misstara's debt diary 2020

misstara

Decided it's time for a fresh start and a new diary

I've been in debt pretty much continually since I got my first credit card at 18, I'm now 35 so have spent almost half my life in debt :eek: Currently I have £519.86 credit card debt and £5,139.70 car loan (£146.82 per month).

This year has not been a great year healthwise - I was very ill in July resulting in a month's hospital stay, an operation and a total of 4 months off work. I was very fortunate as I got full sick pay but as I used to do a lot of overtime plus a 2nd job, we had around £500 less than usual a month to live on. We managed and didn't increase the debt but it was a bit of a struggle and we're ending the year with basically no savings apart from £10 in the emergency fund :rotfl: and £120 in the car fund.

I feel so much better now although still struggle a bit with fatigue. I've started doing a few hours overtime at work and will look at maybe starting to do a few hours for 2nd job. I don't want to overdo it but a few extra pennies would be good. I work in social care so not exactly the best paying job but at least there's always scope for picking up extra hours.

This year, I'd like to increase the emergency fund to £1000, get rid of the credit card debt and start saving to overpay the car loan. We'd also like to start saving for a deposit with a view to buying somewhere in the next 5 years.

I'd also like to lose weight and get fitter. I used to run a lot before falling ill and would like to get back into this. Due to being ill, I lost 2 and a half stone :eek: and needed to put weight back on, however, I've now put over 3 stone back on so everything is feeling a bit tight. Ideally I'd like to lose around a stone.

Food shopping is consistently our downfall so plan of action for today is to look through the cupboards, fridge and freezer then sit down with OH and make a meal plan. There is plenty of food in but we'll need some milk, bread and veg today.

misstara

We spent £18.82 in the supermarket today which I'm pleased with as it included a bottle of own brand b@ileys and a few nibbles for tonight. We never go out on Hogmaney but do like to stay up for the bells and have a wee drink.

I got a B00ts voucher for Christmas so we went a wander round today thinking I'd maybe pick something up in their half price sale but didn't see anything I particularly liked and I have heaps of perfume at the moment so decided to save them for another day.

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

misstara

Thanks beanie

Happy new year! Had a lovely evening yesterday and went to bed about 1am. Woke up at 7.30am :mad: was hoping for a lie in.

Tried to log into my online banking this morning to transfer my wages (I got paid on 24th December and had moved the money so I didn't dip into it) but couldn't for some reason. Annoying but hopefully will manage later on today. I've updated my budget for January in ynab.

I'm working a late shift today - double time for today and tomorrow so an extra 16 hours pay next month :j. I'll make a pasta salad to take in for tea and there's 2 portions of soup in the freezer for lunches tomorrow and Friday. The soup has been in the freezer for a while as it isn't the nicest, butternut squash and sweet potato which I usually love, not quite sure what I did to it :rotfl: however at least that will get rid of it and free up some freezer space. I'm off work on Saturday so will make a fresh batch of soup then. Going to look for some new recipes as I tend to make the same 3 soups over and over again.

Weighed myself this morning - 11 stone 2. When I was trying to put weight back on, I was planning to stop around the 10 stone mark so slightly gone beyond :rotfl::o. Will aim to be under 11 stone by the end of January.

Plan for this morning is a nice walk along the beach and then just getting ready for work. It will be a NSD

misstara

Back from our walk, was lovely but wow the beach was crowded. Clearly lots of people had the same idea.

Some financial goals for the 1st quarter of 2020
- car loan under £4700
- credit card under £250
- emergency fund £200
- car fund £500

The 2 council tax free months should help with the above. The car fund is the most urgent as road tax is due in April (around £200 for the year) plus car will be due a service in April. Not sure how much this will cost as I took out a 2 year MOT and service plan when I got the car so this will be the 1st service that I have to pay for on the day.

Right, better jump in the shower and start getting myself organised for work.

savingholmes

Beach walk sounds lovely. Some great goals there - I wish you all the best with them

misstara

Thanks savingholmes

NSDs yesterday and today. Meal plan has been made and we shouldn't need to buy anything until the start of next week. We're mostly using up the freezer contents and then will defrost the freezer on Sunday.

The 2nd portion of soup turned out to be stock, thankfully as the soup was worse than I remembered :rotfl: so will use the stock to make soup tomorrow. Made a frittata for lunch instead for tomorrow.

misstara

£2 bank account has gone in this morning plus I made a whole 17p interest from 4 savings accounts :rotfl: so have paid that to the debt taking me to 35.1% paid

I don't know whether to open new savings accounts as the interest rate is so rubbish - the accounts are just being used to stash various funds so I have separate accounts for holiday, car, emergency, presents, etc. I like having them with the same bank my current account is with so that when I log on to internet banking, they are all in one place and easy to transfer between if needed. However, might be worth seeing if I can get better interest rates somewhere else and actually would probably be better to have the emergency fund somewhere else as it's just too easy to transfer money out of it. Hmm something to think about.

misstara

Managed to escape from work a bit early today so went a lovely walk along the beach. It has been a NSD

My lovely gran unfortunately fell and broke her hip. She had an operation today and is feeling ok following it. Will visit tomorrow afternoon. Plan for the morning is to go for a run with my friend.

misstara

Spent £48.04 on petrol, £3.38 on eggs, bread and milk, £2.79 on turps and kitchen cloths and £1.45 on a coffee at the hospital. My gran is doing well although quite sore.

Didn't go for a run this morning as the weather wasn't great but went to the gym instead.

misstara

Spend day again - £2 on tissues for my gran and £1.50 on parking. Went to visit my gran after work then out for tea with my dad and sister.