The Mental Debt Struggle...

Makingabobor2

That is cheap for glasses. I paid over £1200 for a pair if varifocals & a pair of prescription sunglasses. Never been able to get them that cheap at a good optician.

Keedie

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82158147#Comment_82158147

That is a crazy amount of money @Makingabobor2. I must admit, I did get an NHS discount and the guy did some other magic on the order and I saved £110. But even at £340, that was an eye watering amount, and I need to have proper money set aside next year, as I forgot how expensive glasses are.

beanielou

Good news on the money received & the new glasses.

Keedie

Thanks @beanielou x

Keedie

I've made some progress with my savings and debt accumulations. My head has been a bit mentally scrambled recently, but I received some money that I was owed, and I put it into savings challenges, including the Stacking Cups for my debt accumulation. Between the money owed, the money I had set aside and spare change coin challenges, I saved £425. Yay me.

I've been going to an evening mental health crisis service and I have signed up for the daytime programme to help give me some routine and a sense of purpose so that I can get back on track with my recovery. And I have new care coordinator at the community mental health team and I meet him on Wednesday morning. The other lady left as the council is doing a restructure and changing the mental health service. Which is a shame, as I liked her. But getting into a better place mentally means that I am in a stronger position to sort out my life and finances.

I'm making slow progress financially, tightened my budget to enable me to actually have some proper personal spending money and be able to keep on top of bills, variable expenses and small savings. I'm £100 short for Christmas, so I'll use the autumn savings challenges binder once that has been completed at the end of November for the cash presents for the kids.

I've also done a calendar of events and associated expenses for 2027, and that has made me feel a bit better. I'm not sure when I'll be in a position to get another job, so the new budget makes me feel more relaxed. I've got £1,500 for bills, £100 for savings and £400 for variable weekly expenses. I'm trialling it out for the rest of 2026, but I think I've finally got a good balance. The mental health team will be helping me get back into work once I am in a better place and I can manage life a bit better.

I'm a bit slow, but I just discovered that you can pay into £250 a day in coins at the Post Office for Santander accounts, so when I open my money tin on 1 January 2027, I won't need to do as many trips to cash it all in and use it give my 2027 sinking funds a boost. I think my tin will have around £400-£450 (at a maximum) in there, so between the Post Office and Metro bank that takes 10 bags of coins a day, I should be able to get it banked quicker than I assumed. It will be used to fund as much of the 2027 Q1 events and expenses between January to March 2027.

The Help to Save account has 3 more payments of £50, and I'll pay £50 into the Natwest Digital account. When the H2S account has matured, it'll be worth £3,000 and I will get that in February 2027. I will use half of the H2S money (£1,500) to drip feed into the hysa with Natwest. As that's my financial freedom fund and it's currently at £2,725 and I will keep plodding along until I have 12 months income and expenses covered. My budget is £2,000 a month, but I figured that I would future proof it as £2,500 a month due to the cost of living and hopefully not needing it, but knowing that it is growing steadily. So at the moment, I have 9% saved towards Month 2. That will be an incredibly slow burner, so I am not focusing on it too much.

And £500 of the H2S money will go into an ISA, and I will combine the £50 H2S money and the £50 I'm currently sending to the Natwest account, so a monthly payment of £100 will go to the ISA. This will be my emergency fund, should I need it for something major, but hopefully it will grow steadily and won't be needed. I'll still have my sinking funds to pay for things that we need

The remaining £1,000 will go towards my debt. By then I should have finished Stacking Cups and that will mean that the moped insurance has been covered and more of the bookkeeping course has been covered. I'm owed £3,960 from various family and friends, so every penny received will go towards whatever debt challenge I am working on at the time, and I will continue to make lump sum payments to my mum.

I still very overwhelmed by life, but things are starting to fall into place. Slowly but surely.

daisy_1571

That all sounds doable and sensible.

Two of my local royal Bank of Scotland branches have machines where you pour mixed coin in, it whirls around and counts them then you get a receipt to pay into an account. I don't think they have a limit other than pouring so much in it jams the machine (pops, sorry, waay too many pennies at once !) But I've learnt to pour in so much, close it off for a receipt then do another pour.

Maybe a branch of a bank you have nearby might have similar. One looks like a normal cashline, the other looks a bit like the old night safe letterbox thing they had on the outside of banks. Have a look next time you are inside a bank or ask staff, you might not have noticed it.

Also remember the weight, that will be heavy to carry. Definitely a rucksack or pull along trolley needed

Keedie

I'd forgotten about those coins machines, so thanks for the reminder @daisy_1571. There's a Natwest that doesn't take too long to get to on the bus where I can pay in coins of mixed denominations. There's one machine that holds a lot of coins, but I think it steals some, as the amount I pre-count and the amount deposited don't always add up. But maybe, I was putting too much in at once and some was falling down the sides of the machine or something 🤷🏾‍♀️. But I'll try it again with a handful of coins and see if it is more accurate now.

When I have taken coins to the bank before, I've always used a rucksack and done the trips over a few days. But I'll use the trolley, as I hadn't thought of that. And the bank is near some shops so I can do a mini food shop on the high street as well.

daisy_1571

always check the tray for rejects then put them in again, they often go second time