the next 10 months - almost there but worried about the last leg

[spicywanton]

Hi,

I am almost at tne end of a difficult debt journey. It's been a long time coming but I have just managed to restructure the debt ( it was a mess before) and now I will have to pay £660 for for next 10 months at which point it will all be paid off.

I am pleased that I am close to having it cleared off however I am not looking forward to the next 10 months. I am a one income household now.

I have done a detailed budget to cover the next 10 months and if I do my basic working hours I will have £1459 left after everything is paid, including the £660 debt payments. I have two teenagers so whilst this sounds healthy, it never seems to go as far as I think it should.

I do have the option of doing a bit of private tutoring and can earn a few hundred a month from this ( I do a self assessment before anyone asks :0 )

Do you think that mu budget sounds tight. It will obviously be very different when I don't have to pay the additional £660 towards these debts

I can’t really help, but I want to tell you congratulations.
That’s fucking immense. 👊

Thank you - it's been a long journey. I owed 50k at the worst point

Well done on getting this far! That sounds very doable and while teenagers do seem to cost an absolute fortune, I'm sure they are old enough that you could explain that things will be tight for the next while and get them on board.

I would be thinking about a nice (not necessarily expensive) treat for the 3 of you for Christmas 2026 once you have it all paid down. Something to look forward to.

Are either of them old enough to get a part time job? Might be something to encourage so they can fund "fun stuff" for themselves.

They are 13 and 15 so they could get PT jobs - especially the older one. They are pretty good to be fair and understand my predicament

Amazing well done, wish I could be that disciplined.

What’s the thinking behind 10 months? Could you do £550 for 12 months to make it a bit less tight?

I can't - £660 is contractual now. It's a long story but I have had to go through a lot with the Financial Ombudsman regarding some of the debts. £660 is a lot but I know that I will soon be at the end of it which is a nice feeling.

It will be brilliant when you get there. Good luck!

Where do you live? Are your children at Dad’s house every other weekend? Could you rent out spare rooms on Airbnb for a weekend to people who want to come and visit your town/city for the weekend?

I only say that as I live in a big city and got a lot of airbnb people wanting to come for gigs/Christmas markets etc over the Christmas period. You can get up to £7k tax free if it’s a room in your house. Might make it go a bit faster.

I have done a detailed budget to cover the next 10 months and if I do my basic working hours I will have £1459 left after everything is paid

£1459 left each month? After everything is paid-all food/mortgage/bills/petrol etc?