Paying off £37065 unsecured debt by July 2027 while continuing to travel this amazing world

Sarahwithlove

Always nice when someone else cancels then you don't feel so bad doing it. Hope you manage to make it to payday OK 

MFWannabe

Nintud said:

stymied said:

Have you already told your colleagues about your debt busting efforts or is splitting the bill based on what you have the norm? It might be a big relief to others of them not to have to spend big too x

Thanks for dropping by.

I could not tell my colleagues. I’m responsible for a budget of millions of pounds in one of my jobs, there’s no way I could have it known that I struggle with my own finances. It would be frowned upon at the very least.

I made my excuses and skipped the meal. A fair few others didn’t go either (much to my relief), I don’t know their reasons.  I came home to a lovely roast chicken dinner, with enough chicken left over for a curry and chicken & veg soup.

Sounds like you had a lovely evening without the guilt and expense 👍

Nintud

BudgetingBelinda said:

I’ve just read your diary, I like your attitude to travel and living life and attempting to get to grips with debt. Definitely inspiring and I wish you the best of luck. I’m striving to get to be able to travel after such a long time in debt with dependents. Keep up the good work, hope your debt comes down and your travels are great!

Thanks BudgetingBelinda.

Dependants definitely drive debt!  I’m down to two at home 50% of the time now. I couldn’t have traveled if the older four were still reliant on my purse.

Trips so far have been within Europe, but I’m braving it and going to India next summer.  I almost bought my outbound ticket today. Using Avios means the flight out will cost £250. I resisted though. I need to look at the timing and cost of connecting flights before I spend, and the savings pot hasn’t reached £250 yet.

Previously I would have put the flight on my credit card, but I’m determined to fund the trip whilst bringing down debt.

Nintud

katsu said:

I'm glad my thoughts on the white goods insurance helps. I think it's unlikely that you need new appliances every year. Ways to save money include local electrical charity shops and Facebook. Look at eg what a new hoover costs in Tesco for eg. 

Maybe look for local appliances repairers? 

It's all about what works for you.  I just feel sad when I see people in debt paying for insurance as I feel it's rare to use it. My parents insured their washing machine and fridge and it made me so sad as they paid more than they benefited. 

Good luck on your road to freedom! 

I’m coming around to the idea of cancelling. I’ll need to build the EF up a bit more first as I couldn’t afford an expensive repair at the moment.  Setting up an appliance pot is definitely on the cards. My freezer is as old as the apartment (22 years!) and on its last legs. It’s probably costing me a fortune to run as it stores more snow than food!

BudgetingBelinda

Nintud said:

BudgetingBelinda said:

I’ve just read your diary, I like your attitude to travel and living life and attempting to get to grips with debt. Definitely inspiring and I wish you the best of luck. I’m striving to get to be able to travel after such a long time in debt with dependents. Keep up the good work, hope your debt comes down and your travels are great!

Thanks BudgetingBelinda.

Dependants definitely drive debt!  I’m down to two at home 50% of the time now. I couldn’t have traveled if the older four were still reliant on my purse.

Trips so far have been within Europe, but I’m braving it and going to India next summer.  I almost bought my outbound ticket today. Using Avios means the flight out will cost £250. I resisted though. I need to look at the timing and cost of connecting flights before I spend, and the savings pot hasn’t reached £250 yet.

Previously I would have put the flight on my credit card, but I’m determined to fund the trip whilst bringing down debt.

Oh I hear that! I was so close to hitting a holiday with DS’s on Tui online for 2025- no deposit the other night but I am staying strong that EF needs to be in place beforehand, especially as car and bathroom both on the out. I want a EF that can be offset to any hol on the agenda or I’ll be in deep dooodooo! 

Really want DS’s to experience more travel though, and am determined to get back to travels! 🎉 best wishes for your wanderlust! 

Nintud

£6 payment from Vinted sent to Very and a £1 token gesture mortgage overpayment. Counterintuitive though as it’s from my overdraft, but it gave me a Dopamine hit after a day of intertwined my two jobs. 

I had to deal with an obnoxious HR woman today and I managed to keep my cool, so the mortgage overpayment is my reward.

i need to put more effort into my EF. Biggest pooch is almost 9 and, unlike my appliances, she is uninsured. I need a buffer for the vet bills that’s she will incur in the coming years. Littlest pooch is 2.5 and has a much longer average lifespan, so saving for him isn’t such a priority.

im also desperate for new flooring as, like my fridge-freezer, my carpet is 22 years old.  I have a rug doctor, and clean all the carpets every couple of months or so. But there’s no hiding the threadbare patches.  My kitchen cupboards also need replacing, the bathrooms too. 

Bluegreen143

Well done on cancelling your work dinner. I personally find it impossible to scrimp in either social situations or on holiday, so I would rather not go if I can't really afford it than go out and tell myself I'll only get a starter etc... I just know myself enough to know it wouldn't happen.

I do think you may need to apply a similar mindset to travel while debt-busting - fewer trips for a while because realistically, travelling is so expensive that it's leaving you very little wiggle room in the rest of the budget. If you're going to India next year, maybe make that your one trip and use the rest of the year to focus on getting the debt down?

RelievedSheff

I'm not so sure that making overpayments with your overdraft is a great idea.

I know you enjoy your travel but could you not put off the India trip until 2026 when your finances should be in better shape?

Bluegreen143

Oh I missed that. Yes, I agree, don't make overpayments from your overdraft - and don't make overpayments on your mortgage until you are credit card free (as well as having an emergency fund). It's a false dopamine hit, because it makes you think you're helping your finances, but you aren't. 

Nintud

Bluegreen143 said:

Well done on cancelling your work dinner. I personally find it impossible to scrimp in either social situations or on holiday, so I would rather not go if I can't really afford it than go out and tell myself I'll only get a starter etc... I just know myself enough to know it wouldn't happen.

I do think you may need to apply a similar mindset to travel while debt-busting - fewer trips for a while because realistically, travelling is so expensive that it's leaving you very little wiggle room in the rest of the budget. If you're going to India next year, maybe make that your one trip and use the rest of the year to focus on getting the debt down?

Hi Bluegreen 143.

I had a gastric bypass years ago, so having a starter is the sensible option. Much less food waste than a restaurant sized main meal portion. If I eat out with family I take plastic containers for left overs. I can easily get four meals out of one main meal. Eating out is more about the social aspect now.

i travel with a group of women. India May not come up on the itinerary again for several years, and is likely to be a different part of the country. Plus, I’ve got New Zealand with Fiji and Samoa booked for 2026  ☺️ (a £700 fixed bond is due to pay out to put towards that trip and I put a little into a Plum savings pot on pay day, when it rains, and automatic round ups). I’m at 4% of the NZ trip cost in my pot (not including the bond) and have paid the £100 deposit. My car loan will finish 8 months before the NZ trip.

Ive cut back on the European weekends in 2025 and 2026 and have ‘only’ booked 3 in 2025 and 1 in 2026. But I have Ecuador booked for 2027 to save for too. £100 deposit paid for that, hotels and flights will be paid for in instalment in 2026, with my big loan finishing August 2026 to help with that.

The weekend trips are a reduction on 5, plus 2 longer trips (totalling 5.5 weeks) that I will have taken by the end of 2024.

The number of trips is being decreased, but the ones I am going on are pricey.

I also travel abroad to visit my Dad. I pay for the flights, which I try to get for under £100, and he gives me the money when I get there (birthday and Christmas present from him), which I use as my spending money while I’m there.

Travel is my only expense outside of bills, I have no expensive hobbies or entertainment outside of the times I travel. It’s very important to me and a decision I took after recovering from a life-threatening illness. The news that what I had could have ended me in minutes totally changed my perception ( had a call from GP to get straight to hospital, I told him I had a meeting to go to, he told me I could just drop there and then. I went straight to hospital) and I decided to grab life by the horns from then on.

Paying off the debt will be slower than it could be, but I can’t put life off for it. I’m now more prone to the same medical issue, absolutely fine currently, but I felt fine when I got that call. It was the 18 months prior to it that I had felt lousy!

I hope that explains my rationale for travelling while I can. I was banned from travelling for four weeks while medication sorted out my health problem, and still medicate to travel (precautionary). I’d pretty much self-healed by the time I was diagnosed, but the risk of a repeat will always exist.