Chubby Keto lady working towards Debt Free and Healthy Frugal Life! 3 October 2020 at 10:45PM edited 5 April 2021 at 4:41PM in Debt free diaries 56 replies 4.5K views

juicyjackieb

Hey there!
I just logged into my account and found my old debt diary from 2015. I did pretty good and my last 2 ccj's disappear before the end of the year and let's face it 2020 has been poo and I think its time to focus on my finances again. 

Rereading it has inspired me to start 2021 afresh and to start now to get myself in mentally a good place to attack my only real debt (aside from my iPhone that ends in a year) which is my credit card which I am embarrassed to say has really crept up and become quite a burden. The current balance is £2774.77 - I am paying off the minimum each month which I know barely makes a dent, but it sits around £130 payment per month.

We postponed our destination wedding (all paid and a sum aside for spending) from March 2020 to November 2020, we have now pushed this back to March 2021. I am now WFH and don't pay my monthly travel expenses of circa £100 but I am no further better off.... I need to get a grip on my spending which tends to be on the house and just !!!!!!. I work full time (I am grateful) and that seems stable (very very grateful). So now I need to take a deep look at my finances and start pulling together a plan and pinch in where my money is going. 

I also follow a keto lifestyle and have a channel that should become monetized before the end of the year so hopefully I will be able to tip in a few pennies when that triggers a payment every 6 months or so. Other than my job, a potential small income from YT, the only way right now I can gather finances is through selling unwanted items which I have started on.  I am always up for a side hustle so my eyes and ears are fully open!

Thank you for stopping by - waffle to you soon

Jackie 

juicyjackieb

Okay dokey, this is definitely going to be a series of small steps, but that’s all I got so let’s do this. 

Things that are ahappening! 

I’ve started doing a daily roundup on my credit card, £1-£2 of overpayment a day, it’s not a lot but it’s the first time I’ve ever made an overpayment on my card so highfive to me. Small steps.

I have a plan to do a full financial review this weekend, go through our joint bills, make sure we are both paying our 50/50 share, see where any money can be saved where possible. I don’t think there’s a lot of wiggle room there but excited to try.

I am decluttering my clothes and Facebook selling or donating - I’ve dropped from a plus 32 to a 20/22 and there are bags of clothes everywhere. I’ve set aside the money made since summer towards Christmas food & fixings so that’s now covered with £75 in the kitty. I do want to have the same again towards gifts for the OH. We are not big gift givers though because we are both fairly low maintenance to be honest.

My biggest expenditure is definitely food, I struggle to walk away from a bargain, I was very poor for a long time and yes, now I am food hoarder. I need to work on clearing my pantry and be food efficient with what I have. I am an avid meal planner and prepper so this should be physically easy but mentally difficult. 

I have my positive pants on! 

If you’re reading this, hope you are feeling ok too 🙂

SuperSavingD

Congratulations on starting a diary and losing so much weight.

Just think for every food item used from stores is money saved from the budget, win win.

enthusiasticsaver

Well done on the credit card overpayments and fantastic weight loss too.  Every little helps.  Your credit card is not too high but I think you are wise to tackle it now and if you are on a  low  income it is all relative.  Good that your wedding is paid for as well. I hope you manage to have it next Spring. 

juicyjackieb

So today was a kick in the purse!

I have been getting concerned about my eyesight and went and had an eye test. I have been shortsighted since I was 14 so glasses are no prob bob. It's been getting a little worse and they confirmed today that I either need bifocals! or reading glasses! Ugh I am an old fart at 42    - I guess we are all aging but that wasn't nice to hear. I opted for the separate reading glasses with the magic coating and it came to £99 eeeek not good. I also bought gloves and hat from Peacocks so I feel I am ready for winter. It will mean slim pickings financially for the week for me but some discipline won't hurt. 

I did complete my tax code change for working from home and I had a £38 jump in wage this week which will likely be a credit from HRMC, this has helped out a lot in light of the eye costs, feel a bit cheeky but I am going to ask my employer if they can contribute to the cost of the eye exam at least. We will see, under the current climate asking a small business for things like that seems unwise.   

Plans for the weekend are to go through our joint budget and make any tweak to contributions (hopefully a little down!) and meal prep the week which helps with my weight loss goals and just mental health in general. My emphasis this week is using what I have in the cupboard and I am pleased with the menu! All vegetarian low carb- cookies, tomato soup and pesto pizza slices. Gonna dig out scraps from the cupboard each week till its looking clearer. 

I am also filming my first sponsored video next week and I need to start creating my influencer introduction email to send to potential collaborators - it will not earn me money but likely free products and heavy discounts which is always helpful. It feels awkward but it all helps me achieve my goals. 

I need to set aside some time to load some items onto ebay soon- I truly hate ebaying, although facebook selling is quicker I get so much haggling and I feel overwhelmed. 

Thats todays brainfarts!

sonyarita

Hi Jackie I am seriously impressed with your weight loss!! I have put on so much weight I'm worried that I will never lose it.

I like your idea of a few pounds overpayment a day, I might start doing that as I am sometimes scared to pay larger overpayments in case something comes up and I can't cover it.

You are obviously very motivated so I will be following your diary with interest! Good luck.

juicyjackieb

Yayyy 2 more positives to round off the weekend!

Firstly, sat down and did our yearly financial checkover with the OH, making sure we are both paying the same equal share. We have saved a little on Virgin by dropping the TV, had a few increases here and there and we have agreed to start overpaying our gas and electric as we are now both WFH and I know its going to jump over winter. A voluntary extra £20 per month but even then I think we will face a big bill come spring, but hopefully a little overpaying will take the sting off it. It also seems even though our cats are only 1 year apart one cats insurance is double the other so the OH is going to look into how that is to be. Also, we agreed that I need life insurance sorting so that we both have peace of mind. Even with that tweaking it looks like I am now to be a whopping £24 a WEEK better off!!!! I am chuffed!!! £100 a month is a lot of money. I am thinking of setting up a DD to actually move this to savings as I am currently blessed with my job being moderately secure but the pandemic has shown me that I need an emergency fund. I will think about this a little more, I need to decide what I want to push forward more with the CC debt or having a safety net.

And the other exciting event! Last night I was thinking even though I was grateful to be offered my CC a few years ago, it really has helped me out in a pinch and I have used it to drag up my credit score, the APR at 29.9% is so crippling with a £60 pm added in interest each month. The advice that I have ignored from Martin each week is getting the balance transferred to a 0% card. I ignored it as having 2 CCJ's that are due to expire this year I assumed I would be too financially lame. I used the silent comparison tool and found out my own bank Natwest will accept me for a 0% 18-month card!!!! Its pending final approval but I seem to have passed everything. Plus they doubled my limit which I guess is a reflection of my creditworthiness. I should fingers crossed get that all confirmed for next week pending them changing their mind lol. 

So, that sets me a 18-month goal really... I mean I can take longer but beyond that would be subject to the interest which I would love to avoid. Plus the balance divided by 18 months is around £150pcm which is a touch over what I am already paying anyways. I get paid weekly so if I set up a SO for £35 to cover that as a minimum and try and do the top-ups I think I should make it!

This is why I may potentially delay the saving pot idea; the quicker I blast the balance of this then I can clear 1) the 1k overdraft I have been in for 20 years or 2) start a savings pot with that same money. So many brain farts, so little money! 

Overall a great weekend for me financially, I think I need to see what a regular week will look like for me for a few weeks and get into a rhythm and get Christmas out of the way before I make a decision that will knock me back because I am overstretching myself. I want to clear the debt, pay out of my overdraft and get an emergency fund. I just need to keep it real and so I can still breathe. 

Also.... used up some bits from the cupboard and made low carb keto soup, almond cookies and pesto pizza and each is an absolute banger! Already starting to sort through the cupboard to see what I can inspire myself to keto cook next week - I think a Thai green curry using some paste and the coconut milk I have. I also have some tahini I need to find use for! Our groceries were £62 this week and it was topping £90 in the early part of the pandemic.  

check in soon!

juicyjackieb

Just checking in! 

My NatWest credit card was approved and been doing daily roundups; just took a peek and I’m now in credit by £1 as NatWest have moved the money over? I guess I will be charged a partial months interest though on the old one, I think the bill will be produced next week and I can zero that off and start on my daily round ups on my NatWest one.

I’ve adjusted my weekly SO that goes to my OH down, I have really reined in my advice spending this week and avoided the Amazon Prime Day too. 

I do think I need to build that emergency fund as well as paying off my credit card, I do have a small one with less than £50 in so I guess I’ll start there. 

Gonna sit down at the weekend again; now we’ve worked out our joint budget I’m gonna review my personal one and see where I can shake things down a little. 

juicyjackieb

I am pretty pleased with my spends this week... although I did spend £50 on a 2021 planner  but  I do use a planner every day and it really helps me feel mentally organised so I am happy, I don't smoke, rarely drink, and don't smoke the doobage so a functional planner can be my vice 

We were supposed to be flying off to get married in 2 weeks but we still have the time booked off to be at home which I can not wait for. I am grateful to have a job that has fully embraced WFH (the office has actually been given up!) but it's hard to turn off your brain sometimes, in the evenings and weekends. I am hoping it will at least stay dry so I can tidy the garden up. 

Just went through my personal budget - kinda shocked that after all my bills I should have £200 a week for food and for myself / towards savings. I am aiming for £60 a week for groceries but that's pushing towards £100 with bits here and there. I need to quit the here and there!! I am currently to the max on my overdraft and have no savings    - quite the rude awakening that I need to stop just buying bits and use what I have and make do. Stop pressing that amazon buy button! I do need a new desk and to have some money for Christmas but damn I need to rein it right in. 

Christmas .... its just gifts for each other and for my stepson, although we are a bit cheeky, we save our nectar points and do the double up event every year and we can usually squeak £120 from that and we top up with extra bits. My OH and I are both low maintenance in the gift department, we keep it sub £100 and we already have the food money aside from FB selling random bits. I do spend a bit on the cats though 

Meal prepping tomorrow - using up what I have to avoid food waste- it was a big shop this week £89 as it seems likely some further measures are going to be in place and we will go back to supermarket silliness. But my OH paid 3/4 of the bill so that helps massively. I also ordered a Beetlejuice T-shirt for Halloween (far better than Christmas IMHO!) and a mini waffle maker to make chaffles. 

I do need to start on my emergency fund, I do have a spare account that has £42 in it which I guess is a good start. I am gonna aim to top it up here and there for the moment rather than over-commit to a big savings goal which I think will upset me if I can not achieve it. I am going to dig right into the facebook selling / ebay again and go back to the surveys which do bring in about £5 a week. If all in I can get £20 a week in there that will be £1000 in a year for a small EF. But lets see.

juicyjackieb

After spending even more time analysing and planning I think I can push myself to be a bit more ambitious with my financial goals. I do have an overdraft I’d like to clear and I want an emergency fund, hoping achieving those will be a stretch but not one that is a stretch too far. Drumroll please 🥁 

CC: £2700
OD: £1000
EF: £1000 (not entirely adequate or 3 months bare essentials but it’s just tiny steps here 

Using an app recommended by another DFD user I put in my goals, APR (which is zero for the CC for 18 months phew) I have put in a basic amount to start chipping away at this. 

My minimum payment to clear the CC before the 18 month expires is £35pw (I do get paid weekly). If I factor in £15pw each towards the other 2 funds that equals 2 years 8 months - June 2023. Once the CC is paid  if I instead pay you the money I had been paying towards the CC onto the other funds once it’s cleared (snowball style) I should achieve this goal. While it seems a long way off it’s not really is it? 

Basically £65 per week will get me there.... but that doesn’t account for bumps in the road or hopefully over payments! 

My main current account has the 1k overdraft which I am pretty much have been maxed out for 20 years. In an ideal world I would leave the money there to slower bring the balance down. However, me being me I don’t trust myself to do that and just leave it there so I think I’ll funnel that off to a spare account and maybe dump it in every £250 or so. Once that’s cleared and I bin off my packaged bank account that caps the interest I’ll also be better off by about £32 a month. I still need to prioritise my emergency fund though. 

I do want to also start building a sinking fund pot but it will need money in it to start the ball rolling. I do get £50-£100 at Christmas so I have mentally earmarked January as a time to come back to that thought depending on how things go. I still haz Christmas to do yet 😭 

Let’s do this!

Narola1976

Hi, just subscribed to your diary to cheer you on. I have also popped onto your YT channel and watched a bit and subscribed too. I am so far off the path at the moment, just waiting for a bit of motivation to get going. It sounds like you have a good plan and are focused, so looking forward to your successes