Sorting out the mess 'past me' got me in to, for a happier 'future me'

FOMO_overspender

Looking forward to payday tomorrow, as I will officially get below the £20k marker! Next milestone will be the £15k. 
Managed to recycle my old phone, so hopefully will get some £ back to recoup the money I had to dip in to in my Emergency Fund to replace the damn thing! 
Also starting to get the hang of using the cashback apps/websites, so managed to get cashback on both my bank for my HelloFresh delivery and some free things I needed (like Oat Milk and Bread) on Shopmium. Who even am I? I would have never looked for any of this before, just spent and moved on. 
Doing OK on surveys this month, but definitely quieter than it has been. So far cashed out around £26 and normally manage about £43ish, but I imagine that is due to it being summer months? 
Anyway, will update tomorrow on figures. 

FOMO_overspender

It's pay day! 🥳
OK, so debt update is below: 

• Virgin credit card: £2,000 - paid off £100. Still on 0% 
• M&S Loan: £17,625.20 - ended up paying £810 (inc regular £384 payment) this month to push it down
• Total debt: 19,625.20 - finally got below the £20k mark 🥳🥳
• New % of my debt repaid: 25% 

However, not had a great month with my Emergency Fund, this is now £141 due to the phone emergency. So going to work on building that back up to get to the £1k mark. 
I managed to do some surveys and also get money back for selling my broken phone, so going to put that straight to debt. 
Hoping September is a better month, money-wise, than August! 

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on getting below the £20k mark.  Good overpayment on the loan. 

FOMO_overspender

Ok, so here is the update for this pay day... 

• Virgin credit card: £2,000 - spent £118 on unexpected costs (as EF needs building back up) and paid off £118 
• Loan: £16,852.74  - paid off £624.18 total this month 
• Total debt: £18,852.74
• New % of my debt repaid: 28%

This was a really tough month and I definitely overspent (hence the cc not moving below £2k due to spending) so goal is to get back on track for October. However, despite the slip the cc is still due to be paid off by the time the 0% is up and I am still on track to finish paying the loan by December 2022, which is two years early and will reduce the interest I have to pay. Had a letter through this month to confirm already knocked off £320ish off the interest with my overpayments already, so that was encouraging. 
Aims for October: 

• Build back up Emergency Fund - £125 already added 
• Don't use credit cards to justify overspending/enable overspending

Here's to a better MS month ahead! 

FOMO_overspender

This month seemed to fly by! So here is this month's payday update: 

• VCC: £1,850 - paid off £150 this month as want to be rid of this ASAP 
• Loan: £16,216.01 - paid off £630 this month
• Total debt: £18,066.01 
• New % of my debt repaid: 31.5% 🥳🥳 

So glad to have hit over 30% paid off 🥳  My next goal is to make up the £66.01 from surveys, selling stuff and making savings to get below the £18k total mark. At the moment, I am still on track to be debt free by December 2022.

I am also going to make a conscious effort to make sure I build back up my Emergency Fund. I have been bad recently for seeing the total for my pots (e.g. Xmas, holidays etc) and the EF money and thinking 'that's quite a big chunk of my debt' so then paying it off my CC and loan. It's a really tough one as I TOTALLY get having an EF stops the future debt, but when the debt feels like a chalice around your neck, it seems more logical to pay it off as fast as possible & get closer to the DFD.  However, I will keep with it and get to the £1k EF. It's also the first year I have money already saved for Xmas, which is huge for me. I am normally reliant upon my December wages and then the extra early payday just before Xmas - making Jan the most MISERABLE month... not this time (well at least not for money reasons, anyway!!)

Well that's it for this month's update. I am going to start doing weekly updates, to keep me on the straight and narrow and when I feel the urge to purge my EF, you can all tell me not to!!! 

FOMO_overspender

Managed to also successfully apply for the WFH tax relief too, so that should mean a slight increase in pay! 

enthusiasticsaver

Looks like you are doing well and it will be great to see that figure drop below £18k.  Good idea to build up that EF again.  As you say it is there to stop you resorting to credit. Well done on the xmas savings.  Good tip for early December pay is remove it from current account and put it into savings to stop you dipping into it until your normal pay date.  Transfer it back on normal payday.  Makes January much easier to cope with. 

enthusiasticsaver

Looks like you are doing well and it will be great to see that figure drop below £18k.  Good idea to build up that EF again.  As you say it is there to stop you resorting to credit. Well done on the xmas savings.  Good tip for early December pay is remove it from current account and put it into savings to stop you dipping into it until your normal pay date.  Transfer it back on normal payday.  Makes January much easier to cope with. 

FOMO_overspender

enthusiasticsaver said:

Looks like you are doing well and it will be great to see that figure drop below £18k.  Good idea to build up that EF again.  As you say it is there to stop you resorting to credit. Well done on the xmas savings.  Good tip for early December pay is remove it from current account and put it into savings to stop you dipping into it until your normal pay date.  Transfer it back on normal payday.  Makes January much easier to cope with. 

Thanks so much & yes, a good idea for Xmas. Will definitely do this, this year. 
Just managed to cash out £6.69, so just £59.32 left to make. 

Another MSE first this week, I have a favourite dress from Zara that had started to fade (from wearing it so much and washing) an I did, initially, think to go and just buy another one (as it's back in stock) BUT instead, I got some clothes dye to restore it!! 

I am also trying out a much simpler budget on YNAB - I like the system but I find the ease of just taking money from different categories means I spend more that I might not have, as I can see the money available. So I have tried to revert back to a £X a week for spending (groceries, travel, eating out etc altogether) and then put the rest in savings and debt payments. 
So far, it feels easier, but I have kept the more detailed budget too just to compare. 

Sarahwithlove

I have what I call a sinking Fund that is to cover any long term or one off expenses and has my £1k emergency fund. I basically did min payments on my debts to get it up to £2k. Now if I use any money from it I top it up the following months by reducing debt repayments again. That way months I don't spend from it or only do small amounts I can pay a good chunk off the debt. I've found it better for me on YNAB doing it this way because like you I was constantly stealing from other pots to cover unexpected expenses or to make more debt payments.