Psychopathbabble's Path to Debt-Freedom

Good morning all,

It's been quite a long time since I had any form of diary on here. I think it must be at least 6 years ago. In that time, I came this >< close to being debt free, only owing around £900 at one point shortly after I met my now husband.

Fast forward 5.5 years since meeting him, a life full of adventure and new experiences and not worrying too much about money. In the last 15 months alone, we headed off on a big trip to the USA for my 30th, which included a complete surprise of a proposal, a wedding, a house purchase and now a baby arriving in November! You could say it's been one hell of a ride!

Now, with maternity leave and part-time hours creeping up fast, it is time for us to face our debt full on and get our finances in order. Luckily, this has already started and we are making a significant change to our spending habits. We still have the bad days but in general we are so much better than we have been.

Starting debt as at the beginning of July 2016:

Loan (10.4%) - £7424.37
RBS CC (19%) - 364.27
Barclaycard (6.9%) - £1365.26
Halifax CC (17.95%) - 1372.09
MBNA (0%) - £1660


This month we paid a lump sum of £3708 to the loan from DHs bonus. If we can stick to the plan, and there are no unplanned emergencies then we should be debt-free in March 2017!

I have not included our mortgage or car finances in this. I hope to be able to make small monthly overpayments to the mortgage once we have our debt cleared.

It helps that I finally have DH on board. Previously he has never worried, always justifying the money as we deserve it etc, he works hard and shouldn't have to scrimp and save. I think finally being in a position where my income will definitely be reduced has shown him we need to make changes. He gets embarassed when he tells people he can't afford to do XX but as I keep saying to him, we have got married, bought a house and have a baby on the way, all in 2016... so it's not shameful to admit we are having to be careful with our money! He also is keen for me to not return to work but there is no way we can afford for me to be a full-time SAHM, also I don't think I would want to quit work completely.


I have set up this diary for my daily moans, updates and somewhere to vent

Please feel free to join in


ETA: Would like to keep a record of my credit score each month (i use a free website) and this month it is 569/710, 3/5, closer to poor than fair. I can't remember what it was previously, but a few months ago it was 1/5 so i'm getting there! DH is 601/710, 3/5 between fair and good.