The next three years will pass anyway - debt free at 36

Waywardgirl3

okay payday morning ritual completed! Cards paid and money all moved to allocated pots for the month. I’ll update my debt totals on here once they are updated on the apps

londoner2019

Following your journey, good luck! Keep coming back here, even if you feel you don't have updates to share.

If you feel you're pushing too hard, you can always slow things down a little. Don't stress too much if you don't pay off as much on one month!

Waywardgirl3

Soooo updated debt totals

Virgin cc - £174.02 - £0 - paid off!

Barclays cc - £6163.85 - £5,913.42

MBNA cc 2 - £5,531.16 - £5,446.16

Plend Loan - £8,444.54 - £8190.54

HSBC Loan - £4695.17 - £4,585.98

Santander Credit card - £10,211.85 - £10,109.73

Updated total - £35,245.59 - £34,245.83

My priority now is the Barclaycard as that 0% is up in May. I'll be paying the minimums on everything else and overpaying that card out of the room in my budget to get it as low as possible before then.

Another thing I need to look out for is if Virgin give me a 0% money transfer offer now that card is paid off so I can clear the plend loan (which is 19%!) - they are pretty good for these and I've just had a notification this morning to say my credit score has increased so fingers crossed one comes through in the next couple of months.

I've been thinking about this a lot whilst I've been sick this week. I honestly think the biggest challenge the next three years won't be the money but will be my mental health. If I can manage my mental health I can stick the course of this plan.

Day to day I need to focus on that more I think rather than wishing my life away. Yes the time will pass anyway, how can I remain consistent and content (to an extent) whilst it passes is the question. It's the climb and all that.

Waywardgirl3

I need to focus on the days basically and if I do the right things day to day then the years should follow the right track. Maybe i should read Atomic Habits again! But it's also balancing this 'day at a time' mentality with long term thinking/delayed gratification when i comes to decision making.

riverbluelion

What do you think can help with your mental health? Ive found that my gym membership helps me :)

Waywardgirl3

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82156562#Comment_82156562

I'm going to set some mini goals for this;

So yes I have a cheap (Puregym) membership which I'm going to endeavour to use 2 x per week minimum (its a bit of a drive being rural).

Then daily dog walking and I am going to start running again too over winter as this really helps.

Reading! I'm going to join our local library.

And then eating - i need to be intentional and plan this, I do struggle with binge eating when low. I need to plan and prep healthy meals but ones I actually enjoy.

Also I need to get back into the practice of daily gratitude.

I think for me its setting a plan and mini goals for each day and trying to live in the moment/take action rather than ruminating all the time.

I have been on antidepressants previously so i'm not opposed to going back on them if i do start to really sink again. I just need to check in super regularly and try and catch any downwards spiral before I get too low.

When I am really low I am very reckless with spending/ tbh in general as I just don't care about anything in life as awful as that sounds. It's very nihilistic.

I realise this sounds like a total life overhaul but it's not. It's more that all the areas feed into each other and I'm realising the success of this journey isnt going to be just about the money.

riverbluelion

Those are some great goals, well done!! I also got back into reading as a hobby and started hosting a book club with some friends, its such a great form of escapism without being detrimental to your health, if you need help with reading accountability you could try finding a free book club online :)

Waywardgirl3

I've already had an offer through for a 0% money transfer on my virgin card! Emailed Plend for the Settlement balance for my loan and once i've got it will action money transfer and pay off. Even with a 4% fee it's saving me 19% interest each month

Waywardgirl3

So my settlement figure for Plend is £9021. Which is insane as i've been paying £250 on it for the last 10 months and the original loan amount was only £10,000. Really shows you the impact of those high interest rates!

Grateful that my credit score is in a much better place now and I am able to move it onto a 0% offer. Going to wait for my virgin statement on the 12th and then move it to that card. This will mean 2 things;

1. no interest yayy!
2. the minimum should be around the 100 pounds mark and any excess I can throw monthly at the Barclays as my priority card :-)

Waywardgirl3

Today I have ran with the dog (morning), walked with the dog (afternoon) and have a couple more hours work to do at home before I can log off. Setting myself timers to help with procrastinating! Hubby making us a nice Steak dinner and it's been a NSD (though I've snacked too much and drank too much coffee but what's new). Life is good :-)