Busting this debt before 40

Chocolatefund

Payday yesterday.  I’ve spent the day today going over numbers for the great monthly money shuffle.  My attempt at a frugal February went down pretty well.  Not as frugal as I perhaps could have made it, but pretty good overall, for me anyway.  22 no spend days.  My February spends were as follows,

Food £137
Petrol £47
Eating out/Fun £3
Misc £14

Had to do a double take on my eating out budget.  Did I really only spend £3??  Apparently so.  For a coffee while on the road recently.  Total spend £201.  My second lowest amount yet.  Did spend an extra £40 on petrol, but as that for work I was able to claim that expense back.  What I even do?? Or not do?  Need to go stay with my parents more methinks  

Transferred £242 to the Ch@se spending account to bring it back up to £450 for March.  The difference saved is going towards the debt.

Had a nice surprise today.  Got a savings account that I hadn’t used in a while, which previously had large amounts of money in while doing the house renovations.  Totally forgot that the interest is yearly, and it gave me £91 bonus interest.  Woohoo!

The camera lense sale came through and I’ve decided it’s ALL going on the loan.  I set up a house fund last month, but changed my mind and moved that into the sinking fund.  As much as I would love to finish the carpentry, I’m out of leave till April rolls around, so can’t really get trades round anyway.  If there’s anything left in the sinking fund once my yearly car spends are done then I can use that towards future house projects.

Sooooo, after a combination of the above, lots of number crunching and sacrifice last month, my loan overpayment is going to be…£2300!!  Waiting till Monday when all my bills come out to make sure I’ve got my numbers right before I make the payment.  Can’t wait!  

I’m starting to think lots about that I want to do after the loan is gone…

no, no…must keep focus…must keep focus…must keep ‘Gazelle Intense’ as Dave Ramsey would put it.  

But damn it’s hard not to think about what I could to with that money.

Debtfree2026

Wow @chocolatefund...… what a hefty amount for your loan overpayment! Having done the sums it seems I will have some surplus this month -about £700 - and I'm debating whether to put a little more into Christmas pot/holiday and then the rest to an overpayment or whether to do the whole lot to my credit card....and I'm thinking for the millionth time how I wish I didn't have any debt so that £700 could go towards living and not paying off debt... but I'll get there and it will be worth it!  And it will for you too!

Chocolatefund

@Debtfree2026 I know how you feel!   It’s turned into a monthly mental battle how to divide surplus each month.  Once the debt is gone it’ll be one less financial factor to never think about again.  Will totally be worth it for both of us.

Made the loan overpayment this morning.  Yes… first thing this morning before I even made my morning coffee.  . How can one be this keen to pay off debt??  The new outstanding amount is now £7,043.  The interest rebate should bring it down into the 6k range.  Starting to feel like I’m descending the other side of the mountain now.

Had some exciting news at work today.  Our pay rise is finally confirmed and is coming in this months pay,  and it’s going to have a fairly substantial amount of backdated pay.  (This has been ongoing for like a year!) It’s going to be 40% taxed…*cry* and I have no idea how much extra it’s going to amount to.  None of us at work can really figure it out.  We will know once the payslip comes out mid month.  Going to try and get some extra hours in to top this up as there’s potential for me to make another big overpayment.

Looking ahead for March.  Had a planned meal out with a friend yesterday for £21 and did a medium ish food shop for £37.  If I’m good, I might be able to manage a few no spend days for the rest of this week.  Got a birthday and Mother’s Day to buy for so don’t think I’ll have much left of my spending budget, but I’m up for the challenge.

Chocolatefund

Thought I’d share my debt payoff aid. 

lucielle

That’s great!
L

dawnybabes

Love this idea 🥰🥰🤣🤣

Cherryfudge

What a brilliant tracker! I can see why it's fun paying that off! (And keep up the good work, and @Debtfree2026 too - you won't regret it).

Chocolatefund

Happy Sunday fellow debt busters.

Lots of money stuff to talk about this past week.

Did a small top up food shop which came to £16 which isn’t bad.  Should last me till the end of next week.  I went ahead and got Mother’s Day present, relatives birthday present and couple of cards to go with them, total £59.  Also filled up the petrol tank for £38.

Had a money saving oopsie on Friday where I forgot to bring in my own lunch.  Doh.  Spent £10 including a coffee.  The old me wouldn’t have batted an eyelid, the new much more money conscious me felt that £10.  Was a very nice lunch though.  Brought from M&S too.  Maybe I’ll make it my end of week treat when I’m debt free.

Got £265 left to last me till payday on the 31st.  Hmm.  Got no other big spends planned for this month so should be able to do it provided I can have a couple of low spend weeks.

Te$co Bank are making me scratch my head at the moment.  Got the usual overpayment letter in the post a week ago for Februarys overpayment.  Cool.  Then just yesterday I get another letter from them for…Januarys overpayment.  Lol.  Weirdos.

Been spending far too much of my free time on debt payoff number crunching.  Because I was able to pay such a chunck off last time, I’ve worked out that my last overpayment could be brought forward as early as June, letting two more last direct debits come out normally.  However, I’m chomping at my nails to find out how much this backdated pay is going to be, because there’s potential to bring my last overpayment to May, which would mean only three more overpayments to go if my numbers are right.

Got a confirmed extra shift next week.  Yes!  Worked out that if I can keep at least £60 in my Ch@se spending account, I can make another decent overpayment of £1400.  Not including any backpay. 

Reached the point now where I can start to see the finish line.  C’mon payslip, the suspense is killing me.

Sarahwithlove

That's exciting about the pay rise. You are doing so well with the Overpayments. Just think what you can do with that spare money every month! 

Chocolatefund

Thanks @Sarahwithlove can’t wait till the loan is gone!

Payslip is out.  And the backdated pay is quite substantial, better than I hoped.  It’s an extra £800 ish.  Was also able to pick up lots of extra hours for the rest of this month which is brilliant.

It’s all going on the loan overpayment.  Determined now to not be tempted by wanting to upgrade my gadgets or finish house renos.  Still waiting on the last overpayment interest rebate, hoping it will be in the region of between £300 and £400.  Will be able to work out some more accurate numbers once I know what this will be, should come through hopefully by the end of the week, if not then Monday.

This extra lump sum means that my last overpayment could (should!) be on 2nd June.  That means just three more overpayments to go, and a couple more months of keeping it reigned in.  It won’t be that straight forward as my car service and MOT are due next month, and my car insurance, home insurance and car tax are due in May, TV license due in June.  I’ve got £1800 in the sinking fund to cover all this.  Fingers crossed it’s enough.  I mentioned in my previous post that my last overpayment could be in May, but I would have to raid whatever is left in my sinking fund and some of my emergency fund to do it, unless I can pick up a lot more extra shifts for the next couple of months, we’ll see.

Spending wise last week managed a decent low spend week.  £9 for some postage, and £51 on a food shop. Got £205 left in the spending account to last me till payday.  

Cmon interest rebate…show me the money!