£16,000 debt, turning regret into positive action.

LadyP01

Just back from my holiday. Spent a little bit more then planned but that was due to me cutting my spending budget far to much. Luckily i still had money i had already saved for this holiday so all even in the end.

Iv applied for the 0% money transfer all ok and awaiting payment into my bank. Iv also gained access to the money i thought i woudnt be able to access until september so just awaiting it all to be approved and ill clear the loan.

Payday tomorrow so will be sorting my budget out over the weekend.

LadyP01

Bank holiday weekend just a reminder about the situation im in.

Went for a walk and looked at houses and relised that i wont be able to afford one of these dream homes or not anytime soon. Makes me sick to think of the situation that iv let myself get into. Iv been flushing my future down the drown just spending money on dinners and material things when i should have neen saving and sorting myself out.
I remember being in £2000 worth of debt and i clawed my way out about 7 years ago and i vowed to never get back into debt and look at me now i just let this all get out of control and for me to be in a situation where im buying a house i need to be plus what im currently minus... Long road ahead ��

LadyP01

Iv been looking into my end game for this debt and i think i need to be even tighter with my finances.

The biggest area i think i can change is gifts. Iv always saved for gifts and been really savvy with my purchases but i just cant continue. I always went over my budget and that budget was over £1000. Iv already made headway with some gifts, iv been really strict and gone from £30 per person to £3. I need to plan more in advance. Iv managed to pick up some gifts for my friends and there children from bootfairs and charity shops. I managed to get mint condition childrens books that are collectable for 20p each and i know my friend will be pleased. I also got a series of books for another friend all mint condition for a £1 for the set. Im more proud of these purchases as i feel they have more thought in them. Iv popped them all aside for christmas.
Looking ahead close family will be hard so iv set myself a mission this month to collect some cheap trinkets for stocking fillers, colouring in, games, lego, socks, beauty products anything that is cheap but good quality to keep the costs down. Then i can buy them all one big gift each and be done.
Im now a charity shop convert and actually think the quality of items in them are good. Im unsure why i thought otherwise when we have only ever sent off good quality stuff that can be resold.

I think this is really important to tackle so i can hit my targets.

Second i want to try and get my monthly spending down to £450 including rent, petrol and social spending. Maybe next year i will cut the holiday spends aswell as the presents. Its one year if im tough i can be in a house by january 2019 before im 30.

Just need everyone to keep me motivated and stay on track.
Lots to think about this month.

Hiddenidenity

I know you want to and like to but can you not cut how many people you're buying gifts for?

In our family now we don't buy everyone.

The adults do a secret santa so you're only buying one good gift, then the children have a budget of £10 each for relatives and £5 for friends.

Home bargains/b&m/quality save all have fab games/toys for under £5. I also buy the 10 books for £10 from the works and use as gifts.

£stores usually have nice candle gifts in and foody items.

LadyP01

Thanks i was going to try all of them and savers for some good cosmetics.
Luckily adultwise its just my partner, one parent and one sibling and then two kids. All other family members are one present from everyone.
The kids are at a crafting stage so i might make some bits aswell for them so they can play and paint the items themselves.

My troublesome area is the parent and partner i usually spend about £200 on each of them. We have spoken about cutting back as noone has money this year but christmas is really important to us and we have never compromised so i think if i start now i can get some bargains so it still feels like christmas.

Also get a back up present for a boy or girl as theres always a secret santa you havnt thought about

enthusiasticsaver

I second the suggestion to cut back on presents. We agreed on this a few years ago with friends and relatives and I just buy a small something for my mum and stepdad, I buy for my brother, husband, 2 daughters, son in law and granddaughter. All other family members and friends get cards. Saves hassle and money. 8 Christmas and 8 birthday presents is all I need to think about now.

LadyP01

Thanks i will be cutting back and i probably need to cut back more.
I find a joy in gifting and its sparked more from the bargains iv found. 20p a book. the kids are all getting a book and somekind of toy that i find thats a bargain and thats it. They get so much from everyone anyway.

Sticking with the idea of completing as much as i can this month bdays and christmas. Once this is done i can stop paying money into my christmas savings as i wont need them, bringing me closer to my goal of only spending £460 of my wages every month. Hopefully by august that will happen.

LadyP01

An emotional evening.

In February i realised that i was in £16,000 of debt and the very thought of it made me feel sick with regret on how i had got there.

Im now on my 5th month of my journey and after all the work i did in may i can now confirm my new debt total is...

£9428 :money:

I have cleared over £6000 debt in this time. Iv worked hard and gone without. I have changed the way i see money and its value and iv stuck to budget. Today i feel great. Hard work pays off and im a third of the way there.

My affairs look like this:
Christmas pot: £330
Clothes and maintenance: £347.13
Car fund: £395.77
Presents £356
Iv stopped the direct debit to christmas and presents now as with my latest plan to shop smart i wont need to pay in any extra. In fact i should be able to put alot of that towards my debt.
Clothes and maintenance i will keep till i hit £500. This is for dentist, optitions,hair cuts, work clothes, shoes etc and i think i need a filling and my uniform needs a revamp even though im hoping to see what i can get from charity shops.
Car also needs to continue to cover insurance,mot and any maintenance i need.

With the cuts iv made i have relooked at my finances and i have £800 to throw at debt every month. This is pushing me to what i feel is the limit but i will keep going further.

I am having a mini celebration this evening and high fiving myself as i feel i have started to achieve something.:beer:

LadyP01

Iv been out and about getting some bargain stocking fillers. Saved a fortune so far all to go towards the debt.

Im trying to cut down the food now. Theres been a few occasions where i would get a top up shop of fruit and veg but instead im trying to just use less or go without and try something different. This is my new focus area.

LadyP01

What a few weeks. Not been on as iv had internet issues and I think that's made a difference to my spending as I couldn't track as well as normal and had some big spends but the spends were planned for so iv just got to sit down and work it all out again and make sure I stay on track. Off to read everyone's posts to keep me motivated