The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

I'll be working on my pension and trying to get some money together to help my son with a house deposit, so I'll be knocking about as well. Lots of people I have noticed have cleared their debt @abaka, but they're still here as it helps with budgeting and the community is very supportive. If I had not strayed for years, I would be in a different financial position now. And I think always using MSE forums will help me as life changes. There's so many forums for different stages of life, so you won't be getting rid of me that easily 😂.

Keedie

I made a bit of a boo boo last night and now I'm kicking myself 🤦🏾‍♀️.

In my Monzo account, I was meant to transfer £150 to my debts pot to cover my direct debits, but I accidentally put it in my locked bills pot! Which I can't withdraw as the pot is locked (which I did to better control my spending and it works when you don't make mistakes 😂).

So now I have £150 towards November's bills, but need to sit and rework October's budget as I am £150 short. I think I need to do some more freelancing today, as it's the cut off for my invoice, even though I'm really knackered. If I can earn half of what I'm missing, and skim a bit off each sinking fund, my weekly allowance and the the food shopping budget, then I should be able to juggle it all. But what a palaver. I need to stop doing finance thingies when I'm tired - oops! 

abaka

Can you take it from any other pot and then replace that with future money you’d be putting into the locked pot?  

but mistakes happen.  You look at my journey.  I initially forgot my PayPal interest rate ended in August and not 12 months which could have caused me an interest nightmare and most recently I then forgot I was in a temporary job and had a meltdown when I was reminded of it 

Keedie

That actually makes more sense @abaka, I don't know why I didn't think of that 🤦🏾‍♀️! Especially as I have no motivation to work today as it's my day off. I'll move it from the Christmas pot as I'm not shopping for anything as yet. I was waiting to see what happens around Black Friday sales. I don't feel so panicky now, thank you.

I think all of these mistakes make a big difference to our resilience and ability to weather the storm of our journeys. I'm glad you got your PayPal sorted in the end and you have job stability until March 2023. I had a freak out the other day because I remembered that it's our birthdays next week and I'd forgotten to budget for my son's birthday money (part of his present). I mean, I've known when my own child was born, but in all the planning of school fees, balance transfers, exam fees, rising energy prices etc, I just simply forgot. So it definitely happens.

badmemory

Whoops reading this has reminded me that it is my son's birthday on Sunday.  He lives with me & will now be 41.  I mean to say how do you forget this?  I know we are talking a gift card from the usual place, but I usually get him a fancy card with it & it looks like being a home printed version now.  As an explanation, I have been asking him for a month what he would like & not got any response & then time just got away from me.

Keedie

It's so easy to forget things including our kids birthdays in terms of presents etc when life gets in the way. I knew it was his birthday, I planned and booked a dinner for just the two of us at TGI Fridays on his actual birthday next Friday, and have been trying to work out a dinner with the rest of the family on the Sunday. But I just overlooked his present, and got a reality check when he asked if he could buy FIFA early as all of his friends had already downloaded it, and I didn't have the money at all. I don't know what I am doing for my birthday either which is on the Saturday. Happy Birthday to your son @badmemory and I hope he has a good one x

badmemory

His birthday meal was going to be a disaster as I couldn't get courgettes but fortunately a friend found them on a market near them & brought them over last night.  Courgettes in tomato with a cheese & breadcrumb topping.  Saves me making gravy which is definitely not one of my strengths.

Keedie

Sounds like a lovely meal, Cooking full stop is not one of my strengths, so I always admire people that can be creative and produce mouthwatering meals 😋. I hope he enjoys his birthday meal @badmemory.

AntoMac

You’re still going very much in the right direction Keedie.
A few bumps in the road which is as expected, but you’re still winning. What a lovely thing to do, buying the meal for a hungry homeless person. 

Keedie

Thanks @AntoMac, I'm trying to keep plodding along, but it's not always easy. But in many senses, I don't mind the hardship as I have no intention of doing this struggle again and if it was very easy to get out of debt and back on track, I could end up slipping back into bad habits.

Went out with my friend who came to London for the night and we got a bit drunk and ended up in Mcdonald's around 4.20am as I was craving a Big Mac and we bumped into another hungry homeless man trying to pretend that the coppers he had was £1 and he could buy a hot chocolate. I gave him £1 as that was all I had on me, and friend gave him another £1 and he ordered an apple pie, but the man kept explaining to him that he didn't have enough for both items let alone his original order of a Big Mac. So my friend just brought him the Big Mac, apple pie and hot chocolate and he somehow got free chips as well so he was very happy! 

I'm a bit worse for wear today as my body has reminded me why it cannot handle dancing the night away (well my version of it anyways 😂). I even managed an hour in heels before I changed back into my flats. So I will be on the walking stick for sure the rest of this week, but it was so worth it 😁. My friend has given me so much to laugh about as we just click and although we don't live anywhere near each other (she is one of my non London friends), we've vowed to see each other more often.

When I recover from my hangover and rework my budget (I got a bit contactless carried away last night 🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️🤦🏾‍♀️), I'll post my September Summary and my Future Focus for October.