Small Steps Out Of Massive Debt!

GeorgianaCavendish

Still no closer to sorting out YNAB - I decided to keep away from it for a few days and try again with fresh eyes. 

Had my first ever win on Premium Bonds this month! An extra £25 is in my emergency fund - thank you to everyone who suggested this as a place to save my EF. 

I’ve joined a few of the DFW challenges and I’m feeling excited to focus on MSE areas aside from paying down debt. I worry that I will end up back in debt and using debt to plug the gaps in my spending if I don’t address some of my problematic money behaviours. But saying that, I’ve found that my desire to spend calmed down A LOT in the last 6 months. I’m finding that just deciding to defer buying by a day (and then closing down all the tabs for the item) often means I realise that I don’t really want the item at all. Also finding that earmarking some money towards a purchase with the goal of saving over a few months make me weigh up how much I really want things and again, often decide that on balance I don’t want them - or I’m happy to wait longer for them.

I’m doing my first NSD challenge this month, so will see if it brings up any other thoughts around spending. 

CRANKY40

Well done on the win. That's probably more than you'd have been paid in interest in the whole year.

GeorgianaCavendish

CRANKY40 said:

Well done on the win. That's probably more than you'd have been paid in interest in the whole year.

So true! 

Naomim

Excellent news on the win. My first PB's go into the August draw. 

FluffyBabyPenguin

It's amazing how well just delaying a purchase decision can work. It's easy to find things you want and know it'll be at your door in a few days... but I try to make myself wait a day or two to see if I still want it. The other day I almost bought a t-shirt folding board thingy, thought it would improve my clothes-folding efforts, added it to my ebay basket. A few days later I thought, "Do I really want to spend £7 on this piece of plastic?! Not really". I paid an extra £7 off my credit card instead and that felt just as good (if not better than) receiving some plastic in the post. 

Great news on the Premium Bonds win! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Naomim said:

Excellent news on the win. My first PB's go into the August draw. 

Fingers crossed for next draw!  

GeorgianaCavendish

FluffyBabyPenguin said:

It's amazing how well just delaying a purchase decision can work. It's easy to find things you want and know it'll be at your door in a few days... but I try to make myself wait a day or two to see if I still want it. The other day I almost bought a t-shirt folding board thingy, thought it would improve my clothes-folding efforts, added it to my ebay basket. A few days later I thought, "Do I really want to spend £7 on this piece of plastic?! Not really". I paid an extra £7 off my credit card instead and that felt just as good (if not better than) receiving some plastic in the post. 

Great news on the Premium Bonds win! 

It is so true! I started adding them to a list in the notes on my phone, but then make sure I close all the tabs with the product open on my browser,  and sometimes I completely forget that I had a burning desire to buy XYZ ... I go back into the list and can't even remember why I thought some of the stuff was so important! 

GeorgianaCavendish

Does anyone know a good budgeting tool / spreadsheet? or maybe even a Statement of Affairs? Planning a money date (how exciting ) to sit down and get an idea of budget for mortgage repayments 

GeorgianaCavendish

August 2021 Goals & Debt Totals


Debt £1,250.00

Virgin - £1,250.00
0% until March 2022
(5 more payments to go!)

Deposit Savings

Total Deposit Savings: 48.65% (getting soooo close to the 50%!) 

NSDs
19/10


I joined some of the DFW challenges this month and have really enjoyed being part of the threads - looking forward to continuing this in August! 

I had a really good budget month - July and August are usually a bit cheaper for me anyway but I also had a good month on surveys, cashback and a premium bond win. I finished the month with a surplus which I swept over to the driving lessons pot. 

I didn't get anything up on ebay but I did have a good sort out - some things went to friends & family members, some to charity shop and recycling. I've also got a bag of things that I do want to list on ebay etc, but these are smarter workwear bits so I am going to hold off on listing until more people are back at work.

YNAB is still not quite living up to my expectations, I'm continuing to save for the renewal cost but it's looking more likely that I'm not going to renew. I'm also thinking that I probably don't need the full amount I have reserved for Christmas 2021, but I'm continuing on with my projected savings and if I end up spending less it can always be used next year either for Christmas or for a different category. 

I'll continue working from home during August. My office will partially reopen in September but will not be back to full capacity until 2022. I'm not in a rush to get back to the office and I'm also fairly sure that I won't have to be back this year either. Good news is that they will be introducing flexible working, I doubt any roles will be 100% working from home but I'm fairly confident that I can get a 4/1 or 3/2 split. 

One massive bonus I had this month (/year!) was an extremely generous gift of a car from a relative. They were going to sell it and I offered to buy it because it's a good car for a new driver, but they decided to give it to me instead! It is old but very reliable, and I won't have any expenses on it until next year. Also I'm able to keep it in their spare garage, so that is a big plus. 

I've got my provisional driving test booked for September, still no news on the driving lessons - I've reconfirmed my place on waiting lists, just hoping I can start soon. 

My main non-financial goals for this month are to work on my course assignments and study for my provisional test. 

astrocytic_kitten

How exciting about the driving and the car, things really are falling into place for you! Good luck getting the next 0.35% for the 50% milestone too!