debt payment progress report

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 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.

Debt Payment Progress Report 11 – 07/12/18

December 7, 2018

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of December 7th 2018 my new debt total is £14,620.03 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that in the last couple of weeks I have paid off £250.53. My new total debt payment to date is now £2194.26, which I have calculated to equate to 13% 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 £6561.46
Loan Two £5805.21
Credit Card One £0
Credit Card Two £2253.36

Whilst work has continued to be slow, working hard on my side hustles has really helped me to get through the past couple of weeks and ensure I can cover all of my minimum payments plus a little bit extra. I’m not bounding forward with my debt free journey at the moment but my total is still going down and that’s what matters.

Ebay and Prolific Academic were my biggest earners throughout November and are continuing to help me this month. I managed to hit my goal of making an extra £200 by the 28th, plus a little more. I’m definitely going to be continuing my efforts to make sure Christmas is comfortable. Yes I love this festive season, but I refuse to move backwards for the sake of one or two good nights out and a pile of gifts.

I’m also starting to prepare for the new year, getting my tax return out of the way and readying myself for the busy return to work after some time off over Christmas. January is often one of my busiest months and so being prepared ahead of time with things like my blog will free up as much time as possible for me to earn a bigger income and dig further into my debt total.

You can find my previous reports here.

Debt Payment Progress Report 8 – 19/10/18

October 19, 2018

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of October 19th 2018 my new debt total is £15,020.18 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that in the last two weeks I have paid off £208.72. My new total debt payment to date is now £1794.11, which I have calculated to equate to 10.6% 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 £6883.18
Loan Two £5759.59
Credit Card One £0 (still makes me so happy!)
Credit Card Two £2377.41

As the weeks go by I can really feel my debt payments picking up speed. Not only have I been busier with work but as my debt total goes down my interest payments go down with it, making it easier to battle each month. It feels like yesterday that I was crossing the £16k mark and paying off my first £1000 so to be inches away from reaching £15k feels incredible.

I’ve noticed a change in myself as well as I’ve been making this progress. Firstly, mood has lifted a great deal. Being able to cover all of my payments without stress (thanks to my budget) has removed all money related stress. Of course my emergency fund helps a great deal too!

My spending habits have improved too. Whilst in the past I wouldn’t have thought twice about picking something up in the shops that was “just a tenner”, I question every purchase now and as a result I am spending a lot less. No spend days are helping this a lot too of course. You can read about these in my goals for the month if you’re not sure what they are.

When I first started my debt free journey I wasn’t too sure where to find this momentum that everyone was talking about. I didn’t get the “excitement” of paying off debt that everyone in the debt free community kept talking about. It’s debt for goodness sake, how can you be excited?!

I get it now. I’m driven with momentum and the excitement of becoming debt free and it feels wonderful!

You can find my previous reports here.

Debt Payment Progress Report 7 – 05/10/18

October 5, 2018

Debt payment progress report – my new total!

As of October 5th 2018 my new debt total is £15,228.90 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

That means that in the last two weeks I have paid off £471.30. My new total debt payment to date is now £1585.39, which I have calculated to equate to 9.4% 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 £6883.18
Loan Two £5922.72
Credit Card One £0 (hehe, I’m so excited to be able to type this!!)
Credit Card Two £2423.00

I’m so so happy with the progress I have made over the last two weeks! Not only am I inches away from paying off my first 10% but as my balances go down I can see the amount of interest I pay each month dropping too. Of course, the lower the interest I’m paying, the more momentum I will build and the faster I will pay off my debt.

This is why I am doing this. This is why I am recording my journey. Even the tiniest amount towards your debt can make an incredible difference in the long run. If you are currently facing a pile of debt and you don’t know if you can handle it please do click on my Starting Point post linked below and read through my progress so far. There have been weeks when I have only been able to scrape together the minimum payments, but even those have helped me to progress.

One of my greatest achievements over the last two weeks was paying off my first credit card. I cannot describe to you how good that felt. I have spoken before about setting small goals. Begin with your smallest debt. Work as hard as you can to pay it off and let yourself experience the sheer joy of closing that account!

I’m just getting started!

You can find my previous reports here.

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.

Debt Payment Progress Report 4

August 17, 2018

Every two weeks I will be sharing my debt payment progress report with you. I’ll share my new debt total and all of the things I have done to make this happen. I think this is important for two reasons. It will help me record my journey and share with you what works and what doesn’t. It will also help me to stay motivated!

My new total!

As of August 17th 2018 my new debt total is £16,095.85 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

In the last two weeks I have paid off £147.75. It’s smaller progress than last week but look how close I am to getting under £16k! I will absolutely smash through that in the next two weeks. That makes me so happy.

(I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest. This is why the numbers below are larger than the net amount that I have paid off. I have also been putting money into an emergency fund.)

My new total debt payment to date is now £718.44, which I have calculated to equate to 4.2% of my debt total.

If you read Wednesday’s post you will know that I completed my emergency fund. That means two amazing things. Firstly, I am now officially in baby step 2. Secondly, all of my budget (following bills, expenses etc) will now be directed at my debt. The debt snowball is well and truly underway. I’m excited to see my progress in another two weeks!

You can find my previous reports here:

Debt Payment Progress Report 1 – 06/07/18

July 6, 2018

My new total!

As of July 6th 2018 my new debt total is £16,662.42

That means I have made less than 1% progress so far. It is a tiny amount. A total of £151.87 in two weeks. But it is a step in the right direction! (I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest, which is why the numbers below are larger than the net amount that I have paid off)

How have I made this progress?

As I am in the early stages of paying off debt I only use a handful of money making and money saving methods at the moment. Here are the ones I have used this past fortnight:

freelance work – £150
prolific academic – £38.95
ebay sales – £48

Of course my main income method has been freelancing. (I’ll talk about this more in a future post) I have to say though, this month has been incredibly quiet and my income has been far lower than normal. It makes me happy that I’ve been able to pay off so much, given the low income!

Prolific Academic is another income method that I have been using for a short while now and I love it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Prolific Academic is a survey site that offers a good variety of well paid, interesting surveys.

The best bit in my opinion, is that they never chuck you out mid survey, which often happens on other sites and can be so frustrating. You have to go through so so many prescreening questions at first, but push through. This makes sure they send can you relevant surveys. The more questions you answer, the more surveys you’ll receive.

Some days ten surveys pop up, other days I’ll be lucky to have one. The key I’ve found is to keep the page open in a tab when I’m working and check on it every hour. I made £25 in one day last week alone!

I have a referral code if you fancy trying it out: click here. I receive a small kick amount of commission from your first withdrawal with no extra cost to you if you decide to use the link, thank you!

Reflections for the next two weeks

As you can see, my income making methods are few and far between at the moment. My goal for the next fortnight is to expand on these using new apps and websites so I’ll let you know how I get on. I’m also looking into new methods of saving money where I can. If you have any recommendations, do comment them below!

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