Hello everyone, Happy New Year!
It’s been a few weeks since my last post… I’m sorry for the lack of content lately – the hubby and I spent Christmas visiting various family members and we had a lovely time away from work and the daily grind.
However, most of my family still don’t know about the blog so it was pretty hard to get some time away to write a post!
Anyway, I’m back now and my usual posting schedule will resume! (That’s Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays). 🙂
How was your Christmas? Ours was pretty good, quite low key and peaceful. For the first time in many years, we actually had a little spare cash in our bank account at the end of December instead of going well into our overdraft. We have been really careful with spending and managed to save money here and there on pressies for the family and we’re really pleased with how December turned out.
Our daughter had a lovely time this Christmas which was the main priority for us. We couldn’t spend a fortune on her of course but she had a brilliant time all the same. We built up the whole Santa thing so much that our daughter was too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve! We left mince pies out for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph of course. Our little girl found a sack full of pressies to open on Christmas day from all the family so she probably did get a little spoiled.
Recap on 2013
It’s been almost a year since I started this blog and looking back, this was a major milestone in our journey to debt freedom. In the beginning, I used this blog to document the scary early days of facing up to our debt and as time went on, I used it to capture quite a few momentous occasions where we paid off a heap of debt here and there. I feel like this blog has been a real help to me in keeping on track and motivated.
Without this blog, I doubt I would have found the wonderful personal finance community out there who has inspired me to keep going when times have been pretty low. There are so many blogs out there that I read regularly and really appreciate but I just wanted to mention the owners of Girl Meets Debt, Debt Advice Blog, Done By Forty, The Joy of Simple, Girl Counting Pennies, The Frugal Farmer, The Heavy Purse, Student Debt Survivor, Canadian Budget Binder, Monster Piggy Bank, Journey to Saving, Money Bulldog and Lisa Vs the Loans.
Each one of these blogs has provided real motivation and help for me during the last year for various reasons. Both the hubby and I feel like we’re not on a sinking ship anymore in this mission to become debt free and this is largely down to the support and advice that we’ve found out there. So thanks blogger buddies! If you don’t already read these blogs, head on over and check them out.
It’s a wonderful feeling now looking back on last year and seeing the progress we’ve made. In January 2013, we were in deep trouble (and had been for years), owing a whopping £41K to our creditors. At the end of 2013, we owe just over £33K, so we’ve made huge progress although we have a long way to go.
These last couple of months, I’ve been feeling less stressed than I have done in years and part of this is down to having control over our finances. We’ve got ourselves a budget that works and living frugally has now become the norm. I actually don’t like spending money now. I’d rather save it for extra debt repayments – funny how things can change so much! I use a detailed spreadsheet to track my spending, so even with a lot of debt still to pay off, I can sleep a little easier at night knowing that we’ve got a hold on our situation at last.
I’ll be doing a post about our latest debt repayment figures plus our financial goals for 2014 on Wednesday, so hope to see you then. In the meantime, have a great week!
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*Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net – Fireworks by satit_srihin
21 Comments
Happy New Year Hayley! I am SO happy you are back my friend! 🙂 It sounds like you and your family, especially your daughter had an awesome holidays! I’ve never heard of leaving out a carrot for Rudolph before though hehe. 2013 was great for both of us in terms of debt repayment but I have a feeling 2014 is going to be even better!
Girl Meets Debt recently posted…My 2014 Debt Repayment Plan
Thanks GMD! I’m so glad to be back too! Happy New Year to you – I hope you and J had a lovely Christmas? Wishing you both a prosperous 2014. Rudolph has to have a carrot otherwise he’ll be far too tired to carry on his journey to all the other children’s houses. That’s what I told my little girl anyway. I may well have been more excited than she was!
Happy New Year, darling! It’s great to have you back, the blogosphere has not been the same without you! I am so proud of you for making such a huge dent in your debt, I think you will be debt free sooner than you think! Keep up the good work in 2014! 😛 xo
Eva @ Girl Counting Pennies recently posted…2013: Debt Repayment Update
Happy New Year Eva! I’m glad to be back, missed blogging more than I thought I would! Likewise – you’ve done amazing;y well with your debt repayment in 2013 – and without giving up travelling which is something you’re really passionate about. I’m rooting for you to pay off your debt by end 2014 – will be keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Happy New Year, glad to see you back! It’s wonderful you’ve been feeling less stressed and that you had a bit of cash at the end of the month. I’m sure it’s a sign that 2014 will be great for you and your family.
E.M. recently posted…What’s Your Spending Threshold?
Thanks E.M! All the best to you for 2014 – hope it’s brings all that you wish for.
Best of luck in 2014 and thanks for the mention Hayley.
I remember when I first started telling people about my blog, I didn’t want to, but someone found it doing a Google search for something I was ranking pretty high for and saw my Google+ image next to the search result. So from there I was outed, but it has worked out pretty well – i’m fairly sure no one even reads it anymore as none of my family are all that interested in PF and they don’t really think of paying off debt is that big of a deal – more fool them!
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted…Saving Money an Extra Dollar at a Time
Thanks Glen and you’re welcome. 🙂 I’ll probably tell my family at some point but I’d rather wait until our debt is a little lower than it is currently. That way they won’t be quite so horrified! Hey – great that someone you knew found you in Google’s searches… I must work harder on my rankings!
Hayley, thanks so much for including the blog in your list there. I’m really glad we’re blogging buddies, too!
Great progress on the debt in 2013 and I have a feeling 2014 will be even better. Cheers, and happy new year!
Done by Forty recently posted…What’s it Like in America?
Thanks DB40! Happy New Year to you and Mrs DB40!
Thanks for the mention, Hayley! I’m glad we connected the past year and I really enjoy your blog too. 🙂 Sounds like your daughter had a wonderful Christmas AND you came under budget too. Fantastic! It always make me smile when I see/hear/read people share how they now get so excited to put extra money towards their debt. Woo-hoo! You’ve made a huge change in your lives and I know 2014 will be another great year for you!
Shannon @ The Heavy Purse recently posted…4 Smart Financial Moves to Start the New Year
You’re welcome Shannon! I’m so glad we connected too. Your advice on how to educate children about finances is really helpful and I’ll definitely be coming back for more as my little girl grows! Thanks so much for your support as always Shannon.
Happy New Year! Hope it is even better than the year before! You’ve made such great progress on the debt. I haven’t really told anyone about my blog either…part of me wants to, but I don’t really want to know some of the things I share either.
Andrew@LivingRichCHeaply recently posted…Shamed For My Frugality
Thanks Andrew! All the best to you for 2014 too. I think of my blog very much like my personal diary – it’d be like wearing my heart on my sleeve for all my loved ones to see. I’m sure one day I’ll be ready for that… but not just yet!
Welcome back~
I’m the same way that no one in my life other than my hubby knows I blog and I’d like to keep it that way.
Hope you have even a better year this year.
Michelle’s Finance Journal recently posted…Tying Lose Ends
Thanks Michelle! Likewise – hope 2014 brings you everything you wish for. 🙂
Glad to see you back! I kept checking in and getting a little disappointed, thinking you had disappeared like many blogs do – thankfully that is not the case. 🙂
Only my fiancé know about my blog, so I definitely know about that issue. Happy New Year – can’t wait to see some new posts! 🙂
Alicia recently posted…Easing Back Into Routine.
I’m so pleased you checked back here Alicia – I’m definitely not going anywhere and was hoping that I wouldn’t lose too many readers. I could have done with a staff writer to cover my break away during December but I can’t really splash out any cash in this area just yet! Happy New Year to you too and look forward to catching up with your blog.
Hi Hayley and welcome home 🙂
Glad to read that your holiday was spent with family and that your little one got spoiled. They’re only young once so why not!!
Also, thank you so much for including me in your list of regular blog reads 🙂 It is greatly appreciated as is your blog to me! Actually, I too felt a little like Alicia did, but figured, actually hoping, that you were having too good of a time to stop and post. Seems like I was right 🙂
Well, now that you are back, I’ll be dropping by per your posting schedule and looking forward to seeing how much you ROCK through 2014!
Take care and Happy New Year to you and yours.
All the best.
Lyle
lyle @ the Joy of Simple recently posted…2014 – Time To “Git ‘er Done!”
Hayley, I’m so glad to hear you had a wonderful Christmas season! Thank you so much for the shout out – you are one of my favorite bloggers to follow, perhaps because we are both on that tough road of debt repayment together. Can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store for us!
Lisa E. @ Lisa Vs. The Loans recently posted…14 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2014
You’re welcome Lisa. I’m honoured that I make your reading list too! Here’s to a successful year in 2014 for us both! 🙂