This Duo's debt free journey

DebtFreeDuo · 18 October 2017 at 11:35AM

I know its early and I'm probably getting ahead of myself but I've been thinking about next year, I think I'm a little restless because I'm currently unable to make any overpayments. So, goals for next year:

Officially become debt free

I want to do this as early in 2018 as possible, I'm thinking that it may actually be possible by May if I'm completely on it. From January every penny of extra income (except amazon vouchers) will go towards my CC to try and clear this off before my current goal of October 18.

Increase my house fund/emergency fund to £8000

I really want to buy my own house when I complete university, my house is my biggest goal, I want to be mortgage free by the time I'm 50 so I need to get on the property ladder. This pot will need to be on at least £20k when I finish, I'm not completely sure if this is doable but I'm certainly going to try!

Earn enough amazon vouchers to cover Christmas 2018

The goal here is to earn around £300 in amazon vouchers, this is definitely possible as I earned around £100 in 3 months from swagbucks but that is currently on the back burner.

Budget effectively and stick to it

I think this is probably the most important thing, if I nail this then all the other goals here will fall around it. I either need to complete another SOA at the start of the year and then put away every penny I budget in it or I can look back at the one I did recently.

Successfully complete my first year of university

If I don't do this then my dream home will become much more difficult to achieve, I need a good income if I stand any chance of getting a mortgage on my own.

Willowtree222 · 18 October 2017 at 11:52AM

Planning ahead and goal setting is a great way to see where you are going and giving you something to work towards.

The £300 amazon vouchers looks achievable to. That'll make your Christmas so much easier.

DebtFreeDuo · 18 October 2017 at 12:05PM

It definitely will Nic and any additional vouchers will mean I can spoil DS a little more after a frugal Christmas and birthday . I'm currently creating my 2018 spreadsheets, I do love a good spreadsheet!

Willowtree222 · 18 October 2017 at 1:05PM

Ha ha!
I do love a good spreadsheet too!

Tea&Kittens · 18 October 2017 at 1:22PM

Mmmm... spreadsheets! I've got mine set up, I'm triple logging everything at the minute - I've got the spendy app thing on the phone, my bullet journal and spreadsheet. Experimenting to see what works best. I do confess to a bit of spreadsheet geekery. It's lovely being able to see numbers update themselves when you make a change

You seem to be doing really well with the planning, Duo!

DebtFreeDuo · 18 October 2017 at 1:33PM

I do love seeing the numbers change Tea&Kittens I'm feeling very positive today although I am wishin my life away a little by wanting it to be January already, I need to enjoy this time. I find I don't stick to it so much when I'm writing it down manually, I don't know why, I think I just find it easier to track on my spreadsheet and it saves me working anything out because the spreadsheet does it all. I don't have an app on my phone either, again I just don't think I would input everything. I think everyone is different in how they prefer to track their spending.

I think the most important thing with tracking is just keeping on top of it all, if you miss a day or two then I think you just start to get completely lost and have to start over or try and remember where a certain amount of money went.

Willowtree222 · 18 October 2017 at 3:27PM

Barclays has just introduced this great thing on their banking app where you can see what the balance was after every single day. I have been able to go back and track how much into my overdraft I was and when it occurred. It has helped me evaluate past spending.

It has only just started to do it, so maybe someone asked for it. I don't really mind why, I just like the fact that it does it!

DebtFreeDuo · 18 October 2017 at 3:51PM

Could you not see that on the app before? My banking app (I think) has always shown the balance after each transaction. Its really great that you are evaluating your past spending, I think for me its mostly been about spending too much when going grocery shopping and also trying to slowly make my house feel like a home. My car was also a huge factor obviously but my previous car kept breaking and I thought the best approach would be to buy myself a half decent car that would see me through uni with as few problems as possible. For the past year or so I've really been curbing my spending, if I go back to around a year - 18 months ago my debt stood at 12k/13k (7.5k of that was my car).

Willowtree222 · 18 October 2017 at 5:35PM

No, never been able to see it before. Last year my debt must have been 30k+. That's scary.

Without my car, it's at 7k.

HairyHandofDartmoor · 18 October 2017 at 5:53PM

DebtFreeDuo wrote: »

Its very shocking, it wouldn't be so bad if it was just say one word but these particular children probably know more swear words than I do, they also use racist language which is the absolute deal breaker for me, I won't condone them using those words around my DS.

I agree you don't want DS to pick up attitudes or language like that :eek:

This Duo's debt free journey

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