2026: The Final Year

crunchy_time

Hello debt free wannabeeees!

It's been a while since I have been on this board.  We paid off our debts a few years ago.  I then started a Mortgage-free diary of which I have since paused, as we then decided life was a bit too short and wanted to do some other things first.

Well, we now both want to get going towards over-paying the mortgage again, as we took out some more money and it is now £30k higher.  This extra money has allowed us to make some tweaks to our living areas so we can expand into it as the kids grow.  It's a lot cheaper than moving as we worked out that would cost about £100k. 

This takes some organising of our finances so that is what the first half of 2026 is going to be about.  We have about £6600 of debt so it would be great and sensible to pay this off before we start on the mortgage.

Half of this is at 0% until July 2026. Out of the other £3300 approx £800 is 0% until Sept 2026.  So the first challenge is to pay off the rest (£2584) as quickly as possible, without dipping into our savings or having to apply for a 0% card.

This is not my first rodeo, I know we can do this with some careful planning and management as it has come from not being organised enough or talking to each other.

I have found writing on here helpful in the past so I am going to do it again and keep updating as regularly as I can and follow some other people as well.

Happy debt free 2026!!

Crunchy

crunchy_time

First thing to talk about is the food budget.

Our budget is £800 for a 4 week month.  This includes basic toiletries and cleaning stuff.
We also budget £300 for fuel.

I save this money in an online pot, then we use our Amex cards to pay for food and fuel to collect points so it needs to come in on budget otherwise we have to dip into other pots to pay for it.

So far in the last 2 weeks The food total is £584.90 but this includes some Christmas food. Thus we only have £215 to last us the whole of next week and Christmas week.  Although pay day will be before Christmas so we could dip into that money if we need to. 

So far fuel wise we have only spent £71.65 out of £300 so there is always this money that could be used as well.

Either way, we can only afford to buy what is needed, however, we are now at the stage in life where we end up cooking variations on a meal to cater for everyone's needs in the house.

I'm going to do an audit of what we have and make a list for later.  I know Aldo is cheaper but, I wish they did scan as you go.  It's such a pain having to unpack and then repack your trolley. I just go to Tesco's now.

I shall report back later with what I managed to achieve!

Crunchy x

vampirotoothus

Hi it sounds like you have a good  plan in place. One of the things recommended is to try and not use your Dec pay for Christmas, so can you put that in a savings account until your normal pay date/s and then challenge yourselves to use existing food stocks to feed your selves until your next pay days?
Good luck and Merry Christmas V x

crunchy_time

vampirotoothus said:

Hi it sounds like you have a good  plan in place. One of the things recommended is to try and not use your Dec pay for Christmas, so can you put that in a savings account until your normal pay date/s and then challenge yourselves to use existing food stocks to feed your selves until your next pay days?
Good luck and Merry Christmas V x

Hello!  I'm going to try my hardest.  I think my husband gets paid on the 19th and that money has got to last us until 31st January.  He would normally get paid on last Friday of the month but that would be boxing day so it will be the Friday before.  

We are having a very quiet Christmas.  It's just us on Christmas day and then visiting family on Boxing day.  We have lots of DIY to do so that is what husband and I will be doing whilst trying to keep kids entertained.  I don't care about presents for me.  I'm going to do fake tickets for things we want to do as a family next year.

I have a love hate relationship with this time of year.  I hate the demands and really just want to hibernate.  My kids are non-believers now so I don't have that side to worry about.  I want to feel rested and ready to start a new job at beginning of next year - fingers crossed.

I haven't been to the shops yet for this weeks food shop - that will be a job for tomorrow first thing.

Happy Friday!
Crunchy

crunchy_time

Morning all,

So I did go to the shops and spent £223.38 on food for this week.

This leaves us with about £180 for the Christmas week shop.  We already have a lot of the bits for the various plans we have.  I am so determined to not go over this month.

My husband doesn't get paid until Christmas Eve and then that is a 5 week months until the end of January.  I want to stay in budget for all of January as well.  I'm feeling some really organisation around meals coming on and I think this will be one of my focus goals for this coming year.

I've been reflecting a lot recently on money and my beliefs around it.  I defintly feel I have come from a place of lack these last years.  I've been so desperate to get rid of debt that I haven't created any good systems other than standing orders for ISAs.  

Here are the systems that need sorting:

Food budgeting
Online ordering on credit cards and then forgeting about it and having to do transfers.  Lots of purchases could just be made using our Monzo cards

If we can nail these two then we are winning.

The strategy is to save up to pay off these debts once certain criteria are met:

1) Emergency fund for mortgage, bills, car payment, food and fuel for 3 months - COMPLETE and in Savings accounts
2) EF cash flow for car services and MOT, emergency house and dog stuff - COMPLETE! (If use top back up with next pay packet)
3) Three months of cash flow for the expenses that come out of my account - COMPLETE!
4) Money for main holiday for 2026 - COMPLETE!

Then each month we will contribute some money to various pots for other things we want to do or buy in 2026.  The rest of the money will be put in another pot and we will save up to pay off various portions of debt.

I am very excited to get started!

Crunchy xx

crunchy_time

Good evening!

Just one more day to go!!

I did some budget work yesterday and realised I had overcalculated the balance on one of the 0% cards so we actually owe less than we thought - I have adjusted the balance accordingly.

All Christmas present shopping is complete and on budget.

Not sure about food yet as waiting for some things to clear on the card so I shall gie it a few days.

We are having a quiet Christmas in that we have lots of DIY to do so we have minimal things to attend and the rest of the time will be a balance of DIY and relaxing evenings.  So hopefully it shall be very cheap. 

My husband gets paid tommorrow so I will be able to make some more headway with things then.

Crunchy xx

leftatthetrafficlights

@crunchy_time - it's always nice when you discover your total is lower than you thought!! 🙌😁

Well done on getting all the renovations sorted - I hated the chaos when we did ours and can't imagine having to live through that with young kids!! 😳

Good luck on your journey!! 😁

crunchy_time

leftatthetrafficlights said:

@crunchy_time - it's always nice when you discover your total is lower than you thought!! 🙌😁

Well done on getting all the renovations sorted - I hated the chaos when we did ours and can't imagine having to live through that with young kids!! 😳

Good luck on your journey!! 😁

It certainly is!

We haven't actually finished the renovations - sorry if I didn't make that clear.  We have had a new garden office installed which we are splitting into 2 rooms and insulating ourselves to save some money so luckily it is all outside.  The stuff that will be in the two rooms is having to be in the house which is annoying but not as bad as if there was dust everywhere.  

We are hoping to get the room in action by the end of January and then we will need to do the landscaping around it and buy specific things for it.

Thank you for the good luck!

crunchy_time

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!!

Just checking in to say that we paid off £18 so far thanks to selling some books and clothes so a nice little start.

Also. whilst typing that, I realised that I had the round up pot in Monzo so I have just transferred that over - another £7.

We are doing this in small sustainable steps so we get organised with our finances for 2026 so I am not rushing this.

Christmas decorations are coming down tomorrow - hurrah!  I do like a nice clean up ready to welcome in the New Year!

Crunch x

Sarahwithlove

Good luck with the debt busting!

Do you menu plan and then write a shopping list? I did a cupboard and freezer inventory and was surprised at how much I had in the freezer! 

crunchy_time

Sarahwithlove said:

Good luck with the debt busting!

Do you menu plan and then write a shopping list? I did a cupboard and freezer inventory and was surprised at how much I had in the freezer! 

Thank you!

I do all of the things.  We are just not very organised with it due to time shortages.  For example, my husband will go food shopping with a list but will forget a few bits that I would remember so one of us has to go out again and extra bits will be added to the list.  Or we will forget to get the meat out of the freezer for dinner so have to get something from the shop.  Or my husband will not remember his pin for our joint rewards credit card so he puts it on his credit card and then will forget to tell me so I think we have more in the food budget than we do. 

The perils of working full time with children who are also very fussy eaters as well.  I'm sure I am not alone in this!  

I actually haven't worked for the last couple of months as my job was so awful I had to leave and we actually came in on budget for November for food which says a lot.  I have been doing bi-weekly shops, always with a meal plan and a list and this seems to work ok as we plan with what we already have in mind first.

Hopefully this will carry on into 2026!!

Crunchy x