Shaking off the debt

HampshireH

For the wedding gift.

If your sister is asking for cash perhaps suggest she set up a Prezola site (or similar) we used this sort of gift register (a free version) and could put what we wanted to do on honeymoon and people could "buy" them I.e. dinner out, swim with turtles etc or just gift contributions to a certain value.

That way you could make your contribution as soon as you can afford it and not have to worry about saving it until the date. It also feels like it means more to people when they think they are paying for the happy couple to do a specific thing they are planning.

Ultimately they just get a cash pot at the end to do as they please. For us we booked all the things we wanted and paid for them. The gift pot effectively reimbursed the expenses and so people did pay for those things as gifts in a backwards way.

ShakeItOff

Thanks @biggerpickle! I absolutely know that feeling, but I do love some new storage stuff.  Good luck with your diary! I'll be checking in to keep you company.

Thanks for the suggestion @HampshireH  - unfortunately, we have a bit of a bridezilla in our mists at the moment, so suggesting anything that changes course from her current plans is a solid no.  I am going to essentially write and IOU and put aside cash each month to give her at a later point.  I don't know what that amount will be yet though.  Those wedding sites are such a good idea - friends of ours did it when they were getting married and wanted funds towards their new bathroom.  It worked well, though buying "a box of tiles" was definitely odd (though obviously, it wasn't tiles, but like you say, cash). 

ShakeItOff

Today's activity, though very much pre-planned and not something I had to do actively, was pay off £283 off my Northridge balance.  I don't know that it really counts, as it was the DD going out. That brings my balance to £15,301, and with it came a warning on my current account OD that I don't have much left now (£63 to be precise).  That is enough to cover the interest charge on my account, and my dentist DD.

I am about to meal plan and get my shop ordered for next Monday.  Just before starting this diary, and recognising that a large portion of my outgoing were shamefully related to takeaways, we switched to getting our food delivered, rather than trying to do the weekly shop in-person.  So far, so good.  Hub and I have been making recipes from the Batch Lady and enjoyed every one we have made so far.  It has made a big dent in the food bill too, so I am hopeful that when July's pay day rolls around and I can budget my expenses, I'll be in the swing of a good habit.  I did wonder if maybe getting it delivered was frivolous because I could go and do the food shop in person, but I've been deliberately picking the cheap delivery slots, only ordering what we need and also not bothering to be brand loyal between supermarkets or food brands.  It's stopping the temptation to sneak things into my trolley, pick things generally that aren't on my list and be "inspired". Plus I actually spend more on fuel getting to the cheaper supermarkets.  For now, it's working.  If it stops, we'll change it up. 

FootyFanDan

ShakeItOff said:

Today's activity, though very much pre-planned and not something I had to do actively, was pay off £283 off my Northridge balance.  I don't know that it really counts, as it was the DD going out. That brings my balance to £15,301, and with it came a warning on my current account OD that I don't have much left now (£63 to be precise).  That is enough to cover the interest charge on my account, and my dentist DD.

I am about to meal plan and get my shop ordered for next Monday.  Just before starting this diary, and recognising that a large portion of my outgoing were shamefully related to takeaways, we switched to getting our food delivered, rather than trying to do the weekly shop in-person.  So far, so good.  Hub and I have been making recipes from the Batch Lady and enjoyed every one we have made so far.  It has made a big dent in the food bill too, so I am hopeful that when July's pay day rolls around and I can budget my expenses, I'll be in the swing of a good habit.  I did wonder if maybe getting it delivered was frivolous because I could go and do the food shop in person, but I've been deliberately picking the cheap delivery slots, only ordering what we need and also not bothering to be brand loyal between supermarkets or food brands.  It's stopping the temptation to sneak things into my trolley, pick things generally that aren't on my list and be "inspired". Plus I actually spend more on fuel getting to the cheaper supermarkets.  For now, it's working.  If it stops, we'll change it up. 

I am the same with the food shop, every time I do it in person I end up just straying from the list and its always sweet treats 🤣. I did try online but then ended up with loads of substitutes, maybe I just need to plan it better. I hate food shopping in person to be honest haha. Glad to see that you are seeing a positive impact from your changes though as that will motivate you.

ShakeItOff

@FootyFanDan - I know what you mean! I moved away from it a while back (years now) because it was pretty unreliable.  I have to say though, so far, so good - I've had a couple of sensible subs and only a couple of not-in-stocks.  And thank you, yes, I am hoping that these small little changes spur me on. 

ShakeItOff

Today I wrote out my SOA, having cracked out an Excel spreadsheet to categorise and tot up my spends.  I have spent an awful lot (read: embarrassingly high, quite obscene amount) on food - eating out for dinners, takeaways, eating lunches out, coffees, lunch from the snack van, motorway service snacks/food, all on top of normal groceries.  It is perhaps not a huge surprise that my waistline has expanded as quickly as the balance increased on the cards. 

Another larger area of spend is on my dog.  We don't have children, and are incredibly unlikely to have any, so he is my nearest thing.  I adore him. But I perhaps need to reconsider whether he needs quite as many toys, collars, bandanas (yes, I am that person, though I absolutely swore I never would be) etc, and rein back some of the dog park visits.  I probably need to look at some cost effective training treat, and also consider a couple of the training subscriptions that I have (not necessarily saying I'll get rid of them, but I should make more of them than I currently do). 

I don't think it is a massive surprise that either of these things are near to the top of the spends at all.  What is surprising is the sheer amount, so these are easy pickings to reduce and free up some on my wages to throw towards debt. 

I am probably not going to post my SOA at this point, as frankly, I am much too embarrassed, and I can see where I can make some changes.

The next step is to budget properly using YNAB.

I also remembered some other things I might be able to sell on ebay / vinted / wherever. I am home for the whole weekend this weekend for the first time in about 3 weeks, so I can feel a bit of a turf out coming on.  

twiggy86

Well done for totting it up honestly - it really can be an eye opener!!! I have found tracking my spends DAILY in my spreadsheet helps keep me on track - if I have a month where this drops off then I don't see the "damage" until it's too late and allows the bad habits to sneak back in (or it could be that I have allowed the bad habits to sneak back in and then stick my head in the sand so intentionally don't add to my spreadsheet!)!

You can always trial your new plan for a few months then come back and post an SOA in the future to see if anyone has any other suggestions.  

BadBookkeeper

Sounds like a good start and lots of areas you can make savings.  When I did mine, I remember being shocked on how much I spend on birthday/christmas gifts a year!  It was something I never included in budgets and caught me out a few times in the beginning.

ShakeItOff

@twiggy86 - you are right - daily tracking of spends is actually a huge benefit.  But I definitely think I am the latter - it's a case of knowing I've gone wrong and burying my head in the sand, eventually dropped off of doing it at all, and then basically ending up at square minus one. 

@BadBookkeeper - thank you! I hope so.  I've just spotted your signature - three weeks to go to debt freedom!! That is so incredibly awesome!  How are you feeling about it?

ShakeItOff

I have struggled a bit today.  Work has been a bit on the mad side for a few weeks now, and it's catching up with me.  I had forgotten that I have the day off tomorrow, so might pull forward my plans to start ebaying stuff rather than wait to the weekend.  

Normally when I feel a bit low, tired, run down or grumpy, I shop.  I know this is so silly, because happiness doesn't come from "things".  I know this. And still, my little brain wants to chase a dopamine hit of a shop. Not allowing myself to do that, combined with an awful lot of shame and guilt is adding up to not being too much fun.  I've plugged away at little tasks all week, but I can't see the needle moving yet (of course I can't - it's not even a week yet). So I am retreating to the sofa with some knitting, trying not to feel too sorry for myself, and considering what I might do tomorrow.