The Mental Debt Struggle...

Humdinger1

@Keedie you are doing brilliantly! Re the penny challenge,  I agree with all posters above.  You can't have the tail wagging the dog.  Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

Keedie

Thank you, I'm very excited. I've never completed the 50 Envelope Challenge before and so I am definitely looking forward to getting there. At £575, I'm nearly half way and that is very motivating. 

I restructured my budget a little, keeping the same total amount, and that will allow me to pay a little less into each sinking fund, but I'll be able to do it every week consistently. It also means that I'll have money for savings challenges. Clearing out the penny challenge has made me realise that it's easier to concentrate on small challenges to make savings fun and then feed that into a bigger challenge or sinking funds. So I've decided to work on completing some savings challenges, and then once a few have been completed, reallocate the money. I'll split it between fun money, sinking funds and the envelope challenge.

I'm off to the Big Budgeting Meet Up this weekend. It's tomorrow in Birmingham, and a lot of the people that I follow on YouTube to watch their budgeting videos and follow on Instagram are going to be there. Everyone meets up and we make budgeting items, play games, there's a couple of advice talks and some of the people that have Etsy shops have a stall selling their stuff. The bit I'm most excited about is the swap table as people put the challenges and budgeting stuff they no longer use or need on a large table and you're able to take as much as you want. For free. That's where most of my budgeting stuff I've used over the last year came from. 

Me and my South London sister are driving up to Birmingham today and making a weekend of it. I went to the event last year and it was held in Manchester and I had a weekend to myself that time. So I'm excited. And looking forward to not being in London for a bit. It's been a sh*tty few weeks, and I'm looking forward to a Premier Inn breakfast 😂.

1stTimer

Never heard of the Big Budgeting Meet up before, what a great idea!

Have fun!

Sarahwithlove

That sounds like fun! Hope you have a good time 

Newstartforme

Have a great time with your sister . The meet up sounds so interesting and also great for you to have a little break x

AntoMac

Have the best time Keedie 

Keedie

I had a great time at the Big Budgeting Meet Up . It was nice to see other people that are also into budgeting and cash stuffing and to get some tips etc. It was up in Birmingham, and I'd not been there for about 15 years, so that was nice to walk around the city centre. I've been quite tired in the last few days though. The anxiety of meeting up with a lot of people was a bit overwhelming and it meant that I didn't sleep well and the journey up to Birmingham was horrendous as the traffic was crazy. But it was so nice to be out of London and to meet up with like minded people. And I had a good time hanging out with my sister for the weekend .

Budget wise, I didn't overspend which I am very happy about, but I did buy some savings challenges and picked up lots of cool freebies. So I'm happy with that. 

I managed to put £450 into savings, sinking funds and savings challenges this week and I declared them on the Payment a Day thread. I've managed to rework the budget so that I am able to pay the full £150 into the Natwest Digital Saver and £50 to Help to Save, so that's £200 a month. The other £225 came from £50 to the KeeMari fund, £50 to Cruise Control, £50 to The Gift, £50 to Globetrotter, £25 to the 50 Envelope Challenge and £25 to Carpe Diem (my fritter fund for when I am mentally unwell and will inevitably overspend). 

I also took my coins to the bank and had £375.80, of which I converted £375 into notes and put the £0.80 into a Monzo pot which I use to accumulate odd bits of change and when it reaches £50 I withdraw it to add to the 50 Envelope Challenge. I've managed to complete 3 smaller savings challenges and have 3 more to complete. Once all 6 are done, I will be able to reallocate all of that money into my sinking funds and emergency fund.

I feel like I have more control of my finances now and it's still tough going in terms of trying to keep on top of everything. I think I've now got a good mix of digital and cash stuffing to manage my expenses and the different levels of my budget based on accumulated income. So I'm cautiously optimistic that I have a better set up now.

Makingabobor2

Sounds like you're on a roll now. Keep it up. 

AntoMac

Glad it was a great weekend Keedie. Really nice to be among like minded people as well. I used to work in Birmingham and loved it. Brummies are really great down to earth people. 

Feels like you are well on top of things at the moment. Long may continue

Newstartforme

Glad you enjoyed it Keedie . When you suffer ill health socialising can really wipe you out . Hope this weekend is a restful one for you . Really well done on all you accomplish financially,  very impressive and you will feel good to know there is money available should you need it .