A year without lattes - October

3 months and my debt is now 8,926 usd.

I have continued to bring lunch to work, and I have completely skipped the lattes. But I still find it difficult to say NO to social events, so again I went out to dinner couple of times. This month I didn't buy any books or any clothes but I did buy couple of gifts for friends' birthdays.

According to the app on my phone "Debt Strategy," my expected debt free date has moved forward to April 2016;) Some days I can really be furious with myself for getting into this mess. But what's done is done. And it is time to move forward and learn from my mistakes.

a year without lattes - September

It has been 2 months since I made the decision to get out of debt by July 2014. My debt is now down to 9,343 usd from 10,000.

I have been successful in cutting out the lattes and the lunches at work (I bring my own now from home). This alone should save me around 300 usd per month. I have also changed my mobile phone plan, so I now pay 10 usd per month instead of 40. And finally I decided to cut out one of the two charities I have been making monthly payments to (about 20 usd per month). All together this should make it possible for me to pay at least 350 usd towards my debt every month.

Although I have cut out most of the non-essentials, I have had my weak moments. I did buy two kindle books AND I have been out to dinner with friends a couple of times. I had already planned these dinners before I started this project, and I did buy the cheapest thing on the menu, but still....dinners can be expensive and those dollars count.

I also downloaded an app on my phone called "Debt Strategy" to help me keep track of my debts. According to the app I will pay off my debt by December 2016! This takes into account my monthly payments, but not the extra income that I anticipate in the beginning of 2014. While this date scares me, it is also nice to have this as a reference point. And it will be my goal to move this date forward each month, by paying as much extra as I can. Before I started my "year without lattes" my debt had almost stayed the same for about 3 years, so without this effort my debt free date would probably be close to NEVER. But now I am determined to become free asap.

a year without lattes?

I love my lattes. And I love going to nice cafes, alone, with a book, newspaper or a magazine. On the other hand, I hate my credit card debt, which is almost 10,000 usd.

My bank is a bit like a leaky bucket. I put something in, and without spending anything the money is very soon gone. I am not blaming my debt entirely on the lattes, but they definitely contribute to this "leaky bucket" situation.

So, can I give my dear lattes up for a year?
And can I get rid of 10,000 usd debt (+ interests) within that year?

some fuzzy math.

I mostly got into this financial mess on my own, and I want to get rid of it on my own. I.e. I don't want the household budget to suffer for it. I also think it is healthy and necessary for me to take responsibility for getting myself into this trouble. While my husband and I mostly have joint finances, we have always kept some of our salary in our personal accounts. At this point, each of us keeps around 450 usd as our personal spending money each month. I use this money to buy the lattes, for food at work, train tickets, clothes, mobile phone, to pay the minimum on my credit card, and then some other miscellaneous things. As it is, this money is always gone before the end of the month.

Now, if I skip everything except the essentials, such as the train and the mobile phone, I should be able to use about 350 usd to pay down my debt each month. This requires no lattes, no clothes, no cinema tickets, and bringing my own lunch to work every day. This should give me about 4200 within the year. So not quite enough to wipe out the 10,000.

As I got inspired to get rid of this consumer debt asap I asked whether I could get some extra projects at work...and it looks like I will have some projects in the spring, that will pay about 4,500 usd.

So with no frivolous spending for a whole year, and by doing some extra work, I am almost there, but still missing some.

I need to figure out how to get these extra dollars, and will keep my eyes (and mind) open for opportunities to save, or earn, an extra buck. But I am determined that by 1st of July 2014, my consumer debt will be zero.