The Mental Debt Struggle...

Makingabobor2

What amazing news. I am so pleased for you. You can start your new life now just knowing that every penny you get, can go to living and not to paying debt. Fantastic start for you. 

Keedie

I wasn't ignoring you all yesterday, I just felt really ill and wasn't really online. But a massive and heartfelt thank you for all of your kind words, support and general encouragement since I've been on my debt free journey. 

It definitely does feel like the beginnings of a fresh start @Purplelady65, and it's daunting, but ultimately quite freeing. I don't really know what it's like to be able to just live and have money that isn't allocated to debt @Makingabobor2, but I'm looking forward to knowing what that is like. It takes some of the pressure of my fledgling copywriting business. I've been so scared to believe that it's true, as I've been juggling my finances (somewhat obsessively) for years. But I think you're right @Cherryfudge, in that it has given me the skills needed to get on top of my financial future.

I'm not going to lie though, it does still feel uncomfortable to be the recipient of such a generous gift. And it's hard to actually feel deserving of such a life changing amount of money. I like the idea of it being like karma @in_need_of_direction, as I do try to help people as much as I can, but don't expect anything in return. But it's nice to receive such a great gift. And you're right @PennysIntoPounds, the hard work to bring the debt down meant that the gift was cleared it in its entirety. And I can definitely breathe easier now @lellybun, and I'm starting to rethink what the future holds and what my options are. 

And I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that it wasn't cheating, and it's reassuring to know that others would have made the same decisions to prioritise debt like you did @KajiKita. It can really springboard into a new way of life when you're able to do something like this, and I'm glad you got your first deposit out of your lump sum. 

I was quite giddy with excitement myself @southern_chick when that money came through and I did admittedly squeal with excitement as it represented a big change for the future. It really is a life changer @AntoMac! And thanks @beanielou and @Sun_Addict for always checking in and for all your support and encouragement, I really appreciate it.

Keedie

I met up with 4 of my friends from my old workplace for dinner at Pizza Express and it was really nice. We had a good laugh and I miss working with them, but I'm so glad that I left. We're going to meet up again soon, which I'm looking forward to. 

I dunno what I've been emitting into the universe, but I'm in a money shower at the moment. My friend gave me a card, and it had £40 in it! I'm going to use it towards the kintsugi workshop that I've always wanted to do, but never got my act or the money together to do it. 

I'm still battling with TfL for a refund of my son's travelcard that I brought on 5 February 2025. I paid £82.20 and it just never credited to his Oyster card. And they keep escalating it to the Finance team and I've still not got a refund. So I'm going to have use the money set aside for March's budget to buy the travel card early, as the refund was meant to happen by today. And the fares go up on Sunday 2 March, and so I need to buy his monthly travelcard before the price increases. So I'll have to do that tomorrow when he gets back from college as he's on pay as you go at the moment. The half term got away from me, so I didn't get organised on time to get the travelcard brought before he went back to college 🤦🏾‍♀️.

I've got a lot of decluttering to do over the next few days as my sister is giving me her sofa, and I've arranged for a delivery van to bring it on Friday. I got charged and extra £30 cos I've got no lift up to my flat 🥴.

Cherryfudge

The Kintsugi sounds fun - I got a kit to start doing it as I enjoy mending things and like the idea of beautiful mends, but I've yet to use it. For me it takes downtime combined with head space, which I don't tend to find at the same time!

It's great you had a meet-up with your friends and that the friendships have continued though you aren't working together any more, and how nice to have that gift!

I hope the refund for the travel card hurries up.

Makingabobor2

I'd hold fire on buying the new travel card, till Friday, incase the refund suddenly turns up. I'm sure it will

Keedie

I know what you mean about downtime and headspace @Cherryfudge, they're not always in sync! I'm hoping that my hands will be steady enough to do the repairs as sometimes they shake a little. My fine motor skills are a bit off if I'm in pain or very tired. But I'm looking forward to finding a Kintsugi workshop soon. 

TfL said it would be up to another 10 days for the refund to go through. The inital 10 day period since I raised the issue was up yesterday. But as the refund was not processed, the time has now restarted with a fresh escalation to the finance team. The travelcard goes up from £82.20 to £86.10 on Sunday. In the grand scheme of things, it's okay to wait. I don't feel comfortable buying another travelcard through the online portal until the refund comes through. But I guess I could always buy it in the actual station ticket machines or at a corner shop. I just need to get my act together really.

He didn't go to college today as he had a bad allergic reaction to God knows what yesterday and had hives all over his body. I didn't book his blood test properly, and so he got there and was rather annoyed that it wasn't booked in 😬. He's been given another blood test tomorrow, but he's meant to be at college. I dunno if he's going to use that as an excuse not to go 🤷🏾‍♀️, but he has mock exams next week and so he really needs to be there. I'm worried about his attendance, but I'm also acknowledging my limitations in getting him to do something as I would. So hopefully things are okay mock exam wise next week.

Anyways, ignore my parental blabbering on. My Thames Water bill came through and I was not very impressed to see how much it had increased by! It's just over £20 a month. That's a ludicrous increase. And it's making me nervous to see what the rent will increase to and the council tax 😬.

Cherryfudge

That's quite a hike in your water bill. Ours is set to rise too though I don't yet know by how much. We're going to fix our gas and electricity prices as those are also going up.

It must have been alarming when your son had that reaction. I hope he can get a blood test and at least know what the cause was.

Keedie

Yeah I wasn't expecting the bill to be so high @Cherryfudge. On my preliminary guesstimate budget, I had it as £75 a month (up from £52) as they said the increase was quite high. But I didn't really believe it would be over £70, but it's £72 a month.

I round up everything to the nearest £1, so that I build a buffer in my bills account. And then I round up again so that the total amount hits an even £100. So for example, if my total bills was £1,194 after the initial pennies round up, then I would round the total amount allocated to bills as £1,200.

Currently the bills buffer is sitting at £186.93. I was hoping to get the buffer up to £250 by the new year, but with the increase in bills, I think the margin will be too tight. But it's amazing how the odd penny here or there adds up. And it comes in handy if there is an increase in a bill that you've not budgeted for or forgotten about.

Baileys_Babe

We do the same with our bills account, it gives us a little buffer without us noticing.

vampirotoothus

Hi Keedie, if you paid by CC for TFL ask the card company to do a chargeback for you. V x