The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

THE SUNDAY SUMMARY

(Week 17 ~ 28 April 2024)

Debt Regrets

Goal 1 - 100% repayment to Bank of Mum 3 (school fees) - due 1 April 2024
Progress Checker = £3,800/£3,800 (100% repaid)
🎉 Achievement Date = 24 March 2024 🎉

Goal 2 - Clear Barclaycard Plan 1 (£6,508.43) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress checker = £478.43/£6,508.43 (7.35% repaid)
No payment to Barclaycard this week, my reduced fixed payment of £250 comes out tomorrow. 

Goal 3 - Pay £6,750 off my overall debt balance in 2024 - due by 31 December 2024

Progress Checker = £2,030/£6,750 (24.89% repaid)

No debt payments this week so no further progress, but at least the debt didn't increase 😉.

Saving Grace

Goal 1 - Save £750 for my son's 18th birthday - due by 30 September 2024
Progress Checker = £120.42/£750 (17.39% saved)
I didn't save £10 this week as I've just more or less run out of money 😬. He's still not keen on a birthday party, so I think we might just do a family dinner and I'll give him money to go out with his friends and cousins. It'll work out cheaper for me, but I'll stick to the original target of £750 in case he changes his mind. The Chase round ups pot that will feed into this and with the new higher target, it currently has £167.64/£175 target (up £5.85 from last week), and the pot is at 95.79% which matures in 68 days - the countdown continues...

Goal 2 - Build a Buffer of £500 (homemade overdraft) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = £0/£500 (0% saved)
I've not built this back up as yet, and with May being spendy, I'll probably restart this in June.

Goal 3 - Save £1,000 emergency fund - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = £281/£1,000 (28.10% saved)
I saved £20 this week and I'm really excited as I'm approaching 30% saved! Saving this weekly is actually easier than when it went it monthly, as I can see it steadily increasing and that is more motivating.

Goal 4 - Complete 50 Envelope Challenge (£1,275) - due by 31 December 2024
Progress Checker = 6/50 Envelopes ~ £205/£1,275 (16.08% saved)
I couldn't save anything this week, so I'm still working on accumulating the £50 for envelopes 3 and 47 of which I have £30/£50 so far. I might have to pause this one in May as well... 😬.

Keedie

I've paid another £20 into the emergency fund, so it's now at £301. And the £250 direct debit for Barclaycard has come out as well. 

I've been thinking about my finances, as there are some upcoming changes to my personal circumstances and family obligations. And I need to change the way I budget, as my expenses are going to increase in the coming months, and my benefits in comparison would be effectively reduced (as in having less financial impact). So I've been pondering how to do things in a way that will be kind to myself, and how to get rid of my debt without making myself ill from overworking (hence the side hustle ideas). 

I've been feeling really tired recently, but I managed to clear the top of my chest of drawers where my TV is, and my headboard is all cleared so it's nice and serene now.


I woke up today and it felt much better in my room. Even though my desk and the floor area underneath it, still needs a serious declutter of papers, I felt calmer waking up than I have in a long time. I'm sure my carer will be surprised when she comes on Wednesday as she's so used to seeing me festering in my bed in my messy room 😂.

I think Friday will be the day that I open my Leftover Lenny cat tin as it's very full. And I'm not working, so I will be able to go to the bank to pay the coins in. I'm getting very excited about it. I think my son is excited too. He's been cheering me on as I've been filling up the tin.

KajiKita

Exceeding the £300 barrier on the EF must feel really good 😊❤️
I’m glad your bedroom is feeling calmer - it’s amazing how our surroundings affect our mood. That picture is beautiful 🤩 
Ooooh …. The Leftover Lenny countdown begins ….. !! 😊

KK

Cherryfudge

That's looking so relaxing... and well done for increasing your EF and decreasing Barclay.

You seem to be approaching the forthcoming changes with your eyes open and pacing yourself, and building in some self-care is so good. Long term, is this going to take it out of you physically? Is there anything you can do to make that easier? Even if it's ordering a batch of microwave meals so you have some sustenance you can grab without having to pay takeaway prices?

beanielou

I have been deluttering paperworkm too & finding it tough going on a few levels.  Will all be worth it though!
Your bedroom is looking great. Be rightly proud 

Keedie

It definitely feels good @KajiKita to hit £300 in the emergency fund. Because I'd more or less wiped it out before Christmas to clear my debt to my mum, it feels good seeing it creeping back up again 🤗.

I got the picture of my lady from Ghana when I went travelling on an expedition with Raleigh International to Ghana in 2002. We were killing time in Accra before heading back to the base camp to go to the airport the next day. The expedition was over and we'd been there for 10 weeks and we were just hanging out and shopping etc in our friendship groups before we had to meet the bus. I was down to my last cedis, hot, sweaty and experiencing a pounding headache as I needed to eat. I felt bad for the price I paid for the painting as I know it was worth more than what I had on me. But I'd just spent some money on jewellery and a kaftan and turned the corner in the market and saw that painting. I couldn't meet the price the painter wanted so I had to walk away but I was really sad as I fell in love with it. But he tracked me down and sold it to me, and so I gave him everything I had aside from money to buy water. We then all went out for lunch and I sat there holding onto my painting in its rolled up tube, protecting my precious cargo and I was starving and watching everyone else eat, as I didn't have the money to buy anything. It was worth the migraine as you can see! My mum framed it for me as a birthday present, and I've had this painting for 22 years. 

I'm definitely pacing myself @Cherryfudge. I'm extremely tired as I'm used to spending days at a time not leaving my house, and so I've not done the 3 flights of stairs in and out of the building in the last month or so, as much as I have in the last week and a half. But I guess I should be grateful that I can still manage stairs, and I take my time. The ready meals is a good idea, as some days I am very tired, but my sister is making progress very slowly day by day, and so she will need less and less from me over time. Me and my son had pizzas that I picked up in Tesco for dinner, and tomorrow is my sister's birthday so we'll have dinner at my mum's. So I don't need to think about dinner until Wednesday, but I am working from home and I can therefore pop across the road to Lidl on my lunch break as I won't be collecting my nephew from school Tuesday to Thursday as I'm working. 

I've procrasinated so much with decluttering my paperwork @beanielou, that I've managed to convert my brain to not see it as I walk past it. But I know that's unhealthy and I just wanted a minimally furnished and accessorised home, so that I can enjoy it and not have a running list of all the things I've not done, staring at me when I'm no longer able to block it out. I watched some videos on the Kon Mari method of decluttering and it looks nice and neat by the end of it, but I do not have any form of stamina to be pulling things out from everywhere and having one large pile to work from. So I figured, I'd do room by room and just scale everything back by around 60%. Most of the stuff I have is books and unorganised papers that really need to be shredded. And clothes I can't fit into that need to go to charity. It'll be worth it in the end for us both, as we'll be able to have a clear space and be hazard free from falls etc.

KajiKita

Oh wow, it’s an original 🤩❤️ What a wonderful backstory 😊👏

KK

Keedie

Yep, its an oil painting and original @KajiKita. This painting brings me peace. My room has been too messy for me to put it up and appreciate it, and I've still not got around to hanging it on the wall since I repainted my rom, but even propped up, it makes a difference.

I also have a horse's head in blue and white tones, also an oil painting that I got from Cuba when we went there for my sister's wedding in 2012. That one is at my mum's as she's getting it framed for me.

I've had an exceptionally long day. I woke up around 6.15am and picked my nephew up from my mum's at 7.50am to take him to breakfast club. But as I got back into my car to drive to work, I realised that I'd forgotten my ID card at home. So I had to drive back home, do those silly stairs and then head to work. Managed to only be 12 minutes late, but I was frazzled by the time I arrived. And my work laptop wouldn't connect to the network docking station properly and kept updating, so that took nearly 50 minutes to sort out. Turns out some people got new laptops over the last year to 18 months, but where I wasn't there, I missed the boat on that. Need to get that sorted though, as it's rather slow as well.

As it's my sister's birthday today, we got take away and celebrated her birthday at my mum's. It was nice to see her being able to sit up at the table, even though her neck was hurting her. It's been a spendy day with the take away, buying my sister's birthday cake and some soft drinks. But despite the long day, it's been a good one.

But the sad news for today is that I found out that my employer puts £69 +VAT towards prescription glasses! That really hurt my MSE heart when my colleague told me that 🤦🏾‍♀️. It never occurred to me to check this. I knew that they did eye test vouchers and paid for the eye test, but as mine was free due to being over 40 and having a family history of glaucoma, I didn't look at the employer webpages for glasses. There's a lesson learn 😬. But I will contact the department that deals with these things and see if it's possible to do a retrospective refund. Probably not likely as I think they issue a voucher towards payment, but I'll look into it in the morning. I was too frazzled and tired at the end of the day when I found this out, to bother trawling through the website to find all the details. But if not, there's always next year...

Baileys_Babe

Hopefully work will pay you the money towards your new glasses. I know my OH's work pay £50 towards new glasses, he just needs to email them the receipt. For many years he has been getting his varifocals online and the £50 covers most years. Partly as he doesn't choose expensive frames and partly as he waits until their is a good offer, which is usually a couple of weeks at the most. He signed up for the newsletters in advance so he was able to see the different offers and how frequently they come along. On occasion he has used a buy one get one free offer and then had 2 pairs of varifocals, one pair which has ordered tinted so he can use them as sunglasses 😉

KajiKita

I love how you have a history of your travels through paintings. That’s a special way of ‘holding’ memories 😊

Yes, do try for the glasses refund. It would seem unlikely that they couldn’t do anything about it. 

KK