The Mental Debt Struggle...

Keedie

This year really has flown by but crawled at the same time if that makes any sense? But the last month has absolutely flown by hasn't it @LittleMissDetermined? I think you're right about the lockdowns @badmemory, as I think they distorted the perception of time. I'm sorry about your purple fingers, but that was very thoughtful of you to consider other might need the white cabbage. I do think red cabbage tastes nice though. I popped to Lidl today and got the last cotton pads that my son and I use when we're washing our faces. But there was box behind that was full of them, so I took the box out and put the empty one at the back so that people could see that there was still products left. 

Work is still crazy. I was expecting it to all slow down, but it's not the case. But at least I only have one more day, although that day is going to be crazy hectic as I'm delivering training again in the morning. But at least after that, it will be done for the year. My eyes are stinging and I've not slept properly, so I'm looking forward to a lie in on Christmas Eve and I will be switching my phone off on Friday night. There is definitely a pre-Christmas rush going on @AntoMac and @Sarahwithlove! I think it's made worse because the university closes from Friday and reopens on 3 January, and everyone knows that the payroll deadline has been brought forward for January pay so the influx of work is just eye watering. And there was very poor time management with people booking their leave in January 2023 when our leave year ends and we're exceptionally busy. It should have been managed properly throughout the year. So now we have only 2/6 of us working throughout January and everyone else is on leave for days at a time! I'm scared of how much work will be coming in when we have no resources to deal with it. It's gonna be carnage... 🥺.

I got my car batter changed today at Halfords and was a bit naughty and used Klarna to pay it in 3 instalments, as my battery was on the MOT report as something to keep an eye on changing from back in April and I kept putting it off as there was always something to pay for. Then my brother told me that a poor battery can lead to damage to the alternator which is not cheap to replace so I swiftly brought the battery that was recommended on the MOT report, but it was on sale from £89 down to £76.99 so at least I saved a bit and it's got a 5 year guarantee. My local garage said that they can get a battery for £74 but couldn't confirm a guarantee so it made no sense to go there. But since the battery has been changed my car radio doesn't work as it needs resetting. I've no clue what the code is and can't find the book that came with the car and I kinda also don't know where the log book is for the VIN number 😬. That's what happens when you need to declutter and get organised 🤦🏾‍♀️.

AntoMac

One more day Keedie? I’m envious as I have two more!  Make sure you take some time to crash out and rest as soon as you are able. My cousin is over from abroad this weekend and I can’t wait to see her and her two boys. 

It is strange how holiday rules tend to go out of the window over the Christmas period and nearly everyone ends up being off.  You’ll cope one way for another that’s for sure when it gets busy. For now focus on some time to recharge a little after tomorrow (If you can!)
I think Klarna is a good option occasionally for the convenience it provides. 

Keedie

Yeah it's the one extra day as that's the end of my working week. Though in all honesty, I have so much work I could end up doing work on Friday too, but I won't. It's my friend's birthday on Friday and she's having a party at her twin's house tomorrow. So I will finish as early as I can with work so that I can do my hair and get ready. And have a nap before going anywhere 😂.

I think my old manager was just clicking anything to approve the leave before she went and she's not around to feel the impact, so it didn't really matter. I've booked a lot of time off over summer and that was blindly approved, but I've spaced mine out in terms of when we have a crush of work to get through. But you're right @AntoMac, the rules at Christmas just fly out the window lol. I hope you have a good time when your cousin comes over.

I like Klarna because it's my equivalent of having a credit card. I only use it if I really have to, but only if I have enough money to cover the initial payment and most if not all of the next one or I know that the timing of the payments coincide with when I get paid. I should be able to just pay it early when I get paid next month.

I'm still pondering my goals for next year. I was thinking I might actually keep my direct debit for MBNA at £102.33 and boost my sinking funds. But then I realised that the debt is weighing on me so I've come up with a best of both worlds solution. I've worked out my budget based on my old wages (before the pay rise and increase in hours), the applicable universal credit based on that salary and my PIP, and then I've added up all my expenses to come in at £19 under my lower earnings budget. That way I have a monthly contingency fund, which will sit in my main account and over time will accumulate to almost give an 'overdraft' style buffer. So that if something unexpected crops up, or something costs a bit more for whatever reason, I dip into this reserve. The total budget amount is based on a 5 week month, which is the maximum I'd need to spend on a monthly basis.

The difference between my old wage and overall budget and my actual new wages is £201 and this will go into a savings account that I've called PADding Promise, and I'll see what accumulates over 2023 and then do the split with 60% to debt, 10% spending and 30% savings.

So, I've set my budget for all fixed expenses like direct debits and debt repayments on a monthly basis and kept to the increased direct debit for MBNA of £202.33 from January 2023. Then I have a weekly food shopping budget of £60 and £25 a week for travel (petrol and oyster card top up, air tyre pressure and chargeable parking). Then my sinking funds are now topped up on a weekly basis, for things like birthdays, family fun, eating out, emergency fund etc.

But because there are more 4 week months than 5 week months, based on starting the budget on a Monday, the difference between the amount put aside automatically for all sinking funds for 4 weeks instead of 5 weeks is £180 a month. So on the 4 week months, I will use that additional money to accelerate a sinking fund to reach my target amount. Or if needed, split it between debt repayment and sinking funds depending on what is due when in terms of repayment or what I need to save by when.

Now I just need to work out the correct order for the sinking funds acceleration and realistic targets, and take into account when my 0% interest ends on my credit cards. And I'll continue to use my PAD Pot to throw whatever extra I can at the debts. I've been in deep thought these last few days and weeks, trying to ponder how to make 2023 a good financial year and end with both savings and a budgeted lifestyle where I'm not cutting back too much, but I am still clearing my debts.

At a minimum, my debt repayment for 2023 will be £7,200 based on £600 a month, which will be about 46% of my projected debt at the end of December 2022. And when I looked at it like that, I was really happy, as that figure does not include PAD Pots additional payments or what I am owed by my siblings. Or anything extra that can be paid towards debt based on using the approach above. Fingers crossed that I've got a more workable solution this time, as there has been a lot of trial and error and great lessons learned, but I am looking forward to feeling a bit more in control and having a stable approach.

Keedie

Sleep clearly isn't on the agenda for tonight... thanks bipolar 🙄😂.

Well at least I was awake to witness the notification that my MBNA direct debit go through 😁, so that's £102.33 paid. 

Makingabobor2

Must have been something in the air last night waking us all up....I was still awake at 1am, woke up again at 2, then 5 & then when I should have got up I was still asleep. 

enthusiasticsaver

Goodness all you night owls last night. Sounds like your brain was working overtime. Sounds like you have a balanced plan between saving, sinking funds and debt repayment for 2023. 46% of debt repaid would be awesome. Is that DFD still 31.12.25?

Also can I ask how you get the different colour fonts in your signature? It used to be very easy to format but I can’t seem to find out how to change colour from black since the MSE website changed last year. 

LittleMissDetermined

I had a bad night too... no idea what was causing it so I'm glad it wasn't just me.  I feel like I could sleep on a washing line now though! 
LMD x

Keedie

I feel perversely pleased that I wasn't alone in my suffering last night 🤦🏾‍♀️. But in all seriousness, I'm sorry that you didn't get much sleep either @Makingabobor2 or you @LittleMissDetermined. It really sucks doesn't it? Hopefully today isn't too painful for you as a result of being so knackered.

But I know that my lack of sleep was due to entering hypomania and being too wound up to sleep and my brain didn't shut off. I was excited yesterday as they appointed a new manager and I know that she will be great, as it's an internal appointment. But I was also very stressed by how much I have to do and the emotions of too many things sent me a little bit high and I'm having trouble regulating and coming back down. Christmas is always difficult for me mentally, as it's such a happy time but a lot of the time I feel overwhelmed and agitated and it doesn't match the general atmosphere so it's a bit stressful. I'll be okay in a few weeks. 

And yes, my brain was definitely working overtime @enthusiasticsaver! Some good came out of it for once, as I think the plan I've outlined should hopefully be easier to follow. Some of my sinking funds will be via cash envelopes, and that's for things like grocery shopping, eating out/take aways, clothes, my son's football subs and spending money. I brought a little binder last month but couldn't get my head around where to start. So a few weeks and many You Tube and articles later and I think I have a system that will work for me. And in using cash more, I'll have change for my sealed pot challenge.

To change the colours on the signature you have to type a bracket, spell colour in the American format, state the colour and close the bracket, then the text immediately after it is that colour. Like the format for the last part of my signature that has pink for saving challenges is written as this

[COLOR=Magenta]SAVING CHALLENGES:-

but shows on the signature as pink. 

The opening part which shows my debt and running updates in the red, orange and green looks like this on the signature page 

[B]Debt Tracking Restart Take 2 from 01/08/2022= [COLOR=Red]£22,182.54 (8 creditors)[/COLOR]  So, on 22/12/2022 = [COLOR=DarkOrange]£6,333.69/£22,182.54 (5 creditors)[/COLOR] = 28.55% repaid [COLOR=Green][I]Aiming to be Debt Free = 31/12/2024[/I]

Thanks for the reminder about the DFW target date, as I've now changed this to 31 December 2024, so I've managed to shave a year off my target date 🎉.

Makingabobor2

Thanks for that info on the colours. I asked in a different thread somewhere and was told it was only possible for people who had been on MSE for years, before the changes. I will give it a go and hope it works, would be nice to have some colour.

Keedie

I came back onto MSE after a hiatus of a few years and my old signature had colours, but I realised the change in website prevented messages from being in colour, which is a bit drab to be honest... But I could see the format of my old signature so I just used the same principle to update it. Maybe that's what that person meant when they responded to you @Makingabobor2, as the functionality has been removed, and so it technically doesn't exist anymore as you can't just use the options, but I manually added mine, so I am sure you can do yours too. A bit of colour often makes all the difference 🤗.