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

FOMO_overspender

Sarahwithlove said:

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. 

That's a good idea - I might try that instead. I am also finding using a much more simple budget of giving myself a spend allowance a week is working. Second lockdown I am sure will also help with the spending, but so far the simpler budget is also working to curb my spending. I find having a set amount of £ per week for groceries and everything else works & then whatever is left at the end of the week I either pay off debt or more to EF.  

Sarahwithlove

I have a monthly amount for my spends and shopping rather than weekly amounts as some weeks are more than others. If I have any left at end of month then I move it then. Originally it was to my sinking Fund but now it's gonna be towards the debt. Good luck with whatever you decide upon. 

FOMO_overspender

Ok, so week 2 spending budget had £5.13 leftover, so I paid that to my loan. I also cancelled my Netflix this month as I had a free trial of NowTv so that's another £5.99 I can send to my loan.  Bringing the total to find to get below £18k mark to £48.20.  I am due a refund for £63 that I allocated money for and paid off my cc (as I always use my Amex for as much spending to get the points and then pay it off as soon as it clears), so when that comes in I will put the £ allocated in my current towards the loan too - so will definitely get below £18k mark this moth! (Woo!) 

Have slowed down on the surveys recently as work has been busy, but I do have about £7 pending, so when that is all approved I will also send that straight to my loan. I also had a clear out and used Ziffit to sell books etc so that's another £10ish due to come in as well as managed to get that to the post office last week. 

Bought my first Xmas present this weekend, which came out of the Xmas fund. It's such a nice feeling to be able to purchase gifts when you see them due to having a sinking fund available. I appreciate this is a nice position to be in and not everyone can do this, but I am definitely going to keep this up for Xmas 2021. 

Managed to steer clear of my Emergency Fund this month too. I think not having on YNAB as an account helps, as I don't see the number going up each month and then think it would be easy to use that pay off debts. 

I haven't really tracked my NSDs but today I know I definitely did have one!! So that's also a win. So a very MSE weekend all in all. 

 

Sarahwithlove

That's such a good idea to not have it on account. Maybe I need to so same and view it as an expense instead. 

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like you are doing well.  Great to have funds for things like presents and cars. 

FOMO_overspender

Sarahwithlove said:

That's such a good idea to not have it on account. Maybe I need to so same and view it as an expense instead. 

Yeah, so far, it seems to be working for me as I haven't been tempted to just take out from it. However, not sure how this will work in YNAB if I need to use it - but I can worry about that when it happens. 

enthusiasticsaver said:

Sounds like you are doing well.  Great to have funds for things like presents and cars. 

Thank you. Sinking funds have changed my life, for sure, I have Xmas, Birthdays/Gifts, Weddings at the moment. I don't have a car, so thankfully no need for one for that just yet.

Sarahwithlove

I guess you could always add it back in if you need to spend it as if you're keeping it in a separate account you'd need to transfer it into main account anyway 🤔

FOMO_overspender

Mid week update (kind of). Got the money for decluttering through from Zifft so paid that to my loan, I also underspent on my weekly budget last week by £50 so put that towards my loan too. So I am under my £18k target now by £100, so that's great. I am starting to feel a slight dip in motivation as £18k (or just under) still feels so HUGE, so I think from next month I might overpay on my CC (as this my smallest debt at £1,850) and get rid of that quicker. I am torn though, as my credit card is on 0%... 

Managed to do a few more surveys, so have about £12 pending at the moment. I am also in budget on Xmas shopping so far, which is good and been much more prepped and bought quite a few. Just need to resist temptation to buy extra little things closer to Xmas! 

Having a week of eating food I already have in the house/freezer so managed to keep groceries £ low this week again and should again, if I am careful, come in under my weekly spend budget for this week too. So that will mean some more money for debt busting... I am definitely a little and often person! 

Sarahwithlove

As much as it might be nice to overpay the loan due to interest if the mental aspect of paying off the card will help then pay the card. Could you maybe work out how much you'll save in interest for every extra £100 you pay off to help keep you motivated towards paying the loan off. 

enthusiasticsaver

FOMO_overspender said:

Mid week update (kind of). Got the money for decluttering through from Zifft so paid that to my loan, I also underspent on my weekly budget last week by £50 so put that towards my loan too. So I am under my £18k target now by £100, so that's great. I am starting to feel a slight dip in motivation as £18k (or just under) still feels so HUGE, so I think from next month I might overpay on my CC (as this my smallest debt at £1,850) and get rid of that quicker. I am torn though, as my credit card is on 0%... 

Managed to do a few more surveys, so have about £12 pending at the moment. I am also in budget on Xmas shopping so far, which is good and been much more prepped and bought quite a few. Just need to resist temptation to buy extra little things closer to Xmas! 

Having a week of eating food I already have in the house/freezer so managed to keep groceries £ low this week again and should again, if I am careful, come in under my weekly spend budget for this week too. So that will mean some more money for debt busting... I am definitely a little and often person! 

Sounds like you are managing to make savings.  Even if the credit card is at 0% presumably the deal expires sometime so it would need to be repaid by then and it might motivate you to get rid of a fairly small debt.  Never really thought about selling books through Ziffit.  I am going through a decluttering phase but tend to take them to charity shops but at the moment that is problematic.