100 STEPS TO DEBT FREE BY XMAS 2024

CMD79

2024 is going to be MY YEAR! My year, after over 20+ years, to become DEBT FREE! Who's with me?!

I know a lot of us like to have little challenges and celebrate mini victories to spur us on, but I wanted to devise my own challenge to suit my own needs; one that appeals to my own drivers and motivators. So this is what I'm doing for 2024 - Feel free to join in if it might work for you.

My ultimate goal is to be debt free by Christmas 2024. To achieve this, I'm going to complete lots of mini challenges to take 100 Steps to get there. Each Step will need to cover 1/100th of my starting debt, so I'm starting off by working out what 1% of my current debt is. £10,741.20 is my current debt, so £108 = 1 Step (rounding up) To be completed by Christmas, I'll need to take an average of 2 Steps (of £108 each) per week to finish on 16th December.

The benefits of tackling the debt like this are infinite for me! It makes sure I check in with my debt at least twice a week, the focus on reaching another step will remind me I'm in debt and stop the temptation to add to the debt, and I can work really strategically to pay it down week on week by saving loose change, making extra money etc.

To get off to a good start, I have worked out how many Steps I take with just my minimum repayments. Most of my debts are now 0% interest, so I will take 6 steps per month if I do nothing else at all. By 16th December, the minimum payments alone will equate to 72 steps, meaning I have just 28 other steps to be debt free, and I'm going to list out ways to get there to help me focus my effort below.  

If you'd like to take part, you'll need to:

• Post your total debt and your "1 Step" amount in the thread along with a list of ways you expect you might take Steps throughout the year. With the best will in the world, this challenge will be very difficult to achieve if you are only barely making, or not able to make your minimum payments. That said, when I started my journey on this forum, I very quickly started to make at least £10 a day, and some months made £800 a month extra, so it is doable!
• Update the thread each time you manage to take (at least) 1 Step - Try to aim for 8-9 steps per month to keep you on track. If, at the start of each month you don't think you'll make 8-9 Steps, think about where your next Step is coming from; what can you do to get an extra step in?
• If there are any other takers, I'll try to keep track and give you a number...

CMD79

Participants:

#1 @CMD79 Total Debt £10,741.20 / 1 Step = £108     

#2 @BlueJ94Total Debt £1,104.65 - 1 Step = £11.47

#3 @outoftheviciouscircle Target £20,000 / 1 Step = £200 

#4 @aso Total Debt £3100 / 1 step = £31  

#5 @BudgetingBelinda Total debt £6000/ 1 step = 60           

#6 @Bowties Total debt £4757 / 1 Step = £48

#7 @grassgirl total debt £25,000 / 1 Step = £250

#8 @holly_hobby total debt £16,000 / 1 Step = £160

#9 @Keedietotal debt is £9,000 / 1 Step = £90

CMD79

Good morning Debt Free Wannabes and other cheerful supporters!

Without wishing my life away, I'm so optimistic for the New Year, that this Twixmas needs to hurry up and be over! This morning I have been looking ahead to see what shops have been added on my favourite mystery shopping sites, and a couple of good ones have appeared already. Some are days out that refund your expenses but don't pay much, but that at least stops the spending and makes sure my DD gets to enjoy yourself whilst I sort my life out. I realise when I posted, my steps should be separate from the instructions, so I'm posting my own bits here so anyone joining can get the idea what they need to do better:

Total Debt £10,741.20 / 1 Step = £108

1. Round up my minimum payments slightly to give me 7 steps in the first 2 weeks of every month (84 steps in 12 months!)
2. I have moved a £5 per day budget into a separate current account. Each NSD, I pay the budgeted £5 into my 100 Steps account (realistically, 6 steps in 12 months)
3. I have set my current account to "Save the Change" and will also "Tilly Tidy" into my 100 Steps account (2 steps in 12 months)
4. I will aim to make an Extra £10 per day from Mystery shops.... (6 steps at least!) 
5. and Surveys (3 steps)
   
6. I will meal plan and focus on using things up before I buy more, and any leftover money each week from my grocery budget will get paid into my 100 steps account (I'm bad at this, so probably will only manage 1 step in 12 months)
7. I will work through each room and sell any unwanted items and pay that into my 100 Steps account (3 steps) 
8. I will use up my craft stash and try to make birthday gifts and any money left over from my gift budget I will pay into my 100 Steps account (will probably never happen, but I'll try to get to 1 step!)
9.  I will try to change bank accounts twice (3 steps)
10. Money from my side hustle (potentially 6 steps)

If I manage to stick to this, I should be debt free, by about October 2024 as it makes 115 Steps!!

BlueJ94

I like to join please

Total Debt £1,104.65 - 1 Step = £11.47 (£11.0465 rounded easier) 

Makingabobor2

I really like this idea. I'm going to have a think about this and see if its something I think might work for me. I'll let you know if I feel I can join in, in any way, need to get my brain working to see how I could do it.  Even if I don't join in, I will be cheering you on. 

CMD79

BlueJ94 said:

I like to join please

Total Debt £1,104.65 - 1 Step = £11.47 (£11.0465 rounded easier) 

Glad to have the company l@BlueJ94 

Nice Steps for you! Have you worked out how many Steps you'll cover with just your minimum payments each month. Doing that excited me beyond belief. I could be as few as 16 extra Steps away.   

@Makingabobor2 - See if it works out for you. Or maybe choose just one area you want to focus on. xx

CMD79

Well, there's the end of 2023 - Another very weird year, but I'm so excited to get 2024 going! I feel like I'm now so focused on being debt free, I can really make a difference to the way I live. 

The planning I have put in so far for January, I'm really hopeful that with my minimum payments and the extra money I've put aside and the money I've moved from my no spend days, I'll manage 9 Steps, possibly 10 this month. 

Best wishes for 2024 - The last year with debt stopping me living my life! 

CMD79

Happy New Year!! 

I've had a great start this morning and recalculated all my account and found, I owe less than I thought! I couldn't access one of my accounts, and I managed to get into today, and found I was way off my estimate because I'd not calculated what I have been paying off since September. So, my debt is actually £10,151.55, bringing each Step to £102. Now, imagine my delight when cashing out my Prolific and moving my £5 from my No Spend Day Slush account into my Don't Be a Prat account took my DBAP account to £102.24!!

So Step 1 is now taken, and I feel like it's fate! This is happening this year. In about 50 weeks time, my life will be debt free. I don't know how to use emojis etc on MSE, and if I did I'd find a little foot icon or boot or something.... But it'll just need to be a Love Heart! 

  

outoftheviciouscircle

I'd like to have a go at this. My debt however is massive, but I would like to pay £20,000 off it this year. I will have time tomorrow to work out how I will achieve some of these steps, will update then!!

outoftheviciouscircle

1. Minimum Payments- £8949.84
2. Reduce grocery bill by £100.00 a month
3. Myself and DH take lunch to work- £2300.00
4. Aim for an average of £5 a day in surveys- £1825.00 (minus tax)
5. £20 a week of Mystery Shopping - £1040.00 (minus tax)
6. Interest from Savings- £1600.00 expected Jan 13th (Joint account no tax burden)
7. Current Account interest £60.00

That leaves me with a £4k shortfall at the moment so I'll have to have a think!! We both get a bonus but unsure how much that will be yet.....

CMD79

outoftheviciouscircle said:

I'd like to have a go at this. My debt however is massive, but I would like to pay £20,000 off it this year. I will have time tomorrow to work out how I will achieve some of these steps, will update then!!

Yeah Blimey, did you manage to pay off £16k last year looking at your signature? That's fantastic. Good plan! Do you want me put you down for £20,000 and £200 per Step then? LEt me know tomorrow when you've had more time to look at it if you like.