Learning to live within my means

katsu

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

So... I know I need to change cards 3 and 4 to minimum payments and throw the extra at card 1. I’ve locked myself out of online banking for them both so need to sort that so I can change the payment! My only balance transfer option is £2k to card 4, 4.9% over 36 months with no fee, I’m not sure how worth it that would be - I’ve been making balance transfers for partial balances and shuffling things between cards for so long now it almost seems easier to bite the bullet and just try to pay as much as possible to card 1.

Congrats on changing your mindset. I would suggest you do take this BT offer. You could move £2k from CC1 which is on double digit interest, so you would reduce the amount of money each month that you pay in interest, meaning if you keep the repayments at their current level, you will get a bit of extra free debt clearning.

I would move that £2k and still keep the focus on repaying the rest of the high interest CC1 balance. You know what all your debts are now so you can also track the total owed and so shouldn't forget about that £2k.

Good luck with your repayments. I promise that the peace of mind is going to be so worth everything when you get this debt cleared

astrocytic_kitten

I can’t figure out how to do the multi quote thing, but thanks for the encouragement all!

Katsu, I’ve been realising that you’re right and the interest on that balance really is a nightmare. I’m going to sit down this weekend and reassess but I think a balance transfer is probably going to happen.

Budget is looking very tight to get to payday but I should be able to manage it. Bit more has gone into the repairs fund from eBay. Though I’m finding it quite difficult at the moment to resist seeing if there’s any bargains on the site - must not do this!!!

This diary keeping me accountable really is so useful to stop the little voice in my head telling me my life will be so much improved if I buy that dress and it will make everything better and I NEED it. I need to somehow internalise that I have enough.

astrocytic_kitten

Not much to report - have only spend money on cat food and cheese in the past week. Have listed a couple more things on eBay and need to take some more pics to trickle a few more things through (trying to not have 20 things all ending on the same day that I then need to post). Though I very sadly will be away for a funeral next week so I would be happy if nothing happens with the things I have coming to an end this weekend and I don’t need to deal with carrying them and posting them from elsewhere.

Have spent a lot on trains lately back and forth to hospital. In learning to budget news, I tried to cut down the cat food budget this month to try to account for that and some other unexpected costs...which was daft because I’d figured out their budget based on what I actually need to spend on them per month. Have postponed the haircut I had booked in for this month so it can come out of next month’s pay, and transferred what was allocated for that to the cat’s pot. Poor kitties to have an owner who tried to do them out of food instead of changing her haircut in the first place!

Feeling pretty drained, planning on a weekend full of resting, cuddling with the cats, and possibly some comfort baking. And packing, leaving very early Monday morning.

Igamogam

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

Feeling pretty drained, planning on a weekend full of resting, cuddling with the cats, and possibly some comfort baking. And packing, leaving very early Monday morning.

Self care very important

astrocytic_kitten

Has been a tough week...still on track budget-wise, though I was hoping I’d be able to put off ordering more meds for my cat till payday but he’s going to need a refill sooner than that. It’s a really expensive med upfront. I’ll get the majority of the spend back from insurance but don’t have enough in the pot to cover the full spend at the moment (I will on payday) and was hoping to avoid needing to borrow from other pots.

I had the cat’s pot running really well last year having enough to cover the upfront spend and then paying the insurance payments back into it, but I totally forgot that my excess would reset after renewal and I’d need to pay the full amount of one refill. That happened around the same time the cat was sick and needed some expensive treatment so the buffer was wiped out. He and his sister are worth it though, love them both!

Have a short work trip next week so will save the cost of a couple of days meals at least, and have bids on a couple of items ending this weekend so will be making some more sales. Still in a bit of a pain flare so I will once again be resting up and looking after myself this weekend. Other than that, I’m loving the sunny weather and bright mornings. Makes everything feel brighter and more hopeful!

astrocytic_kitten

Have shuffled money out of presents and haircuts pots to pay for cat meds. The past couple of months have brought home that I have no wiggle room for unexpected expenses and I could use having a fund for that so I don’t need to dip into the emergency fund proper but don’t resort to credit either. If I get a pay rise this year I’ll put it towards that, rather than throwing every single penny at the debt. As the glossy mags are fond of saying, this is more of a lifestyle change than a crash diet.

I’ve been exhausted and sore today and have even had an afternoon nap. Managed to put a load of washing on earlier but that’s all. This morning was getting a bit carried away, thinking that I could be both debt and mortgage free in 10 years, if I continue on this path...now I’m remembering that my health is unlikely to cope with 10 more years at my current job and I need to find a more sustainable life once the debt is gone.

astrocytic_kitten

I really want to buy more work clothes today, definitely feeling the shopping monster inside me.

I’ve resisted - did end up browsing online shopping websites, including the expensive but oh so lovely and always fits me brand which is my downfall, but made myself look critically at everything and analyse if it would suit me / if I’d actually wear it, and then for whatever got through that process I asked myself if I actually needed it. Answer was no (obviously!), so have ended up with a small wishlist I’m telling myself I can check during the sales if I have any money to spend.

At the moment I’m selling so many clothes that aren’t quite right but I bought and kept them anyway because I thought they’d do. No more! I have enough, I just want new things for the sake of new things, and where I do genuinely have a gap in my wardrobe it’s coming from either eBay or on deep discount when I have the money in my account. I’m enjoying the process of slowly whittling down the wardrobe to what I actually wear, just need to not fill it up again.

Couple more sales pending today, wrapping stuff up for post office tomorrow, and have also listed a few more things. Other than that, have 2 more dresses left to iron (doing it in shifts to preserve spoons). Then plants to water, breakfasts for next couple of days to make, meal plan to check (couldn’t find what I needed yesterday but think it might just be at back of very frosty freezer) and might bake something super easy. Was supposed to be spending today with friends but had to cancel because was feeling so bad, which I guess is at least moneysaving. Wonder how much of my online shopping habit is because I’m bored and tired and it’s a mindless way to kill time when I can’t do much else.

astrocytic_kitten

• A filing cabinet / bedside table, which on the on hand would definitely solve a couple of storage problems I’m having, but on the other hand was £173 (and that was half price!)
• Trousers from my favourite brand, vastly reduced via eBay (to be honest might actually have bought these if I hadn’t forgotten when auction was ending)
• 2 blazers, a dress, and a jumper, all from fave brand, all via eBay (note to self: just because it’s cheaper than it would be new does not mean you have the money to spend on it!)
• Coffee and cake after a depressing hospital appointment
• Plants (I don’t need any more but I keep on wanting more)
• New clothes after getting a rash of 20% off emails (unsubscribing from these as they come in)
• New gym clothes
• Drawstring pouches for gym, after I thought I could sort out clothes for the week on a Sunday when I have more energy instead of evening scramble to get sorted for next day, but somehow thought this plan would only work if I had pretty pouches for each day
• Posh ready meals to tide me over while I was in the office late... guaranteed if I’d gone into the shop I’d have come out having spent £30 on various food bits and bobs
• Tights - this is an actual need, but now budgeted for next month

...Each of these I would have bought before I started this journey. Starting to see exactly how I got myself into this mess!

Things I have bought over the past week:

• £4.95 on food to make work lunches and snacks
• £6.80 on toiletries
• £130 on cat meds, but will get majority of this back via insurance
• £10.94 on kindle books (was going so well up to that point! not on credit, at least)

ImpulseSpender

I think listing out what you almost or nearly bought is a great way of seeing how well you're doing and how your mindset is shifting. I might start doing the same.

Also, great that you didn't put the Kindle Books on credit.

Igamogam

Filing cabinet. Bedside cupboard. Plants. Ever thought of looking on Fr**ycle/Fr**gle?