My Debt Diary

Debt Payment Progress – The Starting Point

This is the point where I hold my breath and lay all my cards out on the table for you to see. I find this terrifying, but it has to be done. The debt payment progress record starts here. This is my starting point:

Debt Payment Progress

With each update I share I will be keeping a debt payment progress. As I am at the beginning of my recorded journey I am currently at the 0% mark. This is difficult to admit as I have been making minimum payments for a while, however due to interest my total still remains around the same. The reality isn’t nice, but I have to start somewhere.

 

Breakdown of debt

My debt is made up of four different things: two bank loans and two credit cards. I have very recently paid off an overdraft of £500. I do also have a student loan of £9000, however I won’t be counting this for now. The debts are listed here from highest to lowest and I’ll be tackling them in the opposite order. The debt snowball is the method that I will be using. I have read up on this before, but I’ll be looking into in more detail so I can use it effectively!

Bank Loan One £7524.85 – 44% of total debt

Bank Loan Two £6003.42 – 35% of total debt

Credit Card One £2700 – 17% of total debt

Credit Card Two £586.02 – 4% of total debt

Income Streams

Whilst I am constantly jotting down notes filled with ideas for businesses and money making methods I currently only have one. I am a freelancer specialising in architectural drawing and I work from home. I make anywhere from £500 to £2000 on average per month at the moment. This fluctuates regularly due to the nature of the work.

Beyond this, I spend small amounts of time using platforms such as Prolific Academic. This method earns me a small amount each month and it is great for a small extra boost to my monthly total! You can read about prolific academic in more depth here.

A further income stream I am very keen to explore through this blog is passive income. This is an avenue I have briefly explored in the past and I would love to give it more time and consideration. The key point is that I need to diversify my income by finding further ways to make money.

Methods of Saving

Due to my terrible spending habits I do not currently have a routine for saving money, nor any goals for that matter. This needs to change and I will be working on this from day one.

If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them!

debt payment progress - the starting point

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hello!

Hello!

I’m Emma and I have debt.

Seems sensible to just get to the point. This truth hurts for me so why tip toe around it?

After avidly following several personal finance blogs and Instagram accounts for a couple of months now I thought it was about time I made my own contributions to the #debtfreecommunity. The support I have seen exchanged amongst those openly battling their finances amazes me. I’m really looking forward to becoming a part of it all.

I have a challenge ahead of me and so I want to use this platform to share my progress and the methods of money making and money saving that I use to chip away at the total.

I aim to be as open and honest as possible, good days and bad, so that anyone in a similar situation to mine might find some comfort in my posts and perhaps even some guidance as I work my way through my debt. It sucks to be in this position, but I know it’s not the end of the world. If I work hard I can be clear of it soon.

You’ll be able to follow along with my story on Instagram too, find me under the name @mydebtdiary

Say hello in the comments, I’m so glad you decided to drop by!