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Baby Steps to a brighter future

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Queen_of_the_Hive
Queen_of_the_Hive Posts: 1,189 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
edited 21 June at 1:12PM in Debt free diaries
I'm one of those boomerang DFW. Was on here previously having cleared 10k of debt post marriage breakdown, divorce and moving on. Was debt free for a couple of years and due to some pretty rough set of circumstances find myself back here with an even bigger debt. This debt is not from being frivalous, far from it. Life has been a real struggle and now at the start of Summer 2025 am trying to turn the ship around but in honesty I am scared, worried and feeling a bit lost. 

Without being a bore and diving into too much detail. My partner and myself we found ourselves at the peak of the cost of living crisis in 2023 in a no choice situation to move from our lovely rental in London to a much cheaper area away from the city (we went north!) but in doing so we were able to get some stability by buying our home instead of renting. We were completely outpriced in London and felt very at risk because our set of circumstances were not as attractive as other renting families. I had to make some very hard choices for family. 

We bought the house in early last year (Jan 2024) and moved in at Easter 2024. Come late summer 2024 my partner was then diagnosed with a life limited condition which has meant for us a lot of hospital stays, harsh treatment and scary moments. My partner is a bit older than me, but it also  cost him his job and put him into retirement and I found myself balancing work, hospital & my partners medical needs and family still in London. The opportunity to buy the cheaper options in train travel wasn't there as I didn't know how my OH was going to be with his health and honestly its been firefighting the whole time. 

Thankfully my family in London are doing well, my home is nice but dated and my partners health is in recovery and I still have my job so a lot to be greatful for. 

I'm just about to take on some more hours at work to support a major project and feeling like a bit of peace and calmness is returning to life at the moment. The kind of condition my OH has, it will come back and may limit his remaining time. Debt reduction is going to be very slow because I have to travel regularily which is expensive and will hinder progress and my partners condition is unpredictable and can mean hospitalisation for minor illness. 

So in a nutshell the debt is approx 18k in a mixture of 3x credit cards, an overdraft and a small family loan. I have the upto date figures etc but for now just starting this new diary is me putting a stick in the sand and committing to a better debt free future. 

2025 financial goals & challenges!

1). Mortgage (started Jan 2024) £107,542.12 / £122,400.00 Overpayment total: £904.60 (Inc Sprive yr 1 o/p £19.16 & £55.34 reg monthly overpayment) Equity 27%

2). #7 Save 1p a day challenge 2025 £150/£780

3). £2109.85/£3000 in Investment ISA (34/50 investments)

4). Increase cash savings & saving pots

5). Keep debt to a minimum.

Favourite quote: 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get!' Forrest Gump
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Comments

  • Humdinger1
    Humdinger1 Posts: 2,292 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Found you and subscribed queen! Because you are incredibly impressive and I love your writing style.   Love Humdinger xx 
  • Queen_of_the_Hive
    Queen_of_the_Hive Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Found you and subscribed queen! Because you are incredibly impressive and I love your writing style.   Love Humdinger xx 

    Aw Humdinger! Thank you! 
    2025 financial goals & challenges!

    1). Mortgage (started Jan 2024) £107,542.12 / £122,400.00 Overpayment total: £904.60 (Inc Sprive yr 1 o/p £19.16 & £55.34 reg monthly overpayment) Equity 27%

    2). #7 Save 1p a day challenge 2025 £150/£780

    3). £2109.85/£3000 in Investment ISA (34/50 investments)

    4). Increase cash savings & saving pots

    5). Keep debt to a minimum.

    Favourite quote: 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get!' Forrest Gump
  • peb
    peb Posts: 1,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Your circumstances are as they are and priorities are different. You have to work to your priorities 
  • Queen_of_the_Hive
    Queen_of_the_Hive Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 23 June at 2:46PM
    Hello Monday, 

    A tiny bit of MSE for me today. Having some home made soup from the freezer. This soup was made by my partners sister as 'recovery soup' when he was poorly. OH wasn't going to eat it and it seems a waste to not eat it so am going to enjoy it for lunch this week. There is quite a lot though so sadly there will be some wastage. 
    2025 financial goals & challenges!

    1). Mortgage (started Jan 2024) £107,542.12 / £122,400.00 Overpayment total: £904.60 (Inc Sprive yr 1 o/p £19.16 & £55.34 reg monthly overpayment) Equity 27%

    2). #7 Save 1p a day challenge 2025 £150/£780

    3). £2109.85/£3000 in Investment ISA (34/50 investments)

    4). Increase cash savings & saving pots

    5). Keep debt to a minimum.

    Favourite quote: 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get!' Forrest Gump
  • Queen_of_the_Hive
    Queen_of_the_Hive Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Hello Tuesday evening! 

    Last week was payday and was able to pay down a bit on the debt by:

    Debt 1 - CC1 'Mustard' - £460 
    Debt 2 - CC2 'Banana' - £200
    Debt 3 - Overdraft 'Champagne' - No change
    Debt 4 - Family loan 'GOLD' - £10
    Debt 5 - CC3 'Sunshine' - £120

    Some of this was salary and some was a bit of savings. Sadly I will still be adding amounts to the credit cards and interest is to be added too. 

    Mortgage was also overpaid by £55.34
    2025 financial goals & challenges!

    1). Mortgage (started Jan 2024) £107,542.12 / £122,400.00 Overpayment total: £904.60 (Inc Sprive yr 1 o/p £19.16 & £55.34 reg monthly overpayment) Equity 27%

    2). #7 Save 1p a day challenge 2025 £150/£780

    3). £2109.85/£3000 in Investment ISA (34/50 investments)

    4). Increase cash savings & saving pots

    5). Keep debt to a minimum.

    Favourite quote: 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get!' Forrest Gump
  • Queen_of_the_Hive
    Queen_of_the_Hive Posts: 1,189 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 3 July at 7:53AM
    This week marks first week of extra hours at work. Sadly won't see this in July salary at the end of the month but will do from August so a bit more to chuck at the debt! 

    At the moment trying to decide what should be my best paying debt strategy. Go for highest debt or highest interest? Not sure. Will take a read of the suggestions on here and have a think. 

    2025 financial goals & challenges!

    1). Mortgage (started Jan 2024) £107,542.12 / £122,400.00 Overpayment total: £904.60 (Inc Sprive yr 1 o/p £19.16 & £55.34 reg monthly overpayment) Equity 27%

    2). #7 Save 1p a day challenge 2025 £150/£780

    3). £2109.85/£3000 in Investment ISA (34/50 investments)

    4). Increase cash savings & saving pots

    5). Keep debt to a minimum.

    Favourite quote: 'Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get!' Forrest Gump
  • beckstar1975
    beckstar1975 Posts: 650 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    hmm, I think the advice is normally highest interest first as you can then 'snowball' those payments into other lower interest debts to pay them down faster over time, but Dave Ramsay says to pay off lowest amount first. I assume as that's because it works as in incentive to then make you commit more to paying the rest off?
    :eek::eek::eek: LBM 11/05/2010 - WE DID IT - DMP of £62000 paid off in 7 years:jDFD April2017
  • in_need_of_direction
    in_need_of_direction Posts: 7,701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Personally I’d aim for the family debt first. If not that, I’d go with the lowest interest charging one. I like to see the number of monthly outgoings reduce. Worst case scenario, it creates a bit of a buffer against price increases.
    Mortgage at 01.01.14 £119,481.83:eek: today £0 Emergency fund £5.5/5.5k & £200/200 cash.:jWeight 24/02/19 14st 7lb now 12st determined to stop defining myself by my mistakes. Progress not perfection.:T100%through my 1% mortgage challenge. 100% through my pb challenge.
  • vampirotoothus
    vampirotoothus Posts: 357 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi I sympathise with your situation with your partners health. I know how difficult it can be. Don't forget to take care of yourself too!
    With regards to the cards I would update the above with the interest rates and any end dates (if applicable). Then see if you can BT any of them to a new card using the eligibility tracker on here (including moving that overdraft). Good luck V x
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