My Debt Diary

My Money Goals for February 2019

After losing track of my goals in December and forgetting to set any altogether in January I am so happy to be back and bringing some focus and intention to the coming month. With tax payments and the expense of Christmas long gone it is time to focus on my second credit card and clear it as soon as possible. Here are my goals for February 2019.

You can read my goals for December 2018 here.

My goals for February 2019:

Increase income by £500 per month.

Over the winter months my work load always drops dramatically, so much so that you’re probably sick of hearing about it by now. Whilst it is an expected dip I’d rather fill my hours a little more if possible. Instead of relying on side hustles only for this I’m making the effort to increase the number of freelance clients that I work with on a regular basis.

It is always difficult to determine how much work a new client will bring and I am very familiar with the promise of lots of incoming projects only to be left disappointed. At the same time, I don’t want to take on too many new clients at the same time and then completely overwhelm myself. Ideally, all going well, I’ll be able to do enough to add around £500 to my monthly income. I’ll keep you posted on this!

Begin a sinking fund for the Spring.

There are birthdays and weddings galore this spring and I am going to be spending a lot of money. I will be able to keep my spending to a minimum in some areas, by gifting my help to a friend for her wedding instead of giving money, however for most of it I will just have to bite the bullet.

I’ve estimated that I will need around £600 to cover everything that is going on so I’m going to be putting about £50 aside each week. Now you can see why I want to increase my income so much! It will be a lot of work, but it will stop me panic spending in the moment and will avoid any credit card related disasters. Saving so much each week is worth it when the only other option is to go further into debt!

Make an additional £200 payment to my credit card.

As I mentioned before, my credit card is the next item in my debt snowball and I am determined to get rid of it as soon as possible. It’s been hanging over my head for so blooming long now I’d like it paid off and out of my life. Of course that’s how I feel about all of my debt, but you know what I mean.

As £200 isn’t a huge amount I’m going to do my best to side hustle this amount. Between taking surveys (if you’re new to surveys use prolific academic, they’re by far the best), decluttering more items for Ebay and a few other things it might just be possible if I get my head down.

Allow myself a treat.

If you’ve been following my journey for a while you will know that all of my goals always focus on paying off debt and saving money as quickly as possible. The ones above demonstrate that by themselves. Well my final goal is shaking that up a bit. I’d like to set aside some money for a treat for myself. Nothing big. Just something that brings me joy and helps keep me motivated when my spending is normally so tight.

My original intention was to get myself some flowers however I found an awesome deal and got some free. (I posted about it here on Instagram if you fancy a nosey). Instead I have considered taking myself to a really nice cafe or hotel for some lunch. Feet up, read a book and just enjoy a really tasty meal. That would be an awesome treat!

 

Have you set yourself some goals for the month? Let me know in the comments!

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My Goals for December 2018

December is here, the final month of the year and my favourite thanks to Christmas, far too much chocolate and lots of time spent with friends and family. It scares me to realise how quickly time is passing and so I continue to set myself targets, both financial and personal, to help me maintain focus as the days flash by. Here are my goals for December 2018.

You can read my goals for November 2018 here.

My goals for December 2018:

 

Earn another £100 of side income.

Last month I set myself the goal to make an additional £200 of side income. I was on an absolute mission and after getting stuck into surveys on Prolific Academic and selling some personal items on Ebay I smashed that goal. December is set up to be a busy month with lots of plans for Christmas and so I’ve set myself a lower goal of £100 to suit the free time I will have.

For some, £100 will not be a lot of money. For me, it will mean covering the cost of two dinners. I am very lucky to have two close groups of friends who I make a point of seeing every year. This does mean however, that I have two expensive nights of dinner and drinks to pay for. This extra £100 will cover these and allow me to focus my lower income on my bills. If you’ve been a reader for a while you will know how important this is to me in order to have a debt free Christmas.

Keep spending to a minimum.

This goal might seem like a bit of a cheat as I don’t have to do anything as such, however December is always such an expensive month for me and as such I’m making it my goal to only spend on necessities. I don’t need any more decorations or clothes for nights out. Our kitchen cupboards are always well stocked without all of the extra Christmas themed treats. The gifts I have chosen for everyone are enough and I don’t need to keep adding to them just for the sake of it.

I don’t mean to be a Scrooge of course. Christmas is my favourite time of year and I will enjoy every ounce of it. My celebrations will just be more budget friendly than usual.

Make an additional £100 payment to my credit card.

If you read the results of my goals last month you will know that debt payments were very low. My work load has dropped quite a bit, which it always does over the winter months, and so I don’t have as much income left over to pay towards my debt total. Never the less I want to continue to make some progress on my credit card debt.

To keep things manageable I’m setting myself a goal of £100. It’s small but pushes my debt total down which is what matters. The smaller my total is the less interest I have to pay too!

Make my tax payment.

Over the last couple of months I have been working hard to save up my tax payment which is due in January. Lesson learnt, starting January I will put the money away with each invoice that comes in instead of leaving it to the last minute! Now that I have saved what I am due it’s time to make the payment.

Tax returns are stereotypically tedious so I am setting this as a goal to ensure that I don’t put it off. Ideally I’ll set aside some time this week to get it sorted out, but worst case I know I need it completed by the end of December. As much as I hate the process it will be a big weight off of my shoulders going into the new year.

 

Have you set yourself some goals for the month? Let me know in the comments!

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Did I Achieve My Goals for November 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. So did I achieve my goals in November 2018? I feel like I could write the a very short answer here. No. No I didn’t achieve all of my goals. I have made some progress none the less.

My goals for November 2018 were as follows:

  • Boost my side income
  • Begin a sinking fund for next year
  • Clear another £500 of my second credit card
  • Finish saving my tax payment

Boost my side income.

My intention, my hope, was to make an extra £200 this month from side hustles in order to combat the lower amount of freelance work that I always get during the winter months. Well I am pleased to say that on the 24th I smashed this goal and I am still adding to it. Considering this has been quite an unsuccessful month goals wise I am so pleased that this one has gone well.

If you have debt yourself, or you have had debt in the past, you will know the stress of limited funds at Christmas. This £200, although it is not a huge amount of money, will cover my Christmas shopping and ensure that I can still pay my bills without even having to think about using my credit card. That is priceless. Both Ebay and Prolific Academic have played big roles in my success with this goal. I highly recommend both if you’re trying to boost your income!

Begin a sinking fund for next year.

With the help of my extra income total, I have also been able to add a small amount of money to my savings in preparation for next year. With our wedding, honeymoon, my hen do, a friend’s wedding and hen do, two big birthdays and many other things along the way I’m sure, there will be a lot to pay for.

Saving a small amount of money each month now is going to make such a difference to my debt progress and my bank balance. It also ensures that I won’t be panicking and scraping together money at the last minute. So far I have put away £50 which is a good start.

Clear another £500 of my second credit card.

Unfortunately I was nowhere near reaching this goal in November. In fact, I was only able to pay £100 towards my credit card this month. I’m definitely disappointed as I was hoping to clear the majority of my card before the new year. With £2277 still left on it, this won’t be happening.

On the plus side, I paid in more than the minimum amount and I was able to make the payments towards both of my loans comfortably too. This is a world away from the way I handled my finances when I began my debt free journey. At that time I was scraping together the pennies and pounds and in a constant state of panic. That difference alone is something to celebrate!

Finish saving my tax payment.

It hasn’t been possible for me to complete my tax payment goal either. My earnings just weren’t high enough. Thankfully I have been able to add a small amount to savings and don’t have too much further to go now. Another £250 in the pot and I’ll be ready to process my tax return, so this will be the focus of December. Once that’s completed I’m sure I’ll feel a big weight lifted as of course there is a deadline. Then I can return my attention fully to my debt free journey.

 

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

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My goals update for November 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!

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My goals for November 2018

We are now in November and it is time to set some goals for the new month. This is the bit I get excited about. I love making plans and writing lists. It always gets me motivated to get a move on and take action. Here are my goals for November 2018.

Charlotte from CharlotteMusha and myself will be hosting a monthly linky for you to share your goals. You can find all of the information at the bottom of this post. We’d love to have you join in through your blog or via Instagram!

 

You can read my goals for October 2018 here.

My goals for November 2018:

 

Boost my side income.

In the past I have been able to make a good amount of money on the side of my usual freelance income, however as work has become busier my side hustle efforts have been slacking. You’ve heard me talk many times before about Prolific Academic surveys, which I still do occasionally but could definitely be earning more from. I also have a pile of Ebay ready items sitting in the spare room that I could have listed very quickly if I could only get round to it. They’ll be going on this month too.

I want to be quite specific with this goal, so I’ve decided to set the bar at £200. This is the minimum amount of “extra” money I want to earn in November and it will all be going straight towards debt.

Begin a sinking fund for next year.

My wedding isn’t something I’ve spoken about too much on the blog but it is coming round quickly and I need to pay attention to it. In May next year we are getting married. The month before I have my hen do and the month after is my honeymoon. A close friend is also getting married the month before us. On top of this it’s my better half’s 30th birthday. That is a lot of potentially expensive events.

The wedding itself is covered and we have saved (almost) in full for our honeymoon, so neither of those are a concern. Everything else however, could potentially cost a small fortune. In order to prepare for all of the expenses and ensure I don’t end up going backwards with my debt payments I’m going to make a plan, set up a budget and start a sinking fund for all of it.

Clear another £500 of my second credit card.

This goal is a repetitive one but it’s also really important to me. I’m working on paying off my last credit card at the moment and I would looooove to clear it by Christmas. This might be a stretch for me, but putting £500 towards it in November will help to clear a large chunk of it.

As I’m trying to make more money this month from side hustles this should ideally come together quite quickly. As the year is disappearing I am feeling more motivated to push harder towards becoming debt free. Hitting another £500 milestone will only help this. Anything else on top is a huge bonus!

Finish saving my tax payment.

Last month I set myself the goal to save half of my tax payment in preparation for the deadline at the end of January 2019. Well I smashed it and want to do the same again this month. Having the full amount ready to go will allow me to complete my tax return long before Christmas and it means I can relax knowing that it is sorted for another year. It also means that if there are any discrepancies or I’ve miss calculated anything I have a further two months to sort it out!

 

 

Monthly Goals (and updates) Linky

Do you have any goals for the month? Join in with our monthly linky and share your goals for this month!


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Did I achieve my goals for October 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 October 2018?

My goals for October 2018 were as follows:

  • Buy all of my Christmas presents
  • Continue with “no spend days”
  • Clear £500 of my second credit card
  • Save half of my tax payment

Buy all my Christmas gifts.

So I have definitely not achieved this goal. There’s no other way to put it. I have plans for most of the gifts I want to buy and some are ready to click purchase, but I haven’t got round to buying anything yet. Thankfully a couple of invoices will be getting sent tomorrow which means my bank account will be looking healthier and reviewing my goals today has given me the kick I needed to just get on with it. Christmas shopping should be done in a week or so!

Continue with “no spend days”.

Having smashed through my goal of 20 no spend days last month I really wanted to try this again. Despite a week away in Yorkshire, a wedding, lunch with friends and several other things I have managed to do this again. As of now I think I will make tracking no spend days the norm. It really helps to make me more conscious of my spending and has stopped me making unnecessary purchases on several occasions. If you haven’t tried no spend days before I highly recommend giving them a go!

Clear £500 of my second credit card.

I got off to a great start with this goal at the beginning of the month, paying £200 towards my credit card on the 1st. When I did my goal catch up on the 17th I had added a further £100 to that. As of today I haven’t been able to contribute any more money to my goal, however as I mentions earlier I am sending out several invoices this week and so I should be able to reach my target of £500 by the 31st. That will leave me with just over £2000 to pay on my second and final credit card. It might be a bit of a push but I would be absolutely delighted to clear this completely by New Year’s Eve. Let’s see what happens!

Save half of my tax payment.

With just three full months until my tax payment for the year is due, I really wanted to focus on preparing for it in October. I am so glad I did. As of today I have managed to save £450 towards my payment and as invoices are paid over the coming days and weeks I will be able to set aside a lot more.

This time last year, this would not have been possible. My finances were out of control and I found it impossible to find focus with regards to making payments and saving money. I would have been in a state of panic. Now I’m calm. I know I will be able to afford the payment and I will also begin to prepare for next year as soon as it is paid, ensuring I am more organised for the 2019 deadline. What a difference!

 

While the month of October started out really well for me, I definitely feel like the last week or so has vanished. If you read my five frugal things post you will know that I was away on a trip with my family for five days and in my relaxed, enjoying slow life and time with the kids haze I sort of forgot about real life for a bit. All this considered, I’m not disappointed with my progress and I’m really excited to attack some new goals in November.

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

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My goals update for October 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!

 

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My Goals for October 2018

We are now in October and it is time to set some goals for the new month. This is the bit I get excited about. I love making plans and writing lists. It always gets me motivated to get a move on and take action. Here are my goals for October 2018.

Charlotte from CharlotteMusha and myself will be hosting a monthly linky for you to share your goals. You can find all of the information at the bottom of this post. We’d love to have you join in through your blog or via Instagram!

 

You can read my goals for September 2018 here.

My goals for October 2018:

 

Buy all my Christmas gifts.

This might sound like a strange goal. I’m planning to spend money! My thinking is, if I sort out all of my Christmas presents in October this will help me to spread the cost of the festive season. Gifts are just one of the many things we need to fork out for in December with food, drink, nights out and decorations all costing a lot of money.

In the past Christmas has crept up on me and I have been left very strapped for cash moving into the new year. This year I am preparing so that credit cards and savings are left untouched and I can enjoy a debt free Christmas. As I know exactly who I need to buy for I can plan and buy everything I need now and store them away ready for the big day.

Continue with “no spend days”.

Last month I set myself the task of having 20 no spend days. If you read this post at the end of September you will know that I succeeded. Not only that, but I noticed a huge difference in my spending habits as a result. Making a note of my expenses each day helped me to become more aware of where all those small amounts of money were going. On more than one occasion I even decided against a purchase in order to achieve a no spend day.

This month, I’m setting myself the same goal. 20 no spend days in October. I’m going to be out a lot this month doing things like pumpkin picking and Christmas shopping so this could be tricky. The positive impact it has on my spending is absolutely worth it though and I’m excited to see how I do!

Clear £500 of my second credit card.

Just over a week ago I paid the final balance on my first credit card and said goodbye to it for good. I cannot describe to you just how incredible that felt! Naturally I am now on a mission to clear my second and final credit card as quickly as possible.

As I have explained previously, my income is irregular. It is never possible for me to determine exactly how much I will earn in any one month. Based on previous months however, I think this huge goal might be just about possible. My minimum payments for my loans total £347. This £500 will be on top of that. I have my work cut out, but I’m excited to see what I can manage.

Save half of my tax payment.

As I am self-employed I need to complete my own tax return. This year I have been so focused on my debt payments and emergency fund that I have completely forgot to set money aside for tax. Not a clever move!

Thankfully I still have a couple of months to prepare. In October I would like to try and set aside half of the total I need. I’m expecting December to be a slow month, and November could be too, so I would like to save the majority now. Of course next year I will be far more prepared. I will begin setting aside the right amount of tax from day one. There is no need for extra money stress, especially when self inflicted!

 

 

Monthly Goals (and updates) Linky

Do you have any goals for the month? Join in with our monthly linky and share your goals for this month!


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Did I achieve my goals in September 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!

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Small goals are helping me to pay off my debt

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!

 

small goals are helping me to pay off my debt - pinterest