-
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…
-
Crazy Cat Lady Chapter 5 - Trying to recover from the pandemic
Hello all - visitors and readers old and new! :smiley: I thought that it was time for me to start a new diary. I've spent the past six months or so getting into some really bad and spendy habits, and my last diary is just reminding me how far off track I've wandered and how low I have put myself down the priority list.…
-
From £28k debt to debt free - my story *long read*
Hi everyone, please forgive me for I wish to gloat... a bit. But also to hopefully give a little bit of hope to everyone who finds themselves struggling. Sit down, grab a brew and have a read of my life story for the last 4 (ish) years. In 2014 I got my dream job in the NHS, I had always wanted it and after 2 long years at…
-
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 😆…
-
Moving on with things
I have debated posting this for a few days or so. One of the main reasons I wanted to post an update is because recently I said goodbye to my car for good having made the decision to lease another electric car through my business. A decision I simply think I wouldn’t have made without having been on here. My wife and I are…
-
Seasidegal's Scrimpy Retirement Diary!
Hi there!😀 Having finally retired from work last Friday as my State Pension kicked in, I have decided to start a new diary as I begin the next stage in my life. I began my first diary on these boards in 2014 when I was 58 and in £31,000's worth of debt!😱 I realised time was fast approaching to retirement and that I needed…
-
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…
-
Debt free and staying that way while I re-evaluate life and keep blood sugar levels down
Well dear debt-free aficionados, after reading and commenting on so many diaries on this board, I am launching myself into the abyss! Although debt-free now, you do all feel like my tribe because over 3-5 years several years ago, I did manage to.pay off £140k. Yup, that's right; no need to clean your specs though please…
-
Ding! Ding! All change, please... (now replaced with new diary on MFW)
Right – so it
feels like new diary time all over again. Many of you will recall I’ve been
here a while – initially legitimately as we were clearing debt (a loan, and
getting shot of a nasty habit of ending up in overdraft most months) then I
veered to MFW for a bit as we were clearing the mortgage, but I never quite
felt I…
-
In the Meantime
The meantime is the time between two events. The two events that bookend my meantime are a death and moving into my long term home. In the meantime I will rest, practise self care and kindness. I will be planning and plotting for the next phase of my life. My beautiful relative died and was buried the week before…
-
2022 - Moving forward
I've decided it's time for a new diary for the New Year. Lots has changed over the last few years, and I'm finally at a stage where I'm on a bit more of an even keel with my finances. This means it's time to build up the savings, get the work on the house done, tackle the mortgage and clear the last couple of debts.…
-
Becoming obsessed....
Hi, I'm another long term lurker who, thanks to the ongoing lockdown and weird period of enforced self-reflection, has finally decided to do something about my mahoosive debts. I've had credit cards for as long as I can remember (I'm 44), I've never missed a payment and I am affording the payments, (which almost feels…
-
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…
-
Small steps lead to big changes...
I thought I'd start a new diary for the new year. It always feels like time for a nice fresh start, and whilst I don't really make resolutions, it's always nice to have a plan of things I'd like to achieve. After many, many years of struggling, it feels like my finances are finally on a more even keel, and I have for the…
-
A Better Life.
I want a better life. I know with the crisis in the cost of living, the war in Ukraine, my mum's illness, the state of the government and the fact that it is winter it is probably the wrong time to start trying! but I am so tired of my life, I feel put upon and trapped but if we are being totally honest I do this to…
-
The Best View Comes After the Hardest Climb.
Hello, Welcome to my new diary. I have one big goal to own my own place, preferably a house but more likely a two bedroom flat. With this in mind I have so far saved 12,000 pounds. In case you didn't already know I am pretty old ;) and live with my mum - she used to go abroad a lot but no longer does, initially due to…
-
Pay for the future and not the past
I have read so many diaries recently and having kept notes of my own, i felt instead somewhere to put my thoughts where they will stay, will support my idea of clearing my debt but more importantly keep me accountable doing so. So here is my Debt Free Wannabe Diary - Pay for the future and not the past. This statement is…
-
Geriatricmum vs inner voice: A monologue
Me: "Kids are at school and nursey, workout done, kitchen clean, 100th wash in the machine.... Time to relax with a cuppa and maybe browse the sales." Inner voice: "you have £44.39 in your current account and zero savings" Me: "yeah but I can pop it on the credit card!" Inner voice : "you're currently using over 92% of the…
-
Flying solo
I previously had a diary (well actually I've a few) but in June I had a big life shift which meant I disappeared for a while! I've had a few attempts at trying to pay off debt, made great progress and then progress stopped and the debt increased again. But this time I seriously mean business and I am determined to get this…
-
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…
