Finally getting a grip!
Brettson
Forumite 36 Posts
Forumite
Hi all!
After lurking for years and dabbling with the occasional half-hearted effort to address my money issues, I am finally GETTING A GRIP!
I started in November with meal planning and have mostly stuck to it.
January brought Dryathlon and I managed to kick my costa habit (I now make my own drinks and allow myself a treat costa on a Friday). I also started bringing in my own breakfast and lunch at work. When I got to the end of January and checked my bank account (something which I hate doing and always bury my head in the sand over) - I was £250 up off the bottom of my overdraft! I am normally bottoming out every month. Some of this ~£20-30 can be attributed to the lower fuel price at the moment but I realised I was spending ~£5 per day at work. I made £10 last for the whole of January.
So now we're in February and I have added up my debt and rediscovered the MSE forum! I have been inspired to take on some challenges and keep the momentum going and finally KICK MY DEBT!
So here's what I've decided to do so far:
I will do a more detailed post later but wanted to strike whilst the iron is hot and get my first post (in a while!) out here. It feels good!
After lurking for years and dabbling with the occasional half-hearted effort to address my money issues, I am finally GETTING A GRIP!
I started in November with meal planning and have mostly stuck to it.
January brought Dryathlon and I managed to kick my costa habit (I now make my own drinks and allow myself a treat costa on a Friday). I also started bringing in my own breakfast and lunch at work. When I got to the end of January and checked my bank account (something which I hate doing and always bury my head in the sand over) - I was £250 up off the bottom of my overdraft! I am normally bottoming out every month. Some of this ~£20-30 can be attributed to the lower fuel price at the moment but I realised I was spending ~£5 per day at work. I made £10 last for the whole of January.
So now we're in February and I have added up my debt and rediscovered the MSE forum! I have been inspired to take on some challenges and keep the momentum going and finally KICK MY DEBT!
So here's what I've decided to do so far:
- Continue to bring in my own breakfast and lunch every day at work
- Only spending allowed at work is a pint of milk on a Monday and a treat coffee on a Friday
- Continue to meal plan every week and aim for a weekly shop of <£50 (family of 4) + top up shop (milk & bread) of ~£10 per week
- Apply the 1% challenge to my credit card debt (first 1% is £106)
- Use my savings from not spending at work to claw my way out of my overdraft
I will do a more detailed post later but wanted to strike whilst the iron is hot and get my first post (in a while!) out here. It feels good!
Hels
Fresh start in 2016 after neglecting finances and MSE
Sainsbury's CC = £3902 :: Barclay's CC = £6729 :: OD = £1250 :: Sainsbury's loan = [TBC]
Fresh start in 2016 after neglecting finances and MSE
Sainsbury's CC = £3902 :: Barclay's CC = £6729 :: OD = £1250 :: Sainsbury's loan = [TBC]
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Replies
I'm trying to tackle my debt too so will follow your journal for ideas and to see your progress
Might help to post an SOA so people can help advise on possible areas to cut back
The 1% challenge is where you add up your debt, divide by 100 and try to pay off 1% at a time, on top of making your monthly minimum payments.
I will think about posting my SOA.
Fresh start in 2016 after neglecting finances and MSE
Sainsbury's CC = £3902 :: Barclay's CC = £6729 :: OD = £1250 :: Sainsbury's loan = [TBC]