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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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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.…
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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…
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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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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…
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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…
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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…
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After 20+ years here I'm not sure where I belong anymore ...
So it's time for a brand new diary, welcome to anyone new, welcome back to anyone who has followed my journey along the way. I've been on here since I became a single parent in 2005, recording the highs, the lows, and mainly the hum drum of everyday life, all while trying to save my pennies. I've always loved this board…
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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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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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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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I'm back, still struggling along, still frugal
H everyone, It's been ages I know and the forum has changed, but my posts were getting really boring as nothing really changed very much and to be honest I was getting bored writing the same old things. Anyway I thought I'd start another thread as its coming up to winter and like most basic OAP's I'm expecting this winter…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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Buffy and the Mortgage adventure
Good morning, I don't know if anyone will remember me here as I have been away for a while. I am about to get a mortgage finally and money is going to be very tight. Squeaky tight! I am buying my sisters out of Mum's house, I lost Mum in 2024, it was a very bad time, the worst time. Aside from the grief, the money side has…
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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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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…
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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…
