Goodness I cant believe how quickly this year has gone!
We have a week long trip to Singapore coming up in a few weeks, and once we are back from there we will be getting stuck back into the financial fasting big time.
We have gotten our personal loan down to $25,836.88 which is great, but the credit card has been getting a bit of a flogging and I may have to remove our credit cards from our purses so they dont get used like they have been. The credit card is up to $5,079.94 with a limit of $6k.
This has been a big year as far as changes and progressing. With a bit of planning and self control 2014 looks like it might be a great one.
First job is to pay off the credit card then get stuck back into the personal loan while still making minimum payments on our mortgage eek.
Saturday, 28 December 2013
Monday, 27 May 2013
The journey continues
Its been awhile since my last update.
Since we started this financial fast the stats look like this
Credit card: Was - $3,659.84 Now - $0.00 = Paid off $3,659.84
Personal loan: Was - $36,927.63 Now - $33,000 = Paid off $3,927.63
Total paid off in 3 months $7,587.47
Thats not a bad effort really considering we have had a few big spends crop up (rego/insurance/car repair/fines/etc).
Ive just worked out that if we keep going with what we are doing then we will be debt free in about 19 months.
I was really hoping that we would get almost completely debt free by the 12mth mark, but that wont happen. We will be a whole lot closer to debt free than we are now, so that is something.
We have relaxed the rules a bit since the credit card got paid off. Some meals have been bought, some movies have been seen.
Maybe if we had a proper fast for 2 months then relaxed a bit for the 3rd we would do better money wise? Its bloody hard work to keep your head in the game the entire time.
Something to ponder.
Since we started this financial fast the stats look like this
Credit card: Was - $3,659.84 Now - $0.00 = Paid off $3,659.84
Personal loan: Was - $36,927.63 Now - $33,000 = Paid off $3,927.63
Total paid off in 3 months $7,587.47
Thats not a bad effort really considering we have had a few big spends crop up (rego/insurance/car repair/fines/etc).
Ive just worked out that if we keep going with what we are doing then we will be debt free in about 19 months.
I was really hoping that we would get almost completely debt free by the 12mth mark, but that wont happen. We will be a whole lot closer to debt free than we are now, so that is something.
We have relaxed the rules a bit since the credit card got paid off. Some meals have been bought, some movies have been seen.
Maybe if we had a proper fast for 2 months then relaxed a bit for the 3rd we would do better money wise? Its bloody hard work to keep your head in the game the entire time.
Something to ponder.
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Ding dong the credit cards gone!!!
Three cheers for being well on our way to debt free!!!
The last payment was made on the credit card last Thursday (11/4/13). Its lovely to see the balance of it as $4,000 credit.
So now all the free money will be going onto the personal loan.
The personal loan started out at $36,927.63 at the beginning of this financial fast. As of today the amount owing is $34,894.16.
We have paid off $2,033.47 in total over the last 3 months. Unfortunately $2,000 of that amount was paid yesterday and today.
Before the credit card was payed off, we were paying $300/month onto the credit card and $900/month onto the personal loan (what a lot of money that is!).
Now that the credit card is done we will be putting $1,200/month onto the personal loan plus my weekly contributions from my earnings (usually around $200).
If we can manage to put around $2k per month on the personal loan we should have it payed out in about 17 months....is that right? Gosh I hope not. I was hoping to be debt free in about 13 months.
Anyhoo. My point is that we are going in the right direction.
Spending has been a little looser this month. We have eaten out a few times and there have been new clothes bought.
Ive had to spend more on the boys winter school uniforms and my work clothes. Im sure I must be due to get a work uniform soon???
When Dan gets back from overseas we will need to sit down and go back through our goals so we dont flake off into spending too much again. Its so easy to slip back into the old ways.
The last payment was made on the credit card last Thursday (11/4/13). Its lovely to see the balance of it as $4,000 credit.
So now all the free money will be going onto the personal loan.
The personal loan started out at $36,927.63 at the beginning of this financial fast. As of today the amount owing is $34,894.16.
We have paid off $2,033.47 in total over the last 3 months. Unfortunately $2,000 of that amount was paid yesterday and today.
Before the credit card was payed off, we were paying $300/month onto the credit card and $900/month onto the personal loan (what a lot of money that is!).
Now that the credit card is done we will be putting $1,200/month onto the personal loan plus my weekly contributions from my earnings (usually around $200).
If we can manage to put around $2k per month on the personal loan we should have it payed out in about 17 months....is that right? Gosh I hope not. I was hoping to be debt free in about 13 months.
Anyhoo. My point is that we are going in the right direction.
Spending has been a little looser this month. We have eaten out a few times and there have been new clothes bought.
Ive had to spend more on the boys winter school uniforms and my work clothes. Im sure I must be due to get a work uniform soon???
When Dan gets back from overseas we will need to sit down and go back through our goals so we dont flake off into spending too much again. Its so easy to slip back into the old ways.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
14/3/13 - End of month totals
Ok! How did we go in the first month of this financial fast??
Personal loan started at $36,927.63 and is now $36,917.80. We paid off $900 but we got slugged with $410.97 interest urgh. Still it is down by $9.83
That doesn't really work? Ill look into that.
ETA: The starting amount I had there was before the first lot of interest came out, the second lot was $410.97. Next month it will be more clear.
We have made good progress with the credit card. It started at $3,659.84 and is now $2,513.43. We paid off $1,653.43. With interest and the internet bill coming out of it the difference is $1,146.41.
Im really happy with the rate we are paying off the credit card. The sooner we get that one gone the sooner we can start to make an actual difference to our personal loan. $410 of interest is crazy. No wonder we have hardly made a dint in the balance after all these years!
Personal loan started at $36,927.63 and is now $36,917.80. We paid off $900 but we got slugged with $410.97 interest urgh. Still it is down by $9.83
That doesn't really work? Ill look into that.
ETA: The starting amount I had there was before the first lot of interest came out, the second lot was $410.97. Next month it will be more clear.
We have made good progress with the credit card. It started at $3,659.84 and is now $2,513.43. We paid off $1,653.43. With interest and the internet bill coming out of it the difference is $1,146.41.
Im really happy with the rate we are paying off the credit card. The sooner we get that one gone the sooner we can start to make an actual difference to our personal loan. $410 of interest is crazy. No wonder we have hardly made a dint in the balance after all these years!
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
13/3/13
Based on how we are currently going, it will take us approximately 15months to become completely free of debt - give or take a month.
In some ways it feels amazing to see the light at the end of the tunnel finally, in other ways it feels like a really long time till we reach the end of this debt journey.
We have paid over a grand off the credit card this month, Ill have final amounts on the 15th when Dan gets paid.
The personal loan accrues so much monthly interest that we hardly have any downward movement at all. We wont have any significant changes in that amount until the credit card is paid off.
Dan and I were discussing what our money should be allocated to the other day.
My pay goes like this - total weekly amount - 10% (private savings account) - $200 weekly groceries = remaining amount goes onto the credit card.
Dans pay pays our bills, $900 personal loan and $300 credit card.
Before I started working there was nothing left in the account for the last week of the monthly pay cycle. Now we have about $500 left.
Dan wanted to put the left over money into a savings account, but that doesnt make sense to me at all.
Whats the point of having a savings account when we are still accruing interest on the credit card (LOTS) and a lot of interest on the personal loan?
It makes more sense to just put the left over money onto the credit card until it is paid off then onto the personal loan.
If we get stuck financially we will be able to use the credit card so its kind of like savings....well not really but its better than having money sitting in an account doing nothing while we are trying to pay off 2 large debts.
I just want this over and done with already. No mucking around.
Anyway, Dan puts some money into his ING account and I put 10% of my pay into my personal ING account. That is plenty of savings for now.
So we will be putting more money onto the credit card on the 15th and I will have final end of month totals to report then.
In some ways it feels amazing to see the light at the end of the tunnel finally, in other ways it feels like a really long time till we reach the end of this debt journey.
We have paid over a grand off the credit card this month, Ill have final amounts on the 15th when Dan gets paid.
The personal loan accrues so much monthly interest that we hardly have any downward movement at all. We wont have any significant changes in that amount until the credit card is paid off.
Dan and I were discussing what our money should be allocated to the other day.
My pay goes like this - total weekly amount - 10% (private savings account) - $200 weekly groceries = remaining amount goes onto the credit card.
Dans pay pays our bills, $900 personal loan and $300 credit card.
Before I started working there was nothing left in the account for the last week of the monthly pay cycle. Now we have about $500 left.
Dan wanted to put the left over money into a savings account, but that doesnt make sense to me at all.
Whats the point of having a savings account when we are still accruing interest on the credit card (LOTS) and a lot of interest on the personal loan?
It makes more sense to just put the left over money onto the credit card until it is paid off then onto the personal loan.
If we get stuck financially we will be able to use the credit card so its kind of like savings....well not really but its better than having money sitting in an account doing nothing while we are trying to pay off 2 large debts.
I just want this over and done with already. No mucking around.
Anyway, Dan puts some money into his ING account and I put 10% of my pay into my personal ING account. That is plenty of savings for now.
So we will be putting more money onto the credit card on the 15th and I will have final end of month totals to report then.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
6/3
Another few glitches in our plans! Dans bike got stolen - hopefully our insurance will pay for that and we will only be out of pocket $100.
And today I had the first of a few dental appointments. $615 worth of dental work today ouch.
And today I had the first of a few dental appointments. $615 worth of dental work today ouch.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
2/3/2013
Hmmm a slight hiccough happened this morning. My beautiful and only doona cover bit the dust. It seems that 3 years of weekly washing and drying took its toll. So I had to buy a new one.
I dont love the new one, but it hasnt got a horrid print on it so it will do. $99 though ouch.
Restraint was shown though, I could have also splurged on a new sheet set but I decided to wait till the current sheet set also dies then I will spend the money on a really good and long lasting set made from bamboo.
The every day expenses like magazines and take away food arent too hard to resist, but its these unexpected expenses that keep cropping up like the doona cover, the car repair, and the dentist that is impacting our efforts.
Hopefully there wont be too many more of them.
I dont love the new one, but it hasnt got a horrid print on it so it will do. $99 though ouch.
Restraint was shown though, I could have also splurged on a new sheet set but I decided to wait till the current sheet set also dies then I will spend the money on a really good and long lasting set made from bamboo.
The every day expenses like magazines and take away food arent too hard to resist, but its these unexpected expenses that keep cropping up like the doona cover, the car repair, and the dentist that is impacting our efforts.
Hopefully there wont be too many more of them.
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