Busting this debt before 42

ArtyJ931

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950604#Comment_81950604

I’m definitely in this situation. Hoping it’ll work out at some point without me endlessly fiddling with this and that lol

ArtyJ931

AND I think I actually do need to separate it out to some extent because one of my main issues is that I struggle to allocate money “in my head” to things so need to see it in front of my eyes

Chocolatefund

Having a lovely chill Easter weekend. Went into the garden to tackle the overgrown jungle for about 10 min, before deciding it was too cold, haha.

A couple of chill days has given the headspace to look at my accounts. I've decided going forward I'll be leaving the emergency fund at 2k, leaving the ISA, the savings/shiny fund and focusing on the loan and SIPP.

This means next payday, I'll be able to put £1050 overpayment to the loan if I stay on budget.

I had a good read of my previous diary. Didn't have the SIPP payment but I did keep doing the £150 into emergency fund. Now that interest rate has been nerfed down to 5% I'm less inclined to continue this when my loan is at 7.6%. I noticed how laser focused I was at taking a sledgehammer to the debt. I've been binge watching some Dave Ramsey highlights and financial podcasts and it's given my debt free motivation a boost.

In other money related news. Trading 212 have announced thier SIPP. Since my ISA is with them, it would be great to have my investments in one place. Looks like they are staggering new accounts (which is probably very wise) so I've joined the waiting list and will eagerly await till my turn. Might stop the SIPP direct debit till it has transferred, or I'll be waiting 8 weeks for the tax relief on the old account.

Looking ahead to the rest of April. I've bought the birthday present my relative wanted at £60 and a book on Am@zon for £11. The rest of the month I'm going to set myself a non essential spend month. If it's not food or petrol, I'm not buying it.

Back to work tomorrow. Will sort the work claims and Cexy dropoffs later this week.

Rhyddid2026

I like having a main focus, but I still worry about all the other things I should focus on 😂 I've been focusing on one credit card this year ready for a balance transfer in July but I'd really like to focus on my loan as that has interest on it. I'll switch to loan focus in the summer.

I like a bit of DR when I need a butt kick. Then I switch to Ramit when I need a softer approach 😄

Chocolatefund

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952415#Comment_81952415

I like some of Ramit Sethi stuff as well. Though I think his 'Concsious spending plan' is still a budget. 😆

Like the two blokes on 'The money guy show' also.

Rhyddid2026

Oooo I haven't seen that one, I'll give it a watch this week.

It's definitely still a budget 😂

I've been going back to basics with Bank of Dad the last few weeks. It makes me feel like I already know some stuff.

Chocolatefund

Having a great money week this week. Good stuff to update on.

My CeeX sales went through and they actually agreed to the quote with no downgrades. That's £168 that's landed in my account. Woo!

Finally got around to putting in some work claims and I'm due back £105. Should land in my bank in the next few days.

Also, rang my energy company and got a refund of £120 which should show up in the next 10 working days.

Total, that's £393 extra this month.

Looking at the numbers, there's actually scope now to knock out the laptop loan in one fell swoop come April's payday.

Hmm. Part of me wants to leave it as it's 0% finance. The other part wants to pay it off.

Maths vs psychology. 🤔

RhiBi

if the car loan is accruing interest it makes sense to pay some off that. Although I get the pysch9logy of having one less debt too! Sorry, probably not much help!

Rhyddid2026

I do sometimes wonder if I should retrain as a finance psychologist. Does that even exist? If it doesn't it definitely should. The mental games I play to keep myself interested and motivated but also maintaining some consistency and sanity 😀

Chocolatefund

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81956669#Comment_81956669

Right. Decisions, decisions!

I'll see how the spending goes for the rest of the month. I'm leaning towards knocking out the laptop loan as long as I can put something towards the car loan as well, even just a small amount.