Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

MB148 said:

Well.... I've just read all 142 pages (over a couple of weeks) and wow what a journey so far! You have such a different attitude to money from when you first began.
I feel like this is such a good example of how money can be completely life changing if so many different ways negative and positive, I felt so bad for you when the debt shot back up again when you had put so much work in, but now you are not far off from being debt free.
I enjoyed reading all the way, congratulations for your amazing progress so far!
Mike

Thank you so much Mike! Really appreciate your lovely comment and you sticking with it through all 142 pages  

another_casualty

You're going about everything the right way , and you'll soon ge there . 

You've come a long way ..

GeorgianaCavendish

another_casualty said:

You're going about everything the right way , and you'll soon ge there . 

You've come a long way ..

Thank you AC! I'm keeping my eyes on the teaspoon and hoping the lake will be empty soon  

GeorgianaCavendish

Just waiting for Matt Hancock's announcement, looks like London will go into Tier 3 which means I most likely won't see my parents at Christmas. I'm feeling very sad about this but at the same time it is something of a relief because it was getting to the point where I would be the one putting my foot down about not having a 'normal' visit over Christmas (they are worryingly casual about the lockdown restrictions) and I wasn't looking forward to the emotional upheaval that would cause. 

On the financial side, I've finally done something I've been putting off for years and made a will. Seems really strange but I was prompted to do it by hearing about the mess that a colleagues family is in due to lack of a will, and I thought that I wouldn't want my loved ones to go through that if I died. Not that I have a massive estate or anything, but still, feels very grown up and responsible to have tackled it. 
I did a bit of fiddling with YNAB for the coming month but decided to wait until after Christmas so that I'm not in a weird mood / can be a bit more level headed about it (also that will be around my usual pay day so more sensible to do it then), I'll have a think about my 2021 goals too.
I'm hoping to cash out another Amazon voucher from Ipsos I-Say (I just need 15 points!) and I've got £20 pending with ProlificAcademic as a multi-part survey I've been doing all year finally finished and the bonus is due. I don't think any of my cashback will clear this year, but that will be a nice start to bonus saving for 2021. 

astrocytic_kitten

Well done on the will! I must admit I still haven’t done that, I should really have done it when I bought my flat but didn’t. I think it’s a great sign of how far you’ve come and how responsible you’re being.

Naomim

Funny you should mention the will as MrM's sister called him yesterday to say she's made him executor of her will. We should do one too as we are a family of 4 and own our house. I have no cash to leave but the house has equity. 

Good idea to think about 2021 goals too.

Naomim 

GeorgianaCavendish

I ended up making the will via a charity who cover the costs (on the assumption you will leave them a gift in your will) - I got the idea from one of Martin's MSE tips. I might revisit it down the line, but this was a great solution for now as the service walked me through each step and promoted me to leave instructions about things I might not have considered, and didn't cost me anything (there will be a charge if I want to make amendments down the line)

badmemory

GeorgianaCavendish said:

 this was a great solution for now as the service walked me through each step and promoted me to leave instructions about things I might not have considered,

This is why using a solictor for a will is a good idea, it is their job to ask you the what if questions.  You should also think about POAs as they are very easy to DIY.  The online forms actually ask you the questions to a certain extent.  Not every bad life event ends in death, some land up - unable to deal with "stuff" yourself.

GeorgianaCavendish

badmemory said:

GeorgianaCavendish said:

 this was a great solution for now as the service walked me through each step and promoted me to leave instructions about things I might not have considered,

This is why using a solictor for a will is a good idea, it is their job to ask you the what if questions.  You should also think about POAs as they are very easy to DIY.  The online forms actually ask you the questions to a certain extent.  Not every bad life event ends in death, some land up - unable to deal with "stuff" yourself.

Thank you @badmemory , I've been reading about POAs on another  diary and that seems like a really sensible thing to have in place. I think it's all about wanting to make things as easy as possible for my family in the case of a bad event, and not leaving them guessing what I would have wanted. Definitely another thing to add to my list!

GeorgianaCavendish

Just transferred the early pay to a different account, I will transfer it back on my "normal" payday next week (thank you @enthusiasticsaver for this tip!)  

I've got some time booked out next week to go over my financial goals for next year, tweak my January budget and sort out my financial to-do list (research on the POAs is up there!) but before that I'm going to have a proper break and try to enjoy Christmas as much as possible. I'm setting up lots of Skype dates with family and friends so we can at least see each other over the break. 

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas!