The Mental Debt Struggle...

Cherryfudge

I think if I were in your office, I'd be silent too - just getting my head round it! I'm so impressed. Well done you. I expect a lot of the silence was that it was all totally new to them. Counter-cultural, perhaps - but you are showing that it works.

And how lovely that you had time away with your Mum. (And cashback ).

Makingabobor2

So pleased for you explaining your budgeting. Its amazing how many people still don't budget. Just spend like we used to in the bad old days

KajiKita

The level of financial education and general awareness of budgeting in this country is so low you probably looked like you had an ‘ology in it! 😉😊
I find i get a similar reaction in work too, but I am not as sophisticated in my budgeting as you 😊

KK

Keedie

Yay! Another work week is finished 😂. Just catching up on all of your replies and you're all so kind and supportive. I love it, and this forum never ceases to amaze and inspire me. And yes, I think I did stun my colleagues into silence the other day. No one seemed to budget. They just said they took their bills into account and more or less spent the rest. I don't think any of them genuinely saw the benefit that I get from dealing with my budget on a calendar month basis instead of payday to payday. It's not for everyone, but for me it works, as I know that when I change jobs, the date I'm paid will have no impact on my budget. And I'm aiming to eventually be a true month ahead, so that I have the next month's bills squirreled away, so that when I accumulate money throughout the month, it's for the month after. So like July's income, would be for September, as I already have August covered.

I was sad today as I accidentally broke my little glass bee mason money jar (can't think of how to describe it 🤦🏾‍♀️😂). I took everything out to count it to check my progress and I put all the £2 coins in there at once, but I was holding it an angle and I think the impact of lots of coins at once was too much for it as a piece chipped away and flew onto my bed. Ooops. But I found another metal one to sit on my desk with my cat tin, this one is an owl and it was £15.99 on Amazon but for whatever reason, there was a 25% promo code available so it went down to £11.99 and I had a £20 Amazon gift card from Christmas that I'd completely forgotten about, so I used the gift card to buy the new tin. It arrives tomorrow, and didn't cost me a penny, but at least with it being metal it's not going to break. I'll show a picture when it arrives. Anyways, that tin is doing well, as it has £59.50 in there, made up of 50p coins, £1 coins and £2 coins. I'll see how much space the current coins take up, but I should hopefully be able to hold around £150-£180 at a time in there.

I put £8.75 into my money tins today, so I need to declare my PAD on the Payment a Day thread. All of my coins will be eventually banked and will go into that account along with my cashback and survey money, so that I start 2025 with a nice spending buffer in place (that can hopefully shoulder the strain of my overspending and my son's incessant demands).

Speaking of my son, he's asked for a sit down with me tomorrow to teach him how to budget! He even seems to be looking forward to it. Hopefully I'll be able to help him in a way that makes sense to him. We'll also be going through his CV and trying to help him find a job. We had a good chat about his future and he said he wants to be doing a hands on/physical job, and he'd rather do a trade than work in an office, so we're gonna think of some work experience opportunities for him as well. He seems to be quite happy with his prospects, and told me that when he's working if he got £1,200 a month, he'd save £400 a month and live on £800 a month. I told him, if he can do that, it will be very impressive and if he was continue to live on that when his income increases, he will be in a strong position. He seems very excited bless him.

beanielou

Your DS is becoming very mature.

Keedie

Yes he's really coming into his own @beanielou. 

I didn't sleep well last night, and I feel hungover today without having had the pleasure of a nice glass of wine 😂. So I need to take it easy today.

I'm still working on my sister's OPG report today, but I've downloaded the last year's statement into Excel, and so I am able to add up the transactions for the different categories and it is making it easier. I realised that Etsy spreadsheet won't be as much of a help as I thought it would be, so I need to create my own one. So I'll do that by mid-August.

My little owl tin has arrived! Not sure of his name as yet, but he has a working title of Owlie (how original 😂), and he's keeping Lenny company on my desk. I reckon Owlie will hold around £200. I really need to go to the bank to empty Lenny as he's more or less completely stuffed. My Hot Chocolate Nephew and Anime Niece are going to help me unstuff Lenny and count things up next week and pop to the bank to deposit the coins.

Makingabobor2

They are very cute

Cherryfudge

What a lovely pair those are! And as you mentioned, difficult to break.

Well done for progress on the form.

Keedie

They are quite cute aren't they. I've given up on any other name, so Owlie has stuck. And Owlie eats 50p, £1 and £2 coins and Lenny munches 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p and 20p coins. I intend to fatten them up as quick as I can 😂.

KajiKita

I love how incentives like this, feeding Owlie and Lenny, drives such positive focus. I remember when I first started getting a grip on my debts etc and would sweep any spare change periodically into my building society account. I would sit and read the balance with such pride and hope because I actually had a crumb of savings at last. It was a tangible sign of me changing and my progress 😊

KK