Starting to budget after years of wishful thinking

moving_forward

Fair weather cycling sounds like a plan. Mountain biking does not! I've been taken down those trails on foot again by my hubbie and only realised half way down that not only was I risking life and limb from attempting to walk down the trail people actually go down them on wheels 😱😱

savingholmes

Great news on being so close to debt freedom. I get why you want the loan gone. I also have tried allocating every pound but like you found it too stressful. I'm much more comfortable setting a 'buffer band' that I seek not to go below. 

LegoHead

The whole finance thing has been a learning curve. I used to think it was black and white that there was only a right or wrong way of budgetting. I now think it is a learning experience and you have to try and figure out what works for you.

I used to use my overdraft as a buffer, but now I will leave a few quid in the main account as the buffer. That way I can start checking once per month instead of every day. The stress so far has paid off and I don't regret it, just need to move into a new phase and slow down and enjoy life again.

16 days to go!

joedenise

Even though I'm debt free I still check my accounts at least weekly to make sure everything is running smoothly.  Monthly wouldn't be enough for me!

GeorgianaCavendish

Congratulations on being so close to your debt free date! 🎉 
Don’t forget to update the Debt Free Roll of Honour when you get there. 

I found the same as you with budgeting, I felt very anxious with so much scrutiny at first and had to force myself to only check a couple of times a month. A lot of that anxiety has eased for me now but I’m another one who prefers budget categories with built in padding rather than calculated to the exact figure. 

LegoHead

15 days left, was a bit naughty and transferred £0.04 out of my food account to buy some security lights for my sister last night. she has had her house attacked so trying to catch who is doing it. Caught them on camera saturday night but couldnt see their face as it was too dark. 

I might only have 13 days left. I am waiting on NS&I to cash out a large portion of my bonds and opted to have them cash out after the next draw. They said they would be done by the 6th, but might be earlier.

Very skint at the moment. Only have £50 left in my food account and £29 in fuel account, but should be ok until the 28th when I get paid. 

moving_forward

That was a thoughtful thing to do for your sister.

LegoHead

moving_forward said:

That was a thoughtful thing to do for your sister.

It was for me too as I have a feeling this person will attack my house next. It is pretty stressful at the moment. Two other houses in our family have been attacked too over last week. Just want to catch the person in the act as soon as I can. 

She promised to pay me back on monday too :-) I thought I lived in such a nice neighbourhood. 

moving_forward

Grr so it's someone out against the family then. Maybe the police can do something with the video to brighten it up. 

LegoHead

The police have been really good so far, we think we know who it is but have no clear evidence, all the pictures look very much like the person, but I would not say they are conclusive. I am very sure we will catch them though. 

Can't really say much but it is a distraction from worrying about debts for a bit!