Finally taking back control after a decade of debt

Humdinger1

Please keep posting @londoner2019.  You have a small but devoted posse of admirers on here who are following with interest. Onwards and upwards Humdinger 

londoner2019

A couple of quiet weeks this month, plus a couple of generous friends insisting on paying for dinners, means I have a healthy surplus for November. A little getaway this weekend shouldn't make too much of a dent in it, so I will keep this aside for the inevitable December splurge.

I've seen the surplus grow this month and it's actually stopped me from spending on things that I was planning on getting for myself. So not spending has encouraged more not spending.

I have a chunk of Christmas money in a pot, but I fully intend on spending as little of it as possible. Isn't that mad, it's saved for this very reason but now I have it, I don't wish to part with it.

I think it's much easier to be frugal with money you've already saved up. I know that budgeting future income, I would always be thinking: "well, I need this, I need to pay for that..." Might not be true of everyone, but certainly is for me. I want for less.

My partner also got a new job and she has a benefit where she gets some money for things like gyms, activewear, or general wellness. She's struggling to think of things to get for herself, and I know I could blitz through that in a moment. But I'm trying to encourage her not to spend it on me. It's her benefit.

londoner2019

Well, it's been a hot minute since I logged on here.

I'm still tracking my spending and pots - very hard to stop doing that, and there have been months where I sort of gave up half way through. Those were the months where I spent more than I had.

I've been fortunate though to get a little raise, and I also picked up a few freelance projects to top things up. I feel back on track this month, and I've opened up a new S&S ISA to put some savings in.

My savings across various accounts now amounts to more than my total debt was at its highest. I'm putting money aside and it's also growing thanks to interest.

For those who love the snowball method for clearing debts - that snowball continues to roll down the hill and turns itself into compound interest.

And yet… I am still envious of those who are doing better than me. I still feel I am catching up to others because of decisions I made when I was younger.

ArtyJ931

Cheer them on, and cheer yourself on - everyone makes the best decisions they can at the time, with the information they have. Life isn't a race :)

londoner2019

Our annual building insurance came to around 40 less than I had set aside, so that's gone into my "fun" pot (which I had just emptied to replace some sunnies I lost a while back).

At the end of this month, when I get paid and allocate to pots, I will have saved up my "annual spends" for 2027. This includes the building insurance, a general house sinking fund, some holiday money, things like railcards, dentist, but also Christmas, birthdays, and a bit for clothes and tickets and that.

I need to do a proper audit of my spends this year that didn't come out of those pots, so I can be realistic about how much I spend.

I also need to reduce my monthly spending, as I've taken all that into a different pot but not really reduced the monthly disposable. Maybe I'll put a little into a regular saver.

Ultimately though, it means the monthly money I've been putting aside for 2027 can go into a general saver for a few months, bolstering my long term savings (I don't think I have 6 months set aside yet, a la Dave Ramsey).

Blackcats

that's brilliant to have next year's bills saved already. I spread mine out over 12 months so they all fluctuate at different times. I really like building them up steadily and really dislike emptying them when the relevant bill becomes due.

londoner2019

It's the first year I've had my annual bills pot sorted this year, and I hate spending from it! Just nice not to have to think "oh I need to have a quiet week / month" to cover it.

Still baffles me what I spend my money on sometimes, considering I have no dependents, no car, and no commute. Well, not baffles as such, because I have a detailed spreadsheet, but the world will just gobble up every penny if you don't watch it carefully.

londoner2019

End of another week. It's funny - I've got my annual pot, which accounted for things like haircuts. But I got one yesterday and felt it wasn't a big enough expense to take it out of that pot, so I absorbed it into my monthly disposable income.

vampirotoothus

And that's where the power lies. Once you get to a stage where you actually don't want to part with the money and then when you have to, you don't take it out of savings. Congratulations V x