Figuring Finances Finally…

StormyHeath3r

Hi everyone, I am starting this diary as a way to keep myself accountable as I undertake a debt busting journey. 

Some background….  I’m in my early 30s and live alone. I bought my house during the pandemic and as it was a fixer upper, it needed a lot of money spent on it. More than I had saved for or anticipated— right after I got the keys, every builder or contractor I dealt with told me that the price of materials had exploded basically overnight, so it was a very expensive time to be renovating an entire house (on one salary, especially!). 

I was fairly lucky though as my family are very handy people, so although I did have to spend some money on professional trades, I was able to save in some areas too. Yet…. I think all told I’ve spent around 30K renovating, and all I had saved after the deposit / house purchase etc was around half of that to actually renovate with. 

Unfortunately that meant a lot of the work was done via a few loans and then towards the end, credit cards. For the last 18 months I feel as if I have been going in circles trying to clear the credit card debt and not really getting anywhere. 

I do have some bad money habits (impulsive purchases, spending as a response to low mood), but I have budgeted properly and saved money in the past (my house deposit etc was all self funded), but I feel like because the renovation of the house was such a money heavy time, my mentality hasn’t really shifted back from that, and I’m still in a “spend spend spend” mindset. 

Anyway; like I said… the point of this journal is to provide some much needed accountability and space to get my thoughts out of my head and maybe get some helpful feedback from others with different perspectives. 

Current money situation is as follows: 

Loan #1 - £1549 (will be paid off Feb 25)
Loan #2 - £315 (will be paid off next month) 

MBMA CC - £5660
M&S CC - £1935 
Tesco CC - £2736 

I also owe my dad £3000 — luckily we have agreed that I don’t need to pay him this back right now and he’s happy to wait for repayment. I would like to give him even a token payment each month, but he said his preference would be a lump, when I’m able to afford to do so. I’m hoping I’d be able to do that next spring / early summer. 

I should add, all the CCs are on 0% for now.

I will update again later with details of my plan for tackling the situation, but I am just so tired of having these debts hanging over me. 

Thanks for reading if you got this far!! S.H x 

Sarahwithlove

Welcome! Houses are money pits I swear! My flat has cost me way more than anticipated. I've had quotes for a patio in my garden and the price was huge compared to my driveway 5 years ago. 

Ref your dad could you maybe pay a monthly amount into a high interest monthly saver. At least then getting some interest on it whilst you save up. 

Look forward to your plan of action. An SOA might help as well, then we can make suggestions. 

StormyHeath3r

Thanks! I will post up a SOA in the next few days for sure. Also good suggestion about the savings account - I can definitely do that. I’ll have a look around at options. 

StormyHeath3r

It’s payday, and my aim is to make sure my month is accounted for upfront and no spending on credit cards. It’ll be an expensive month…. It’s Edinburgh Festival and I have a few days out and events planned/ booked. Most of them are booked (paid for) already, but expenses will include travel / food / drink etc. 

• I am going to move all my non direct debit or debt repayment money into my Monzo account. From there I have setup specific spending pots. That way I can budget what I’m spending and have more visibility of it. When I pay for things from my main bank account, I have a bad habit of just not checking or caring about how much I’ve spent or frittered away. It’s not good! 
• I also have a painter coming this month - that will cost £170 so i need to budget accordingly for that. 
• Today I phoned my phone provider to switch broadband and get a new sim only deal. That has saved me about £40 a month so I’m happy with that. 
• I’ll spend time over the weekend going through bank statements in prep for doing my SOA. 
• My car had its MOT yesterday and that cost £300. At least it’s done for another year! 

StormyHeath3r

I’ve moved money around to cover everything this month. Hopefully I’ve not missed anything. 

I had a look through my bank statements and put funds against spending pots like fuel / food / fun based on the last few months. 

I definitely overspend on things like food, so have set myself a strict limit for this month and hope I can stick to it. 

I also moved £200 into a pot for my dad - I will just pretend it’s not there until I find an ISA or other savings account for it. 

I do find budgeting tricky as I’m paid 4 weekly (13 pay periods a year) and the date of pay changes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes I do get myself in a guddle because of it. Must try harder!!! 

I already feel a sense or calm and control that every penny is accounted for. I really hope this approach helps me with any impulse purchases. I don’t really have any expensive hobbies which I guess is a good thing…. But like I said before, August is typically an expensive month, so this will be a test for me. 

MFWannabe

StormyHeath3r said:

I’ve moved money around to cover everything this month. Hopefully I’ve not missed anything. 

I had a look through my bank statements and put funds against spending pots like fuel / food / fun based on the last few months. 

I definitely overspend on things like food, so have set myself a strict limit for this month and hope I can stick to it. 

I also moved £200 into a pot for my dad - I will just pretend it’s not there until I find an ISA or other savings account for it. 

I do find budgeting tricky as I’m paid 4 weekly (13 pay periods a year) and the date of pay changes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes I do get myself in a guddle because of it. Must try harder!!! 

I already feel a sense or calm and control that every penny is accounted for. I really hope this approach helps me with any impulse purchases. I don’t really have any expensive hobbies which I guess is a good thing…. But like I said before, August is typically an expensive month, so this will be a test for me. 

Take a look at the Principality 6 month fixed saver; can pay in max £200 per month and matures in 6 months, no withdrawals allowed and interest rate is fixed 

StormyHeath3r

MFWannabe said:

StormyHeath3r said:

I’ve moved money around to cover everything this month. Hopefully I’ve not missed anything. 

I had a look through my bank statements and put funds against spending pots like fuel / food / fun based on the last few months. 

I definitely overspend on things like food, so have set myself a strict limit for this month and hope I can stick to it. 

I also moved £200 into a pot for my dad - I will just pretend it’s not there until I find an ISA or other savings account for it. 

I do find budgeting tricky as I’m paid 4 weekly (13 pay periods a year) and the date of pay changes. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but sometimes I do get myself in a guddle because of it. Must try harder!!! 

I already feel a sense or calm and control that every penny is accounted for. I really hope this approach helps me with any impulse purchases. I don’t really have any expensive hobbies which I guess is a good thing…. But like I said before, August is typically an expensive month, so this will be a test for me. 

Take a look at the Principality 6 month fixed saver; can pay in max £200 per month and matures in 6 months, no withdrawals allowed and interest rate is fixed 

Thank you! I will do that this weekend.