My Debt Story

Debt Payment Progress Report 15 – 22/02/19

February 22, 2019

Every two weeks I will be sharing my debt payment progress report with you. I’ll share my new debt total and some of the things I have done to make this happen. It will help me record my journey and it will also help me to stay motivated!

Debt Payment Progress Report – my new total!

As of February 22nd 2019 my new debt total is £11,753.58 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that since I last updated you two weeks ago I have paid off £2406.49 My new total debt payment to date is now £5060.71, which I have calculated to equate to 30% of my debt total. (I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest). The following debts now remain:

Loan One £6236.92
Loan Two £5516.66
Credit Card One £0
Credit Card Two £0 (yaaaaaaaahooooooooo!!)

Debt Payment Progress Report – new debt total on 220219

The past two weeks have been very successful with regards to my debt free journey. That’s a massive understatement actually. Thanks to some financial help I have leapt forward. So much so that I can officially say goodbye to my second credit card. It’s paid off! I’m also 30% of the way through my total now. That feels incredible!

I won’t go into detail about the help received as it’s obviously quite private but what I can express is how grateful I am for the support. When you are moving so slowly on your debt free journey, as I have been over the last few months, it can be draining and disheartening to say the least. This boost has not only helped get rid of a good chunk of my debt, it has also rebooted my motivation.

Now I am left with two loans to pay off. Both with the same bank and both with penalties attached for paying them off early. I’m going to work out my numbers and see if the penalty is worth paying. Of course, following the debt snowball method I should throw everything I have at them and just pay the penalties in order to get rid of the loans. What would you do? I’d really love some advice on this one!

My next debt payment progress report will show a far smaller number, most likely my minimum payments on the loans minus the interest I have to pay. If you’ve been following my journey for a while now though, you’ll already know that I’m absolutely fine with that. As long as the number continues to go down, I’m happy.

You can find my previous reports here.

Debt Payment Progress Report 13 – 25/01/19

January 25, 2019

Every two weeks I share my debt payment progress report with you. I post my new debt total and some of my money making efforts. It can be so easy to get caught up in the day to day payments, especially when my total is going down slowly. These reports help me to record my journey and stay motivated as I look back over the progress I’ve made so far!

My new total!

As of January 25th 2019 my new debt total is £14,272.74 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that since I last updated you about a month ago I have paid off £163.13. My new total debt payment to date is now £2541.55, which I have calculated to equate to 15% of my debt total. (I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest). The following debts now remain:

Loan One £6399.46
Loan Two £5579.92
Credit Card One £0
Credit Card Two £2293.36

I feel like there isn’t too much to report on this week, but in a way that’s a good thing. After a very slow November and December work has picked up a bit and so most days have been spent freelancing. There hasn’t been much time left on the side for any surveys and the like, but freelancing pays more so I’m not complaining at all. I’m not quite breaking any income records but it is far more consistent than it was before Christmas so I’m really happy.

This year I’d really like to increase my income in order to allow me to pay more debt off each month (and of course enjoy more when the debt is gone!). On quieter days I’ve been spending a few hours contacting potential new clients via email and have had a handful of responses. I know from past emails that many of these will come to nothing, however two look very promising so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Going into February I have a few big expenses coming up which have the potential to dent my debt payments a bit, but all going well I will have some new clients sending work over which will help to counteract them. I don’t want to jinx anything just yet, but I’m feeling really positive about the coming weeks and months. Excited to update you again in two weeks and see where I am!

You can find my previous reports here.

Debt Payment Progress Report 12 – 11/01/19

January 11, 2019

All of a sudden we have arrived in a brand new year. It has been almost an entire month since I last did a debt payment progress report. After I got caught up in the festive season I decided to just ride the wave instead of fighting against it. I took a break from writing, but not from my debt journey. Let me catch you up on where I am now!

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of January 11th 2019 my new debt total is £14,435.87 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that since I last updated you about a month ago I have paid off £184.16. My new total debt payment to date is now £2378.42, which I have calculated to equate to 14% of my debt total. (I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest). The following debts now remain:

Loan One £6399.46
Loan Two £5743.05
Credit Card One £0
Credit Card Two £2293.36

If you’ve been following my journey closely you will know that it has been just over a month since I last updated you on my debt free journey. As you can see, I have made some progress on my debt total, but not by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately December was a very expensive month and whilst I was able to make all minimum payments I couldn’t afford to throw anything extra at my debt. My totals have all gone down however thanks to interest the dent I have made in the past four weeks feels tiny!

You can probably tell from the way I’m talking in this post that I’m disheartened and a bit frustrated. I stopped posting for a while partially because I was really busy around Christmas and things, but more so because this debt free journey is bloody hard. I really do enjoy sharing my progress because it motivates me to carry on and I know it helps some of you too, but sometimes hiding away for a bit feels like the best option.

Now that we’re well and truly into the new year I feel like I’m out of my slump and ready to take on 2019. This year has so much potential and I’m really excited to see what I can achieve if I keep moving forward, even if it is slow sometimes!

You can find my previous reports here.

My goals update for November 2018

November 12, 2018

The days are disappearing and so it’s as important as ever for me to keep my monthly targets top of mind. Sharing a goals update with you last month really helped me to keep on track with them so I’ve decided to make it a regular, mid-month post. Here is my goals update for November 2018.

Boost my side income:

This is going really well! So far this month I have sold two things on Ebay and made over £40 on Prolific Academic doing surveys. I’m now almost halfway to my target of making £200 extra in November which makes me really happy and reassures me that I won’t struggle to afford bills and debt payments. Work has also picked up again, thank goodness, so hopefully I can make more of an income from freelancing before the month finishes.

Begin a sinking fund for next year:

With two weddings, two hen dos, my honeymoon, a 30th birthday, a 60th birthday and several other big celebrations next I wanted to make sure I was making a start on saving for them all. Yes our own wedding is paid for and the honeymoon is pretty much there, spending money included, but everything else needs to be covered.

I’ve made a small start, with £40 put away into my savings pot. This sounds like very little, but I’ve worked out that if I put roughly £55 into savings each month everything should be covered so I’m not doing too badly!

Clear another £500 of my second credit card:

As work has been slowing down for winter, I’ve made a bit of a revision on my debt payment goal. I would absolutely love to clear as much of my final credit card as I can before Christmas, however my tax payment has a pressing deadline and I do need to make sure I will be able to make minimum payments across December and into the New Year.

Small amounts will continue to be paid towards my card here and there, but my focus will be on my final goal until it is complete and I know that I am prepared for my quietest working months.

Finish saving my tax payment:

With roughly ten weeks to go until the tax return deadline (if you haven’t sorted your own yet, get started now. It will save you a lot of hassle and stress in January!) I am getting very close to hitting my goal. I needed to save roughly £1200 in order to cover all of my payments this year. I will know the exact amount when I complete the forms but I like to be prepared for the worst case scenario. Thanks to my first goal, making more money on the side, I’m really pushing towards my total now and will hopefully be completing my tax return in early December.

My goals have already needed some adjustment this month, but I’m being flexible and ensuring that the important things are covered. It is great to try and storm ahead with debt payments, but bills need paid and my tax return is non-negotiable. Once those are covered I can get back to my debt snowball!

How are you getting on with your goals? Let me know in the comments and be sure to join in with the linky myself and Charlotte host!

A Frugal Autumn | Five Frugal Things for October 2018

October 26, 2018

In an effort to pay off my debt as quickly as possible, I’m looking beyond simply making extra money. I have been assessing all of my spending habits, adopting a more frugal lifestyle wherever I can. Each month I will be sharing Five Frugal Things that I have done to help improve my finances and ensure I can reach my goal of becoming debt free as soon as possible.

One

Pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie. Off the back of a very autumnal weekend we spent pumpkin picking with friends earlier in October we wanted to make the most of our orange friends. The tendency is of course to carve up your pumpkins and leave them on the front step of course, but after a very quiet Halloween last year we wanted to put them to better use.

We decided to try out some new recipes, one sweet and one savoury. Both were delicious and the ultimate comfort food for the season. Of course the added bonus is they cost us very little, having spent just a few pounds on the pumpkins themselves. Everything else we needed was already in the cupboards!

Two

Walks instead of taxi fares. As the nights get colder and darker drinks in the garden are no longer an option. Instead, we’ve been favouring the pub quiz down at our local with friends. The distance from our house to the pub is just long enough to warrant a taxi if you’re not feeling energetic. With the drinks themselves being quite affordable, or at least cheaper than your standard city prices, it’s always easy to try and justify throwing money at a black cab.

Of course it is healthier and cheaper to just walk. We give ourselves plenty of time to get ready so we’re not in a hurry and force ourselves to do the walk. It never takes too long in the end. That’s a tenner saved each night!

Three

Shopping my cupboards. At the beginning of the month I had a long shopping list of several toiletries and household things I thought I needed. Everything from cleaners to toothpaste. Minutes before going leaving to go to the shops I thought I should quickly check my laundry cupboard, just in case.

I soon realised that I had bought duplicates of most things last time I was at the shops and forgotten about them. Money saved and I got to avoid some of the busy shops I had planned to visit. In fact, I actually had multiples of some things and should be set until the new year. Make sure to always check your stash before giving money to the shops!

Four

Lunch leftovers. For years and years sandwiches were my go to lunch. Now that I live with my fiance however, we rarely buy lunch food. He is the cook in our house and when I first saw the amount of food he was cooking for just the two of us I panicked, what a waste!

In fact, it became quite a handy trick instead. Most of our dinners can be split into four portions, if not more. Two become dinner that evening, the rest becomes lunch for the next day. It means we always have something filling to eat and it saves the effort of having to make another meal which is great on a really busy day.

Five

A week in the countryside. Frugality isn’t just about pinching every penny. Sometimes it is about affordable treats. If you read my other blog, Sunshine and Rain, you will know that I have been enjoying the quiet of the countryside this week. To celebrate my Mother in Law’s birthday we have taken a trip to the Yorkshire Dales as a family.

Whilst I am on my my debt free journey holidays aren’t really an option. However, time away from work and life in general is important for all of us. We found the perfect compromise here, staying in a big house in a tiny village for just £480. For a five night stay and with ten of use here, we were really happy with that price. We have been making all of our own meals and spending a lot of time outside so costs have been kept low but the enjoyment hasn’t been compromised. It’s the perfect frugal week away!

There they are, my Five Frugal Things for the month of October. You can read last month’s post here.

I’m linking up with Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s Five Fabulously Frugal things I’ve done this week linky.

My goals update for October 2018

October 17, 2018

We are already half way (and a bit) through October so I thought this would be a good time to check up on my progress with the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the month. I often find that if I don’t remind myself of them regularly I can lose my focus. I’m going to be checking in with you around mid month from now to help me stay on track. Here is my goals update for October 2018.

Buy all my Christmas gifts:

As of yet I have not purchased anything. What I have done however, is choose several of the gifts I’m planning to buy. Not only this, but I think I have found a couple of affordable options too! I have four people to buy for this year thanks to Secret Santa plans. Better not share any details in case nosey eyes find them of course.

To keep things organised I’ve set up a new folder in my bookmarks. I’m saving all relevant links to gifts in there. I think I’ll be buying everything online, for ease and because I am more likely to find a good deal that way. It also means that if I am unable to afford all of the gifts this month for whatever reason, they are easy to find as soon as I have the funds to buy them.

Continue with “no spend days”:

We are now on day seventeen of the month and I have so far managed 12 no spend days. Considering we have had several evenings of drinking, eating out, a few trips to the shops and so on, I’m really pleased with that. We are going away with family for five days shortly. We are staying in a cottage in the country and plan to cook several meals ourselves. Thankfully I’m not too worried about spending a lot of money and ruining my good streak.

Clear £500 of my second credit card:

On the very first day of the month I put £200 straight over to my credit card. It felt so good to clear such a big chunk in one go! Since then my income has been focused directly at my loan payments. Now that they are made I am able to return my attention to the card and should be able to hit my goal within the next week. As long as plenty of invoices make it out the door of course.

It’s so exciting to be making such good progress. If you read my post about paying off my first credit card you will know how happy I am to be heading towards clearing my second and final card. You can read that post here.

Save half of my tax payment:

Whilst this is the last goal in my list, it is an important one. My tax payment is due at the end of January and so I only have a couple of months left to prepare this. If you read my goals post you will know that I have been so focused on my debt payments over the last few months I forgot to prepare for the end of the financial year.

Knowing that November and December are often quiet months for my income, most of the saving needed to be done in October. As of today I have managed to save £350, so I’m getting on really well. Ideally I’d like to put £500 away in preparation. If work continues steadily I will manage this no problem. I’ve spoken before about the impact stress around debt can have on my mental health. This will really put my mind at ease!

I’m actually really chuffed with my progress so far. A few focused days of work and time spent on careful gift planning this week and I’ll be well on my to hitting my goals before the 31st. How are you getting on with your goals? Let me know in the comments and be sure to join in with the linky myself and Charlotte host!

An InLinkz Link-up

How I paid off my first credit card

October 8, 2018

A couple of weeks ago I finished paying off my first credit card! It had been a goal of mine for over two months and I cannot describe to you how good it felt to phone my bank and close that account. As soon as I hung up the phone I did a happy dance around the kitchen. I’m not joking. Be thankful you didn’t witness those moves. For many people starting out on their debt free journey, getting rid of that first debt total might seem like an impossible mission. To help motivate and guide you, here is how I paid off my first credit card.

Figured out my debt total

Of course, this is the dreaded first step. Before I could begin paying anything off I had to face my debt total. It wasn’t fun, it wasn’t pretty and my anxiety rocketed as I checked each number and added it to the calculator. It had to be done though. In order to understand how you are going to become debt free you have to know what it is you are dealing with.

My total came to £16,814.49. You can read my Starting Point post here. My smallest debt, my first credit card, was at £586.02. If you follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and the debt snowball method you will know that this would be the first debt I would focus on paying off. But before I did that, I had a few other things to put in place first.

Created a budget

The next step was to figure out where all of my money was going. I did this by coming up with a budget. Once I knew where my money was going, I would be able to tell it where I wanted it to go. I feel like that is the major difference between getting into debt and getting out of debt for most people. Setting up a budget gave me control over my outgoings for the first time in a long time.

As my income is irregular I had to do things a little bit differently. My total monthly earnings change constantly, so I had to come up with a budgeting method that worked for me. You can read about it here.

Set aside an emergency fund

Next came the emergency fund. This is such an important step and one that should not be skipped. I understand that for most people, by the time you reach this stage you just want to get started on your debt payments. You have to be patient and wait a little bit longer while you save your emergency fund.

It took me around three months to save my emergency fund, which felt like forever at the time. Thankfully I haven’t had to use it yet, but it gives me such piece of mind knowing that I’m covered if anything goes wrong or my income drops drastically in the coming months.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about you can read my post on emergency funds here. In very simple terms it is a pot of money for emergencies, just as it sounds. It’s greatest benefit is that if somewhere along you debt free journey something unexpected happens, such as a car breakdown, you remove your risk of going backwards with your debt progress. No credit cards are needed to make the payments, you have an emergency fund instead.

Focused my over payments

Now we get to the fun stage! For those who follow the Dave Ramsey method, this is where the debt snowball kicks in. Whilst making minimum payments to all of my debts I threw every spare penny I had at my smallest debt, my credit card. This change in the way I handle my finances has made the biggest difference for me. Before I started to focus on becoming debt free I used to pay a little bit of a card off, then a little bit of a loan and so on. Now, I concentrate all of my over payments on my smallest debt.

Some of these over payments came from money “leftover” once I had completed my budget for the month. A lot of it came from things like selling unwanted clothes on ebay and completing surveys on Prolific Academic (my favourite side hustle) too. Everyone will find something different that works for them.

The beauty of using this focused method is that you see much quicker progress with each debt that you have and your momentum really begins to build!

What’s next?

If you have read my goals post for October you will know that I am now putting all of my focus into my second and final credit card. Using the same method as I did for my first I will put everything I have into clearing this total. Even better, I now have the money available that was going into my first credit card (a minimum payment of around £60) which means I will be able to pay this card off even faster.

Whichever method you find best suited to you during your debt free journey, having focus and understanding of your money are both key. You have to know where your money is going and you have to tell it what to do. Take control of your finances and you will make progress towards financial freedom!

Did I achieve my goals in September 2018

September 24, 2018

We have reach the end of another month and it is time for me to look back at the goals I set and reflect on how I have done. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but once again the month has disappeared! Thankfully I can report that it has been a productive one. So did I achieve my goals in September 2018?

My goals for September 2018 were as follows:

Pay off my Halifax credit card
Try out “no spend days”
Have a clear out
Grow my Etsy business

Pay off my Halifax credit card.

As of September 22nd 2018 (i.e. Saturday morning) my very first credit card is PAID OFF! I did it!! I’m so happy. The card that started it all for me, read more about it here, now has a balance of £0. I will be getting in touch with my bank today to close my account. There isn’t much more to say about this goal. I’m just very very happy.

Try out “no spend days”.

The idea of no spend days was completely new to me. No, it’s not a complicated concept. You aim to spend no money for a certain number of days in a month. I have just never been this specific with my spending. Normally I will just aim to keep out goings low. So how did I do? I have managed 18 no spend days so far, with seven days still to go. I’ll definitely be able to manage my goal of 20, so I’m really pleased!

My intention with this goal was to keep a close eye on my spends and see how much I was spending on the little things throughout that month that always add up far sooner than you expect. What I was expecting is the positive impact it would have. Several times throughout the month I questioned purchases before I made them, including a takeaway, an amazon shop and a trip to the shops for chocolate. This is a goal that I will definitely be continuing with!

Have a clear out.

This goal hasn’t been the most successful, but I have definitely made a start. The cupboard that I wanted to clear out was dominated by two spare duvets that we had purchased for Christmas time last year when family came to stay. I picked up two vacuum pack bags last week at the shops to store them in and now there is a lot more space in there for other things (read as piles of stuff/junk) and it looks a lot tidier too!

I pottered about for a bit tidying a few other boxes and put away our wrapping paper so it won’t fall on my head every time I open the door now (bane of anyone else’s life?). Progress has been made, but this is definitely something I will be putting some more effort into in the coming month.

Grow my Etsy business.

Whilst I am not yet raking in millions in profit (because that’s obviously a realistic one month goal) I have been spending a lot of time on my Etsy shop this month. Mostly behind the scenes, I’ve been working on improving my tags and titles and all the other details that make a huge difference to your SEO and traffic. I’ve also been spending a lot of time growing my Pinterest as after a few weeks of trialling it with my blog I’ve seen how quickly it can grow!

Sales are still low in my shop, with around four or five each month, but I know that with more hard work this will increase. My goal is to generate a good passive income from Etsy, to be put towards debt at first of course and then eventually saving and investing. If you have an Etsy shop yourself I’d love to hear any advice you have to share!

Although the month has gone by in a flash, it’s been a productive one. I’ve been able to clear the first of my debts and that in itself is something incredible to be celebrated. Next up, my second and last credit card. This one will take me a little bit longer than the first but I’m on a mission to clear it as quickly as possible. Onwards and upwards from here!

I’ll be setting my goals for October on the first of the month so keep an eye out for that post!

Debt Payment Progress Report 6 – 21/09/18

September 21, 2018

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of September 21st 2018 my new debt total is £15,700.20 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that in the last three weeks (I missed last weeks post and pushed it up seven days) I have paid off £122.25. It also means that the first £1000 is officially gone. I’ll celebrate it with a glass of wine and a boogy in the living room this evening!

My new total debt payment to date is now £1114.09, which I have calculated to equate to 6.6% of my debt total.

(I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest)

My progress has been slow with my debt free journey since I last checked in. If you read my post about debt failures on Monday you will know I have slipped up over the last couple of weeks! In my haste to pay off as much debt as quickly as possible I forgot about the fact that I am due to pay my tax bill in January. You could say, I had my debt blinkers on.

Focus is of course good when you’re on a mission to become debt free. It is your greatest priority in life and you push to clear your total as soon as possible. This does however make it very easy to forget about irregular payments. Of course, this is why a budget is so important. Sinking funds are also a great way to combat any potential surprises and I’m starting one for next year’s tax bill so I’m not caught out again.

Thankfully I have realised my mistake in plenty of time and I now have three and a bit months to set my tax money aside, although it will slow down my debt payment and that’s frustrating. The important thing, as always, is that I keep moving in the right direction with my debt total, no matter how small the payments are.

You can find my previous reports here.

Small goals are helping me to pay off my debt

September 7, 2018

No matter where you look nowadays goals are everywhere. Body goals, money goals, life goals. Everyone is ambitious and wants you to know what they plan to achieve in life. Now I’m not knocking that, I appreciate a big burst of motivation on a Monday morning. The truth is however, that when it comes to my debt free journey I find that small goals are helping me to pay off my debt.

Big goals are great, but not for everything

When I first faced my debt all I could see was the total. That one big number. It was like a huge barrier staring me in the face and I really struggled to understand how I was going to tackle it. £16,814.49. That’s a lot. That’s more than I made working self-employed from home last year.

Ambition and goal setting is everywhere now, and while I do find that motivational, it’s not always realistic. Many highly paid Americans share stories of fighting their debt total with over-payments of thousands of dollars a month on social media. I would love to be able to pay off so much each month, but it’s just not possible.

What’s important to remember here of course is that salaries in America are proportionally higher than in the UK and many Americans are paying off huge sums of student debt, which doesn’t translate here.

As I began to follow the #debtfreecommunity I realised that firstly I was not the only one in my position and secondly the was entirely possible for me to tackle, even on my low income. When I began to document my journey through My Debt Diary it was a challenge to be so open. Admitting the reality to myself was difficult enough, but now I was planning to share it with strangers?!

Over the last couple of months I have slowly become more comfortable with my debt total. Not because I’m happy to have it, but because I can see beyond that one big number now. My total can be broken down into two loans and two credit cards. Beyond that, it can be broken down into monthly minimum payments. The progress I make with it is also personal to me and my budget. No one else’s.

Small goals are helping me to pay off my debt

Once I got my head around these things it made it so much easier to figure out how I would handle my debt. I made a plan to save my emergency fund, figured out a budget and began tracking my progress every two weeks. Each of these steps has been taken one at a time and gradually.

Personally I have found the Total Money Makeover to be the best guide and it really helped me to get started in understanding what I needed to do. Dave Ramsey’s use of the term Baby Steps for each stage of his financial plan resonates very well for me. It confirms that the process takes time and should be handled in small amounts.

“What’s the best way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” – Dave Ramsey

Now that my emergency fund is in place and I have a budget that works for me, I keep things simple. Every two weeks I write my debt payment progress report. I check my numbers and make a note of where I am now in my debt free journey and how far I’ve come. The percentage of “paid-off” debt slowly increases and that in itself is motivation enough for me!

To help my debt journey along I am also taking a note of my spending on a daily basis. This makes me more conscious of where my money goes and more accountable for when I choose to spend it. I’ve found that “extra” money for over-payments doesn’t just come from making more money but from saving more too.

And that is it. That is all I am doing.

Of course, working hard is a priority. I want to ensure that my income is strong so that I am able to cover all my debts and more, but this is covered in my budget. There are no big goals set in flashing lights on my journey. No huge milestones are outlined. I will definitely celebrate my progress along the way but for now the steady progress is what I need. My focus is always on the next two weeks.

At the beginning of the month I set my goals for September. My priority now is to pay off my first credit card. The total balance due is just under £350. That’s a tiny portion of my £16k+ starting total, but it will feel like a big achievement to me and that is what matters. That is what keeps me going.

My Third Culture Kid have written a fantastic post about SMART goal setting with some brilliant advice and techniques. Click here and go and have a read!