Virgo In Pursuit

anjyeah

bekah89 said:

Just read your diary you’re doing so well! I’m also a Virgo, very typical Virgo apart from with money 😅 I love the idea of the different pots, I need to do that. I haven’t really budgeted for any “me” pots because I’ve been trying to pay as much off my cards but I should! I’ve got round ups saved in an app called Plum, will put that towards Xmas. I’m going to check out the sealed pot challenge. Definitely keep the birthday money pot to treat yourself! I used my birthday money to buy a laptop last month so glad I did! 

I'm sure I said something in that line before... I very typical Virgo aside from the money aspect. How did we go wrong?

It all comes gradually - I started with just sorting out the debt first and then thought of ways to save or boost my money. The advice you get on here and just by reading on other diaries help keep the mindset going. I swear when I first started on this forum, I thought everyone was doing so well - where do I fit in? But in the end, it's your own progress and pace that counts. We can do it!

anjyeah

Happy November! A bit late for the monthly recap but here I am... I am now in a place where my savings and credit card debt meet. I just can’t believe it - the two points meeting in a graph. I’m actually catching up to it and the sight of it just pleases me. Obviously with the hopes of the credit card debt on the downward trend and my savings on the up. 

Quick overview of numbers when I started: 

Savings: £3,500 estimated 

Credit Card: £9201.57 / 22.04% interest  (Was £13,200)

Where I stand:

CC1: (transferred to 0% balance) only used for expenses - paid back by the end of the month) 

CC2 (0% balance transfer card) - £5,400 

Savings: £6,000 

November Plans: 

• At least two extra shifts per month. 
• Overpay and oversave. 
• Continue with money logs and journal 
• Non-money challenge: I have signed up for NaNoWriMo this month. It’s a challenge to get 50,000 words in for the rest of November. Who I knows, I might just have a second job after all this? Dreaming away… 

Future Plans:

• Continue with overpayments 
• Continue saving and increase my deposit. 
• Explore mortgage options - for sole earner on average wage in London, it’s a struggle! 

I don’t think I’ll be able to reach my ambitious £10,000 goal after all. However, I am in a better financial position than I did last year so that is still progress to me. I’ve kept £6,000 as my benchmark savings for now. (£5,000 savings, £1,000 emergency funds). 

Slow and sure... good luck!  

anjyeah

I'm reminded daily on how Christmas is fast approaching. I’m pleased to have squirrelled some cash to spend for presents - thanks to the tips and challenges that I find on here. I’m carefully budgeting a few to get for close kins and thinking of one to spend for myself. 

And since the year-end is fast approaching, I need to rethink and reset my goals for next year. I have my journal ready for 2022, I just a realistic plan to put things into place.

anjyeah

I may have overspent on my old credit card - the usual mistake. It was meant to be for expenses only but I went overboard for presents on that one. I do have cash coming in from my pot that hasn't translated into my banks yet.

However, I hated seeing three digits on CC1 so I borrowed money from my travel fund to balance it out until my direct debits and cash goes in at least.

Oops!

anjyeah

Back again! With some thoughts I'm seriously overthinking about... 

• I am actually in a position where I can repay all my debts with my savings and start over. But I’m scared! There’s a challenge on this forum that is seriously niggling me at present but I’m letting it settle for now. Weighing the pros and cons at present... 

• December is a high spend month as predicted. Although I did prepare for presents in terms of my round-up pots and sealed pot, I estimated low on the spending and dining out aspect which left me a little tight. Something that I will reflect and act on for next year. 

• We have also managed to book our first holiday for next year (our first since the pandemic started may I add and it's a wedding) and looking like a right high spend as well. I have managed to reallocate a previous holiday money (cancelled pandemic trip) to this one to balance my costs and gives me more time to save on the spending aspect. At least it’s booked! Although it did give me something to think of a rewards card once I pay off my existing debt. Just a thought! 

I won’t bore you with my ramblings, I'll quickly go through my numbers and post my plan for this month.

anjyeah

Good news for this month - once my direct debit goes through I am officially in the £5,000 mark! I am inching close to the finish line and I'm well pleased. I need to push more so I can move my debt-free date closer for next year.

Quick overview of numbers when I started: 

Savings: £3,500 estimated 

Credit Card: £9201.57 / 22.04% interest  (Was £13,200)

Where I stand:

CC1: (Transferred to 0% card - only used for expenses)

CC2 (0% balance transfer card) - £5,000

Savings: £6,000 - this is a base balance. Any extra income I get will go into my overpayments. £5,000 savings and 1,000 emergency fund sounds doable for now right? 

December Plans: 

• Continue with extra shifts - at least two per month if able.  I had an allocated annual early this month but decided to rest as I needed some time to relax and socialise before the rush of the month comes. Only did one shift so far but I’m sure I’ll get an emergency one booked if needed at work. 
• Plan my financial goals for 2022! 

Future Plans:

• Continue with overpayments - if I can
• Continue saving and increase my deposit. 
• Explore mortgage options - probably start talking to a mortgage broker or advisor to verify if I'm doing everything correctly. 

anjyeah

I had an extra £100 for my overtime and it may just tide me over on reaching less than £5,000 debt before the year ends. 

Only got £4,900 more to go!

anjyeah

I survived the holidays rush and left my pocket still intact. Also never touched the early salary dropped which is a good sign of control - something I never had before. 

Quick overview of numbers when I started: 

Savings: £3,500 estimated 

Credit Card: £9201.57 / 22.04% interest  (Was £13,200)

Where I stand:

CC1: (Transferred to 0% card - only used for expenses)

CC2 (0% balance transfer card) - £4,900

Savings: £6,000. Any extra income I get will go into my overpayments. 

With the New Year approaching, I'm in the headspace to reassess my goals - what work or didn't work, ready for the challenge ahead. Hmmm... I'll come back when I think of something.

anjyeah

Happy New Year! I haven't updated much as I have been stuck in my own little headspace recently, overthinking things as usual, the Virgo that I am, lol. I have managed to sort out my financial goals though and decided to do a little recap to se things forward again...

Credit card debt when I started this diary last year: £9,201.57 
At some point prior to that I was always over my limit and reaching £13,200 to no success. 

I ended 2021 with a 0% balance transfer and reduced it to £4,900.

Savings was stuck on merely £3,500 and increased to my buffer limit of £6,000. 

So it's worth saying that my time on here as been on good and I intend to continue the habit. I still have a lot to learn (and to overthink about) but I'm starting to enjoy busting old habits away. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey! I'm looking forward to a slow but steady success story hopefully before 2022 ends.

jokono

That's great progress, the debt is almost halved and the savings doubled. You can spend some of that thinking time imagining where you will be this time next year 😊
I know someone mentioned it before but did you look into LISA? You can save 4k into it every tax year and you get 1k bonus from the state on top of that.