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14 months to go!
As moneysavers go, I've never been in the depths of being in debt. I'm more of a 'there's always something' at some point in the month that happens, that messes my beloved budget up and I predictably feel down on myself for either not being prepared or not foreseeing something that I should! I live on my own (apart from my…
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The Cutting Down Alcohol challenge for July & 2025 :)
Welcome to the Cutting Down Alcohol challenge for the month of June and for 2025! 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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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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The Frugal Hearth: Stories of Simple Living and Living Well
Hello, and welcome, one and all to my new debt free diary! My Journey I started my old diary at the beginning of 2020, a couple of months before the pandemic hit the UK and we went into lockdown. That diary can be found here…
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Juggling mum/work life, whilst looking after my future self, both financially & healthily
Hiiiii, So I thought it was time I started a new diary as my old one got a bit complicated. A little about me. I’m a mum in my 40’s, my husband works away a lot, I work full time, and I have 2 children a tween and a teen. Along with 2 noisy cats. The last few months have been hard financially, and my work is teetering on…
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Stopping the backsliding… a family of four no longer living beyond their means
Some of you may know me from my last diary, which was on Mortgage Free Wannabe. The truth is, I’ve not paid anything extra off my mortgage for years, I’ve not saved like I meant to, and I currently have £1,000 on my credit card 🤦♀️ 🤦♀️ 🤦♀️ I plan to have this paid off in under 3 months, so I could have stayed on my old…
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Must try harder…again!
Well, here I am, back again! I have missed our chats, your worldly wisdom and opinions on biscuits! After losing my old dog in January I took a while to sulk, wallow in sadness and grump quietly…you know how it is 😖 Anyway we quickly cracked on the dog front and I have a 17 week German shepherd sleeping against my leg. We…
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Find the SecondStar and soar, and then straight on till the morning…
This feels like an appropriate time for a finance thread. Story time: My ex partner and I broke up 2 weeks ago. We had been together for 4.5 years, we bought a house together as joint tenants 2 years ago, and had been combining incomes and savings for 2 years. We have separated our savings, and he is exploring options to…
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A new chapter is ....... FINALLY HERE
So i'm sloping back in with a new diary, been missing (but still reading) for 10 months, MH took a nose dive in October, all work related and quite frankly horrid. After lots of chats with DH,crying and not really knowing what to do with my life I spoke to my manager and as of September I will be working less hours with a…
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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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Living Large, on a Small Income, by the Sea.
I am living by the sea in a beautiful house. (I can’t believe that sentence is about me) I have spent two years living in other people’s homes. I ended up on a sofa for several months. The joy of my own home, my own key, my own bed…it is indescribable. I had to go to the top of my budget to buy the house, but it is exactly…
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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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All change for 2025
I thought I'd start a new diary to have a fresh start. After almost 21 years in my job, I've recently been placed at risk of redundancy. I'll find out for sure in the new year. If I manage to successfully challenge the redundancy, things will be very different at that employer next year, and if I do go, there will be a…
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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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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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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Happy New Year to readers old & new! Well, it's time for a new chapter. My old diary ("Put away your purse & become debt averse") achieved pretty much what I intended. I shared the story of how I got into debt at the age of 19 & stayed that way until a pretty enormous lightbulb pinged on during my early 40s, I've shared…
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Don't hit me with those negative waves Moriarity
I have lurked for a long time on this forum, then joined and lurked (and lurked some more). Maybe should have gone with an Adams family reference for the title but ho hum I'm here now. I think I'm ready to start a diary even though I've had one running through my head for months as I had my light bulb moment back in…
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My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary
New year, new start - trying to save in 2025.
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My new debt free diary :)
Hi everyone! This isn’t my first debt free diary but I hope it’s my last :blush: I’m making this diary so that I am accountable to myself and I plan to update it as often as possible. I am 38 and have been in debt since I was 20 and bought my first car. Not massive amounts but enough to affect my monthly income. I have 7…
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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…
