6 Month Update

6 months ago I was broke and struggling… I always seemed to have no money. I was barely living pay to pay, before the next pay I would spend on my credit card or be living on my overdraft (and then paying interest and fees).

The turning point came when I had maxed out my credit card and I had no money in my bank account. I also never had any savings or emergency fund. I thought I “couldn’t afford to save”.

I was literally broke..I had a mini breakdown to a friend and declared that I would never be in that position again.

I had been following various people on Instagram and their debt free journeys and I heard about “The Barefoot Investor”. I picked up a copy with the next bit of money I could find and read it in one session. From that day on my life change…

Fast forward 6 months and I am no longer living pay to pay. I have my $2,000 emergency fund now and I have no credit card. I’m generally pretty happy with where I am sitting financially. I have sinking funds set up and I have almost got enough money for some of the bigger bills next year like my car registration etc. Previously I didn’t put money away for these bills aside from maybe 1 month out.

6 Month Progress Figures

June 2017 Debt Balance

Credit Card: $2,442.98
Personal Loan: $9,046.24

Total: $11,489.22

December 2017 Debt Balance

Credit Card: $0
Personal Loan: $7,211

Total: $7,211

Paid off: $4,278.22

+ fully funded a $2,000 Emergency Fund

Goals Accomplished

Paid out my Commonwealth Bank credit card and closed it!
Started a proper budget and followed it
Listed items on Facebook for selling (made over $300 this way)
Compared providers for health insurance, car insurance etc
Joined Flybuys Rewards Program (Now have 19,000 points)
Joined Woolworths Everyday Rewards Program
Opened new bank accounts with ING
Closed all Commonwealth Bank accounts
Moved my Superannuation to HostPlus
Set up sinking funds for recurring bills
Cash flowed Christmas (and came under budget)
Balance transferred my loan onto a 24 months 0% interest Citibank Credit Card
Funded a $2,000 Emergency Fund
Got a 2nd job on weekends to earn more money
Started doing survey sites to earn money (Earned $230 so far)

Note: During this time I also had to pay my yearly RACQ bill, my 6 month car registration, Quarterly utilities and get a crown on one of my teeth. These were all quite large expenses.