For a minute there, I lost myself...
Applewood1
Forumite 48 Posts
Hi and thanks for stopping by my diary! I have lurked here for years. The diaries board has really helped me to feel capable and inspired to sort out my debt and general money management issues over the last few years. I’m happy to report that since mid 2018 I’ve paid off over £9000+ debt (credit cards) and I’m now in a place to actually make some savings with the hope to buy a house in the next year or so.
A little bit about me…I’m 30 this year, (happily) single, work full time and live in Scotland. I hope that this diary will keep me motivated to not only work on savings but also to stop me slipping into old habits. The majority of my 20's were less than amazing – a few personal problems that I won’t get into (yet!) and generally using money to make myself feel better. It feels like with the start of a new decade and the majority of my debt tackled (currently £649.31 outstanding to be paid off!) I’m in a place where I really can achieve my goals. I’m going to write down some goals that I will refer back to as I go…
1) Save up deposit for house / flat. I’d like to buy within the next year and hope to save around £17,000 by then.
2) Stop overspending on food! This is one of the biggest money pits for me. Of all the bad money habits I have had, overspending on food is still front and centre. As part of this goal, I aim to meal plan, enjoy healthy food, eat and spend less money on junk food and don’t fall back into old habits of somewhat disordered eating as a means of control (TMI?!) oh and also to stop spending money on tea and coffee from coffee shops
3) Update and keep on top of my budget every day. I’ve been using a budget spreadsheet since November and it has really helped me to see where I overspend and has kept me focused on not impulse buying as I know I will need to add it to my spends at the end of the day!
That’s all for now, I think! I’m not sure what else to add. I’m definitely an emotional spender so keen to use this diary as a way to understand and reflect on my spending habits.
Just now, I’ve got £3,500 in savings. Oh and the £649.31 outstanding credit card balance is on 0% until the end of May so plan to have that paid off by then
Thanks for listening... :j
A little bit about me…I’m 30 this year, (happily) single, work full time and live in Scotland. I hope that this diary will keep me motivated to not only work on savings but also to stop me slipping into old habits. The majority of my 20's were less than amazing – a few personal problems that I won’t get into (yet!) and generally using money to make myself feel better. It feels like with the start of a new decade and the majority of my debt tackled (currently £649.31 outstanding to be paid off!) I’m in a place where I really can achieve my goals. I’m going to write down some goals that I will refer back to as I go…
1) Save up deposit for house / flat. I’d like to buy within the next year and hope to save around £17,000 by then.
2) Stop overspending on food! This is one of the biggest money pits for me. Of all the bad money habits I have had, overspending on food is still front and centre. As part of this goal, I aim to meal plan, enjoy healthy food, eat and spend less money on junk food and don’t fall back into old habits of somewhat disordered eating as a means of control (TMI?!) oh and also to stop spending money on tea and coffee from coffee shops
3) Update and keep on top of my budget every day. I’ve been using a budget spreadsheet since November and it has really helped me to see where I overspend and has kept me focused on not impulse buying as I know I will need to add it to my spends at the end of the day!
That’s all for now, I think! I’m not sure what else to add. I’m definitely an emotional spender so keen to use this diary as a way to understand and reflect on my spending habits.
Just now, I’ve got £3,500 in savings. Oh and the £649.31 outstanding credit card balance is on 0% until the end of May so plan to have that paid off by then
Thanks for listening... :j
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You've done brilliantly with paying off your debts - and on track to have cleared it all by May - wow what an achievement,
Good savings and good goals.
Food shopping is my downfall too. I've just spent £50 in Tes*o on not very much at all. Well actually bloomin expensive cat food which is all my cats will eat and other items that I can't get in Lid*s.
Good luck on your journey - I think you'll enjoy having a diary.
BankMoth888 - you sound very positive so I don't doubt that you can smash your goals! I've found thinking about things in small chunks so I didn't stress out about how long things were taking really helped. My personality can tend to be "all or nothing" and so struggled at the beginning to feel motivated to deal with the debt as I just wanted to be over with. Breaking it down into sizeable goals really helped.
Blackcats - I can relate! My cat is a fussy eater and only eats 2 expensive brands - I spend approx £30/month on her meat :eek: In some ways though I don't mind that - she is never unwell and is going strong at 14 years old!
Today has been a good day spending wise. I went for a woodland walk with my mum then we stopped at a garden centre where my mum is a member and she gets 2 free hot drinks a month as part of her membership. I bought a sandwich (£2.65) and my mum bought us a cake each! A nice afternoon.
Plan for this week is pack a lunch for work every day and spend no money on morning coffee! I've been getting so much better with buying from coffee shops and have got it down to roughly 1/week as a treat but even that sometimes feels like a waste. I did set myself a new year resolution of not going to the Starbucks drive-thru AT ALL this year. Going strong so far - I think the real challenge will come in the summer when I love an iced fruit tea on a warm day (luckily doesn't happen that often in Scotland!:rotfl:)
Anyway, hope everyone has had a good weekend and is ready to jump into a new week!
It's snowing here today so I've worked from home which is good for saving money! Happy Tuesday all!
Working from home is great on snowy days.
Keep warm!
Bit of a fail today - I left my lunch at home so had to go out and buy a sandwich. Argh. So... £1.79 on lunch. Also, when I was buying my ticket for the tram this morning I accidentally selected adult + child so I wasted 80p there on the child ticket! Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed :eek:
In more positive news.... I've listed a few bits on Gumtree the last few days and I'm working up the energy to list some eBay items. In the summer I sold about 23 things on eBay and made a profit of around £260 so definitely need to get to it!
That's all for today :laugh:
For February, I plan to focus on food spending. Mini goals:
- weekly shop at Ald! 1 x week
- go with shopping list and do not deviate
- meal plan in advance
- maximum of 2 morning coffees for entire month
My goal for no Starbucks is going well; I've not been at all this month.
That's all for now! Hope everyone had a good weekend and happy February!
Another mini goal I have for this year is to spend less money on clothes / subscribe less to "fast fashion" / wear what I already own! I do need some new clothes for work though - lately I've been feeling a bit blah and I am kind of hating how all my clothes look and feel on me so I do plan to pick up a few staples / basics for as cheap as possible. I aim to buy as much as possible from charity shops but I did check Asos to see if there was anything in the sale tonight - dress for £12 and I used Topcashback too, so that's not too bad!
That's all for now