Chasing that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow

outoftheviciouscircle

Welcome to my brand new shiny diary. I contemplated writing in my old diary again but that is just a reminder of how I start things and don't see them through.
I started my last diary in November 2023 when I had £66k of debt, my total debt now stands at £39,575.66.
My debt isn't going to disappear in 2025, I'll be lucky if it goes in the next 2 years, the breakdown of my debt is
Loan from my mother £16,600 (interest free was £40k when she helped us get on the housing ladder nearly 10 years ago.
Loan from Father In Law £10,000 (Plan to clear this year)
TV £305.58 (Last DD is October)
Old Employer- £305.58 (Finishes August)
My Iphone £253.50 (Last DD December)
DH Iphone £361.62 (Last DD December)
DH Laptop- £1070.10
Kitchen- £10,661.76

The hope is to clear £17,500, £7500 from monthly DD and the £10,000 from saving to pay the FIL back. The In laws say they are in no rush but not only do I want it gone, they do rub it in our face every now and again. It's said in a joking manner but I can't help but think they mean it really.

I use YNAB, it costs me £12.99 a month but I know I wouldn't have got this far without it. It has changed my entire attitude towards money. Last year though, I massively overspent on things like groceries, takeaways etc so thats what I'm tackling this year.
I have got myself hooked on cooking videos on TikTok so I am going try and find my passion for cooking again, I've also bought a delivery pass for Asda and plan on doing all my shopping online to stop the temptation of putting extras I don't need in my trolley, which will in turn reduce the amount of food we actually waste. Lastly, I plan to massively reduce my alcohol consumption, while I wouldn't say I have a problem, I am drinking far too much. I've started off my committing to dry January but maybe I'll see if I can go further than that. So all in all I'm hoping to cut at least £200 off the grocery bill.

Well, I've warbled on long enough now, back to Tik Tok I go.

Mortgage_Minimiser

I read your previous diary, so lovely to see you back. Didn't want to read and run. Will follow with interest

MM
X

outoftheviciouscircle

Mortgage_Minimiser said:

I read your previous diary, so lovely to see you back. Didn't want to read and run. Will follow with interest

MM
X

Thanks for checking in MM.
Been a quiet few days, I've been laid up in bed with a dreadful cold. I'm now on day 5 of dry January, although I can't say that I'm feeling the benefits yet because of this blimming cold.

Thought I would do an update of what else is going on financially this year. In April, I have a 3 week trip to Florida booked, if you've read my previous diaries, you will know we absoluetly love the place, we always look to book other, cheaper holidays but always talk ourselves out of it. If we hadn't had all these trips over the past few years then we probably could have been close to debt free but we need to have something to look forward to. We work hard and for 45 weeks of the year we are passing ships.
I also need to change my car this year, it was leased 4 years ago and at the end of the lease, I do have to give it back. This means I have a car deposit to save for. I'm looking to save at least £5k by August. So all in all, I have a lot of saving to do this year.

As for the shorter term, its a day in bed for me!!