Learning to live within my means

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks all, really appreciate the good wishes.
@vixx_123 a greyhound is my dream dog!! I’m not quite well enough for one now but I’m hoping in a couple of years I’ll be able to get one. Though I do worry about the chasing of small furries - would need to find one that somehow has no prey drive.

vixx_123

No prey drive greyhounds do exist (they tend to be the failed racers 😅). I think my greyhound still has prey drive, but whenever we spot cats on our walks (for a sighthound, he's not so good at the spotting), he continues to look for them everywhere (even if they're sitting still on a wall...). They are funny dogs 🙂

astrocytic_kitten

I keep on reading diaries where survey earnings etc are put to debt or savings or mortgage... whereas I’ve just spent my prolific earnings on some skincare 🤦‍♀️ It’s a product I was planning to buy next month but saw it last night on a great black Friday sale, cheaper than I’ve ever seen. The reason I saw it on sale is I’m still trying to decide what moisturiser to go for - I swear I’m spending more time on this decision than I spent when deciding to buy my flat.

My old moisturiser was almost £30, there’s a few in the £15 range from French pharmacy brands I’m sure would be ok, one in the £10 range I think would work...but I keep on hearing amazing things about Superdrug’s own brand range and that’s £5 and under. I’ve never used it though and my skin can be really reactive and sensitive so when buying new products online I’ve always stuck to brands that I know work before. I’d hate to buy it and it be a waste but at the same time if it worked it would be a huge saving. 

Other than that, Prolific has also paid for a £4 audio book and those two things are my only spends this week. Trying to do some magic with the budget next month where I have a higher daily spending allowance so I can buy some nice food I don’t really need but want, a higher gifts budget than normal, but still don’t pay any less off the debt. 

I normally save £25 per month to the present fund throughout the year but always end up topping up the Christmas spend so I’m going to up it to £35 from January to reflect what I actually spend throughout the year. Realised that I hadn’t taken into account that I dip into it for things like new babies, housewarmings, funerals but instead calculated it only on birthday and Christmas presents.

astrocytic_kitten

Ending November at just under £5k and I’m so, so excited - feels like the end really is in sight now! It also means I’ve hit all my goals for 2020:

• 3m emergency fund
• Get debt to under 10k
• Debt to 1/3 of original by end of year (7722)
• Pay off same amount in 2020 as I did in 2019 (get debt to 5588)
  

To be fair, this time last year I had no idea what the future held, how much I’d be able to work, and what sort of income (if any) I might have so this feels like the result of me being really lucky health-wise than anything else, but it’s still such a relief to have it down to this level. Barring disasters another 1k will be paid off before the end of the year, I’d better make a start on 2021 goals.

Still on track to be debt free at the end of April - 5 months to go...

vixx_123

Amazing 🤩 well done!
I'm just on the start of my journey and already planning 2021 goals. For personal reasons, I'm currently only focussing on personal debts, which (as of today) are £5k (and 38p but annoyingly can't figure how to round down!). Joint debts are ticking down on minimum payments and 0%. So the next step after my personal debt will be saving for balloon payment on car and a 3m emergency fund. 
Good luck on your 2021 goals 🥳

Sarahwithlove

That's great well done you're doing so well and must be nice going into 2021 knowing you could be debt free by end of it. I'm hoping to be debt neutral by end of 2021. 

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks @vixx_123, it feels like only 5 minutes ago I was right in the slog of paying everything off, reading diaries of people in the final straight and thinking it would be an age until I got there myself. Sounds like you have a good plan sorted there.

@Sarahwithlove I’ve figured out that even if I don’t make any overpayments I’ll be debt free December 2021 - as you say, feels great to know the end is in sight. Looks like you’re doing great too!

I think my main 2021 goal will be to reach a 6 month emergency fund, while also exploring the world of mortgage overpayments and increasing pension contributions. I did quite a bit of thinking about it recently and got really tied up in knots over what to do and in what order so focusing on one step at a time probably sensible.

Sarahwithlove

astrocytic_kitten said:

Thanks @vixx_123, it feels like only 5 minutes ago I was right in the slog of paying everything off, reading diaries of people in the final straight and thinking it would be an age until I got there myself. Sounds like you have a good plan sorted there.

@Sarahwithlove I’ve figured out that even if I don’t make any overpayments I’ll be debt free December 2021 - as you say, feels great to know the end is in sight. Looks like you’re doing great too!

I think my main 2021 goal will be to reach a 6 month emergency fund, while also exploring the world of mortgage overpayments and increasing pension contributions. I did quite a bit of thinking about it recently and got really tied up in knots over what to do and in what order so focusing on one step at a time probably sensible.

You could split it between all 3 so you have an even amount in each. Though I'd say 6 month emergency fund is probably more important of the three. Are you already paying into a pension? 

One-step-at-a-time

You're doing so well! Isn't it great to feel that the end is in sight? 

rugbymadfamily

Great work you! In just a few weeks you will be able to say "I'll be debt free this year!". Keep up the good work