Countdown from 47k...

WhySeaEm

@Doris17 thank you!

CreditCardJunkie the old MacBook has been donated to my son who is over the moon! He needed it for school work anyway since he was always pinching mine. 

mrsmoneypenny90 thanks for the tip, he's a miniature poodle. We use Butternut Box and are happy with them. 

AnxiousTheElephant I agree! Expensive family members!

TheAble both of our cars are Corsas (we like to match! ). Both really good on fuel. We are hardly driving now thanks to lockdown but we both commute to work so it adds up. In opposite directions so we can't car share. 

WhySeaEm

Just been to Asda and spent £50. I'm going to track all supermarket spends for the next month to work out exactly how much I spend on food/toiletries/household etc cos I guessed £400 but I REALLY have no idea. So this will be a fun experiment!

mrsmoneypenny90

@WhySeaEm I used to be so bad for wasting money at the supermarkets and the beginning of lockdown was the worst. However I have no started to put grocery money in a seperate account and when I go to the supermarket I am now so much more mindful when picking up those things on ‘offer’ that we actually don’t need! Good luck 

WhySeaEm

I've just spent some time transferring all the spare money I have this month and have left myself £200 which should be more than enough to see us through to the 28th. Checked for exact balances instead of rounding up and the total is now just over 46k. Yay! 

DancingInTheRain

WhySeaEm said:

I've just spent some time transferring all the spare money I have this month and have left myself £200 which should be more than enough to see us through to the 28th. Checked for exact balances instead of rounding up and the total is now just over 46k. Yay! 

Well done, good luck on your DF Journey

AnxiousTheElephant

Good to track what your spending in supermarkets! Wasn't until I did the same that I realised I although I was going with my "list" I'd still end up coming out with some candles, a few towels, lots of stuff from the reduced section to "freeze for another day" .

monetxchange

First off, always great to see more fellow LGBTQ women on here!

Okay, this may sound harsh, but I want you to understand it's because I've been there and I want to see you progress too.

I don't think you've had your true lightbulb moment yet. The laptop is indicative of what I think I mentioned in the last thread - you're in debt because of this "want it now" attitude to things. You had so many alternatives to getting the most expensive laptop on the market brand new on credit. You could've bought one secondhand. You could have just carried on with your old one - which it seems is still working as your son is now using it. Also, you could've sold that one to recoup some loss. MacBooks are a status symbol - I've got a £175 Dell that does everything you need for work and more. If it was an essential work thing, wouldn't your work have provided it? If you're honest with yourself, it wasn't a necessity at all.

The ship has sailed now, but I hope you can carry on your good work so far by closely looking at WHY you spend. Your family are very high earners and yet you struggle and have racked up an enormous amount of debt. Are you trying to buy things for your son that you never had? Do you spend to cheer yourself up? Are you trying to keep up with the Joneses? Understanding my spending triggers really helped revolutionise my attitude to spending and debt.

£47k in the hole is not a good place to be at all and you need to grasp it now (with both hands, not just half heartedly) before it gets worse. Wishing you luck going forward and will follow along too

WhySeaEm

monetxchange said:

The ship has sailed now, but I hope you can carry on your good work so far by closely looking at WHY you spend. Your family are very high earners and yet you struggle and have racked up an enormous amount of debt. Are you trying to buy things for your son that you never had? Do you spend to cheer yourself up? Are you trying to keep up with the Joneses? Understanding my spending triggers really helped revolutionise my attitude to spending and debt.

Hello (gay wave! ) and thanks for commenting!

I do know what you mean about the MacBook, I do hear you. But it really has been my LBM. I've had my head in the sand for far too long and all I've done this past two weeks is obsess over this forum and my accounts! (Which is a Very Good Thing). I can't imagine things going back now, I feel so focused and determined. 

We had a big wedding and bought a brand new car in 2015, safe in the knowledge that between us we could easily afford the repayments. Then I unexpectedly ended up in hospital on statutory sick pay for six months, then had no choice but to leave my work, before another lengthy hospital stay. We could never have foreseen it and it knocked us sideways. It's taken us years to recover from that stretch of time and for me to get back into working. There's definitely also an element of wanting to spoil my son! 

monetxchange

No, I absolutely get it. You never know what's round the corner. Even more reason to plan ahead! I think this pandemic has brought home to me so much how glad I was to final get hold of my debt last year and clear it, as I'd be drowning right now if I still had credit card payments. It sounds boring, but having a safety net saved and knowing next year's bills are budgeted for is a great place to be. Getting out of the mindset of being able to afford repayments too is helpful (that was me too) - now if I haven't saved up in advance for it, I don't get it.

Your son absolutely deserves to be spoilt! But you sound like great parents so he has more than enough love. He doesn't need expensive things constantly too. It's great to start them young learning money sense too - saving up Christmas money etc to get something they really want. Maybe a fun thing to do would be thinking up ways together to treat him on a budget - deals on days out, a day where he gets to choose and help cook meals etc, or you play along with him on whatever hobby he's into currently. They always love attention most (plus happy parents!) My friend used to claim her daughter absolutely demanded designer clothes and gadgets, yet once spent hours sat with me playing with a £1 craft set and declared it the most fun ever!

Well done on taking the first steps. You can do this. Was stood where you are now a year ago and the end seemed a very long way away, yet it comes sooner than you think when you put the effort in.

WhySeaEm

Thanks so much, @monetxchange   some great ideas and support there. I appreciate it!