The 46 weeks debt free challenge

joedenise

Nationwide payment isn't due to hit accounts until tomorrow at the earliest but could be anytime up to 28th of the month.  Both DH and I are waiting for it to hit our account!

Philliggi

Yeah same here. Weve got £200 coming our way.

Cheers for that ive had it in my head it was the week commencing  the 10th but obviously im wrong. Its not unusual 😄

Philliggi

Hmmm ive just had a 'suck it up' moment. Its been the plan for a while to invest in a roof rack and bike carrier for us and the girls to take the bikes out on easy flat trails to get them more confident on the bikes while also giving us access to plenty of free days out.

The problem has been the initial investment. Me and the wife also need to invest in bikes so i was working on a probable outlay of around £800, altho thats a guess.

Anyway, me being a good debt free wannabe, ive done my research, got the best deals and discounts while also making sure everything we have bought is both safe and has a degree of longevity, so it wont just break or rust. 

Turns out the roof rack i bought (and also fitted to the car and is irremovable) is nigh on impossible to buy a cheaper bike carrier for because of the width of the bars, so had to go for the high end thule product thats £118 each. Ouch 

Still, i do feel a degree of satisfaction because with multiple purchase discounts, and the use of quidco, we managed to save over £100. 

The wife has also been gifted a bike from her mum, so only mine to buy now. 

Financial weigh in tommorro. Wish me luck

Philliggi

That time of the week again. Been a tough one making the call about the bike rack purchase. I have to say, it pains me to have laid out £377 in one hit for what would probably be classed as a frivolous spend. We are still not in the overdraft but id be amazed if we get to the end of the month without it. 

I refuse to turn to credit cards though. The high interest on overdrafts scares me out of impulsive purchases, and with the adhd impulsiveness, it would be a dangerous game. 

Its not helped that our garage freezer has run dry so had to do a top up iceland shop so the weekly shop has totalled £140  this week, double what we normally spend, but we couldnt survive on beans and toast and soup for 2 weeks. Not with the girls. 

Anyway, down to the figures. 

Ignoring the fact ive spent a small fortune on the bike racks, which ive covered without accumilating more debt ( not actually in the OD yet), i made the £45.50 target payment earlier in the week and £100 from the nationwide payment also went that way, so just the £145.50 this week. Dont mind the figures being so low towards the back end of the month if they keep ticking over but going to struggle directing anything that way for the next 2 weeks so can forsee a setback. .

Onwards and debt downwards fingers crossed. 

joedenise

You can't expect to make overpayments as well as spending on large items.  As long as you are making at least minimum payments forget the overpayments until next month.  If you feel you really have to make some overpayments how about Tilly Tidying, ie rounding down your bank account even if it's only a very small amount like 20p!  It all adds up and it's amazing how much those little bits add up to.  Years ago it helped to pay off my mortgage - it just made the annual statement extremely long!

Philliggi

No ill be honest, i made both overpayments before the bike rack purchase was made. It was a difficult decision but the way things panned out, ie they were on offer only for this month it made sense to buy them now. I certainly wouldnt have planned to do it this way. 

I do actually use something similar to the tilly method but i never knew it was called that until reading these boards. I like to round every account up to the nearest 10 pounds at the end of the week and with having 3 current accounts it adds up. So if my current account sits at £173.48 on a sunday morning, i remove the £3.48 to the savings although i have come away from.that since starting this challenge. 

MFWannabe

Philliggi said:

No ill be honest, i made both overpayments before the bike rack purchase was made. It was a difficult decision but the way things panned out, ie they were on offer only for this month it made sense to buy them now. I certainly wouldnt have planned to do it this way. 

I do actually use something similar to the tilly method but i never knew it was called that until reading these boards. I like to round every account up to the nearest 10 pounds at the end of the week and with having 3 current accounts it adds up. So if my current account sits at £173.48 on a sunday morning, i remove the £3.48 to the savings although i have come away from.that since starting this challenge. 

If I were you I’d leave overpayments to nearer the end of the month; just make just over minimum when you have to make the overpayment; that way you’ll still have the money if you have an unexpected expense and at the end of the month you can decide to overpay or top up emergency fund 

Philliggi

MFWannabe said:

Philliggi said:

No ill be honest, i made both overpayments before the bike rack purchase was made. It was a difficult decision but the way things panned out, ie they were on offer only for this month it made sense to buy them now. I certainly wouldnt have planned to do it this way. 

I do actually use something similar to the tilly method but i never knew it was called that until reading these boards. I like to round every account up to the nearest 10 pounds at the end of the week and with having 3 current accounts it adds up. So if my current account sits at £173.48 on a sunday morning, i remove the £3.48 to the savings although i have come away from.that since starting this challenge. 

If I were you I’d leave overpayments to nearer the end of the month; just make just over minimum when you have to make the overpayment; that way you’ll still have the money if you have an unexpected expense and at the end of the month you can decide to overpay or top up emergency fund 

You see the issue is my adhd makes me impulsive and obsessive with things so when the payday hits my account im itching to pay it off debt straight away. Also,  if ive got that money in the account im more likely to spend it impulsively on other things. 

I know my methods seem a bit odd and unique to others but they work for me. 

Philliggi

So the bike holders have gone back. Turns out i bought completely the wrong roof rack and its a permanent fixture now, so cant fit the holders. Bitter sweet really because ive now got another 300 quid in the bank which i didnt plan on having (ive bought a cheap rear carrier instead now for 40 quid but only holds 2 bikes). Downside is ive now got bars on the roof which cost 80 quid that i wouldnt have bought other than to use them for bikes. Ah well you live and learn. 

Gunna try not spending the 300 quid although id imagine some of it will go on groceries and fuel cos its a pretty tight end to the month otherwise. 

Weigh in tommorrow. Will be a pretty boring one i imagine

Philliggi

Morning all. As predicted its a quiet one this week. The smallest repayment week ive had since i started this in fact, although thats to be expected given its the last week before payday. 

£2 from pay play games and ive managed to cover my own target payment of £45.50 using the bike holder refund. So just the £47.50 this week. 

The mortgage overpayment borrowback is due next week, and also whatever is left of the refund money will go towards it so should be due a bumper week next week fingers crossed.