Learning to live within my means

astrocytic_kitten

Igamogam, that hadn’t occurred to me at all - it’s such a great idea, thanks! I’ve signed up to my local group and it seems pretty active so fingers crossed.

And thanks ImpulseSpender, I’m finding this diary so helpful in keeping me accountable and not talking myself into things being a need when they’re really a want! Am surprised just how often I try to convince myself something is a one-off essential and getting it won’t make a difference in the long run. It’s a bit exhausting really.

astrocytic_kitten

So, confession time....I have gone down the dreaded consolidation road. I have:

• Consolidated the bulk of the debt (everything that was over 10%) to 10% over 5 years. I wanted to pay higher per month but they wouldn’t set the payments at that, there is no penalty for overpayments though and I’m setting up a standing order to pay over and above the minimum each month.
• Shuffled the rest to a 0% deal on a card, and set the direct debit so the balance on this will be paid off in a year when the 0% ends.
• Of the 3 remaining credit cards, I’ve already cancelled one, am in the process of cancelling another, and will cancel the third after I’ve chased an online shopping return from last month that hasn’t appeared

With all of this my debt free date is now July 2022 - between bonus payments and scrimping, I’m fairly sure I can get this to March 2022 and I have a secret stretch goal in mind to push to get it paid by the end of 2021 (though that is pretty dependant in bonuses and no disasters for the next couple of years)

I know it would have been more sensible to do the 0% shuffle for a while, but the relief I feel at no longer having 25% interest is immense. The loan is also with my local credit union, and I feel safer having the debt with them even if that isn’t particularly logical. I know it would make more sense to throw all extra cash at the loan rather than the 0% balance on the card, but I’m hoping that paying off the card balance in line with the 0% period isn’t totally daft. I’ve run the figures on the snowball calculator a couple of ways but neither has a significant impact on the final DFD.

So I know I need to be ultra careful to not increase the debt, to not spend money I don’t have, to continue to save in my pots so I can cover emergencies without running up debts, and to not get sucked into buying stuff and seeing my spending creep up. I quite often before my LBM had cases of the ‘sod its’, where my credit card balances seemed so high and impossible that I felt like spending another extra couple hundred of quid wouldn’t make a difference...I’m hoping that a clean slate will help with this, and that by setting automatic payments I won’t be tempted to keep the overpayments to myself ‘just for one month’. I’m also resisting the urge to throw every single spare penny at the debt and make sure I’m setting enough aside for emergencies to break out of the debt cycle.

The goals also feel more achievable now - one year to get card paid off, and 3 years to get it all paid. Feels like there might actually be an end in sight. All I need to do is totally change my behaviour and attitude to spending...

Igamogam

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

So, confession time....I have gone down the dreaded consolidation road.

All I need to do is totally change my behaviour and attitude to spending...

You sound as if you have done your homework and happy with the results:D The proof of the pudding will all depend on that last line! I had to have a radical overall of behaviour and attitude - My attitude : good regular salary so what is another couple of 100 £s.....sounds familiar!! This month, for the first time in eons, I have a third of my salary left....I had been replacing a 3K overdraft with my salary every month just to see noughts, never out of the red for YEARS:eek: ...bank loved me!! I havent done much different - bills always paid, OP on all CC, food budget, change pots....all the tricks of the trade really - but I did start filling in a spreadsheet in January.........its been magic and long may it last:D

Wishing you well not the next part of your Debt Busting journey!

astrocytic_kitten

Thank you Igamogam! Your posts have been so sensible I’m amazed you had that attitude too. Have dipped in and out of your diary history and you’ve come so far, hopefully I can follow in your footsteps.

Unusually quiet day at work and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking...I grew up poor and with a lot of instability, and was not too bad at managing money when I didn’t have any. But as soon as I reached what I thought of as a ‘good’ salary I started spending indiscriminately because if I was on a good salary then surely I could afford it. At the same time I almost had an aversion to saving money, after so many years grinding through it by necessity.

Passing over the irony that if I hadn’t gone down that road I’m be in a much more secure position now....I’ve never actually learned proper financial habits. I’ve been in survival mode on the breadline, and (fake) extravagance mode. What I really need is to find a sustainable balance between the two extremes.

Over the past year I’ve been putting a lot of things right in my life and making positive progress - left a toxic job I felt stuck in, managed to introduce some healthy habits that I’ve kept going for several months, started working with pain PT consistently and have seen really good progress on that. I’ve got much better at putting boundaries in place to let me manage my chronic illness. I’m hopeful that a better relationship with money can be the next positive change that ‘sticks’.

astrocytic_kitten

Not sure where the past week has gone! Other than food, I’ve spent £30 on a couple of meals out (this is pretty much my dining out budget for the month, just all happened to be in the one week), about £20 stocking up on toiletries, and £3 on kindle books (I’m also a v frequent user of my library’s ebooks).

Quite a spendy week when written down, but all planned and budgeted for. Still loving YNAB, even if I have a head-scratching moment where it doesn’t match my bank balance and I have to hunt through for the discrepancy at least once a week!

£200 DD on the card will come out in a couple of weeks which will see me just below 22k. I need to change the date so it comes out closer to payday and I’m not spending half the month waiting for it to come out. I still haven’t closed the third card, shop is denying they ever received online shopping return I’m waiting on the refund for, but two cards are gone with about an £11k limit between them - breathing easier now that credit limit’s no longer available for any moments of madness.

I’m struggling with my health at the moment, planning on an ultra-quiet weekend to try to recover a bit. Chronic pain has been getting to me more than normal lately, doc wants to put me on continuous painkillers for a while and I’m not so sure. The exhaustion is at least moneysaving, I never feel able to do anything at weekend other than lie under blanket with audiobooks and cats! :rotfl:

Igamogam

astrocytic_kitten wrote: »

shop is denying they ever received online shopping return I’m waiting on the refund for,

Do you have tracking details or proof of postage?

astrocytic_kitten

Igamogam wrote: »

Do you have tracking details or proof of postage?

I have proof of postage... in a gigantic pile of paper I haven’t been able to face ploughing through yet. I know I’m not being particularly proactive about it.

DrSpendLittle

Just swinging by to say Hi! You've made a great start, well done. I really like the list of things you nearly bought.

I use YNAB too and its changed my life. I love it. I've gotten over the guilt of shifting money between the various line items. When I first started, I always felt guilty, but now I realise that its part of a healthy budget, as long as you're not spending more than you're bringing in obvs.

re: consolidation. If it works for you, then it's probably a sound decision. But, as others have said, be very careful and make sure you cut up those credit cards. And don't allow yourself to feel like you've achieved anything positive. I know this sounds really harsh (I'm with Dave Ramsey on this) but you need to avoid thinking you've paid off the debt in order to prevent the creep of "Oh, I'll just use the empty credit card this one time". You sound committed and organised so I'm sure you'll be fine

Subscribing and look forward to the updates!

Keep on keeping on.

astrocytic_kitten

Thanks Dr! Cutting up the cards is a really good call. Especially as today I’ve been wobbling on the edge of putting an order from the M&S sparks preview sale on my card with the plan of ordering 4 possible new half price gym leggings, returning all but one and paying that off card.... have realised that way madness lies and now I’ll take a chance on one pair and stick with debit card instead. I’ve been in the position of shuffling debt around, coming up with a grand plan to pay it off, and the debt still creeping up so many times over the past few years...don’t trust myself.

In other news, feeling miles better after a lazy weekend with lots of kitty cuddles, audiobooks, and naps on couch. Even had the energy to read an actual written book today instead of listening. Pain is better too, I hadn’t realised how burnt out I’d become.

Hoping that every time I think about buying something over the next wee while I can ask if I’d rather have the thing, or the ability to go part time at work in just three years after getting rid of the heavy weight of all the debt I’m carrying.

.

astrocytic_kitten

Still on track budget-wise. Have a last-minute engagement party a couple of days before payday which has necessitated some shuffling about, but should make it on budget if I’m sensible and don’t get dragged into buying rounds.

I’ve started thinking about enthusiastically and then stopped myself from buying:

• Holiday (email alerts have a lot to answer for! Special offer on place I’d love to go to)
• Dresses in the sale (have realised mindlessly browsing online stores when I’m really tired has a lot to answer for)
• Orthopaedic shoes (will possibly need these at some point in the future, and found a site making ones that actually look like something I’d normally buy. Don’t need them yet though!)
• Plants (I think it’s safe to say plants will always be on this list, and I already have enough)

Though I have bought a new pair of gym leggings, some underwear, a watch strap after mine broke, and a jacket on the bay which is a bigger size of one I have and love but which doesn’t fit any more. Still feels like too many purchases - will be getting to 4 months in a row of not adding to debt and having it decrease, which is a win, but there’s still a way to go to get a handle on spending.

I’ve been looking at buildings and contents insurance - I’ve been ok at switching and getting other bills down over the years but have always left that one as I always felt totally out of my depth when getting a quote on the buildings side. Anyway, did some quotes last night and I can cut my current bill in half at least. Will use the savings for a pot to pay next year’s in full - embarrassingly, I didn’t realise you pay more to pay monthly.

I’ve also been doing some surveys which I was hoping would pay for my kindle books habit, though I think it’s now more likely to go toward new hoover bags.

Happy Sunday everyone!