Baby steps all the way to Financial Freedom

151 Posts

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my sparkling new diary for 2023.
I have recently re-read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (having only read part of it earlier this year) and have decided that despite the fact that its an American Finance book, it is an actual solid plan to become debt free and financially secure, and looking at my own results thus far, my way hasn't worked out all too well 🙈
So I ve decided for 2023, I am going all in with the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps.
To stay on track I am firstly starting this diary and secondly, i will read the book once a month, every single month to keep my focus sharp.
The first Baby step is to save £1000 as a mini emergency fund. The book gives suggestions on how to get here quickly, sell things, get an extra job etc.
So here goes nothing, outside of my minimum repayments on my debts I'll be focusing on saving £1000 in January! I'll posting here what I have done to achieve this goal.
Welcome to my sparkling new diary for 2023.
I have recently re-read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey (having only read part of it earlier this year) and have decided that despite the fact that its an American Finance book, it is an actual solid plan to become debt free and financially secure, and looking at my own results thus far, my way hasn't worked out all too well 🙈
So I ve decided for 2023, I am going all in with the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps.
To stay on track I am firstly starting this diary and secondly, i will read the book once a month, every single month to keep my focus sharp.
The first Baby step is to save £1000 as a mini emergency fund. The book gives suggestions on how to get here quickly, sell things, get an extra job etc.
So here goes nothing, outside of my minimum repayments on my debts I'll be focusing on saving £1000 in January! I'll posting here what I have done to achieve this goal.
Grocery Challenge 🍇🍈🍉🍊🍋🍌🍍
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
2
Latest MSE News and Guides
Replies
#6 Virtual Savings Pot 2023 £31.12/£300
Saving £1 A Day for Christmas 2023 £242/£730
#2 £2 Savers 2023 £172/£300
#6 Pay All Your Debt By Xmas 2023 £1848.49/£12,000
Make £10 a Day January £237.08 February £121.93
Total Debt Repaid- £1848.49/£66,133.42
🌊 A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor 🌊
2023 challenges - (1) £8k savings challenge = £2k (2) 2 stone 3lb weight reduction = 12lb
My WW and friends diary is here 😁 …
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6259606/must-try-harder/p1
Car bought in Dec 2020 - £12,500
Total Debt - £54,502 (£91,923 including mortgage consolidations)
Total Debt Jan '23 - £19,061.56 (credit cards) + £20,562 (mortgage consolidations)
Consolidated debt onto my mortgage twice in the years before LBM, so it's all consumer debt. Just focusing on clearing card debt first and letting the additional mortgages reduce with the monthly payments.
My Diary - Head Up, Keep Positive, Eye on the Prize
'You can't go back to the start and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.' C.S.Lewis
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
*Tesco Credit card - £3604.30* - £0.00
*Finance - £581.91 - £0.00
*Dad loan - £5300 - £3800
*M+S Credit Card - £0
*MBNA Credit Card - £1211.88 - £0
*Virgin Credit Card - £3075 - £0
*Total debt - £3800*
*Sinking Fund - £2500/£2500*
*Emergency Fund -£250/£5000*
*Mortgage Overpayment - £46.90/£1000*
Premium Bonds - £200/£1000
Facing Reality - My Debt Free Diary
First update of 2023; £10.73 sent to the Emergency fund. This is my account cleared out now, leaving just my gym membership to come out. I have £17 in my purse just in case.
Pay day is Friday!
Emergency Fund £10.73/ £1000
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
Just a small update for you, another payment has been made into my Emergency Fund. Currently it is standing at £35.95. Just a small top up today as had a small amount of money come into my account and I am eager 🤣. I get paid on Monday from one of my jobs and so hope to make a larger contribution then. Just got to keep chipping away at it! If my calculations are right then my emergency fund should be at almost £500 by the end of the month. More if I can sell some of the many things I need to sell!
I am so proud of myself. Rewind to August 2022 and I was living in my overdrafts (I had two; -£500 and -£1000) and i was constantly terrified of my card being declined.
I am now out of both overdrafts and have halved both of the limits. I am saving for an emergency fund now but prior to this I have been able to pay off a small loan (£400).
I feel like I have stalled a bit on the debt reduction to save the emergency fund but I will feel much more secure once it is in place. Plus this is what Dave Ramsey says to do and who am I to argue with a three time self made millionaire hey 😆
Emergency Fund £35.95/£1000
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
I have subscribed to your financial journey and wish you all the very best of luck! I agree an emergency fund is of utmost importance and whilst you are not sending anything extra to debt yet, this will soon be reality. Im presuming you are still paying your minimum payments on these debts?
Great news that you no longer live in the overdrafts as these can be called in at any time by the bank. How is the budget going, are you managing this? It took me quite a few goes with mine originally but a good workable budget is also key.
Shell x
Ongoing Challenges Annual Savings - Accelerated Fund Focus
Monthly Saving Challenge - £170/£600 EF - £775/£1000
1p Challenge - £280.68
Starling Savings Pot - £101
Long Term Savings - Accelerated Fund Focus
MSE Challenges Bedroom Revamp - £329/£3000
#18 - Saving for Xmas 2023 - £0/£1250 Girls Savings - £30/£360
#49 - SPC16
Debt Free - 04/03/23. Total LBM August 2021 £15410.70
My Old 'Debt Diary - Debt and Budget (Reset) plan — MoneySavingExpert ForumMy New Diary - I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, now my saving journey begins! — MoneySavingExpert Forum
I run this challenge - PAY ALL YOUR DEBT OFF BY XMAS 2023 — MoneySavingExpert Forum
Yes I am still making all of the minimum payments to all of my accounts, so I can include those in my DFbyXmas2023 challenge. Won't be long pike you say and I can really start getting rid of the debts also.
I am finally doing really well with my budget, thank you for asking. It certainly is a process! It's taken me since October to finally get my budget right 😅
After I had my light bulb moment of not being able to live with the stress of not knowing how much I would earn (I have my own business which has been dramatically impacted by C**!d) and whether I could pay my bills (I always did, but was slipping down a slippery slope of using my credit card and overdraft each month to supplement me paying the bills) I took on two part time jobs. The second one I am having to quit because it is the one that pays the least and is impacting my life and business the most. I need to grow my business back up and know I could spend that time and energy to earn the same, if not more. The other part time role allows me a stable income right now, that pays my bills. It also enables me to have £100 in my purse each month. This has a huge psychological effect on me, not feeling broke all the time allows me to breathe and feel less anxious. That goes on things like birthdays, DD bus fare, YS items, school things... non school uniform etc... Anything left over from that is being put into an envelope in my desk for the summer holidays.
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000
Payday today! The best day of the month! 🤭
I ve done my written budget, and triple checked it... £470.11 is now sat in my Emergency Savings account. With a £100 float in my current account ready to swipe it over once all of my bills have been paid. I am still learning to trust myself hence the £100 float "just in case" I ve done the maths wrong.
I am pretty sure I haven't but you never know.
So, there is money in my current account sat there waiting for the bills plus £100, "surprise payment buffer" plus £80 "everyday-need-£1/2/3-for-school/bus-fare-emergencies" in my purse.
It's still very early days for me. Last month was the first month in, who knows how long, that I didn't use my overdraft and I still had £50 sat in my account on payday.
I am so very proud of how far I have come already, but still a long way to go yet.
I have £529.89 to go until my target and baby step 1 is hit. I have some things that need selling so need to list those. Tax return needs doing first though! Yuk!
January 2023 £347.16/ £250 ♥
Feb 2023 £423.01 /£420 💚
March £351.84 /£400 💚
Christmas 2023 Saver #42 £245/£730🎄🎁🎄🎁
Pay off all of your debt by Christmas 2023 #19 £801.85 /£10675.89
Baby Step #1 = £0 / £1000