2020 time to change

EchoB

Not having a very MSE month, I’m feeling cross with myself. I’ve had a few unnecessary costs like a take away, a few BBQs and a bottle of gin that I really didn’t need.

Work hasn’t been great which I think is a contributing factor.
i need to rein it in and get back on it. Also have my sisters birthday coming up, need to not splurge on her.

Thanks for the encouragement BD80s, I think I need to create pots for everything so I can have the odd treat that will be in budget. 

Thanks SH for the link :-) 

mark55man

it is a slog, but in the grand scheme of things a few BBQ and some gin isn't going to set you back too far.  my OH and I have replaced our entire entertainment budget with a G&T every night (Lidl Rhubarb and Ginger with low cal tonic is very nice - its only 20% so not full strength but only £10 for 50cl so not a huge extravagance)  - maybe get one for you and one for your sister

savingholmes

Thanks Echo for signing up.  Hopefully we will both get something out of it.

bd80s

I feel cross with myself as well because I bought lots of rubbish to eat last week and proceeded to eat it.....so it cost me £s and lbs  
But these aren't set backs...just little speed bumps, i'm sure you'll be back on track next month

EchoB

Just wrote a long post and lost it 😤

Progress to date is;

L1 £11,727 from £14,396
L2 ££13,320 from £15,000
CC1 £0 from £4,022
CC2 £4,081 from £4,397
CC3 £1,001 from £0

total £30,129 from £37,815 £7686 paid to date 20.33%

Gutted to be so close to under £30k but I will get there next month, if I do it this month I will struggle in July.

i ended June in my OD, this is not an option for July as it will start to cost me in interest.

EchoB

I think the problem is I’ve seen my interest free OD as “free money”. I won’t let myself go into it this month. 

I could have made a further overpayment to get into the £20k bracket but it would have made July mega tough.

i will get there next month 🤞and I can celebrate hitting 20% paid 🎉

I have £680 in my EF and I haven’t touched it so far 😄

FOMO_overspender

Well done on the progress  🎉  and for not dipping in to your Emergency Fund. This is a big one for me as when I see the number go up monthly a part of me does get tempted to use it toward debt BUT so far so good. 

Also kudos on recognising your limits/ not over doing it. It's easy to go the other way and overstretch to pay of debt and it's counter productive! Good luck on staying out of your OD 👍

EchoB

FOMO_overspender said:

Well done on the progress  
Also kudos on recognising your limits/ not over doing it. It's easy to go the other way and overstretch to pay of debt and it's counter productive! Good luck on staying out of your OD 👍

Thanks FOMO I’ve learnt my lesson on not overstretching!!!

I will touch the EF to pay back CC3 in August but then I will build a £1k pot as I realise I am rubbish at budgeting, I never manage to plan for everything. 

From August I am going to try really hard to budget and track expenditure against it as this it’s all the little things that add up without me realising that get me into trouble.

joedenise

Do you have "pots" set up for various things - food, fuel, healthcare, car etc?  If not it's a great way of saving.  I even have a pot for Things I have forgotten!  It's so easy not to remember absolutely everything that comes our of your account, particularly if they are annual expenses!  Once I've budgeted what I've worked out I need to put by monthly in each of my pots, everything else just goes into the Things I have forgotten pot so it builds up every month.  Might be worth a go.

EchoB

I think I am going to use pots, once CC3 is gone I love the idea of a “Things I have forgotten pot”!!!! I will definitely need one of those 😂