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!