So what's next?

Dragonpie

2 more nights out have been completed and around £60 spent on both of them.
I am out on Saturday and have already paid £30 for bowling and food and will probably spend another £20 on transport and drinks on the night but I had one less night out than expected this month so I should be OK (I bought concert tickets for 21st November and didn't realise that they were for 2019 lol). Budget is ridiculously tight for the next couple of months because I paid for flights for June in the Black Friday sale but I was going to be buying them anyway so at least they were cheaper, if not very well timed! I seem to have managed to pull back on the clothes and shoes shopping - I bought clothes 2 weeks ago but I realised how unnecessary they were so I will be taking a walk to the post office to return them tomorrow and am then getting smart meters fitted for my gas and electric so hopefully that will help me cut back

Dragonpie

Since taking out the credit card to buy the boiler and the fact that I am still booking holidays that I know make it impossible to save an emergency fund, I have been thinking a lot about how I got myself into my situation.
I am fairly sure that I have had my light bulb moment but sometimes it feels like the light bulb is on a dimmer switch rather just being either on or off!
My borrowing started about 7 years ago when I took out a credit card with 0% on purchases and told myself that it would be paid off at the end of the 0% period, unsurprisingly, it wasn't... So I got myself a balance transfer credit card, continued to spend on a normal credit card but whenever there was a month that felt a bit tight on the budget, I just did another balance transfer! And I got myself stuck on this cycle, I thought a consolidation loan would stop the cycle but I kept spending, kept balance transferring and repeatedly reconsolidated the loan and now I am here with around about £20k of debt at 31, some of it has been used for necessary purchases, I have had my house entirely rewired, entirely replastered, most of the house has been redecorated and then my recent spend on the boiler... That probably comes to about £10k, so I have frittered away the rest, probably totalling £20k when I take into consideration the repayments that I have made during that time. It's a sickening amount of money wasted but I feel better having written this out, I know that it may be odd to write this after having my diary for so long but I think I was still in denial regarding my spending habits and when I feel like I am slipping, I can re-read this post and see how far that I have come and what behaviour to stop in order to prevent me travelling back in this journey rather than forwards.

Dragonpie

I've been quiet for a while but I am definitely not ready to give up my diary as I have been slipping whilst I have not been updating it. I am doing a lot better with my money than I was but the buying lunch has been sneaking back in which quickly mounts up! I've had the smart meter for 2 weeks now and am definitely over paying on my electricity bill so I will hopefully be able to get some money back in February however I am underpaying on my gas so the 2 will balance out I think (not surprising that I was underpaying on gas considering the hot water hadn't worked for about 2 years and the heating had barely worked for the past 12 months!) The saga with my pay is still rattling on however, now I think that I have been overpaid, so I am having to concentrate on not spending the extra money as I am waiting for my employers to say they want it back (fingers crossed that it really is mine as it will definitely help with Xmas coming up and a trip to Barcelona in 2 weeks!) I am researching purse friendly outings in Barcelona and hoping to not go too crazy with my spending but still being able to splurge a little bit.

ImpulseSpender

I can sympathise with being overpaid and having to be so careful to not the touch the money that you may have to pay back. Fingers crossed it is yours to keep.

I lived in Spain for a year when I was a student and if you can find cafes off the beaten path that aren’t too touristy then you often will get small Tapa of food with your coffee or drink.

When I lived in Spain often I’d order a coffee for a euro and get small plates of food with it, everything from tortilla to fish dishes and it would cover my lunch. They may not do it in the touristy cafes but when I went to Madrid last year they still did it in the offbeaten cafes

Dragonpie

Thanks for the tip ImpulseSpender, we tend to stray away from the more touristy areas so hopefully we can stick to a budget :-) - people keep telling me how expensive places are that we have visited in the past but we always seem to find a local bar/ restaurant and not get too carried away (except in Copenhagen, I don't think it is possible to stay on a budget!) so, fingers crossed, we well manage the same feat in Barcelona.
We now have gig tickets for the Sunday night (someone we have wanted to see for a while who just happens to be playing whilst we are there) so the rest of the time will be lots of exploring with a picnic thrown in, weather permitting.

Dragonpie

I'm getting concerned regarding not having access to my budget spreadsheet! I finish work this week until after Xmas (which is very exciting!) but I am worried that I won't be able to keep on track, especially with a holiday and Christmas in between. I have printed a paper copy of my bills spreadsheet so I can keep track.

Dragonpie

Last day in Barcelona today. It's gone amazingly quickly and I am not sure if I am ready to leave yet! I was concerned about overspending but I seem to have stuck to budget (finally starting to understand that the reason I was failing was due to unrealistic budgets and have given myself a bit more wiggle room), I have finally seen the Sagrada Familia which is definitely a bucket list item, and have drank lots, walked lots and enjoyed some wonderful food. It's a beautiful city and some of the architecture is stunning.
Work have put a bit of a dampener on my good mood however, as it's payday today and have over £100 less than I expected amd have no access to my payslip so that means it'll be a call to HR... It couldn't be worse timed if they tried though!
Edit*** after calling HR, apparently my pension has been set to 8% of my wages despite me opting out of this 2 months ago, HR have no idea why and have given themselves 10 working days to fix this so I am over £100 out of pocket this month with seemingly no chance of seeing the funds until January. I am ridiculously angry but I have one day of my holiday left so I am going to attempt to put this out of my mind.

beanielou

Boo to your payroll team.

Dragonpie

Definitely Boo to them Beanielou... It has been a nightmare ever since I started this job in July.
This month is very tight plus one of my beautiful bunnies had a stroke so I had to have him put down, I didn't even think of the cost at the time but a £125 spend is making it even more difficult moneywise.

beanielou

Sorry about your bunny