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2026: time to face facts and plan for the hard times ahead
Hello everyone, I've been a long time lurker under a different alias but have now created a new moniker to be a bit more vague about name and area of UK as starting this journey and will be posting for my own sanity and all your support I've seen so much across the years. I'm in a deep pile of debt that I've been servicing…
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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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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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YNAB robber needs help to execute the plan
Right, I am going to finally start a diary on here. I am being supported financially by my OH to allow me to help my sister care for my 90 year old father. I have an expensive event in Feb that I need to save for. I have been using YNAB since Feb so I have an accurate record of my spending for 6 months. It's not pretty. I…
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Default me
Well, where do I start? I have been in debt for my whole adult life, since I was accepted for my first store card at 18. You would have thought I would have learnt by now how to manage but again, in the same month that all of my previous defaults have dropped off my credit file, I am about to default on all of my debts…
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Teetering on the brink
Where to start! My life has not been without challenges and I have had times where I’ve had a lot of debt, and times where I have had none. I always felt proud to say I have never missed a payment and always managed to get out of a sticky situation myself no matter what. But this time, I am not convinced I will find a way,…
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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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Hopefully debt free before Mortgage renewal in June 2026
Hi, So, My mortgage is due for renewal in June 2026. I bought a house for £190,000 with around a £48,000 deposit on a 5 year fixed rate of 1.63% interest which comes to an end on 30th June 2026. I currently owe £129,363 and pay £517.72 and i have 25 years and 6 months left to pay (i will be 68 when this ends). I know…
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Need to stop spending and chasing dopamine!
Hello! I’m creating this diary to hold me accountable, as I’ve been trying to pay this debt off for 3 years now and I just keep kicking the can down the road so to speak. The good news is it’s all on 0% interest. The bad news is I need to have the most boring year next year (aside from a holiday) to be able to pay it all…
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The Cutting Down Alcohol Challenge for January & 2026 :)
Welcome to the Cutting Down Alcohol challenge for the month of January 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…
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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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Time to Face The Music
We have decided as a couple that it is time to face the music and start paying down some of our debts. We are lucky that we are both in jobs that pay ok but we have at times been living beyond our means and now it is time to start reining in the spending and making a concerted effort to cut the debt. Moving house last year…
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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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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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taking responsibilty to get me where I want to be
Good morning MSE'ers I have been reading diaries for the last few months and have found peoples stories so inspiring that I am hoping for some company on my own journey , this will be my own log which hopefully will motivate me at times of bleakness so I can look back on any progress I have made My sitituation is quite…
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2026 - consolidation and calm
I've decided to start a fresh diary for 2026. 2025 was a bit of a rollercoaster year for us: * My post being put forward for redundancy at the end of 2024, though it was then reinstated thankfully * Restructure at work meaning many great colleagues (and loads of knowledge) going * DH's redundancy at work, then finding a…
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Reset 2026
So 2026 is going to be my reset year. Started September 2024 with 32000 in debt, cards & loans. By the end of December I will be down to 8995 - gotta add the extra just to get to a figure starting with 8! Hoping to clear the lot by the end of September 2026. I have a tax bill to pay by the end of Jan and the car MOT at the…
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Progress not Perfection
Happy New Year! I thought it was about time I started a new diary. I've been on these diaries since 2008. My last diary is here Things
can only get better My first diary is here Champagne Lifestyle Lemonade Budget and the one after that here Looking for the Silver Lining. That's a hell of a lot of waffle over the years 😆…
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Should itsthelittlethings spend less on coffee?
Hopefully this works as an all new diary for me. Will add my debt into my signature and keep track of how I do going along.
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Here's to the Fools Who Dream
I will be 60 on March 2nd 2026 and I am an old fool who is dreaming that the best is yet to come! I loved the film La La Land, always felt this song was about me ....... The Fools Who Dream (Abridged Version) "She captured a feeling A sky with no ceiling, the sunset inside a frame .... A bit of madness is key To give us…
