From care-free spender to debt-free saver

fern44

Hi if you are a good tenant it might be worth asking your landlord if he would consider reducing your rent ? The devil you know etc ! because it will cost him to relet it and a secure reliable tenant is a valuable commodity

craididlyaig

elfy1807 wrote: »

Just read through your diary and just wanted to say well done! You've achieved a lot in such a short space of time. Keep up the good work. I'll be subscribing!

Thanks! I always find it strange that people are reading my ramblings, but I like it.

craididlyaig

fern44 wrote: »

Hi if you are a good tenant it might be worth asking your landlord if he would consider reducing your rent ? The devil you know etc ! because it will cost him to relet it and a secure reliable tenant is a valuable commodity

Hmm, maybe something to think about. I don't really have much of a relationship with our landlord, but we've been here for 2 years now and the rent is always on time and we've only had to contact him once about a minor issue so I guess that would make us good tenants?

craididlyaig

Third NSD achieved today. I think I might break the pattern tomorrow though. Lunch is always really really late on a Thursday and going from an 8am breakfast to a 2:30 lunch break normally kills me. I don't really have anything I can bring in other than the lunch I cooked, so I might get a snack but I won't beat myself up too much for spending a couple of pounds I don't think.

I've been thinking, this next year or two might be really tough, going through this increase in outgoings whilst tackling this debt, but I have a feeling it is going to drastically change my relationship with money for a long time. I already feel like I think completely differently about the money I earn and it's been less than two months. Of course, I read people's stories sometimes on here about how they got nearly or completely debt free and then fell off the wagon so to speak and I know I'll not be immune from that, but this debt could oddly end up being one of the best things to happen to me. Does that make sense?

craididlyaig

ooh, and 16 days until payday...

misstara

That makes perfect sense and probably will to a lot of people on here. Although the last two years have been hard going (and still another year to go!), I have learnt so much - how to budget properly is probably the most important one for me but also meal planning, batch cooking, YS shopping, mending clothes etc. I now have various savings pots for things I need/want instead of sticking them on a credit card. All of which I've learned from reading threads on here. Without my debt I would never have found MSE and been inspired to do the above. The way I think about money has completely changed and hopefully I will keep it up once I'm debt free

Well done on your 3 NSDs. Definitely don't beat yourself if you need to buy a snack tomorrow, no point in going hungry just to get a NSD.

craididlyaig

Ok, so I spent £2 on my snacks for work today, leaving £9.42 in the budget and that is the week all wrapped up! So I'll put that in the moving/buying stuff my housemate takes with him budget and start again tomorrow!

15 days until payday, pretty much half way there. I'm going to aim for 4 NSDs next week, improving my record by one. I'll buy the snacks I need for thursday during my weekly shop. I'm actually working less days next week as I have monday off on annual leave, so I can just feed myself on stuff that's in the house which is easier...

craididlyaig

So, internet, I have confessions to make. I've had a terrible, terrible weekend when it comes to saving money.

I went to visit a friend for Halloween weekend. I got a lift there, another friend said it would be ok they would pay for a couple of drinks for me as they know I'm trying to spend less. All well and good, until I'd had those couple of drinks and fancied more...

So I must have spent around £30 out that night. But then, when I got home, feeling sorry for myself I bought a new computer game I was considering getting come payday. I also bought myself a takeaway. And the best thing about all of this, it all went on my credit card. SO that's something like £65 added to the debt, for no reason.

All of this will come out in the wash though. I'll overpay on that credit card using some of my bonus/overtime money so I'll still be on track. It is massively annoying for my housemove fund though, but I have noone but myself to blame for that!

Ah well, can't have a good story without some adversity to overcome. Why not make things more difficult for myself?

On the plus side, I got my weekly food shop for £7.79 this week as there is still food in the cupboards and I only have to go until friday when I do another shop. I don't feel much like counting down my weekly budget this time though as I feel i've properly broken it this week already.11 days until payday though, and that will be a blank slate. A tabula rasa if that's your sort of thing.

Still planning on not spending the rest of the week now until food shopping on friday. Back on the horse.

elfy1807

Don't be too hard on yourself.
Ok, you put it on the credit card, which wasn't ideal, but at least you're aware you made a mistake. Beforehand the weekend you'd just had would've been a regular basis and not thought twice about it.
But now it's an issue. You know it was wrong, and you're able to right it. It slows things down a little, but it's a learning curve. Next time you're tempted to do it, you'll think of what happened this time and be a bit more wary about it setting you back.

A possible way to look at it is put a price on it. As in how many hours at work it will take you to earn back the money to pay it off. Say you're paid £5 an hour (I know that's a ridiculous amount but it makes it easier for my maths haha), it would take you 6 hours to pay back those drinks. That's nearly a full day's work. Was it worth that?

But anyway, I'm not here to preach and judge. I went out for Halloween with my boyfriend at the weekend and we spent £60 whilst out, and goodness knows how much getting our outfits sorted. And if I hadn't been so hungover, I was planning on going to the blue & yellow Swedish furniture store which I LOVE.

It's good to have a bit of fun now and then as long as you stay on track.

I saw someone on here say just because you've eaten a donut, don't let it ruin your diet. Just as a spend shouldn't let it ruin your debt busting.

Keep it up

craididlyaig

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I think you are right, and I did enjoy the doughnut but I won't let it spoil the diet. And yes, a few months ago it would have been at least a weekly occurrence which is probably how I got into this hole in the first place!

So today was a successful NSD. So that is something.

Also, I think I have decided to stay here when my housemate leaves. I think there's value in the stability of not having to move and it does mean that rather than piling money into my moving fund, next month I can start overpaying some of these credit cards. If there are essential and expensive purchases I need to use these cards for once he has gone (I don't own a telly for example... or a hoover) at least in the mean time I will be reducing the interest im paying and I don't think you can overstate the psychological impact that being able to make a start on these overpayments will have as I'm just getting started here. Also, I get to have the big bedroom, which I've had my eye on for a while! And I can use my current bedroom as a dedicated study, which will definitely be cool. 10 days until payday! Getting there, getting there.