Finally taking back control after a decade of debt

londoner2019

How on EARTH is it July? Madness.

Anyway, June was a bit of a pricy month for me - a few silly purchases (nothing major) and the excitement at actually seeing friends again means I didn't make as big a dent as I was hoping.

But, I thought that rather than getting really down on myself for not meeting these high standards I've set myself, I should look back on the first half of the year to see how far I've come.

Jan 1 2021:
11600 on CC (paying c. 220 interest over four cards each month)
No savings (for self employed tax)


Jun 30 2021:
6700 left on one 0% CC
2700 saved for self employed tax 
1230 paid for house move related bills

I'm not going to beat myself up about any of this - the fact that I've been able to make a pot of 2700 so quickly is such a motivator to clear the debts so I can begin a proper saving pot. 

I know I can still do better - I've been placing things I want to buy into wish lists on websites like Amazon and realising that after a couple of weeks, I didn't actually NEED them.

[Deleted User]

Hi there.  Just read your diary and wanted to pop in and say that you were EXACTLY like I was at uni in terms of frittering.  And same when I started in London.  I get so upset when I think back to it now and how much I wasted.  But I guess we both learned lessons which will stand us (and our children) in good stead.

londoner2019

Thanks Rebecca! Yes, it's a learning curve - I've spent far too long getting down about it when I can't change it.

The trick I've found is to keep to your budget, and keep busy with other things. Lockdown was hard because there wasn't much to do apart from stare at my finances spreadsheet. 

Frittering - I'm getting much better at having those zero spend days, or really thinking about whether I want or need something. 

At uni, I had terrible FOMO (I still do) - so I would never want to miss out on an evening in the pub or a trip. 

londoner2019

FINALLY got round to sending my self assessment tax return. Good news! It's about £300 less than I thought it was going to be. I've done a little bit of rejigging and I'm now on track to completely clear the card by the end of the 0% rate, in 12 months from now. That would leave me with around £4,000 to pay back to my partner who kindly covered our legal fees for moving. I'll still be putting all my energy into paying off the card, but having one less pot to be filling up each month is so useful.

My company also had its half-year meeting today and they're on track to meet the target for this year, which would mean a lovely little bonus. Could have the card paid off by January if that comes in. I'm not including it on my spreadsheet as it will be a nice surprise if it comes through.

I've also got my long-term goals penned in too - including saving for an emergency fund and for a holiday towards the end of next year. It's just nice to see the bottom of the spreadsheet counting up, rather than a minus figure going down!

Finally, to follow up on my previous post to look at how far I've come, I totted it up and WOW. This is in the space of about six months. I know that about £1k of it came from getting the deposit back on my old rental property and a bit of it was additional freelance work, but it's still pretty staggering. I'm now chipping away at a solid £600 per month, which is manageable and allows for a bit of flexibility.

Paid off so far
CC	4900
Tax pot	1925
Building insurance pot	290
Partner for house stuff	1313.50
TOTAL	8428.50

[Deleted User]

This is great!  Well done!!!!

londoner2019

So I THINK I might be able to squeeze out another £100 from this month. Got a few birthdays coming up though so I'm going to put it in a pot and then if I don't need it, it can go on the card. 

Just over two weeks to payday. I've started tallying up how much I'm spending each week (on things like food shopping, pubs etc) and then figuring out how much I have left per week until payday. It's really useful breaking it down into week by week - having one number for a whole month is a bit daunting and you have no idea how quickly it dwindles down. I think that's what got me before - I'd get paid and then in that first week I'd spend about half of my disposable income. 

londoner2019

I also just noticed my mobile contract ends in October - I intend on switching to a sim only for the next year - the phone itself is absolutely fine and I really don't need to upgrade. I'm paying about £50 a month at the moment - plan on getting that down to £20. 

londoner2019

Ok so might have dipped into my pot to get some tickets for a gig next year.

Missed live music so much and bands just know how to get you to buy tickets - they announce an album on the Monday and then tickets for their tour are on sale on the Wednesday... 

I'm feeling ok about it as it's a bit of a treat and it wasn't hugely expensive.. just not something I had budgeted for.

MuffinTops

Hey @londoner2019, how's it all going?  I read over what progress you've made from January to June which was remarkable.  How is it going now?  Are you settled into your new home and still managing to wrangle control of it all?

I also moved this year, in June and I'm surprised at how expensive it's all become.  Being on here and keeping on top of my spends is really helping me though.

I hope all's going well.

londoner2019

Hey,

Thanks for your message @MuffinTops ! It's been a bit of a whirlwind 4 months... I've been in between jobs, leaving my previous job. It was an incredibly stressful and depressing work environment for me and it was a mutual decision to leave it. My partner has been amazing in supporting me these last few months while I searched for something that was fulfilling and the right job for me.

I'm starting a new job next week, which is a 12 month contract with an option to extend another year. It's in my wheelhouse, a new sector for me to prove myself in, and it's a 33% pay rise, which is amazing. 

What all this has meant is that my total owed has gone up a fair bit - all owed to my partner. But the new higher salary means I should be able to budget for a larger chunk each month. I'm going to focus on getting my emergency fund up to where I need it to be, and then hit the rest of the credit card, which runs out of its 0% interest next July. And then it's a big push to pay off what I owe to my partner. As it stands, I'm due to be debt free by June 2023, with a caveat that there will be a few trips and house stuff to cover. So I'm looking at the end of 2023 more realistically, meaning I don't beat myself up over it.

Two years is a long time to be throwing money at debt, but my various spreadsheets are all up to date and I'm feeling in control.