My debt-free year!

zackyv6661 · 6 January 2018 at 4:31PM

New Year and big goals this year mean that I should have a diary to document my journey through the year!

To give you a bit of background/info on me - I'm 30 years old (31 next weekend). Moved back in with my parents in summer 2016 after a very difficult break up, and have been trying to get back on my feet (in more ways than 1) in that time.

After the New Year I spent almost an entire day looking at my finances, and I have prepared a budget for the entire year ensuring that I get all of my debt paid off by December.

My plan is to pay off all of my debt before the end of the year so that I can then start saving up for a deposit on my own home. I have a plan to start looking for a place of my own towards the end of 2020, and I am feeling so determined to get there!

My current situation at the moment is:

HSBC Credit Card: £5350 (0% interest)
Overdraft: £1498.68 (0% interest and no fees)
Loan 1: £5000 (£2252.26 remaining)
Loan 2: £1656.90 (£867.90 remaining)
Very: £703.97 (£553.97 remaining)

As you can see, I have already been paying into all of these accounts. According to my budget spreadsheet, my last payment on each of these accounts will be as follows:

HSBC Credit Card: 19 August 2018
Overdraft: 19 November 2018
Loan 1: 19 November 2018
Loan 2: 19 March 2018
Very: 19 August 2018

I am so excited to ending the year with 0 debt to my name!

I will try and update this diary as regularly as I can, as I am a daily lurker

and a sometimes poster on this forum.

MeenaM · 6 January 2018 at 5:36PM

welcome and good luck ! have you tried the snow ball calculator to see if you can pay them off any quicker?

EscapingTheAlarm · 6 January 2018 at 6:23PM

Good luck on your journey and well done for what you've achieved so far! I agree with Meena that you should have a look to see how quickly you could get rid of it.
ETA x

zackyv6661 · 6 January 2018 at 6:25PM

MeenaM wrote: »

welcome and good luck ! have you tried the snow ball calculator to see if you can pay them off any quicker?

EscapingTheAlarm wrote: »

Good luck on your journey and well done for what you've achieved so far! I agree with Meena that you should have a look to see how quickly you could get rid of it.
ETA x

Thank you both! I haven't heard of this snow ball calculator - where can I find this?? It sounds like it is worth a look - the sooner I can get these paid off the better!

x

EscapingTheAlarm · 6 January 2018 at 6:30PM

I think that you would be able to just google it to find one? Let us know the results!
ETA x

zackyv6661 · 8 January 2018 at 10:07PM

I did try that snow ball calculator, but I couldn't seem to figure it out, so it didn't really work for me - maybe I just need to try a different one?

I have had another look at my budget spreadsheet though, and have re-jigged a few things! So my new plan looks like this:

Loan 2: 19 March 2018
Very: 19 April 2018
Overdraft: 19 June 2018
Loan 1: 19 November 2018
HSBC Credit Card: 19 December 2018

So, according to my new plan, my smaller debts will be paid off sooner, with the HSBC credit card being pushed back to December 2018. I am hoping that by paying off a few debts close together, that this will help keep me motivated for getting the remaining debts paid off just as soon as I can. That's still this year though, so I am still on track to get everything paid off in time

zackyv6661 · 19 January 2018 at 8:20PM

Evening!

It's payday today!! :j Though most of my wages have already been paid out to bills etc, so it's not as exciting as it could be

However I have made a couple of payments to my debt, which IS exciting:

£210.55 paid to Loan 2 (was £867.90 - now £657.35)
My regular direct debit will come off later this month, and I then plan to pay this loan off next month!

£50 paid to HSBC Credit Card (was £5260 - now £5210)

caffeineaddict1986 · 19 January 2018 at 8:40PM

Hey zackyv, just popping in to say good luck! I am 31 years old too and looking to become debt free in the next couple of years! Subscribing to track how you get on and exchange ideas along the way

zackyv6661 · 19 January 2018 at 8:48PM

caffeineaddict1986 wrote: »

Hey zackyv, just popping in to say good luck! I am 31 years old too and looking to become debt free in the next couple of years! Subscribing to track how you get on and exchange ideas along the way

Hi! and thank you

It seems like it is going to be a long journey, but if I just take it one month at a time, then I'm sure I will get there quicker than I think!

Good luck to you too! I'm always looking for some helpful tips and tricks and love to see how people are getting on in their own journeys too

EscapingTheAlarm · 19 January 2018 at 8:51PM

Well done for making another overpayment! Every payment makes a difference and you’ll get there in no time!
ETA x

zackyv6661 · 1 February 2018 at 9:22PM

zackyv6661 wrote: »

Evening!

It's payday today!! :j Though most of my wages have already been paid out to bills etc, so it's not as exciting as it could be

However I have made a couple of payments to my debt, which IS exciting:

£210.55 paid to Loan 2 (was £867.90 - now £657.35)
My regular direct debit will come off later this month, and I then plan to pay this loan off next month!

£50 paid to HSBC Credit Card (was £5260 - now £5210)

Little update here!

My regular direct debit payment came off loan 2, so the remaining total on this is now £617.90

I tend to make as many payments as I can the day of/soon after payday, so there won't be many updates in between paydays for me - unless I come into some unexpected money

My debt-free year!

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