Time to act like an adult...

RisingPhoenix1

Pretty much what the title says really, it's time to stop making silly decisions and finally get my life in order. I've made pretty much every bad financial decision a person can make. Payday loans, high interest credit cards, I had one CCJ years ago that thankfully is gone from my credit file now but I have a handful of defaults that will be on there for a few years. I have a stupid amount of contracts with my phone provider where I've wanted the newest device before my contract was paid off so just opened up a new contract. 

Most recently is last month I spent and lost a LOT of money gambling. I have no idea why I did it, I've never done it before, and will have two lots of rent to pay this month as a result of it but I signed straight up to Gamstop and I've not even thought about gambling since. I'm really, really kicking myself over it as I'm renting a place by myself for the first time and terrified about risking my tenancy not getting renewed next year but if that happens then it's my own fault. 

I thought about not starting this thread until I'm the other side of what is going to be a tough month but as I'm starting to make small changes going forwards already I didn't see the point in delaying it, plus I can be totally open and honest about my many bad choices if I don't skip over this month/last month. 

I've been sitting down over the last week or so setting up spreadsheets for my debts and my budgets for the next 6 months or so. I got a small pay rise effective in my pay that goes in tomorrow and I can now pick up overtime in my current job also. 

I have a couple of complaints in with payday loan companies (I think there will probably be mixed opinions on this website about that) so with any small amount of luck there's the possibility of a little bit of money coming back from those. 

By my calculations my debt stands at around £9.5k, it's all with debt collectors and being repaid at amounts I can afford, my spreadsheet says that in March that should be down to just under £8k but a couple of those only have one or two monthly payments left then I can re-assign those to other debts to bring it down quicker. I'm aware this is becoming a wall of text so I'll do another post below about my rough plans going forwards

If you read all that - well done 

RisingPhoenix1

My (rough) plan

- Pick up overtime now that I can do so. There's not a huge amount available for the next month but I've booked in one small shift (only 4 hours) and I'm hoping to get a bit of training so that I can pick up overtime for a different part of my job where there seems to be a bit more of it up for grabs. 

- Keep an eye on Prolific. I've been on here for years and when I get consistent I can get around £30 a month from it when I would usually be doing nothing at home anyway. 

- Stick to grocery budget. I've been terrible at making and taking food and snacks to work and buying stuff at the shops on my break or putting in an order when someone does a McDonalds run. This week I've taken food with me for every shift and managed to resist buying a little snack when I've popped to the shop with someone else. I've got a Monzo account set up with a pot & virtual card set up to transfer the money for the month over to when I get paid. I've got a click & collect order set up for Sunday and this is how I plan to buy only what I need. Same for petrol, a different pot & virtual card for that. 

- Pocket money. There won't be any next month but after that I'll have a bit of spare income so after my bills and any 'Extras' (for the next few months it's a bit to savings and overpayments to a device plan to start getting those paid off) then the rest will go to a pocket money pot and virtual card and I'll set myself a weekly allowance for if I wanted to pop to the pub or go the cinema. 

Any extras I get from Prolific or selling bits will either go to savings, extra pocket money, or off the debt depending how that month is going. My money over the last 6 months or so (when I moved town and job) has all just vanished on me going out constantly socialising, which has been lovely, but not worth having hardly any money all the time so I need to put it into my budget. 

The most exciting thing I worked out from doing the next 6 months or so of budget spreadsheets is that if I can actually behave myself and stick to it, next April for the first time I'll be able to pay my car insurance in full!! This currently costs me £78 a month so I look forward to not having that cost every month down the road...

ButterCheese

Well done, sounds like you are doing all the right things.  My partner was in the same boat (though wasn't her fault), she had lots of credit cards on the go.  She now has a spreadsheet for all the outgoings and income, and uses a 0% interest credit card so she can pay off £100/month off the balance without it gaining interest.

It is a very slippery slope to get onto when you think it's only a few hundred debt here and there, but can soon build up

FlorayG

Well done; do you have mates who will help? by, for instance, going out for a walk Sunday afternoon instead of down the pub Saturday night? Obviously you need to know them well enough to tell them your circumstances but even if only one you trust it helps you ( and if they want to buy you an ice cream while you are out walking they understand you're not going to reciprocate next time  )

RisingPhoenix1

ButterCheese said:

Well done, sounds like you are doing all the right things.  My partner was in the same boat (though wasn't her fault), she had lots of credit cards on the go.  She now has a spreadsheet for all the outgoings and income, and uses a 0% interest credit card so she can pay off £100/month off the balance without it gaining interest.

It is a very slippery slope to get onto when you think it's only a few hundred debt here and there, but can soon build up

Thank you for reading I think spreadsheets are my new best friend, it's very motivating to see what I could be doing with my money in a few months time and how I can start to build properly for a more stable future

RisingPhoenix1

FlorayG said:

Well done; do you have mates who will help? by, for instance, going out for a walk Sunday afternoon instead of down the pub Saturday night? Obviously you need to know them well enough to tell them your circumstances but even if only one you trust it helps you ( and if they want to buy you an ice cream while you are out walking they understand you're not going to reciprocate next time  )

I suppose I can only ask! Because of meeting them all in my local when I first moved, all social things are very much centred around there it's like its own little community. It sounds really sad but I get caught up in people being happy to see me in there it's not something I've ever really had before. Saying that, my new house I have to drive to and from there so it is a lot cheaper for me to pop out at the moment just for a little bit as I can't drink. I used to have a few drinks and then just buy everyone else drinks and it didn't get reciprocated very often 

Even my family here everything social is focused around going out for drinks and food, although last week I did turn round and say I just couldn't afford to go out and do all the same things as them and I felt better once I'd said it! 

tacpot12

Another well done from me! Giving yourself some pocket money is a very sensible move. It's difficult to maintain committment when it is all money going out to other people. You have to spend a little on yourself just to make life worth living. 

I managed to clear £12,000 of debt over three years. It felt like it would never be gone, but after a while, the effect of all the sensible decisions start to mount up and suddenly you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Please keep positng here, especially if you find you are loosing the willpower to keep going. 

RisingPhoenix1

tacpot12 said:

Another well done from me! Giving yourself some pocket money is a very sensible move. It's difficult to maintain committment when it is all money going out to other people. You have to spend a little on yourself just to make life worth living. 

I managed to clear £12,000 of debt over three years. It felt like it would never be gone, but after a while, the effect of all the sensible decisions start to mount up and suddenly you can see a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Please keep positng here, especially if you find you are loosing the willpower to keep going. 

Thank you

I think posting and reading on here will be invaluable! 

RisingPhoenix1

First of 2 night shifts done last night with the journey to and from being in torrential rain and high winds, it makes me so anxious driving in that kind of weather! But i've woken up and it appears to be mostly just windy now so touchwood it stays that way. 

I was very excited when my wages went in to put the money into my Monzo pots for food & fuel. I did have to stop at the supermarket on the way home and pick up some milk and some veg to go with my dinner to make for work tonight - out of the food pot - then I've got a click & collect order for Sunday. I hope to come in under target with my food spends then squirrel the leftovers away somewhere but I'm not putting too much pressure on myself the first month to do that, I'll be happy just to stick with the budget itself to be honest. 

I think they're looking at doing a takeaway night at work tonight, I won't be partaking and sticking with my own food. The rest of the weekend will be for catching up on washing and tidying up I never tend to get much done around night shifts

Oh, and my late rent payment has been sent over so back up to date now with the next one scheduled for it's usual date

RisingPhoenix1

Well, isn't the weather just miserable!! 

I had a slip up at the weekend with some social spends, absolutely nowhere near what I normally spend and with some money shuffling and hopefully some survey money I should get through the month ok this just goes to show how pocket money going forwards is definitely best for me, plus I'm either working the rest of the weekends this month or my family that would be going out are on holiday so I'll be able to just sit home and save me pennies

Click & collect picked up on Sunday and last night I batch cooked a little bit and have 3 of what I had for dinner last night for the fridge/freezer. I'll be doing some more tonight and trying to make some breakfast egg muffins to take to work for breakfast for my early shifts, plus some pasta salad for my lunches. I'll feel good when it's all done later I just can't bear the thought of all the washing up which is why I'm currently doing a little update on here instead

Already looking forward to some wins for next months pay to keep me positive:
- It'll be my first month with pocket money
- I've budgeted in my share of a hotel for a family event next month
- I've budgeted in an overpayment for one of my many device plans, I'll do the same the month after then it's paid off and I can give notice on the contract for that. 
- My last car finance payment on my 5 YEAR agreement
- edited as I forgot two important ones...
- Once my debt payments go out by 02/11 my total debt figure will start with an 8 not a 9
- One of my teeny debts will have been paid off!

I should also get a bonus £10 at some point this month for a Prolific Survey for online Tesco shopping. Got my next Click & Collect booked in for this Sunday it's nice seeing my Fuel & Food transactions just coming straight out of the little Monzo Pots with no shuffling around thanks to the virtual cards, so much easier to keep it all separate. 

Got a couple more debt payments DD's that go out tomorrow then I can update my signature. 

Sarahwithlove

Pocket money is a must, just not doable to expect yourself not to do anything or spend any money. Maybe what you make this month could be the spends for October. Good incentive to get back on prolific then