Head out of sand time! £63k to zero!

System

Couldn’t agree more with ES , last year I saved for Christmas/ birthdays monthly. I worked out who I buy for and how much I want to spend then spread it over 10 months. Nov&Dec money went on Christmas nights out and last minute bits.
Emergency fund paid for unforeseen dental bill and glasses.
Car fund for mot, service and other bits.
Saving for house and car insurance.

These are all the different funds I have going , you do your own of course, not everyone is the same. I have found these invaluable and haven’t needed to use a credit card for 14 months and hope never to need to.

I have a holiday account as well, forgot that one.

Good luck with your debt busting.

Bigskies

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Ideally you need at least 2 savings pots. One for emergencies - which is just what it says really. Something that goes wrong that is essential like a car repair when you need the car to get to work or boiler repair, washing machine breakdown etc.

Things like bus passes, Christmas, school trips, insurances, birthdays are all foreseen. You know when you are going to need to pay out so you need to budget and put money away for it.

That is as important as paying down debt as paying off a lump sum from the credit card then spending on it because you have nothing put aside is self defeating.

Yes, have set up a load of savings pots -bus pass, car MOT etc, daughters drama club subs, sons music lessons, Christmas and birthdays, that sort of thing, with the view that these will be self supporting in the end and everything will be covered. Did a spreadsheet thing with what everything costs annually and divided it all by 12. Christmas especially is tricky if you don’t put away every month, I find!

Bigskies

Cumbria_lass wrote: »

Couldn’t agree more with ES , last year I saved for Christmas/ birthdays monthly. I worked out who I buy for and how much I want to spend then spread it over 10 months. Nov&Dec money went on Christmas nights out and last minute bits.
Emergency fund paid for unforeseen dental bill and glasses.
Car fund for mot, service and other bits.
Saving for house and car insurance.

These are all the different funds I have going , you do your own of course, not everyone is the same. I have found these invaluable and haven’t needed to use a credit card for 14 months and hope never to need to.

I have a holiday account as well, forgot that one.

Good luck with your debt busting.

Thank you. Yes, definitely lots of different funds for thing, plus an emergency savings fund too seems essential. Have set them up now.

Bigskies

So, first lot of statements have all arrived and as of the end of this month, have cleared £1129 off our total. And in addition, have put away £180 into savings pots for assorted advance expenses. Really pleased
February’s budget is looking good too, so hopefully we’ll end with a similar result. I can see a small chunk at the end of the tunnel!

try_harder

Wow well done ,you have made a fantastic start to the year ,keep it up

Mahsroh

Hi Bigskies, just reading your diary for the first time. Sounds like it's going very well so far! I'm trying to shift a circa £21k debt, so will be subscribing to this for inspiration!

enthusiasticsaver

Good start on the debt reduction this month. Glad to see you are starting to budget in advance for payments too.

Sunkencosts

Hi Bigskies.
We're on the same journey aren't we?

I've just sorted out most of our income for February and divided things into different savings accounts too. Feels a bit weird to have them. Like I'm a grown up or something.......

groovychick69

Hope all is ok bigskies - missing your posts, January Is far too long, I was infact paid on 25th but waiting for 1st/2nd feb to see statements etc has felt like a lifetime. Hope all is good and your plans can continue moving forward.

Bigskies

So, 1st Feb! It’s been a good, if long month. I’m now back at work and it’s going well.

Have had a busy month and sold quite a few bits on FB and EBay. Was talking on another diary about how I’ve given up selling on local Fb pages as can’t be doing with the whole “wud u take 50p Hun” messages when you’ve advertised it for twenty quid thing, but I do use a lot of the brand specific selling pages -there are loads for all sorts of brands. I also no longer sell on eBay via auction as can’t bear letting stuff go for pennies, so I list stuff in bulk (10+ items at a time) with buy it now prices, but that I accept offers, and then list them until they sell, and just sit and wait. It takes longer, but you get the price you want in the end.

So in January I made, before fees and postage and packaging costs, £300 in sales, which has covered a few of the kids school trips, some pocket money for days out, and some new bras as I was desperate. It’s also paid for a meal out.

I’d also set myself some targets for the year, so it’s time to update:

Repayment 1129/10,000
eBay sales £300
Mileage/expenses claims FMAMJJASOND
Christmas/Birthdays 2018 savings £240
Emergency Savings Fund £0 (waiting for loan to finish in March)

It’s feeling quite relaxed at the moment, and relatively calm......the budget this month (Feb) isn’t bad at all as no council tax and two child benefits, so this allows me to put away a little bit extra into a couple of savings pots, which is good!