going down.

 

Lots of wins as well in behaviours and admin.

Breakdown cover is now paid annually not monthly, and I’ve haggled to keep the price down.

Car insurance moved to annual in February and planning on keeping it that way! I put a generous amount in the car pot towards it each month.

Once again, no CC for xmas spends! Need this pot to stay healthy coming out of festive season as all the household birthdays happen between new year and end of March.

Holiday was had without resorting to debt. Repeating the pattern for summer 2025 of saving for it well in advance rather than chuck money off the CC only for it to go back on.

In many ways has been a tough year to get through for the wallet. Lots of bigger emergencies – so no £500 leftover for the year if you saw that target at the very start.

Dishwasher packed in start of the journey replaced on a store card and paid off in full a few months into the year. Chimney taken down followed by a complete roof re-felt and batten and repair tiles paid for with 0% card hence overall increase. Downstairs flooring had to be replaced after a leak in a central heating pipe. Car has been a car and had to have several things done throughout the year, including £700ish of work just last month to get through the MOT. Both paid for without debt. Dog has been unwell and needed emergency surgery. He’s not that old and the insurance covered it with the excess paid in cash.

Overall, I’m coming out of the year owing less money across all debts combined. Behaviours have stuck and very excitingly I still have £1,937.46 in my saving pots with it likely to creep up above the £2,076.30 I had after December 27th payday last year.