What Went Wrong and What I Will Change

2 months ago I shared my debt of almost $60,000 and my plan to clear it. Last month I managed to clear just over $10,000.

This month, instead of sticking to my plan, I failed!

To recap, my debts included:
$44,014.72 Personal loan (medical and a car)
$5,600 Personal loan
$1,500 Zip
$1,300 Loan from a friend they need back within 3 weeks
$723 AfterPay
$67 x 8 a course with 8 weekly payments left
$6,300 Expenses in the next 3 weeks that I had not budgeted for, so I am viewing them as a debt too.

How I Failed

Instead of following the debt snowball method, I went, woohoo! Debts are GONE, let’s celebrate.

I covered all my little debts, closed the accounts, paid for the big things I needed and realised I only had the large personal loan left.

So I celebrated.

All those small things I put off buying such as new bras, a few things for the home, some plants, books, toys the kids wanted, I got.

Nothing went on debt again so those accounts are still closed. But I felt sick when I realised how much I spent.

$2,257 on “stuff”. Ok, the bras were definitely needed as I had changed size, mine were old, ripped, lost elastic, you get the idea.

The things for the home will save us money long term and those toys were promised months ago when we finished the small debts.

My Emergency Fund

The goal this past month was to build the emergency fund more than clear debt and I managed to get $1,000 stashed away.

This needs to increase quickly this month and then all my energy will go on the personal loan.

Check out the $100 bonus off from ING to get your emergency fund started.

What Worked

Aside from blowing a bunch of the money on stuff again, a habit I truly want to break, I did ok.

Testing some of the side hustles on this site helped me secure a bit of extra cash such as online surveys with Octopus Group and selling things.

I did some babysitting which isn’t something I do often. Occasionally, I will for a few select families near me as the pay is decent and these kids are awesome.

The things I bought were purchased on sale with loyalty programs, some had discount vouchers and some had reward gift cards I could cash in.

If I paid full price it would have been double.

We tested EveryPlate and Marley Spoon with their discounted meal kits to save time and money. EveryPlate is cheaper and has up to $200 off, Marley Spoon had a bit more variety and up to $230 off.