After years of debt journey through my sensible 40s... and save a deposit for a house

WinterWarrior

Glad you had a lovely break. 

lantanna

But bored today but feeling glad that I haven’t went wild on the spending this weekend, always really tempting to do after payday.  Glad to have got through weekend one of 5 pretty easily. 

Got my haircut yesterday and painted my nails today let’s see how long they last. 

Think I have a day out next Saturday so the thought of that all week should keep my spending in check. 

lantanna

Had a good day out yesterday with some friends, got the bus home for £3.60. Closeness to a bus stop with a good service is def one of my big factors when looking for a house. Market is dead round here at the minute. Don’t plan on doing much now for the rest of the pay month. 3 more weekends to go. Looking forward to having a day off tomorrow. Not much planned, just a chill and a rest. Still unsure about going away in Oct.... just started watching vigil, seems good so far

lantanna

Just back to post my spends for the rest of the month, keeps me accountable. £90 left for petrol, £129 left for groceries and general spending until the 20th. Tight but manageable.

WinterWarrior

It’s great that you are keeping track. Do you have a lot to buy from your general budget or plenty in the cupboards already. It makes a big difference 🌺

lantanna

Plenty in the cupboards, my freezer is full as always. Was just saying to a friend there on the phone I’m eating from the freezer for the next week. No excuses not too!  Just off for a root round now to see what I can have for dinner. Having a lazy day googling on the settee. Perfect way to spend a bank hol!

lantanna

Made an error, it’s actually £149 for groceries and general spending. Little bit more than I thought. Cleaned the fridge and freezer out today, made a list of what I have. Def needed doing. Will make a bolognese or a stew maybe at the weekend when the freezer goes down a bit. Other than mayonnaise and cucumber have no reason to buy anything until Friday.hope to save some of that £149 too.

WinterWarrior

Mayonnaise is essential, it’s one of the main food groups in my house 😁

lantanna

So after a lot of googling, I’ve decided I’m going on holiday next month unless something changes in the interim. 3 weeks on Sunday. So plan of attack is get as much work done in work as I possibly can in the run up so I can relax and not think about it. Spend the bare minimum between now and then and save £300 from payday to take me over £11k. Quite motivated now to get both my work done and clean the house before I go so I’m not coming back to a mess in either. 

lantanna

Getting mum turn turn a pair of jeans that are to big I the leg into shorts for going away. I shunt need to buy any toiletries for going and I’m going to dig out and sort clothes this week. I’ve ordered Euro 300 and have 50 Euros in the house from my last trip. Hanging off on booking my COVID tests til after the 16th to see if there is any change with that next week. Shud have enough books in the house that I can rustle up to take with me. Will get some magazines in when I get paid. Still haven’t finished that last book I was reading,  really looking forward to it, just hope all goes to plan ! 

Honestly thought I’d be a bit further on with my savings at this point but I think I’ve just been enjoying a bit more freedom this year. I’ll get there in the end, still no houses I’d be seriously interested in at the minute, think that has demotivated me a bit too. That £5k for fees etc seems a heck of a lot. Def won’t be planning on moving anytime soon when I do get a house. 

Pretty sure il be in need of winter work clothes when I come back from holidays plus Xmas round the corner and heating costs. Think realistically I’ll save about another grand overall the rest of the year.