10 years to 40

Waywardgirl3

Soooo it’s a new month! 

My emergency fund stands at -£1200
And my total debt stands at - £11,744.33

goals written for the month and only essential spends so far. My socialising this month is going to be a lot of making my own coffee and going on long walks with friends   


I’ve cancelled my gym membership as although it was only 20 pounds per month, I wasn’t using it so it was a waste. Moved that 20 pounds into a loan overpayment pot. 

My consolidation loan is 9% interest (which is not great but better than any credit card offers I could get) and over 90 pounds went to interest last month! That made me feel mildly sick  

onwards and upwards 

Waywardgirl3

Wow - long time no update! 

I’ve done well at sticking to my budget in November - no new debt! 

One confession though is that my emergency fund has gone down to £850 pounds due to unexpected spends. 

£50 was spent visiting family, £150 has been placed to one side for my MOT (ambitious with my rattly old car), £100 for three months contact lenses and delivery (I’ve tried cheaper brands but my sore dry eyes can’t hack it) and £50 first payment of next years car insurance. 

None of these were emergencies but they were needed and outside of this months budget. Previous me would have popped them all on a credit card so I’m really happy I used savings instead. 

It’s got me thinking that once I get my EF back to £1000, I might try and build a separate ‘buffer’ fund of around 500 for those oops moments so I can protect myself from debt/reaching for a credit card if I forget to account for something in my budget.  Then I won’t have to dip into my emergency fund as much. 

Started on the Christmas present buying - I’m so proud I had a sinking fund for that this year and I re-went over the Christmas budget this morning. 

16 hours overtime done this weekend and another No Spend Weekend so feeling happy with that! My health is on the up aswell which definitely makes a massive difference when coping with life/finances. 

I have EXACTLY 35 pounds left in my account till Wednesday (payday) which is for a riding lesson but enough food in to tide me over and a bit of petrol in my car so it will be NSDs until then x

Waywardgirl3

Hurray it is payday! 

Total pay this month; 2300

my budget is as follows;

MBNA loan - 365

Family loan - 100

AA- 10

Monzo plus - 5

Apple Music - 5

Phone - 50

Netflix -10

DVLA - 15

Bills and food, cat food etc (goes to the joint account)  - 750

Emergency fund - 150

Personal - 200 (more this month due to Christmas! Cutting it to the bone in the new year I think)

Petrol - 40 (filled up and got nearly a full tank for this today!)

Prescription - 10

Christmas sinking fund - 100

Riding lessons - 90

Cat 1’s medication - 50

January 2023 bucket list trip - 350

My emergency fund is back at 1000 now which is a relief! 

Really hoping my car passes it’s MOT without going over the 150 I have set aside  for this in my car sinking fund  

You’ll note no car insurance this month as I renewed and paid first month up front - my payments on this will be going from 75 a month to 45 a month from January which I am very happy with! 

Waywardgirl3

So, new month, new goals written, loan payment made and interest added! 

My debt now stands at - £11,468

still a really really scary number for me. 

I’m hoping that despite the fact I’m travelling in January that I may be able to overpay and break into the 10 grand bracket - the debt feels so heavy and tiring and mentally draining, I can’t even imagine how free I’ll feel when it’s gone one day! 

Bit of a weird mood tonight, I think I’m just exhausted from the week. Another 16 hours of  overtime booked in this weekend, I also need to return a parcel, fit in a yoga session, fit in a run, meal prep, sort the house and clip the cats nails. Should be a No spend/low spend weekend but I already feel exhausted from it! 

Always feel like I’m slogging away and getting nowhere but so it’s good to write stuff down and know that eventually my small steps will add up into progress. 

On that note I’m already in bed, no heating tonight just my electric blanket and no ala set for me tomorrow - it can be a late start if necessary 

Waywardgirl3

Had a good day today, had 9 hours! of sleep and was only woken up by indignant cats yowling for their breakfast. We then went out to a garden centre - low spend day though (under a tenner) as had vouchers and got some useful home stuff we’ve needed for a while . Partner bought me chips for lunch, I did my 8 hours work and I’ve just attempted yoga. Confession -  I stopped the video class half way through as it was making me angry? Well irritable is probably more accurate - I think because of how painful I found it, very stiff at the moment and recovering from a chronic illness doesn’t help. I think maybe I will start with 5 minutes stretching a day, I wonder if there are any cheap classes by me - I wouldn’t walk out of an in person class Hahaa.  Meal prep, run and more work tomorrow. 

Tonight’s plan is to make dinner, have a tidy up and get an early night - 5.30am start tomorrow to fit everything in! Meeting a friend for coffee at 7am (at hers so no cost) before work. 

failinggirlboss

Hi. Well done on starting your diary I thought I would comment and follow your journey as I am the same age as you with a similar-ish amount of borrowing. I hope that starting this journey and holding yourself accountable has started to make you feel a lot better about things I know this made a huge difference for me, even though the debt is only very gradually reducing. You may have done this already but would definitely recommend deleting Instagram. Or at least ‘muting’ the accounts that are a trigger for you. It helps not to see those things every day. It’s great that you have a your emergency pot and I understand what you mean about having an extra pot for ‘oops’ moments. I’d like to get something like this for last minute social events and things like that. You’re doing amazing so far! x

Waywardgirl3

failinggirlboss said:

Hi. Well done on starting your diary I thought I would comment and follow your journey as I am the same age as you with a similar-ish amount of borrowing. I hope that starting this journey and holding yourself accountable has started to make you feel a lot better about things I know this made a huge difference for me, even though the debt is only very gradually reducing. You may have done this already but would definitely recommend deleting Instagram. Or at least ‘muting’ the accounts that are a trigger for you. It helps not to see those things every day. It’s great that you have a your emergency pot and I understand what you mean about having an extra pot for ‘oops’ moments. I’d like to get something like this for last minute social events and things like that. You’re doing amazing so far! 

Thankyou! Do you have a diary I can follow?

yes it’s definitely helping me get on track! I’ve decided not to delete Instagram as I’ve recently followed some really inspiring finance accounts and debt free community accounts for motivation, but I am definitely spending less time on it and unfollowing/muting anyone who makes me feel bad about my life or makes me want to spend 

I have been in a bit of a spendy mood this week and I need to reign it in so back on the forum. I gifted myself a lovely papier 2023 planner which I will use and love but at 30 pounds wasn’t really necessary. I have also decided to pop along to the works Christmas night out for a couple of hours which I originally wasn’t going to do so some of my personal spends will be going on that - trying to find a maintainable balance and allowing little treats within budget rather than just blowing it!

a big money win today though - my little ancient car passed its MOT with no advisories! An absolute miracle and a first ever!

it means I have the rest of the money I set aside as a buffer for this month so hopefully no dipping into my emergency fund. 

Waywardgirl3

So things have spiralled a bit out of control since my last post!

Life has been crazy, my mental health has been fragile and I’ve been caught up in festive spending. 

I am definitely an emotional spender and an emotional eater 

SO the good news is I’ve actually sent an £108 pound overpayment to my loan to get back on track. 

The bad news is my emergency fund is down to 750 pounds so 250 down somehow. About 100 of that has been pulled out to cover essential dental work but the rest was pulled out to cover general overspending. 

A bit frustrated at myself as I’ve hammered overtime this month and done 40 hours but my hard work is wasted if I’m just going to fritter money away. 

I admit, I look at my debt sometimes and it gets me so down and anxious and I almost think what’s the point as I’m so far from my goal but I need to remember that slow and steady wins the race. 

Waywardgirl3

Anyway I have 25 pounds of personal spending money left in my Monzo for the month and 30 pounds cash to cover a riding lesson - need to keep an eye on the joint account as food is SO expensive but most of the Christmas food is bought 

Waywardgirl3

A NSD today. 

Long day working from home and I’m going to go on a run on my lunch break. Also got a few bits to do around the house, healthy meals planned (we have everything in) and supplements/meds/vits taken. 

Feeling more positive today but wish there was something I could do to make me feel closer to my goal. 

My MBNA app hasn’t updated to reflect yesterdays overpayment and I’m itching to see that! 

Whilst I’m tidying I’m going to look for stuff I could sell online and take pictures but not going to post until the Royal Mail madness is over. I’m waiting on parcels from November! 

Gonna check out other side hustles I think/ market research sites. I’ve also decided I’m  going for a promotion in work next year. I work in public services so although I’m not on mega money the overtime is really frequent and well paid (and they are really flexible with my health issues) but I’d also like to move up a pay band next year and that is one of my 2023 goals. 

Me and my partner are cooking Christmas dinner this year for just us and his father so I also need to write a list and get everything planned - we have most of the stuff in but just want to double check and make sure everything’s organised so we don’t waste money/ we are all ready for the weekend.