Last week I paid off £1200 of my credit card. It felt good to be making progress, but also scary.

I’ve taken the approach that I must clear these debts as fast as possible with a target of 3-4 months being a stretch target. I’m anxious that I may be biting off more than I can chew. I now only have £1172 in my account to last me the month. I know I have at least £650 of payments coming out before the next paycheck.

However, I am owed £500 in rent and have £400 of expenses to clear. In theory, this is a cash flow problem. But because I have cleared my entire savings to clear the debt last month, I have no buffer. It also occurred to me that when I switched bank account I opted not to have an overdraft. That means that I paid off about £400 of overdraft.

I also had the expense of getting my car serviced which set me back £550. It needed to be done to keep the plunging value of my vehicle from going into free fall.

So yes, I have made this difficult for myself. I’m hoping that self-discipline will get me through. I also wish I’d done my sums better. I also believe that this is a short term pain for a long term gain.

Once I have cleared these debts, I will be saving £1200 per month. By Christmas I should have £10,000 at least in savings. I look forward to the day I can relax about my finance.

Keeping my eyes on the prize of being debt free and being able to invest is keeping me going.