Not in control

drownindebt

Rainy day but I'm happy.

Putting £400 in the bank and sending off an old iPad.

I want to start racing bikes next month and was thinking about getting a second-hand turbo trainer (what's the point in racing if you're not trying to win!), but then my sensible hat fell on my head and said "you just can't afford a £350 turbo trainer."

Anyway, better get some breakfast and get this day going!

Lucylocks

I'd argue that actually a turbo trainer could be good - excercise will keep you busy and hopefully not spending. It's great for mental health. Have a look at gumtree they usually sell second hand for about £40. If you could generate bit of income from surveys or selling bits then this wouldn't impact your budget

quintwins

yeah you see stuff like that on gumtree all the time or you can pick them up on ebay pretty cheap.

drownindebt

So glad for your comment. I think health and fitness is important. We've been eating with Slimming Eats recipes and I want to do this as a free-ish way of spending my free time - just requires setup costs.

Good point on raising money for it - thanks!

drownindebt

Holiday done. Was good, and now I'm back on my budget.

I've upped my credit card payments from minimum to £50 per month each.

Fitness is going well. I'm stretching and I'm entering my first bike race next month.

Paid the accountant. Next
priority is my tax bill, then no more business expenses and I can get on with Emergency Fund.

Nothing to sell, but clearing my shed out tomorrow anyway. Decluttering makes me happy.

Also wanted to get some plants for the house e.g. Cacti, but I'm holding fire. Maybe free alternatives will present themselves ��

drownindebt

Successful bid on a bag - that will be £42 to me!

Will be taking my £70 lunch money out today. Thinking of ways it can go further without being peanut butter sandwiches!

Considering moving my balance transfer balance (£1636) to my purchase credit card. I get Avios points for doing it and paying down 1 credit card instead of 2 could be better. I'll look into it.

foxgloves

Sounds like your mindset is really changing. It can be done! We had around 35K of debt at its worst but things are so different when I discovered budgeting!
My view on 0% finance has really changed. I used to use these sort of 'deals' a lot for large household purchases because I always wanted them instantly & never saved any money at all. When the lightbulb re our finances suddenly pinged on, I started reading those signs promoting 0% credit for what they are actually offering, which is 0% DEBT. You might not be paying interest but you are still taking on another debt & adding another monthly payment to your outgoings. So we'd be part-way through paying off a new sofa on 0% then the fridge & freezer or oven would cark it, etc, so we'd take out another 0%, & that's now building up monthly outgoings significantly. The beauty of waiting longer for your new sofa by saving up for it is that if you pay for it outright, it's yours! No monthly payments still going out of your account even after the item has started to wear so that's money you can be saving for the next big replacement item or putting into your holiday fund, etc. So I'm just putting a different perspective on 0% 'deals'. Read those signs as 0% debt. More debt. The sofa company isn't offering this out of altruism, but because they want to increase sales of sofas by selling them to people who don't really have the money to buy them. That's how the concept of consumer credit began.
Good luck with your debtbusting. You sound very determined.
F
P.S We saved around £2000 a year by taking packed lunches to work instead of popping out to buy food every lunchtime.

drownindebt

I've got about £20 in my wallet for the rest of the month. Hopefully I can make it stretch, but I'll probably go over a bit.

Don't feel like I'm winning at the moment. House is still a bit leaky, I've still got 2 credit cards and a loan. Sure it's going down every month, but I just can't wait for the £800 or so in repayments to be going into savings.

drownindebt

Bit of a disaster with money this month. Essentially ran out of money I budgeted, got a bit stressed with life and indulged a bit too much in wine! My credit card (a debt card as I should call it) has ballooned to £1k.

I'm planning on how I can stem the flow next month.

I've been reading about Monzo pre-paid debit cards - essentially you put money on it and you use it up. It's kind of like a reverse credit card. I'm going to try this (as opposed to cash in my wallet).

Then if my current account just has regular bills, I can put £100 or so on my pre-paid card and a little aside for savings.

I'm also noticing I'm spending quite a bit at fixing my bike by sending it to the workshop. I'm going to give myself a hobby and learn how to maintain my bike myself. I'll clear my shed this weekend and make it somewhere to spend my evenings tinkering (at the moment I spend silly amounts of time internet browsing in the eves). Also, I've got a good book I should be reading. Silly really.

It's going to take me a while to save the £1000 for emergency fund.

Also, the fixes to the house can't wait. Winter is coming and I need to get the boiler repaired, chimney swept and the bathroom leak plugged (might investigate this myself this weekend). That's all going to cost money I don't have, so I might see if I can get extra income - not sure where though. If I do online mentoring or anything, don't I then have to show the tax man, get an accountant and all that?

drownindebt

Ok - I've decided to hide my credit cards. That's the only way to stop spending. I'll then up my personal allowance from £70 (because that wasn't enough).

I need to understand from our meal plan when I'm getting left overs and when I'm not - to see whether I need to create a packed lunch. It can't be bread because it'll just go off. Maybe a filling salad?

Just cancelled Amazon Prime (that I kindof accidentally subscribed to).

And re-prioritised in my head:
- Pay down credit cards asap and hide them
- Save £1000 emergency fund

Not sure how the leaky bits in the house get paid for yet.