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Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home
Hello, I am joining you on the debt free journey, for a couple
of loans that are giving me anxiety and also my mortgage. I have been reading
these diaries for inspiration and it’s time to start my own. I hope to get to
know many of you as time goes on. I moved into my home last April and I have some
loan repayments that…
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After Advice Please
Hi, Me and my wife have been stupid with money over the last few years. we earn decent money but have big outgoings. looking for advice & ways around it please. nursery fees will be stopped in January which will help Income a month (after tax) Me - £2190 - Wife - £2500 = £4690 Outgoings personal spending - Me - £300 - Wife…
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A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni
I've been on these boards for many years and a long time ago did start a diary when we'd had a windfall and cleared some debt and I'm not sure what happened but 'life' got in the way. Today starts a new chapter of my life as my youngest has just left home (albeit temporarily) for her to access a drama course in a different…
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Debt and Caring
An unprovoked attack on my ankle by a metal workout bench has me lying down with a foot up this evening. Which makes this the ideal time to start this diary. And possibly to declutter some exercise equipment... Yesterday I was £9993.61 in debt. Today I have made a £1500 payment to one of my credit cards taking me down to…
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An in-between phase
I am largely starting this thread so as to not rudely put a long whinge on the lovely @foxgloves and @EssexHebridean threads! I will talk a little more about my slightly unsettled life situation in due course, but for now, just whinging 😂 Today I have been trying to switch to a more money saving phone contract. It has been…
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Cancer, cash and carrying on
I've been on this board for a while and it was invaluable while I was paying down debt and navigating finances while working and juggling 5 children. We followed the Dave Ramsey plan loosely to get us where we wanted and the last year or so we were trundling along comfortably. Unfortunately, a breast cancer diagnosis has…
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Next steps; grip-relaxing bimbling, and avoiding the temptations
Time, I think, to start a new diary. My first was about removing our debts, paying off our mortgage and working towards, and through, the first few years of not working. I don't call it retirement at that point, because a wealth of volunteer activities were taken on or continued, and a number of hobbies aspired to or taken…
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MeandO's money-shuffling
Long time member here, sneaking back over from the MFW board... Previous diary here for those that want a back story: Money-shuffling towards mortgage freedom — MoneySavingExpert Forum Although my only debt is now my mortgage I've had to shift my focus from OP'ing to building up my savings instead, so don't really feel at…
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Hustling My Way to Debt Freedom. - Take 2
Hi, I'm a semi-regular who has created a new account as the thread I started this morning on my old account got locked and I didn't appreciate that. So here's take two on my new account. Hi everyone I'm back again, still trying to clear the debts. I won't go into a long explanation as to where I've been (no excuses - I've…
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Fresh Diary for 2025! & Carrying on for 2026
Hello those who follow along! Last year goals; - Get debt gone (didn't complete) - Buy my house - COMPLETE - Meal plan/prep - Sort of - Cut out Coffee (I gave this up on 22nd November 2023) - Didn't complete - Have savings of at least 2k! - didn't complete Am I annoyed I didn't complete some goals? no. I can try again!…
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The Cutting Down Alcohol Challenge for June & 2026 :)
Welcome to the Cutting Down Alcohol challenge for the month of June and for 2026! This challenge is all about helping people cut down or even give up on their alcohol consumption, mainly for health reasons, but it can also save a lot of money, because the cost of buying alcohol really mounts up over time and sometimes you…
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From debt to freedom...
For a couple of months I have been lurking and reading diaries which have been helpful and inspiring. I thought that I would start a diary to keep myself focussed on getting rid of the debts. I am a working mum, recently separated from my husband. I have a large family which makes for an interesting and busy life! I have…
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Settling in for the long haul
After avidly reading others’ diaries over the past five years, it feels like the right time to shuffle in and create a cosy little corner of my own. Following the example of those much wiser, I have cleared a large amount of debt, including a hefty overdraft, student loan, credit cards, bank loans (that were consolidated…
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Everything changes
As my old lecturer at university said to me once when we were discussing the topic of my second year dissertation. Anyway I’m sitting here at the start of a long weekend, I owe about £2000 and I’m going to need to put food on my credit card to get to the end of the month. I think I will still end up forward at the end of…
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Moving on
Welcome to my new thread: my old one is here: Cherry takes the reins — MoneySavingExpert Forum and my very old one is here: Coffee and chocolate — MoneySavingExpert Forum Quite a lot changed in 2023, and now it's time to move on. I left the job and career path I'd followed for many years and don't feel I can or should go…
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Road To Financial Recovery
Ah, time to get back into the race so to speak, can’t believe I am doing this again.It is time to start taking finances seriously again. It is a rubbish feeling to be back in a position where I feel my finances are back in a mess. There isn’t any major debt so that is a positive of course but feel like a plan is needed…
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Let's get this sorted then!
Hey everyone, I went back to uni just before I turned 40, so have quite a lot of debt from that, and from generally trying to live whilst working and studying. I tackled a bit before the end of 2024, but that was mostly getting on top of things, doing some 0% balance transfers, and I paid of two small debts of about £250…
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The Sea is Calling
Hello there fellow wannabes! Starting a brand new diary for my lofty ambitions. It's me, my husband, our cat (plus an extra one who eats his food and sneaks in to sleep in our house but won't let us go near her) and we live in a Victorian terrace of an East Mids town. We are bookish and musical, and very social peeps, and…
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Balancing the books
After some pondering, I've decided to start a new diary to reflect a new focus chez la maison Blackcats. My previous diary (giving every £ a job) was pivotal to moving from early retirement wannabe to achieving early retirement and it has kept me on the straight and narrow through my first years of leisure time. Being on…
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Busting this debt before 42
New year, new car and new loan, equals new diary. My previous dairy; Why am I doing this s**t agin? Right…because last year I had a midlife crisis and succumbed to the ‘shiny new car’ syndrome. Buggers. I very much enjoyed the challenge of debt busting last year so lets gooooooo round two! My finances so far: Sinking Fund:…
