Making 2026 a debt busting year

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

So, DH and I have been in debt for years, mostly credit cards, and decided to make a real effort last year to start to clear them.  The aim is to have them all paid off by the end of 2027.  We have no mortgage but do have a loan for some for some work on the house which will be cleared in April 2028. 

We started 2025 with £39138 on the cards and have reduced that to £30241, it would be nice to clear £10,000 by the end of the year but we will see.  We also now have a small emergency fund and savings pots for things like car repairs and heating oil.

Now the negatives, both our cars are 12 years old (part of the card debt so no finance).  We need them both to get to work.  We have no plan for replacing them other than a hope that they keep going for another couple of years.  DS1 gets married next year, a low budget wedding but it will no doubt cost us something.  DH and I have been away a lot this year (UK holidays) and by the end of the year will have probably spent £3,000 on holidays, days out, meals/takeaways and entertainment, which is a lot.

As part of the plan we agreed that we would both keep 15% of our net pay for ourselves.  This gives me £450 a month, which just disappears.  I need to get a grip on this, DH saves and he gets far less than me.  I have a ridiculous amount of clothes but I still get tempted. 

I need accountability.  My main goals are to manage my own spending money and budget better.  We have done OK but I want to do even better next year. 

YORKSHIRELASS

Well it's been an interesting few days.  DH was on sickness benefits for a time last year and when he went back to work DWP kept paying him and he had to make 3 phone calls waiting in a queue a ridiculously long time to get them to stop giving him money.  We knew they might ask for it back but decided to whack the overpayment off his card and deal with it later if we had to.  They now want £1100 which is fine, it was always a gamble.

The car goes for MOT and service this week, I have saved up but maybe not enough.  We don't spend too much on Christmas and have a savings pot for presents, but we do need to budget something for a bit of extra food.  We also have a couple of family weekends away coming up but both will be fairly low cost. 

joedenise

If the £1100 is too much in one go you can always ask for a payment plan to spread it over a longer period.  It was worth the gamble and you knew you'd need to repay it at some point but this time of year is probably the worst time for anyone, even if you don't spend much on Christmas!

in_need_of_direction

i wouldn't just accept the amount that's being requested.  given that the dept failed to action your notifications, there may be an arguement to have the amount reduced by 2 weeks or so

YORKSHIRELASS

Thanks both.  We paid the DWP back in full.  We both agreed that it wasn't worth the huge amount of effort to dispute it or sort a payment plan, and they did overpay DH so it's fair enough really. 

I am waiting for the last few transactions to go through then I can finish my 2025 spreadsheet.  I am now thinking about goals for 2026.  I have a balance on Next and another on PayPal that I have been sort of ignoring (£1700 in total) so that's my first priority.  I stopped using credit cards at the beginning of 2025 but now I need to stop using all forms of credit unless it's a life or death emergency.

We are meeting up with family for New Year and they like to spend so I have already floated the idea of sharing the cooking on NYs Eve and NYs Day rather then going out.  I figure that if we plan this properly in advance it will be easier for them just to go along with it. 

Sarahwithlove

What do you spend your £450 on? I would set yourself a stricter budget and then you will be less tempted. Maybe give yourself a weekly allowance? For clothing I'd make a one thing in, 2 things out. Could you sell some of it on vinted to give yourself a clothing allowance? 

YORKSHIRELASS

Sarahwithlove said:

What do you spend your £450 on? I would set yourself a stricter budget and then you will be less tempted. Maybe give yourself a weekly allowance? For clothing I'd make a one thing in, 2 things out. Could you sell some of it on vinted to give yourself a clothing allowance? 

Thanks I spend £80 a month on a facial which I really want to hold onto as I have terrible skin, likewise I spend £44 on yoga classes which I love, but I happily gave up my gym membership.  I can do YouTube videos for free and we have a spinning bike.  My hair costs £30 a month so that should still give me just under £300 left.  In December this went on a couple of nights out, clothes, Christmas presents and odds and ends, although I did save £75.  I do have some clothes listed on Vinted but could probably sell some more.

I do need a weekly allowance, and I just need to stop buying stuff that I don't need. 

YORKSHIRELASS

Out for a good hike with my son yesterday.  DS doesn't live far away but has lots of hobbies and a hectic social life so when I do see him it's a quick visit (mental note to try to change that next year).  We used my annual National Parks parking permit to park on the edge of the moors and did a brisk, hilly 8.25 mile walk.  It was so good.

We took coffee and snacks but we were out longer than planned and so hungry by the end.  DS wanted to go to the touristy village pub but I persuaded him to go to a cafe locals use.  I treated us both to an all day breakfast which was £18 I hadn't budgeted for but worth it to spend time with him.

When I came home I said to DH that I want to do more longer walks next year and immediately found myself itching to go online and look at hiking gear (even though I have absolutely everything I need).  This led me to realise that wanting "stuff" is a habit that has been ingrained in me for so long it's going to take time to change.  I feel like I should be going to online shoppers anonymous or something.

So, no outdoor clothing websites.  Last year I bought a notebook to document my walks with photos so I will go back to doing that and try to mentally relish in the enjoyment of doing something positive without the need to spend money. 

YORKSHIRELASS

So, I am back from our New Year break.  The Airbnb cost £70 per person for 3 nights and we said we would pay half of DS's share for his birthday so that's £175.  We took food and cooked most meals but had one lunch and one main meal out.  The lunch was £18 and I haven't worked out our share of the meal yet (it was around £100 for all of us).  We also had to put diesel in the car.  I will work it all out properly tomorrow.  The time with family was priceless but it made me think about the challenges of doing a low budget break in winter when the temperature is well below freezing, taking a picnic or eating outside wasn't an option!

I haven't been on a single online shopping website since before Christmas which I am really pleased with.  I haven't been on Vinted either.  It's a good start.  I will update my spreadsheets tomorrow. 

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello Yorkshirelass  

I think I remember you, regarding your 450, I sort of play a game with myself, I have a different bank account for "my money" and I pay myself the money, I then think of something I want to do next month and challenge myself to leave that amount of money in the account as a bonus. Honestly the only way I ever get anywhere to play games or "forget"accounts or set myself pointless challenges that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone! 

Can you sell on Vinted without buying? I am so sick of having crap everywhere and also skint (hence being back) I am managing so far (last time I bought 4 handbags but lets not talk about it) 

YORKSHIRELASS

Buffythedebtslayer said:

Hello Yorkshirelass  

I think I remember you, regarding your 450, I sort of play a game with myself, I have a different bank account for "my money" and I pay myself the money, I then think of something I want to do next month and challenge myself to leave that amount of money in the account as a bonus. Honestly the only way I ever get anywhere to play games or "forget"accounts or set myself pointless challenges that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone! 

Can you sell on Vinted without buying? I am so sick of having crap everywhere and also skint (hence being back) I am managing so far (last time I bought 4 handbags but lets not talk about it) 

Thanks, yes I have been around for a long time!! I do finally feel like the penny has dropped with the debts though, partly because I have taken steps to make myself feel happier and more confident which has reduced the cravings to buy pointless stuff in a futile attempt to make myself feel better (although I am not quite there yet).  I think you are right about the challenges, it's all about finding out what works for you. 

I am struggling to get my head around selling on Vinted, I have stuff that has been listed for ages without selling and when you do sell you get so little for it.  I sort of feel like I should make use of the clothes that I have rather than having a massive clear out then being tempted to fill the wardrobe again.

So, Monday, and back at work.  Positive action today included taking my own lunch to work.  I made a big batch of dhal and a pot of veg chilli yesterday.  I have frozen it in batches so I can just grab a tub out of the freezer to take with me.  I also have plans to make broccoli and Stilton soup with some leftover Christmas cheese.   I went to the library at lunchtime so spent nothing today. 

I have made a list of DD subscriptions to cancel, most of which will need some research to work out how to do it (e.g. £6.99 insurance each month to Curry's for DS2s laptop that we bought him in 2019 when he went to Uni!!!).  OK thats embarrassing, but you get the idea.  I will work my way through the list.

Going to watch telly with DH and update my spreadsheets again.  Hair cut tomorrow but that's in the budget.