Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

astrocytic_kitten said:

Just catching up on your diary, @GeorgianaCavendish, and finding it very thought provoking. I also feel that I’ve managed to direct the spending urges to debt repayments and seeing the balance decrease, I’ve cleared debt only to run it up a couple of times before so I’ve been wondering how to make this one stick. It’s really interesting to see you work through the same issues too, having a savings plan alongside debt is genius!

I think that working on the spending urges is actually harder than repaying the debt (and that isn't easy!) because of all the emotional aspects that go along with it. I have always struggled to trust myself with "left over" money (i.e. money that is not spoken for the instant it hits my bank account) so I hope that this savings plan will help address this somewhat! 

GeorgianaCavendish

I'm back from holiday! Well, sort of. I had last week off work because I really needed a mental break from it - I feel like I had been in crisis management mode with work since the middle of March plus with WFH I find that I'm working much longer hours (all my commuting time has become working time basically). I feel much better now, having that distance for a week has made me realise that a lot of the stress is self-inflicted me wanting to 'prove' that I'm working even harder than I would be from the office, so I'll be trying to get a better work-life balance now.

Not much else to report yet, I'm in the final stretch before pay day. I've had a few surveys through PA and ipsos, so I should have about £30 to cash out before pay day and a £5 Amazon voucher. I'm also nearly at the reward cash out on YouGov (I've had my account for 3 years and haven't redeemed anything!), I think I need another 5 surveys to hit the £50 threshold. They have been pretty few and far between since lockdown started though, so it may take longer to reach than I would like. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Ugh it's so hot today! Air con is definitely going on this week ... Right after I had a letter from the electricity supplier saying that they've reduced our direct debit! I know that the air con adds a lot extra to our electricity bill but it made SUCH a positive difference last year and as our moving plans are on hold at least we aren't spending extra on increased rent or travel bills. 

Speaking of moving, MrC and I have discovered that we both really like working from home and are both keen to do much more of it when lockdown ends. This has made me rethink some of our moving plans as we aren't necessarily tied to the areas we were considering at first (a longer commute is ok if it is only 1-2 days a week), and both rents and purchase prices are much cheaper that where we have been looking, and that we could consider houses that also have a big garden or a home office (or 'extra' room that could be turned into an office) which would be completely out of reach in our current area. Obviously this is quite theoretical at this stage, but good food for thought!

I've cashed out £20 (combination of Prolific and Receipt Hog) and swept it over to my Monzo "practice" savings account. I'm 39% of the way to my short term goal. I've got another £22 pending with Prolific but I like to cash out little and often just in case something goes wrong with the site and it all disappears. 

Naomim

MrM and I have also decided we like working from home although our internet has played up today, but only for him weirdly 😕  Unfortunately we don't have the space to have a desk or anything. I may be able to get the under stairs cupboard converted possibly? I'm on the dining table and he's on the breakfast bar. If you're employers are happy for it to continue, then it would surely make sense to be able to move into a different area.   

Well done with the cashing out. and the savings goal.   I have just over £40 with prolific this month and tend to cash out at the end of the month.  It's a good idea to have things to aim for.

Naomim

GeorgianaCavendish

Cashed out another £10.00 from Prolific and I've got £20 pending (the final installments from a long multi-part survey I've been doing). I'm one survey closer to the YouGov cash out threshold, although the surveys seem to be like gold dust! 

I registered with the Open University to do the MSE course that was linked to on the homepage a while ago, I've been jumping around quite a bit and just reading the most interesting bits for me (will go back and work my way through it properly when I have more time). I found the mortgage section really interesting and will be reading up on the pensions section. MrC and I have been discussing LISAs and we are planning to open one each during this tax year. When we eventually get round to buying a place, we would both be First Time Buyers and would not be looking at properties over the £450K threshold, so it seems silly to miss out on the 25% government bonus for part of our deposit savings. I understand the restrictions on LISA withdrawals, so I'm not planning to fund it until close to the end of the current tax year when I feel sure about how much money I'm able to commit to these long term savings. 

Another MSE thing I've followed is the tax claim for the weeks I was required to work from home last tax year (not very much but it was very easy to do on the Government Gateway). I need to wait until the WFH requirement has finished before claiming for 20-21 (because my work's payroll/HR is useless and won't be paying us directly). The allowance is £6 a week for this tax year (£42 for this tax year so far, or nearly two month's of my Tesco credit card payments!) 

ChasingSunshine

That's great news on the Prolific payouts. I never have the patience to do those long surveys. Don't trust myself to go back and finish the other parts and then that affects their drop out rates which don't want to do.

Regarding the ISA I would open it as soon as possible with a tiny amount and then yes as you planned fund it later in the year to get the bonus. The one year restriction until can use the LISA is a little annoying but at least the bonus is applied every month so once you fund it get that nice little boost really quickly. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Thank you ChasingSunshine - that is a great point, we can start the clock on those 12 months by opening it sooner! 

Homegrown0

You're doing great on Prolific I gave up on it quite a while ago. I was earning decently from it, but I'm so time poor and it just wasn't worth trying to squeeze it in for me. I was always having to compromise in other areas. Great earner for you though! 

Regarding the home working, I think if your employer encourages/ supports it then working from home is a fantastic long-term plan. I work from home 90% of the time anyway so this isn't too much of a shift in pace for me. Saving money on travel to work daily, saving commuting TIME, getting peace and quiet to concentrate (less interruptions), squeezing important errands into work break etc. And also being able to nip away easily for kids' things like nativity plays and assemblies where it takes 45 minutes out of my working day that I can make up later instead of having to take a half day away from the office. 

The only thing I'd be concerned about in terms of buying a house further out on the basis of only going to the office one or two days per week is that although your current employers might support it, what happens if you want to change jobs and the new prospective employer doesn't support home working. Then you may be stuck doing a really long commute 5 days per week. 

I do think many employers that before would be a blanket NO to home working are not reconsidering and open to it. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Hi Homegrown! I’ve been really lucky with Prolific since lockdown. I don’t commit to many of the multi-part surveys but as I’m stuck at home all day it has been much easier to commit. 

It is a really great point about moving jobs and not necessarily having the same flexibility. This is definitely something to consider (as well as the possibility of finding something closer to the hypothetical new home, instead of being restricted to London) but I’m hopeful that flexible working will be offered by more employers post-lockdown. 

GeorgianaCavendish

Work sent round an announcement today, we won't be returning to the office until 1st September "at the earliest". My husband had a similar announcement from his company last night. I'm glad that they've made a clear decision and announced it to everyone instead of the constant stress of not knowing what is happening in the short term. 

I think I need to come up with some 'goals' for the next 3 months to keep motivated and break up the monotony. I've been thinking about one of the Yoga with Adrienne 30 day challenges - has anyone done it?