My overhauling journey to debt freedom

overhauler

After lurking in here for a while and seeing how people find themselves more accountable by posting regular updates I have decided to give it a go myself 

I find myself in debt after having low income jobs for a few years. Things are on the up as after finishing uni as a mature student last summer I started a new job in September which is double my previous minimum wage job and should rise significantly over the next few years

i had been juggling multiple credit accounts/overdrafts whilst at uni, jumping from one to the other and just about scraping by but was essentially struggling to afford everything each month and was always missing one bill to pay another

my credit rating was really affected so I made the decision to default all payments and through step change have just set up a DMP. I don’t actually owe loads, it totals just over 6k and is set to be paid off in 2 years 3 months. I have just set up a new bank account so will over the next few days be going through my bills, making sure they are set to the new account and culling anything I don’t feel is essential.

alongside paying the DMP I would really like to manage my money better so will be aiming for low/no spend days as regularly as possible and really thinking about purchases before I make them

i am currently learning to drive, a car would make my commute so much easier but although my test is coming up shortly I think a car will have to wait a while whilst I save some money. The previous me would just look to get one on finance but in all honesty I doubt I would get finance now and adding the payments to my monthly outgoings would not be the best idea so I will save up and see how quickly I can afford a cheap runaround with the aim of upgrading it as my wages rise over the next couple of years once I’ve cleared debt 

i haven’t done a SOA as of yet, not sure if it’s really my thing but as it stands today I have money in my food shopping pot to cover the next 2 weeks until pay day, no commuting costs as I’m on annual leave and then working from home. I have around £70 left in my current account until payday with around £12 left in bills to go out. I have set my new account to round up payments straight to my new saver pot so have a grand total of £5.39 in savings. I also have around £90 in cash after a recent birthday that is just sat in my purse. I’m trying to keep that and actually spend it on myself but won’t spend until I know what I want to treat myself with

I think that’s all for now, this is more my own ramblings for accountability but happy for any tips/advice/chat as I go along 

vampirotoothus

Hi Welcome and happy birthday.
Two things to consider are 1. If you want a car look at the insurance before you buy, as premiums have gone mad. 2. and sorry this is controversial but your birthday money does not need to be spend on a TREAT, can't you put in either your emergency fund or your car fund (or 50/50) and consider that a treat to your future self?
Good luck on your journey, the time will pass quickly. V x

overhauler

Thank you for the welcome and birthday wishes @vampirotoothus yes I agree it doesn’t necessarily need to be spent on a treat, maybe that was the wrong wording, I do want to make sure it goes somewhere though rather than being spent on adhoc bits and bobs if that makes sense so afterwards I have nothing to show for it. I like the idea of adding it to one of my funds so may add it to the car fund. I actually forgot but on top of the money I also have a £50 voucher, almost like a high street one that can be spent in lots of different shops and a £30 voucher for the local large shopping Centre so I will save those for when I need something specific.

with the new job I have been expanding my office wear clothing as have to dress smart when previously I wore a uniform but I have been mindful not to buy too much as don’t want to waste so I might put the vouchers towards some clothes when the need arises 

I know what you mean about insurance, I have been looking at cars for sale and putting the reg into online quotes to get a rough idea of costings. I am probably looking at around 1k for my first years insurance and I got that down quite significantly by adding my partner who has been driving for years as an additional driver. I have only been looking at small engines but was reading by the other day that they are sometimes more expensive and going for a slightly bigger engine doesn’t mean higher insurance so will bear that in mind once I have saved some money and start looking for cars 

i am going to open two more money pots in my bank, one for holidays, we have already booked and paid for a summer holiday this year so just need to save some spending money. The holiday is all inclusive so won’t need lots as my youngest son prefers just being by the pool or going to the beach anyway.
second pot will be for birthdays, it’s my eldest 18th this year and I had hoped to make it more special than a regular birthday but think I need to tone down my expectations as just don’t have the money to go too crazy. I will have a talk with him to see if there is anything in particular he would like 

overhauler

Good morning all, should be a no spend weekend for me this week as have no plans so spending a quiet weekend at home 

food shop was delivered yesterday, came in at £136. We budget £140 weekly so I do worry that we seem to stray very close to that budget each week recently. That is breakfasts, lunches and evening meals for all 4 of us and includes cleaning supplies although we didn’t need any this week. The £140 is supposed to cover the midweek top up of fresh bread, milk and any further fruit/veg we need but won’t this week so I may need to look and see where I can reduce. I try and cook meals that go further so todays roast will use leftover chicken to make a pasta bake tomorrow and later in the week I have planned a slow cooked pork belly that will do me a lunch the day after and my eldest a second evening meal on the day I’m working away. The main issue is probably that there are very few meals where we all eat the same so we cater for multiple tastes. I may also start adding in some much cheaper meals such as omelette or scrambled eggs/mushroom on toast one or two days. I shall have to have a think about that and see how to make our meal planning more cost effective if I can

i have a precooked and paid for hairdressers appointment on Tuesday, I don’t go very often as have quite an easy to maintain hairstyle and just have a dry cut to keep costs down but I definitely feel ready for a cut as think the last one was in September of last year

I’ve been reading a lot of diaries on here to get tips and motivation. I think the logical first step for me would be to concentrate on paying all my monthly bills, including DMP payment, and building up a small savings/emergency fund so if there was anything unexpected I have some money put to one side. I am thinking one months wages is a good starting point. I am thinking it will also be essential if I am looking to get a car in the future as they are much more likely to throw up something unexpected. I will then concentrate on a car fund with the hope of being able to afford a small car, maybe by summer, if possible. Once I have done that I can look at increasing my debt repayments and saving more into specific pots to become more financially stable 

one other thing I have picked up on is that I don’t need to necessarily make big sweeping changes but little steps towards the person I want to be, these are more likely to be permanent that a radical overhaul that might fail so alongside my financial overhaul I’m going to try and do a health one too, my starting goal for that is to do one bit of exercise each day, even if it’s a 10 minute exercise video. My change in job saw me move away from a very active role to a sedentary one and I have seen my weight creep up since so would like to tackle that and make sure I’m increasing my activity levels 

overhauler

Happy Monday, another day of annual leave for me today and I am making the most of it. Currently still laid in bed reading through others diaries. They really are great inspiration 

Should be NSD2 for me as have no plans to go anywhere that costs money and don’t need anything 

Plans for today include completing all the DD switch overs to my new bank, some exercise and house cleaning so nothing exciting but it can be done at a leisurely pace, it also looks like I might be able to get a load of washing out on the line. It’s crazy that it’s only February and so mild. We have warm blue skies here in South Yorkshire 

Have a lovely day everyone 

overhauler

Small win this afternoon, feeling like i want to snack but don’t have anything in (or at least no junk food I want) but rather than head to the shop I have made a batch of fresh scones from cupboard ingredients which are now baking in the oven 

overhauler

Still plodding along with my personal diary, I’m determined to make it a permanent feature of my life and a way to not only keep me accountable for my spends but to be able to journal my successes

Hairdressers this morning but had paid for appointment in advance so nothing to pay out for it today. I did go into the shops after for a few bits such as extra salad peppers and potatoes, came to £14 which puts me £10 over my allocated weekly food budget and we will most certainly need more milk later in the week. I think the menu planning needs looking at and readjusting to factor in some cheaper meals although maybe I will see how I go throughout March as some times it balances out as a more expensive week is generally followed by a cheaper week so I may just think about spends on a monthly basis 

driving lesson later today, test is creeping ever closer so I need all the practice I can get 

overhauler

Hi all,

had a lovely day out yesterday browsing shops and my mum treat me to lunch. Not a NSD as I bought 4 t shirts and a pair of jeans but used a shopping voucher I got for my birthday. I did need some jeans without rips as when I travel for work it’s much more casual wear but all my jeans have rips in the knees so now I have a pair I can use

back to work today but easing in gently with a wfh day, I have to travel to a different site tomorrow and it’s around 3 hours away so I’m using my easy day today to finish a little earlier and travel up this evening as otherwise I would have to leave the house around 4am tomorrow. Means it won’t be a NSD as will want food later but my evening meal can be claimed back on expenses so should only be a snack for the train, if I need one,  that comes out of my own pocket 

I am enjoying writing this diary and looking forward to payday next week so I can actually start some proper budgeting and allocating money to pots/savings 

overhauler

Good morning, it looks like miserable weather up in the North where I am working today.

i had a nice meal in the hotel last night and am just enjoying the hotel breakfast whilst waiting to be picked up. I didn’t spend anything that I’m not able to claim back on expenses for yesterday and will most likely be the same today, I will have to buy my lunch but can claim it back when I out my next round of expenses in 

should be quite an interesting day seeing how another site operates and is a short day, finishing at 3pm as I have a decent travel time back home afterwards 

I feel like I’m in therapy writing these musings to myself, it’s quite cathartic and really does make me think about everything I’m spending 

lucielle

It sounds like you’re heading in the right direction. An emergency fund is a very good idea and hopefully prevent reaching for a credit card if anything goes wrong. Good luck for your driving test, when is it?  

L

overhauler

Thank you @lucielle driving test is a week on Wednesday, I have 3 lessons left now before the test. I feel prepared but guess it all goes down to how you do on the day so I hope nerves don’t get the better of me 

I’m still laid in bed this morning, lazy start after a busy day of traveling with work yesterday but do need to get up as my lesson is in an hour

food shop is on its way and we managed to get it a little lower this week at £127 which leave £13 of the weekly food shop budget left for top ups, will see how it goes through the week 

I’m going out for a meal this evening, should in theory be a NSD as it’s using a voucher we were given at Christmas so hopefully the bill will come in within the voucher balance

apart from that, we are having a new porch door fitted today. Ours is wooden and swells when the weathers bad and won’t close so it is being changed to a pvc one. Isn’t costing anything as my in laws just had new doors so it’s their old one and a friend is coming to fit it 

I am going to aim to go for a run today as haven’t been in a while and really need to shift some weight so want to try and make exercise more a part of my week and I have lots of uni work to do as my next assignment is due mid March and I haven’t made a start yet