There once was a debt named credit card...

fredtheguava

A house has been found! I have organised with my current housemates/landlords to pay proportionally so I am not out of pocket, and have organised deposit etc. to come out of savings as soon as they go in - it will mean going back into the OD briefly but not (hopefully) for too long - a month at most. Knowing when it will be clear makes a massive difference, and I feel positive about things for the first time in a while.

With new budgets comes a new spreadsheet! I realised I had SERIOUSLY messed up the previous one, allocating far less than I actually have to paying off debt and adding to savings. So I created a new one and I'm delighted to see the end column looking healthier as the months progress.

I think I'm going to let the loan (car) payments continue as they are - the loan finishes December 2012 and by the time I have enough to clear it early, the savings may not be worth the dent in my account! So instead I will continue as I am, and be CC and OD and BoMaD free by this time next year, then let the loan run.

In any event, budgeting groceries is proving the most challenging, and I may have to make extra pocket money allowances for the school holidays because it just seems such a shame to deprive myself and my partner of experiences because I can't find a few extra ££s. It will be there, in just another month or so, and I feel like I need to be able to relax into life a little more as soon as possible.

fredtheguava

It feels like oftentimes I am only posting when I have found a solution to a concern, rather than when actually experiencing the concern. I spend a lot of time thinking about my finances, and yet I always seem to come to this diary happy and skipping with joy.

I am *really* struggling with groceries. I am only one person, so I should be able to live on considerably less than I do. I have worked out that it's all the 'little' bits I add on that are a problem - the visits to the shop on the way to school, the post school sugar crashes. The 'extra' meal out that I could have lived without. In all honesty, my waistline could do without them too... But I keep telling myself I *deserve* the treats.

Fact is, that's what I've always told myself - the new TV, the expensive hair straighteners, the city breaks away. That's why I'm in debt. Because I can't help myself - when I want something, I will find a way to justify it.

I'd like to say that will stop now. In all reality, it probably won't. But I am trying to cut it down so that I live within my means instead of extending things all the time. I will never be debt free if I keep bailing myself out.

Last extra meal is this Thursday - I haven't seen my friend for weeks and it's a tradition that we eat a particular meal together. After that, if I can't afford it, I can't go.

fredtheguava

Another month, another payday!
The plan to move house is well under way. My current housemates made an offer on a house which was ultimately rejected but it inspired me to get a boot up my bum and start looking in earnest. The ideal would have been to move in early June as it's half term, but my future housemates aren't teachers so we were looking for mid-June onwards.
I'm pleased to report we have found somewhere and are due to move in the next few weeks! Thanks to paying off my OD with the CC I have those funds available which I will pay myself back next payday, which is just after we move in. So things in that regard are on the up!

I've made another spreadsheet detailing what I owe and what I have available to pay it off, and so I know who/what I'm paying each month, while at the same time building up my savings so that in future I am able to pay for necessary things without panicking.

I am really struggling to stick to my £40 per week grocery budget though, which I actually feel ashamed about! I am but one person and I don't eat that much! The problem is that I love fizzy drinks and while I've cut out the sugary ones, I'm still drinking the diet ones and they add up. I am limiting myself though, and drinking lots of water, so I'm hoping (!) that this month will be the one where I DON'T go over my grocery budget. Wish me luck!

fredtheguava

More than three years later... But I am now 100% debt free for the first time in probably ten or more years.

All the money that has been going on CC payments is going to go into savings for a deposit for a house at some point in the future. I've learned a lot of good habits from being in the debt free wannabe world, and plan to carry on being frugal when it's appropriate for me to do so