24 months to debt freedom

CL21

LittleMissDetermined said:

Good luck on your debt free journey! The pots are a good idea and like you, I rely on a trusty excel spreadsheet rather than a budgeting app. 

Personal spends allocation is something I found really useful, I keep mine in a separate current account. Anything I don’t use gets swept into the emergency fund the night before pay day. 

Have you had a look at any of the challenge threads? There are a couple I do which helps me both save (sealed pot challenge) and pay down my debts (payment a day). You may find something which will be both debt busting and motivating. 

Anyway, I’ll be cheering you on. Lots of luck! 

LMD x 

Thanks @LittleMissDetermined that’s a good idea to sweep into emergency fund. I’ll definitely do that with any leftover money from pots. 

Hadn’t looked at the challenge boards yet but have seen on a couple of other diaries that they are really useful so thanks for the reminder! Think a couple of challenges will help keep me motivated. 

Have a great day! 

LittleMissDetermined

You mentioned that you know where you are overspending in your previous posts. Is this on material items or going out/days out/eating out etc? 

I used to overspend on material objects but then realised they were just more things to clean or to clutter up the house. Once I realised I was cluttering up our life, causing me more work and at the same time increasing my debt I managed to kerb the overspend. Now I have left over money at the end of the month… previously I’d have been in my overdraft. 

CL21

This is mostly on grocery / eating out / let’s take an expensive bottle of wine to friends! I have had no meal plan which has meant expensive supermarket shops and then many top up shops because we don’t want what’s in the house. I have now made a meal plan for the next week and will be shopping for it tonight. A tiny bit sadly, I am looking forward to it! 

The other thing I’m very good at is buying things because they are cheap or on offer even if I don’t need them. For example I got suckered into the Boots £10 Tuesday offers more times than I care to count. The L’Oréal moisturiser isn’t really a bargain when there are three other moisturisers in your drawer! For this reason it will be a while before I need to buy toiletries as can shop my home for quite a while! 

LittleMissDetermined

Meal planning is key, I enjoy it too so you’re not on your own there x

shell16

Good luck on your journey, I will be cheering you on!

CL21

Thank you @shell16 that’s so kind. The support on here is incredible! 

CRANKY40

Good luck. My House Troll's dad died when the HT was a month short of his 5th birthday (he was a house elf until he was about 11 then he turned into a troll, lol).  He's 17 now and I've found a couple of very good friends along the way that I talk things over with when I find some decision making hard. We've been "lucky" because his dad was a civil servant working for the MOD so the HT has a monthly pension payment until he finishes education whenever that may be. 

It's hard work bringing them up on your own but we've ended up very close which is good. We also have a very badly behaved cat which always makes us laugh when things are a bit tough. Having had a labrador, I'm assuming that your doggy provides the same level of ummmmm......entertainment? 

CL21

CRANKY40 said:

Good luck. My House Troll's dad died when the HT was a month short of his 5th birthday (he was a house elf until he was about 11 then he turned into a troll, lol).  He's 17 now and I've found a couple of very good friends along the way that I talk things over with when I find some decision making hard. We've been "lucky" because his dad was a civil servant working for the MOD so the HT has a monthly pension payment until he finishes education whenever that may be. 

It's hard work bringing them up on your own but we've ended up very close which is good. We also have a very badly behaved cat which always makes us laugh when things are a bit tough. Having had a labrador, I'm assuming that your doggy provides the same level of ummmmm......entertainment? 

Thanks for sharing @CRANKY40 I don’t know many people in my situation so I always appreciate when people are forthcoming with their stories. So sorry to hear about HTs dad also. I’m sure it’s been very difficult at time for you just speaking from my limited experience so far! 

We’re very lucky that we’ve been able to access excellent therapists both for me and her so far and I’ve just had a call from the school this week to say they’ve been given funding for a play therapist for 8 weeks and she will be one of the children to benefit. Lots to be grateful for. 

Sounds like you have a great support circle to rely on which is half the battle. I do find having to make all the decisions difficult and quite stressful sometimes (am I doing the right thing?!) but the more I do it the better I’ll get hopefully! So glad to hear you and HT are close. That’s lovely x

CL21

Also yes - the dog is nuts and providing plenty of, erm, entertainment! We love her though. Daughter was so heartbroken when we had to put our last dog down in First lockdown so another one was non negotiable. We’ve never had a puppy before, only rescues, and they’re a whole other ballgame! 

enthusiasticsaver

Sounds like you have had a rough few years.  My advice would be to ignore the offers unless the thing on offer is actually needed.  So as you say you already have loads of moisturiser so buying more even if on offer is false economy.  Getting rid of the impulsivity by putting things in a basket but not checking it out immediately is a tip I often use while I first think about whether it is needed and secondly research if it can be purchased cheaper elsewhere.