New Life Pending.....

Iwantanewlife

Morning

Thank god its Friday, been a terrible week. Was up again at 4.20am this morning, feel exhausted. I feel pretty bad today, i spent £6 on wine on whim that i had counted for. Although it really isnt that big a deal, it does make me worry how easy it is just to slip back into my own mindset. Glad it was only £6, and the plus is i can claw it back from my weekly shop. It was more the fact that i did it without thinking. Anyway, the good news is the fuel i was worried about not lasting, has lasted, so will top up today for next week. Shopping day today. I have £50 in the budget, im going to aim for £30. Wish me luck!

DebtFreeMonkey

I'm sure you'll manage to stick to budget with a little focus and a discipline. I hope you have a good weekend and that next week is better for you

Iwantanewlife

Alicia1804 wrote: »

I'm sure you'll manage to stick to budget with a little focus and a discipline. I hope you have a good weekend and that next week is better for you

Thank you! and you :beer:

Iwantanewlife

Shopping complete - £32. The £18 ive saved will balance back the books from the £6 yesterday, the remainder will go into the EF.

Moneywhizz

Good that you recognised how easy it is to buy without thinking but no harm done because it was a minimal purchase and could be absorbed into your food budget. You should have a small miscellaneous amount that you can make these kind of purchases from without it impacting your budget. Maybe once that loan is gone you could build that in to your weekly budget. I have been debt free for years but still operate quite a tight budget. Having that miscellaneous money makes it so much easier to stick to my budget. Some weeks I don't spend it but still keep it in the miscellaneous pot so that there is always plenty there if I want to treat myself.

Iwantanewlife

Moneywhizz wrote: »

Good that you recognised how easy it is to buy without thinking but no harm done because it was a minimal purchase and could be absorbed into your food budget. You should have a small miscellaneous amount that you can make these kind of purchases from without it impacting your budget. Maybe once that loan is gone you could build that in to your weekly budget. I have been debt free for years but still operate quite a tight budget. Having that miscellaneous money makes it so much easier to stick to my budget. Some weeks I don't spend it but still keep it in the miscellaneous pot so that there is always plenty there if I want to treat myself.

Great advice! thanks MoneyWhizz. You are right, its easily done especially after a glass of wine with friends - always seems to be my down fall, must remember my trigger :rotfl:

Iwantanewlife

Opinions needed

Hey All

hope every one had a good weekend, i really enjoyed mine, feel a lot better this week. Was pretty spend free too with a total of £11 spent, all within budget.

So im starting another week, with this loan still on my mind. Trying to think of everything to try and get it paid off. I just checked my balance (again) and from the 18th its gone from £450.72 to £454.77. Now i know this is only pounds but this daily interest is nothing more than a loan shark action and i am fed up of it hanging over me. Ive got 3 weeks till payday, ive stuck within my budget since i started my journey in July and managed to save an EF. However, im thinking to use my EF to just pay this loan off once and for all. Then i will carry on paying min payments for a couple of months on the CC to re build it. What does everyone think? I dont want to make any stupid decisions as im stressed by it, and lets be honest my past money management has always left a lot to be desired so i need to make sure i gauge your help first!!

Thanks in advance xx

enthusiasticsaver

Normally I would say that an EF is a priority but in your case your loan is such a shocking rate of interest I would prioritise that over the EF and get rid of it.

Re the spending have you looked at clear checkbook which is great for budgeting? You can set up budgets and spending envelopes and as Moneywhizz says you could have a miscellaneous pot (I call mine living expenses) and is separate from groceries and entertainment. Things like prescription charges, window cleaners, car parking etc goes in there. It is very easy to slip back into poor habits so you are wise to be aware of that.

Iwantanewlife

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Normally I would say that an EF is a priority but in your case your loan is such a shocking rate of interest I would prioritise that over the EF and get rid of it.

Re the spending have you looked at clear checkbook which is great for budgeting? You can set up budgets and spending envelopes and as Moneywhizz says you could have a miscellaneous pot (I call mine living expenses) and is separate from groceries and entertainment. Things like prescription charges, window cleaners, car parking etc goes in there. It is very easy to slip back into poor habits so you are wise to be aware of that.

Thanks ES, ive actually used the Monzo account since the start of my journey, and i have pots all the way down to Haircuts, eating out, clothes, entertainment, school trips, medicine. Each month the amount outlined in my master budget goes into the pot. Its worked really well for me, and with the feedback from Money Whizz and yourself i have now added a misc pot (e.g a whops wine pot :rotfl:).

I think you're right about the loan, seeing the interest get bigger every day is really starting to get to me, even though ive paid nearly £1200 off it its still at £454 and climbing every day - it was £1350 to begin with!. Im just so scared of using the EF and then something dreadful happens, but i really do feel like im pretty covered budgeting wise now.

Moneywhizz

My advice would also be to just pay off the loan if you have enough to clear it. It won't take long to build up an emergency fund again and as you say you probably have pots for everything now anyway. You are so focused now on getting rid of your debt so I can't see any drawbacks to getting rid of the loan now.