A space for my thoughts - tackling debt once and for all!

Debtfree2026

in_need_of_direction said:

I always struggle with the middle third of any process. First third I’m fired up and can see any progress as a win, final third the end is in sight, middle bit is a slog.  Looking at your debt figures, that’s roughly where you’re sitting. What helps me is not to look to the end but to aim for target percentages that way I get some sense of achievement. As you’ve said, the debt was a way of living for a lot of years.  You’re doing so well tackling your mindset as well as the debt.

That's exactly how I feel!  I am still very motivated but in a bit of a middle place right now!  I can see the debt figures decreasing but the end figure still seems very high!  I was looking at my calculations the other day and feel that when my credit card is under £5k it will be satisfying but that seems a long way off. 

So here's the bottom line: I have a personal loan and a credit card.  The credit card is at 0% and the minimum payment is £185 a month - more recently I have been paying £500 a month towards this debt but as of last month, I paid £200 and put £300 into an interest bearing saving pot.  My thought process is to do that for a few months and then bulk pay off the credit card, but at least I'll have achieved some interest on it (it all helps hey!).

My loan repayment is £459.29 a month and I have been paying that amount, I more recently realised that I can overpay on this so that's something to seriously consider.

So - that aside, I have been paying this and managing to save into my various pots which has been invaluable for many things - clothing, house & garden and the game changer for me, the extra-curricular pot! BUT I am still living a comfortable lifestyle and I do think I can go further and be more frugal and get this paid down sooner.  I mean, as an example - we pay for our garden waste at £72 a year and yes I can afford it, but should we not have this and just take our garden waste to the tip? I'm looking at things we can perhaps get rid of and use the money to pay off the debts, as we can always reintroduce some of these things at a later time - I think the thing that has stopped me doing this already is the fact that I am paying the debt (and not at the minimum payments) and some of these things make our lives easier?!

If I had no spare money I think about 'what would be the first to go' etc and I consider myself fortunate that I don't have to make any rash decisions but I guess I can't really moan about how long this is going to take and still have these things?!  So I guess, what I'm saying is I think there can be some middle ground here and I'm going to have a play around with some figures to see what I can do.

Apologies I went off on a bit of a tangent there - but I think it was needed!!

Sarahwithlove

Personally I'd keep the garden waste. It's £6 a month. You need to have some things in life that make it easier. I also find that i never end up taking my garden waste to the tip before it rains. We have to book a slot at ours and it's a pain and gets filled up quickly at weekends. 

I think you have a good balance and are repaying at a good rate. I would consider the idea of percentages though. What's 1% of your original debt and maybe Mark off everytime you hit another one. 

Debtfree2026

Sarahwithlove said:

Personally I'd keep the garden waste. It's £6 a month. You need to have some things in life that make it easier. I also find that i never end up taking my garden waste to the tip before it rains. We have to book a slot at ours and it's a pain and gets filled up quickly at weekends. 

I think you have a good balance and are repaying at a good rate. I would consider the idea of percentages though. What's 1% of your original debt and maybe Mark off everytime you hit another one. 

There we go - I am sometimes a bit too focused on the financial aspects and not the practicalities!  Of course we wouldn't end up taking it to the tip - it will just make the garden a mess and be an even bigger problem to deal with! The same for the windows - £20 every couple of months isn't a big deal.  Yes I could do the downstairs myself but we have bi-folding doors across the back and an attic window so I think it is worth it.  I've actually missed him the last two times so I have £50 still in the pot - as that will do us until the end of the year I've decided to stop paying my £5 into that pot until January.

Further to my last post with regards to my credit card (paying £185 and then £300 into a saving pot to get some interest on it)  I have realised that instead of popping the surplus £300 into a saving pot, I should save it into a Nationwide savings account - then, if they do their £100 Nationwide customer scheme again next year I'll benefit from that! Of course they may not, but it's worth it as I want to put it aside anyway! 

Debtfree2026

It's been a while!  Although I have been logging on daily and reading everyone else's diaries - just not much to report this end!

Paid into various pots at the start of the month and most bills have come out for September, just in that middle of the month slump now!  It's an expensive month for me as it's been my youngest daughter's birthday!  Luckily I have been saving into my Birthday saving pot but that will be empty in a couple of days after I pay for her birthday party!  No panic though as I have already bought the theatre tickets for my eldest daughter's birthday in December so I have a couple of paydays to get that up a little bit more in time for her birthday!

Also had to pay the final balance for our winter trip to Lapland. I'm so pleased that I have saved to pay it and not put it on a credit card (ironically, I did actually put it on the credit card for the protection it offers, but I paid the full balance off it straight away - hoping that won't !!!!!! my 0% interest).

Plodding along nicely - have started to get some Christmas bits now, I do hate seeing the pots go down but that is what they are there for of course! Last year I bought a fair bit on my Littlewoods catalogue on a BNPL deal, so progress has been made! 

Debtfree2026

So the end of another month!

We've all been ill for the past week - with Covid.  Unfortunately my husband has been suffering in particular and just doesn't seem to be getting any better.  So I am feeling the pressure of doing everything at the moment.  I do have sympathy for him feeling ill, of course - it's horrible.  But I tested positive too and I didn't get to take to my bed for days on end.  In fact, I barely slept during the nights, let alone the day.  He does have a habit of feeling terrible when I need some attention.  Last year I had a breast lift and as he works away a lot, we delayed it for months so we could time it so he would be around for school runs/pick ups etc.  The night I got out of hospital he started with a sickness bug, and I ended up fetching water for him and although it wasn't his fault it was a bloody nightmare.  I'm dealing with some painful adenomyosis at the moment but no one really seems to care about that.

Sorry. Just needed to vent in my safe space!

Back to the money side of things!  Pots all sorted for the month, money in joint account in readiness for bill payments.  Paid £500 off my loan and £200 on credit card, with the other £300 put towards another saving pot to accrue a bit of interest on it before making a lump sum payment next year.    Still dreaming of when I have that extra £1,000 a month to put towards savings/investing.  At the moment my debt free date is showing as June 2027 but I think I'll be able to beat that.  Once I have finished paying the credit card I can increase my payments to my loan and get that paid off sooner.  It still feels so long away!