The Mental Debt Struggle...

Cherryfudge

I think perhaps you need time to grieve the relationship with the carer: she was good and then she became unreliable and let you down, and that's so sad.

The bookkeeping course sounds a real positive and as a student you should be eligible for various discounts, which could be helpful. Also, that's a brilliant discount!

Keedie

I think you're right @Cherryfudge, there is a grief of sorts. As I also considered her a friend. So as hurt as I feel, a part of me is also concerned that life isn't being very kind to her and she may just have a lot on her plate.

As for the bookkeeping, its such a great discount, much better than I was expecting. And yes, the student membership for the professional body gives lots of discounts, so that will really help. And if I can get a ticket to the Bookkeepers Summit, then I don't have to worry about overnight accommodation or expensive travel, as the venue is in central London and so only one (long) bus ride away.

My sister gave me some cash in exchange for me sending her £100 as she needed it to have enough in her account to pay for a new (though very used) car. So that I didn't frit it away, I put it into The Big Bufferoo fund (my £1,000 emergency fund) and that started it off. 

I also went through my spare change coins and I had £57.80 in my little money tin! It's been a very long time since I've emptied it, but that was quite satisfying to count up. I need to try and take it to the bank later in the week so that I can convert them into notes to put into my savings binders. 

Keedie

THE SUNDAY SUMMARY
(Week 38 ~ 21 September 2025)

I have categorised my savings, some of which are to be offset against impending debts or to prevent a debt from occurring. 

The Main Attraction (snowballed major savings)

I was trying to set aside £10 a week for this, but I have reduced my budget to take the pressure of me and my savings. So these goals will be funded by completed savings challenges or spare money when I have it. I prefer to save via playing games.

The Big Bufferoo (£1,000)
Progress Checker = £100/£1,000 (10%)
This is my emergency fund of sorts in case something big happens that is unexpected and cannot be covered by sinking funds. This will be my main priority until completed, as my agency contract ends in a few months and I won't have spare funds after that.

Globetrotter Asia (£2,500) due by 28 February 2026
Progress Checker = £315/£2,500 (12.6% saved)
This is for my big trip to the Philippines to see my brother and his new wife. He's coming back to England in a few weeks and so we will go through the likely costings of everything and I can then work out a proper feasible budget for this goal. I managed to save £60 over the last couple of weeks, so it's creeping up.

New Wheels (£4,500) ⛔️ ON HOLD ⛔️
Progress Checker = £0/£4,500 (0% saved)
My sister brought a 2004 Hyundai Getz that seems to be running really well, and she got it for £1,695 automatic with 35k miles on the clock. So I think I should be able to get a new car for a lot cheaper than I thought, and once I figure out the costings associated with the Phillippines, I can start working on saving for the car.

Career Change (£3,000) ⛔️ ON HOLD ⛔️
Progress Checker = £0/£3,000 (0% saved)
This is a debt offset goal, as my savings will need to repay my mum for fronting the bookkeeping course so that I can change careers. With the discount that I have gotten due to going to the webinar the other day, I will need to borrow less than I thought, so £3,000 instead of £3,250 and I will enrol this week. 

Financial Freedom (£2,250 due by 31 December 2026
Progress Checker = £1,219.36/£2,500 (48.77% saved)
This is my One Month Emergency Income Fund. I have reduced it from £2,500, and I am looking to make further adjustments, but this is the amount as it stands at present. This is the equivalent to my bills, expenses, spending and savings that I budget for monthly. So once complete, I know that if my income ceased, I have one month covered as an emergency. Once the goal is achieved, the overall target will increase to reflect two months and so on. It is held in my Natwest Digital Saver but I have cancelled my standing order for now. 

Standing on Business (essential sinking funds)

I had originally allocated £5 a week to the sinking funds, but I think a small amount monthly will work just as well. And I'm not committing to setting aside too much each month.

KeeMari (£750) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £38/£750 (5.07% saved)
This fund is for anything me, my son or our home needs. This ranges from prescriptions, home furnishings, self care, hair care etc. In the last week I've brought a new phone screen protector for £16.99 as I dropped my phone and the protector shattered but the phone was fine. So the increase int he fund is minimal.

The Gift (£500) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £210/£500 (42% saved)
This covers Christmas, Birthdays, Eid, Mothers Day and any other event requiring a gift/contribution like weddings, funerals, Christenings or one off charity events. I gave my nephew £15 for his birthday yesterday, so that ate up the money that I'd paid in a few weeks ago. 

Cruise Control (£750) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £95/£750 (12.67% saved)
This covers MOT & service, car maintenance and car tax. It's slowly inching towards the first £100 - yay me.

Bills Parachute (£1,500) ~ due by 31 December 2025
Progress Checker = £955/£1,500 (63.67% saved)
This pays for annual bills and subscriptions and will be lump sum payment to cover utilities when they increase in April 2026, to offset against some of the increase to enable the bills part of my budget to remain fairly consistent. This is funded by the 50 Envelope Challenge (£910/£1,275 = 71.37%) and a separate Bills Parachute top up fund (£45/£225 = 20%).

Globetrotter (£750) ~ ⛔️ ON HOLD ⛔️
Progress Checker = £0/£750 (0% saved)
Once my main travel focus for Globetrotter Asia is covered, I can then start paying into this to pay for cheap package holidays. As The Main Attraction at the moment is travel related, I am only concentrating on that for now.

Side Quests (ad hoc funds)

These are non-essential but realistically take the sting out of life by being prepared for lifestyle requirements, whilst acknowledging that once they are fully funded they will sit in the background until needed.

Bufferoo (£250) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £60/£250 (24% saved)
My homemade digital overdraft as my expenses are predominantly cash, but some places are cashless. Any money spent from this fund instead of cash will be put back. It will also act as a miscellaneous contingency fund in case there is an overspend or unexpected expense in another category.

Carpe Diem (£250) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £30/£250 (12% saved)
The Bipolar Buffer for when I have a hypomanic or major depressive episode, both of which can lead to uncontrollable and impulsive spending (but more so hypomania). It's a daily battle to be stable and well, but episodes will occur despite my best efforts. So  this is my mental safety net so that the budget does not go haywire when the inevitable happens. 

The Big Shop (£150) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £30/£150 (20% saved)
This is funded by a savings challenge from my weekly food shop, and it will be either £5 or £10 a week depending on what the dice decides. This will cover bulk shops for things like toiletries, cleaning supplies and household staples like rice, tinned food, a large freezer restock etc. It can also be used to boost a Christmas food shop. The aim is to only use this when it has been fully funded, and then to start again. 

Munch Munch (£150) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £30/£150 (20% saved)
This is for family meals like birthdays, celebrations and Christmas. It had £100 in there at my last check-in, but as we've just booked for Harvester for our Christmas dinner for 7 of us, and it was £10 each for the deposit, I spent £70 sorting the deposits. As that is the equivalent to one adult 3 course meal (shockingly scandalous I know 😬), I have essentially paid for one of our meals (me or my son) and have to save and pay the balance and order the meal for the other person by 8 December.  So that means, I need to have £50 by the end of November, so that I can pay the balance and sort out drinks too.

The AWE List (£300) ~ ongoing until fully funded
Progress Checker = £180/£300 (60% saved)
This is for Adaptations, Wellbeing & Equipment that makes managing my chronic conditions more manageable and gives me a better quality of life. I brought a new folding walking stick as it went down on special offer on Amazon, for £19.99, so the fund has reduced from £200 to £180.

weenancyinAmerica

Keedie - if you do go to Edinburgh, I went with my parents and we used the Hop-on-Hop off buses a lot. And we stayed in a bed and breakfast on a bus line so we could just hop on to get into to town. Didn't have to do much climbing. But as for being hilly - you can enter the Public Library and go down several floors but still be seeing out windows because it is built on the side of the hill. But loved the town.

AntoMac

I’m also a lover of Edinburgh Keedie but as others say it is hilly.

An observation re your various savings goals… Is saving another £2k or so in 5 months really doable? Would never say don’t make the trip but it does seem quite a stretch with so many other pots to fund. 

Keedie

I think staying along the bus route is a fantastic tip and idea, so thank you very much @weenancyinAmerica. Edinburgh has always been on my list of places to go, and so I definitely plan to make the trip as soon as I am able to. That Public Library sounds really intriguing as well, thanks.

As for the observation with my savings goals @AntoMac, great minds think alike, as today I was also pondering how much is actually feasible. I think the sensible thing would be to push my trip back. Nothing has been booked, and I have set aside some money, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a desperate want and not a need. So I have to think about it all a bit more, but when I did my financial priorities on my lunch break today, the holiday didn't factor, and neither did the car. So I think I'm on the precipice of another life defining pivot. And my finances will mould with it.

But one good thing is that the bookkeeping course is all booked! 👏🏾 Yay, the career change chapter begins...

Humdinger1

@Keedie darling, I'm shocked at how your supposed PA is behaving.  She looks from the outside to be completely wrong for the job.  I agree that you're grieving and it's sad that a friend has let you down but think you're right in saying that she may well have been overtaken by events.  You're empowering yourself by acknowledging this and as ever, are an inspiration.   Onwards and upwards love Humdinger xx 

daisy_1571

Congratulations on booking the course.

I'm edinburgh born and bred if ever you want to run anything by me just give me a shout    

Daisy xxx

AntoMac

Love your bravery and positivity Keedie. You always find a way forward 

Keedie

I won't lie @Humdinger1, it does sting that she's just upped and disappeared. But thank you for your kind words Humdinger and you too @AntoMac. Perhaps things took a turn for the worse with her sister and I was just the last thing on her mind 🤷🏾‍♀️. I didn't end up working from home today, so wasn't able to do any life admin. So that will have to wait until Thursday now. I can then contact the direct payments team with my son and figure out where I go from there.

Thanks @daisy_1571, I will definitely ask you some questions and get some recommendations once me and mum have figured out what we're doing. We'll be getting the train up to Edinburgh, which I think should take about the same time as flying when you factor in getting to the airport and hanging about for special assistance etc. 

My course materials are coming for the bookkeeping on Friday, and I filled in the information for my student membership, so hopefully I get the student registration number soon and there's still tickets for the bookkeepers summit. But anyways, the course material is coming this week - eek! I've been so excited to do this for so so long. It's all starting to feel more real now. It'll also give me some structure in the coming months and I will be able to start inching towards the career change. I feel like I'm finally doing something for myself.