My Intentional Journey to Debt Freedom

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Thanks for all your suggestions @EssexHebridean and for posting at all.  As a new diary person I am ridiculously happy when anyone posts at all and gets to the end of my ramblings.   I love writing and intend mostly to post each day but the content might be a bit thin at times (unlike myself )
The subscribing thing has worked really well and (I surprise myself sometimes) my tiny tech brain worked out to subscribe to my own thread.  I did have to ponder it for a minute though.  Thank you for pointing out - I could equally not have worked this out and spent time slowly searching for myself every day and I am happy to have all tips from seasoned diary people such as yourself.
Agree re SOA - I am not planning to post.  We are not a high discretionary spend household and there are limited savings to be had having reviewed everything.  I'm happy with our bill expenditure.  I also agree re actual pots.  Our new pots are actual savings accounts linked to another account we had and kept when we switched a couple of years ago.  It's all on an app so very flexible.  We use that bank account for our food expenditure each month to keep that separate.  We take petrol (estimated - I use a lot for work) out in cash so it is out of the account.  When I get paid expenses I take that amount out in cash and add to the petrol pot so it goes where it's meant to.
I don't think (at the moment) I would cope with having one post with everything kept track of by one spreadsheet.  My OH is very supportive of all of this and totally on board but he isn't as in to the detail as I am so my quite basic current system will be trialled for a few months and we'll see where we get to and make adjustments as we go along.
I can't transfer everything at the beginning of the month currently as we have my salary at the beginning of the month and then 4 other payments for various occupational pensions for OH during the month.  He will get his state pension from September so that will add another amount of money that can, initially, go straight off debts and will vastly accelerate our paying back time.
I will look at the MSE credit club as you are right - even transferring a smaller amount would be beneficial.  I earn very well and we have an exemplary credit rating but I think I was thinking if we don't get all of it, it's not worth doing any of it and, of course, that is nonsense - thank you for reminding me of that.
In an actual money saving win we sat and discussed our food shopping today, considered what was left and what was needed and then did the actual shopping - we always go to Sburys.  Only spent just over £40 today which is something of a world record.  I am in London for three days next week so that helps but nevertheless, very pleased with that (cue major celebrations again - I'm very sad really).

L x 

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Hello @jwil.  Good to see you.  Yes indeed to the no spending.
I saw on someone else's post somewhere on this site about Frugalwoods.  I have read them to a degree and think they talk a lot of sense albeit they are in a country where land/houses etc much cheaper so their position is much easier to achieve at the age they are - although I am absolutely not discounting the effort and choices they've made to get where they are.   
The small point I am rambling on to get to is that this post I saw quoted them saying "just don't spend money" and that stuck with me.  It really couldn't be a more simple point but I feel I have missed that most obvious of things for most of my life!!!  So I do feel like celebrating when I have a day with no money spent - and long may it last.

L x 

PennysIntoPounds

Well done on your no spend day and your shopping assessment, and no post is sad or humdrum because we're all here to try to achieve what we can with the situations we're in. Sounds like you're making great progress with seeing mse opportunities and being open to suggestions like that of @EssexHebridean
Mind yourself down in this 'ere London though, it is blimmin expensive!

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Thank you @PennysIntoPounds 🤣 re London.  I am from London but havnt lived there for many years.  Most of that will be work expenses albeit I am a bit prone to adding my personal expenditure when I’m away 😱. This will be the first test of my new mindset….

L x 

Brie

What's the personal expenditure when you're away and what's the solution?? 

I have to help OH deal with blood sugar level spikes due to diabetes so always travel with snacks as well as having a full little case of all the necessary meds that one might need at 3 am.  Bottled water and juice tetra packs so we don't raid the mini fridge.  Pack a lunch instead of stopping at an overpriced motorway services.  Obviously it will depend on whether you are going by car or by train and by yourself or with colleagues.

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Thank you @Brie.  It’s mainly extra coffees over and above work expenses.  I have a plan…..we shall see how successful it is.  Even before I started this diary I knew my terrible Mway services habit had to go (over £100 between beginning of November and middle of December 😱😱😱😱).   That is just ridiculous and the inflated prices always annoy me (they’re not paying extra for ingredients or paying their staff more) even as I hand over the money!!! 

L x

foxgloves

@LTMA, When we first encountered the anti-debt lightbulb, both of us were working full time & one of the first things we decided to do was to replace buying work lunches 5 days a week with packed lunches. Out of interest, I worked out roughly what we had been spending on bought lunches & work snacks & I was utterly horrified to find that it came in at around £2000 per year for the two of us combined. Truly eye-watering! From that point on, it was packed lunches all the way which included being more creative with tasty leftovers, as well as the usual sarnies & filled rolls/wraps made at home from what we'd got in. It doesn't feel like a lot of money at the time because all these 'meal deals' lull one into thinking one is getting a bargain. It isn't really a bargain however to need only a sandwich but to pay more for it so as to include 2 additional items which aren't always required & often involve a fairly limited choice, Then there is all the packaging, which even though it has improved a little in terms of recyclability these days, is still an unnecessary addition to our daily waste stream. We used to make up our packed lunch boxes the night before, after having eaten dinner & washed up because we both had early starts in the morning & a commute. If this can be made into a habit, then money-wise it really is a quick win. A flask of coffee for non-desk days is also a money saver as coffee shop coffees mount up over the week & of course part of the additional cost (for both coffees & sandwiches) is simply you paying somebody else to make it for you plus the packaging. My own increasingly tightwad use of motorway services is that they are mostly there for the 'wee' rather than the 'tea', lol. 
I read your posts & get the sense that you really have arrived at where we were back in our early 40s, it's that process of assessing which sort of regular spends are worthwhile & which have become habit, falling into that category of "No, actually, I think I'd rather use that money for something else which I want more", which I never would have thought I'd find myself saying, but for us, often amounts actually to SAVING IT (!!!) these days. Onwards with your new more frugal lifestyle! It will be more environmentally-friendly too. 
F

Less_Talk_and_More_Action

Thanks so much @foxgloves. I really appreciate your detailed reply. 

The intentional part of my diary title is totally a reflection of needing to think things through.  I am something of an impulsive person - spending,eating etc but success in this journey is totally about wanting the alternative more.   But to do that I have to be clear about what it is that I want more.   I’m sure that this is blindingly obvious to most people but that thought has to be there all the time - it’s not going to appear in the drive thru queue at 530am to save me!!   So part of my trying to post every day is to keep on repeating that to myself and embedding those reasons in my head as well as documenting my journey.   

I am pretty good at taking lunches with me but (shamefully) don’t always eat them and buy something else - so spending money and wasting food.  I work from home most of the time so luckily that hasn’t been as bad as it sounds - although it’s bad enough 😱.  That will stop as well. 

On the plus side I am aware of all these things and spent time at Christmas revisiting online banking and working out motorway spends etc which definitely did shock me.  I have agreed with OH that I will use personal spends if I stop on the Mway as I can take coffee with me and food so no need to spend there.  Trust me, I’m not intending to do that.  

I am12 years away from normal retirement age but would like to have the option to go in 3-5 years (ie mortgage paid, good savings).  That is definitely possible from our number crunching but only if we take action now - serious action.  This also means not doing what I’ve done in the past -  paying off the CC and then running it up again etc etc.  so every £5 coffee is stopping me achieving that - and SO not worth it.  

I think you said in a reply to me on your diary, about just drinking a brown drink when you stop ant the services and that’s really stuck with me.  Basically I buy the coffee, drive on the motorway and am really buying it to relieve boredom and break up the journey!! 

As you might assume from my user name, I can talk it all and my diary is both part of that but also accountability for the action part of it. 

I’m feeling optimistic- thank you so much for your contribution - both here and on your own diary.  

L x 

EssexHebridean

Coffees - do you already use your own insulated mug so at least you usually get a little big off when you buy them? Could you maybe take a flask and some sachets of instant latte or whatever your preference is? Then if you have access to a kettle you can just fill the flask ready to make the sachets up - you'd just need a spoon to stir? The boxes of sachets come in at under £3 as I recall, and you'd get about 8 drinks from that - which will make substantially less of a hole in your personal spends than the big label stops on your travels! 

Brie

If you don't like instant (like me!) then you might want to try coffee bags instead.  I got some for Christmas but haven't tried them yet but am expecting a decent result considering they're Taylors.  I imagine they must be £4 or £5 for the box of 10 but that's still just 50p each cup which is much cheaper than Starbucks or Costa.  As long as you can get the hot water of course.