Getting rid of that debt in 24

Lonelygambler

Keep going! You’re doing great. 

What makes a great iced coffee? 

itsthelittlethings

A great iced coffee is creamy and coffee-ey without being too much of either. Now you’ve got me thinking about that iced coffee again!

Fairly cheap weekend as my mum was here. We went out to a family birthday party last night but I only had 2 drinks and mum bought one. It’s amazing how cheap it is when you don’t drink alcohol.

Need to do my Sunday spreadsheet!

itsthelittlethings

Paid today. I’ve made all my payments and things are looking ok. I’ve paid off more than half my debt, which is very motivating. I’ve done an online Tescos shop, but I’m away next weekend so I’m going to eat out of the freezer until then and pick a few bits up at Asda when I need to. It was a struggle getting to the minimum basket because I don’t need anything like loo roll or olive oil but I managed it!

Went out for a very nice dinner with a friend last night at a Thai chain. I’ve been there before and wasn’t impressed but it was nice yesterday. We had a lovely chat.

I’m doing quite well at not touching savings. I keep getting tempted to book a holiday but I’m not going to! I have a couple of short holidays booked! That will do me.

I’ve given myself weekly spending money so need to try and stick to that. That is where I tend to fall down. Last month I stuck to my (admittedly fairly generous) food budget. I’m pleased about that.

itsthelittlethings

I’m doing ok, have enough money to get me through to the end of the month I think. I’m trying to cut down on coffees with some success. Having a quiet (and cheap) weekend.

I am doing a budgeting course. It’s quite interesting but I don’t know if it will stick. I need to fill out my purchases spreadsheet as I haven’t done that for quite a while.

Lonelygambler

Keep going every £ towards debt is a step forward. 

I bought a half decent travel mug and have now stopped buying coffees. I know sad, but saving me £4 a day is handy and adds up quickly. 

FacelessNumber

I definitely agree with the above. I have a good travel mug and it means I make a coffee to take on a walk with friends rather than buy one, and when I'm working I have one in the car on the way to work. I do also have a coffee machine though which helps even more!

itsthelittlethings

I’ve just done my spreadsheet and added up a couple of full months. It’s very interesting seeing what the total spend and category spends are. They weren’t as bad as I feared, which is probably about right seeing as I don’t have a huge debt problem so must be generally spending about what I earn. I need to drill down into the categories and think about what I get value in and what there’s scope to reduce.

itsthelittlethings

I’ve paid off the debt using some of my Emergency Fund and closed the credit card. The only debt I have left is a small amount on my other credit card that I pay off each month. I’ll pay that off when I get paid and then I might close that credit card. I don’t think I should be using credit cards at all.

My emergency fund is a bit smaller than I’m comfortable with but I’m building it up again. Once I have paid off my credit card I’ll be starting a diary in How much have you got saved? Thank you for all your comments and good luck to everyone striving to become debt free.

Lonelygambler

Hey, how's it going?

itsthelittlethings

Paid off my month to month credit card when I got paid this month and made a budget that involves not using it again this month, but also takes into consideration some planned spends (weekend away) that I have coming up. I’m trying to be a lot more intentional with my spending. It is indeed the little things, but a) I have a budget for things like coffees rather than seeing every coffee as a failure and b) it’s not just the little things, it’s also the £50-100 impulse buys of which there were rather too many.

I’m saving up in a regular saver. By the time this one matures I’d like to have a 6k emergency fund which would be a relief. I’m sure things will come along. I’m also trying to cut down my food budget and saving some of that for a holiday next year. I guess I should close this diary and head over to the How much have you got saved board?

I’ve been having a quiet weekend this weekend watching Glastonbury. I did do a slightly pricey Asda food shop yesterday as I have family coming over on Monday and had decided to cook steak. Other than that it’s been 2 coffees. Also a second hand tablet for reading knitting patterns on. That was a bit of a splurge but it was only £30.