TravelGirl84's DFD

TravelGirl84

Hi All

Bit late on the end of August figures (I get paid on the 25th). I got quite overwhelmed with my money situation and quickly got so obsessed that I had to step away a bit. This includes even reading peoples diaries so I'm sorry I haven't commented on many yet. When I get through them I will.

So August. I did pretty well so I'm pretty pleased. I came within budget and didn't use credit at all :j

My budget for food / work food / household items / toiletry items was £230, and I spent £217. The amount I spent at work I managed to cut in half to £35, which I'm amazed that I managed!
I also managed to come in under budget for petrol even though I actually drove more days this month. Go figure lol.

Managed to put some money in to my emergency fund as well at the end of the month, and I also got £18 out of TopCashB and £8.04 profit from Ebay.

I paid £654.54 off of debt.

Haven't had anything back from PPI yet, only heard re one account where I didn't have any attached.

For September, I had a lot more food then I expected to left over from August, so this past week I haven't had to buy much. My budget for food / work food / household items / toiletry items I've brought down to £200, which I know people will say is still alot for one person but I'm gradually bringing it down. I seem to have spent about £75 already this month which I'm surprised/unhappy about, which leaves me just over £30 a week for the rest of the month, which seems a bit scary for me.

This month I've had/got planned quite a few days/evenings out. Night out last week I came in under budget, yesterday in London I spent about £5 over which I'm fine with. Next weekend I have a night out in London with some family which I have budgeted for, but I'll need to keep an eye on what I'm spending.

I have done some / am planning free workouts instead of paying for gym classes. I did 5k (walking and jogging) at work on Thursday (the pain!!!), and I'm looking at going back to bootcamp at work (free!).

I've got 4 weeks until my holiday! :j I need a new swimsuit and I've seen some cheap ones online! I also need to get some travel insurance.

This month there's quite alot going on, and I'm already a little stressed about affording everything. Just 3 and a half weeks till payday :rotfl:

Happy September everyone. It's officially the countdown till Christmas! :rotfl:

TravelGirl84

So I was having a think today about breaking my debt down in to smaller goals. Seeing it as a whole is so frustrating and it never feels like I'm getting anywhere, so maybe some smaller wins are in order?

I'm thinking by the end of this year:
1. Pay off B/card - 0% runs out end of December
2. Have £500 in an Emergency Fund

I currently have £368.21 in the emergency fund, so £131.79 to find there, plus £666.04 to find for the B/card, so in total £797.83 to find before the end of the year. I'm not sure if this is feasible, but I am going to see what I can do on my spreadsheet.

I'm not sure though if to build up the Emergency Fund for the rest of the year and pay the minimum on the card, then pay it off at the end of the year, or just pay more off the card.
My emergency fund is probably going to be used for ground rent and car servicing come Jan, or atleast a part of it.

Any thoughts on any of this welcome.

Edit Post: Looking at my spreadsheet, unsure of how I am going to make the above goal, and realising I might have to cancel some plans later on in the year, including not doing what I wanted to for my 35th. This sucks!!!

enthusiasticsaver

I would pay more off the card so you are not tempted to spend the amount put aside on something else. You have 4 months so £166.51 per month. Is that doable? Any extra spare money I would put into your emergency fund.

TravelGirl84

Hi Enthusiastic

That's what I was thinking, pay off the card so I'm not tempted.

£166 a month at the moment isn't totally doable no, with other debts I am paying and plans made I need to get creative I think, and maybe cancel some plans

TravelGirl84

Hi All

How is it the 8th September already??!

So I've had a think about my first financial goal since my last post and I've decided that this will be to pay off the B/Card by the end of the year. I've already got a bit in my emergency fund which is great so I can park that for now I think. With Christmas, birthdays, holidays and things coming up, paying off the B/Card still seems quite a task even though it's a relatively small amount in comparison to my other debts, but I'm giving it a go!

Just updated my signature as min payments have come out. Once the next lot of minimum payments have come out in October I'll be under £30k! :j I've paid off £1107.20 since 27th July (6 weeks) which I'm quite pleased with. If I kept this up my debts would be paid off in just over three years but this works out at £184 a week, which will be challenging to keep up with. If someone wants to check my math on that lol, I'm terrible at maths!

I seem to be struggling a little with grocery money this month. I have pretty much everything I need for the next week, which means I only have about £47 for two weeks. I don't know how I am going to manage this! I seem to have spent alot already this month, but I think that comes down to having to pay for some items I don't buy regularly, for example water filters (I live in a really hard water area) and I couldn't get my usual cheaper ones so had to pay £11 for three. I also had to buy some hair products and in all honesty I had a couple of treats. Tonight I'm making lasagne which will make at least three meals. I have some chicken to make two portions of Korma, plus I have at least 8 other fish/meat items to use up, so in total about 13 meals. I'll just need to make sure I keep checking what I have in the cupboards to make up those meals before I go to the shops. It might get a bit repetitive but that's how it is for now. Food shopping is definitely something I'll need to work on for some time. I ended up having dinner at someones house three times this week so that was nice!

Got my car insurance renewal quote this week. I'm quite surprised as it's only gone up a few quid. Have done a little look around and it doesn't seem I could get it much cheaper so far. Need to look around a bit more for travel insurance as well.

I also got my mortgage renewal letter this week. I need to give them a call to double check everything, but if I keep everything as it is it should only go up by about £20 a month which is great!

I didn't end up going out last night so I have bought some much needed bras, why do these things cost so much! Sorry, maybe a bit TMI :rotfl:

Next week:

Meal plan is pretty much done.

I've got my friends birthday next weekend. I accounted for her present but not a day/evening out, so I'll use some of the returns money for that. She's one of my best friends and the girl I'm going on holiday with so I want to go out for her birthday,

Got some returns to make this week so will get some money back there.

Hope you all have a great week!

TG

FootyFanDan

Well done on the amount you have paid off in such a short space of time, although the weekly figure does sound tough, as long as you keep paying off what you can it the figure will keep dropping and that is the main thing.

I also struggle with the grocery budget and still find myself tweaking this so that is probably one of the hardest things I find to budget for

You are done really well keep up the amazing work

twiggy86

With regards to your first target - as you seem concerned you may not make it I thought I'd share this quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Even if you don't make it, every penny paid off is getting you in the right direction.

CoffeeCakeYarn

I've just read your diary from start to finish, you're doing so well!

Just wanted to share that I got total newbie frenzie when I started this debt journey, and burnt out really quick. I was so obsessed with having everything paid off ASAP, that it totally overwhelmed me. I stepped back, made realistic budgets, and accepted that 26k debt wasn't going to be paid off in two years. I also didn't have much wiggle room in my budget, and once I accepted that I couldn't pay off a huge amount every month, I became a lot more content and settled in for the journey.

I'm not saying that you need to do that, keep smashing it, but it's okay to feel overwhelmed, and it's okay to give yourself some slack every now and then, we didn't spend it overnight, we can't pay it back overnight

Keep up the amazing work

TravelGirl84

FootyFanDan wrote: »

Well done on the amount you have paid off in such a short space of time, although the weekly figure does sound tough, as long as you keep paying off what you can it the figure will keep dropping and that is the main thing.

I also struggle with the grocery budget and still find myself tweaking this so that is probably one of the hardest things I find to budget for

You are done really well keep up the amazing work

Thanks Dan! I think I've had a good start but keeping the momentum up will be tough. It's a massive learning curve!
I am still reading your diary, sorry I've not been very good at keeping up, but you look like you've paid alot off pretty quickly so well done! :T

TravelGirl84

twiggy86 wrote: »

With regards to your first target - as you seem concerned you may not make it I thought I'd share this quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” Even if you don't make it, every penny paid off is getting you in the right direction.

Hi Twiggy!

Thank you so much for this! Every penny is definitely a step in the right direction! I've copied this in to my notes on my computer to remind me! :beer: