Start of a new chapter

Debtbegone2021

Hello, you seem to have made a good start, I started this month and am loving been in control and knowing everything will be going down and now up !!!

I've been using swagbucks and have just cashed out and got a £25.00 Argos voucher. Joined opinion outpost the other day and already have the earned enough to cash 5.00 into PayPal but I'm waiting until have 10.00 so I can get an Argos voucher.

s1n25

This is fab! Well Done.


I've no where near being able to cash out for that much yet, I've taken my foot of the pedal and lost my way a bit. I'll certainly be trying opinion outpost!


My plan is to keep doing them till Dec 1st then cash out what ever I have and the funds will go towards Xmas presents.

s1n25

Well it’s pay day tomorrow… thank god!!

I haven’t done as well as I had hoped this month, didn’t end the month in a positive, spent on my credit card, unexpected nights out not within budget.

I’m going to try not be too hard on myself I have to think back to the first half of the year and look at my spending habits in comparison with last month, a lot has changed!! Although I still have a lot to learn and a lot of temptations to resist, I’m in control of my money.

Positives of this month:

• Checking my bank balance on a weekly basis (sometimes daily!)
• After signing up to the NSD I’m more conscious of not spending for the sake of it or because I feel like it.
• Understanding that most of the time I ‘want’ something rather than actually ‘needing’ something
• I’m in control of my finances
• I know exactly what is going in and out of my bank
• Debt is reducing (although I have spent on my credit card, I will be paying this + what I had budgeted, back in September. The balance will be reducing as planned)

What I need to take away from Aug and learn from moving forward:

• I spend a lot of money on food!! I planned well at the start of the month, then became lazy. I want to reduce the amount of times I eat out as well as nipping to the local co-op to pick up unnecessary items
• Only take out cash on nights out
• Only take out cash that I have budgeted
• Say NO! I have this fear of missing out on things, if I get invited somewhere I can’t say no! I must learn if I can’t afford it, I can’t go.

August is done, on to September…. I’ll post my plan tomorrow along with an update on debts.

s1n25

Pay day has finally arrived!

Spent this weekend in my spread sheets making sure I’m all set for the month. Budgets have been updated, cash has been allocated and I am feeling positive about the month ahead!!

I’ve not got as busy month in Sept, compared to Aug and also the next 3 months.

My goal for September: Stick to my budgets! No overspending.

Debts have been paid already, total balances for Sept:

Miss
Credit card (0% interest) £3,000
Credit card £200 (this has stayed the same as I spent on it this month ☹ I have cleared what I spent but not managed to reduce the debt)
Owe for car (paying back savings) £1,000
Total £4,200

Mr
Car loan £6,646
Store card £228
Loan (0% interest) £4,000
Total £10,874

Total Household debt: £15,074
Reduced by £985 from last month.

The only money spent this weekend was on food for the week and petrol. No unexpected spending and no plans to spend!! Starting this month on a positive. I’ve planned and prepped all my meals for this week, do not need to spend any further month on food. No mid-week plans apart from I might attend a spin class (£4).

Feeling good about September!!

s1n25

Day 6 of the month.. so far so good!

I'm finding I'm a weekend spending, as I imagine most people are. Within the week as long as I make sure I make my lunch (currently on 4/15) I don't spend a penny! positive. But... the weekend arrives and I feel as though I can enjoy myself which involves spending money most of the time! Last weekend I managed to stay in as had a lot to do in the house.
This weekend I plan for the same. I have to pick my parents up from the airport on Friday at 11pm! (using mums car so no extra petrol needed) Saturday I was hoping to get in the garden as all the rain has made it look like a rain forest! There are weeds in places I’ve never seen before. Sunday is the only day we plan to go out, we have a wedding venue open day to view. I may look to go for Sunday dinner after but that would be my one treat this month!

Current have around £400 remaining in my bank, all priority bills are paid. The majority is allocated to food/petrol budget for the month. I have £100 savings for my holiday next month which I don’t want to dip in to in Sept as can’t afford much more in Oct (busy month) this leaves around £55 for the month. I really will be scrimping but I’m determined not to go over budget or spend on my credit card!!

s1n25

Made it through the weekend without spending!! So proud. Another weekend in the bag and no over spending. My one concern is that I did have to drive extra miles to drop Mr off for work which means I’m already a weeks’ worth of petrol down. Didn’t plan a contingence for this neither. Have £25 left in the budget with 2 weeks left (I filled the car up yesterday for this week) I normally spend around £20-£30 a week in petrol. I have £50 left to spend I’m going to have to use this in the final week of the month.

Another quiet weekend, Saturday we stayed in as the weather was terrible! Didn’t manage to get in the garden. Sunday we went to our first wedding open day! WOW there is so much to plan and could get expensive!! (more spreadsheet… yippee!) We went out for dinner but Mr paid.

Had a lightbulb moment this week, can’t believe I didn’t think to do this sooner to be honest!! Martin Lewis goes on about this all the time. I have been paying £300 a month off my biggest debt (credit card with balance of £3,000) Because the balance it so big I gives me more satisfaction seeing it reduce each month, it’s 0% till end of next year though. I also have a small credit card with a balance of around £200. I’m only paying £50 a month of this but accruing £10 a month interest! Sounds silly that I’m only just doing this now but next month I’ll be clearing the remaining balance (no more interest!) and paying the £50 of the larger debt. That way it’s one credit card paid and no more interest!

Silly that I didn’t think to do this sooner.

This week I have no plans again! (the life of a women in debt whose trying to pay it as quickly as possible) Looking forward to Saturday night, catch up with my girlfriends, we aren’t going out, staying in and having a take away so should be a cheap weekend again.

s1n25

Morning All! Happy Monday.

Close to all my budgets now with 11 days till payday. As I mentioned last week I was already close to my petrol budget due to unexpected journeys, had another airport drop off this week! This does mean I have spent everything I budgeted for petrol, I’ll need to use my credit card to top up for next week. Food will be in budget and I have my dad’s birthday next week which is all budgeted for. Apart from that there will be no more expenses! Can’t afford anything else.

Was a pleasant weekend but spent a bit more than I would of liked.
Friday was quiet, a bottle of wine and I cooked tea after work.
Saturday is where I spent the most money, 2 of my friends got engaged this week so I’ve been out and bought some presents for them (of course was not in the budget) We ate out for lunch and I had a take away with my friends at night. Once again most of my money is spent on food! It wasn’t too much and it was the first time this month I have spent eating out, so I don’t mind.
Sunday I had to drop Mr off at the airport I then spent the day cleaning (joys!) which meant no money spent. I did the weeks shop (all within budget) and the rest of the day was spent chilling!

No plans for this week, hoping for 4 out of 5 NSD and I have already planned my lunches for this week. So far this month I haven’t gone out for lunch, which is an achievement!

I’m looking forward to getting paid to be able to clearing 1 of my credit cards and the other big one will be below £3k!! (getting there slowly but surely)

I have £150 saved for Xmas.

I go on holiday next month for a long weekend, it’s all paid for but I need a few spends was hoping I could save some this month but it hasn’t happened unfortunately. Will have to be tight next month.

I was thinking over the weekend how much I manage my money a lot better these days and it’s all down to this diary and the help of the forum. I think about money in a different way. Before I didn’t really care about it, if I wanted to go somewhere I would, if I wanted to eat out I would, I would be agreeing to invites without thinking ‘Can I afford this?’, Probably why my credit card bills were over £4k when I started this! Now I’m much more in tune with what I have and what I can agree to.
I started this diary in July this year to just document my debts in the hope I could reduce them but it’s become much more than that. I finds it easier to write down exactly how much I have left at the end of the week or what my plans are for the weekend and how much is it going to cost. Even if this isn’t being read by that many people it’s really helping me tackle my debts and become more responsible for my spending. I would recommend anyone who is wanting to change their spending habits or reduce their debt no matter how big or small have a go at a debt free diary it really does help!! :T

s1n25

Quiet week as planned! No extra expense apart from £5 spent in the co-op on some bits (bread, milk etc) I’m a bit annoyed at myself today as I’ve had a busy week in work and not stuck to my food planner which has meant I didn’t prep my lunch for today, resulting in me having to spend £4 on ordering food from work! Not what I need but it’s 1 day out the month I’m not going to be too hard on myself.

Mr’s MOT is due in 2 weeks and we’re hoping it isn’t going to be an extra expense! Used the tip from Martin Lewis and bought an air freshener from Halfords which in turn means we have gotten the free MOT voucher (saving £55!!). Car is relatively new and shouldn’t need anything (fingers crossed!) He travels a lot with work so we had a free tyre check with Halford to check these would pass (all good!). I would recommend Halford they’ve been really helpful and we’ve not had to pay anything.. at the moment!

No plans to spend this weekend, we’re going to view another wedding venue on Sunday and Mr needs dropping off at the airport again the only extra should be petrol. Quiet weekend ahead of pay day next week.

Feeling good, not got much money left in the bank (£90) but this is more than I would normally have had this time of the month in the past! Budgeting and daily/weekly monitoring of finances really does work!!

One last ‘issue’.. every year we tend to go away for New Years, I’m not the biggest fan of NYE but we’ve always had the best time abroad. We normally just look on sky scanner at the cheapest flights and book them (around Europe with a budget of not more than £80pp for a returning flight). This year with us trying to save and pay off debts I’m trying to convince myself that we can’t afford it. I’ve found flights for £55 return pp for the 29th Dec-1st Jan. I’ve pre booked a room for £250 (I can cancel up till 27th Dec)
I know I should be thinking that £200 each could be reducing our debts but when you’ve been budgeting and cutting back on most things I feel we deserve this and it’s become our tradition. We can afford to go away but it would mean this amount not being paid off the debts.
As you can see I’m feeling guilty about considering spending this money on going away and trying to convince myself that its ok to book.

Anyone else been in a similar situation?? Any advice?? What decision did you make in the end? To book or not to book?

s1n25

Last weekend before pay day! Probably was the most expensive one. Not so much for me as Mr paid for most of it but I would of rather he saved this! Mr has had a tax rebate of around £1200. He has used some of this to ‘treat himself’ I’m not sure how much at the moment but from the shopping bags in the hall when I returned home from work on Friday I imagine it was a few hundred! He is away with work now for 10 days which means he won’t be spending any money (one positive). We’ll be sitting down and going through his budget for Oct when he’s back. I have advised he should clear the small loan he has of around £300 as he pays £70 a month to it which would be an extra income for him. We also need to renew his car insurance which has reduced considerable when I last checked (going from £120 to £75)

Unexpected few drinks on Friday night, Mr paid and it wasn’t to extreme, we just had to pay for a taxi back which was £25 (hate paying for taxis!)
Saturday day/night we chilled no real expense apart from having to put some petrol in my car.
Sunday we visited another wedding venue it was beautiful! But they’re so expensive! Went out for Sunday lunch but Mr paid.

4 days till pay day! Will look to update my budgets on Thursday ready for DD’s to be taken on Monday.

Dads birthday this week which I’ve saved money for. Apart from this no plans to spend!

I’ve been reading some of the other diary’s and it’s good to see that other people tend to take their eye of the ball towards the end of the month. This is something I feel I need to work on, I’ve done a lot better than last month but room for improvement!

lucy-lou

s1n25 wrote: »

One last ‘issue’.. every year we tend to go away for New Years, I’m not the biggest fan of NYE but we’ve always had the best time abroad. We normally just look on sky scanner at the cheapest flights and book them (around Europe with a budget of not more than £80pp for a returning flight). This year with us trying to save and pay off debts I’m trying to convince myself that we can’t afford it. I’ve found flights for £55 return pp for the 29th Dec-1st Jan. I’ve pre booked a room for £250 (I can cancel up till 27th Dec)
I know I should be thinking that £200 each could be reducing our debts but when you’ve been budgeting and cutting back on most things I feel we deserve this and it’s become our tradition. We can afford to go away but it would mean this amount not being paid off the debts.
As you can see I’m feeling guilty about considering spending this money on going away and trying to convince myself that its ok to book.

Anyone else been in a similar situation?? Any advice?? What decision did you make in the end? To book or not to book?

Hi I didn't want to read and run as you are doing really well. Reducing your debts by almost £1000 a month isn't easy.

With the NYE holiday could this be your Christmas presents to yourselves so you both make a pact not to buy each other anything else? I find Christmas soon adds up and you would end up spending most of this money on each other anyway, a bigger gift plus all the little things. I really believe experiences and memories are far more important than material goods. Can you even remember what you had for Christmas 2 years ago, do you still use it?

That is just my way of thinking but then I am a sucker for holidays and now face 6 months debt busting again to clear down this year's (never quite seem to take a 6 month break from holidays to save for the next one first, a bit like you I can't say no through fear of missing out!).

Anyway keep going you are doing great and there really is no better motivation than a debt free wedding and start to married life!