Don't hit me with those negative waves Moriarity

Four_Seasons

I am following you and cheering you on x

warby68

I think managing family and friends' expectations for YOUR money can be one of the hardest things so have a pat on the back from me for that one 

Nintud

I’ve bookmarked your thread and am cheering you on from the sidelines. Keep posting daily, readers are, by nature, often the quiet ones willing you towards success.

Well done on setting boundaries with family. There are too many red letter days close together to get takeaway for every one of them!

LzzyIsGod

Thank you so much everyone it makes a real difference knowing I'm not in this alone mentally. I'm.just sitting in the sun room for 10 mins with a slice of toast and coffee enjoying the sunshine - it's a Good King Wenceslas day (deep and crisp and even). 

Productive morning so far - started to de- Christmas the house and tidy and clean. I actually quite enjoy cleaning which is good as the cleaner is one of the things that has had to be culled in my Economy Austerity Drive. I feel awful cancelling her but I keep.saying to myself it's ok to be selfish and realistically if we can't afford it, we can't afford it and that's that. I may pop some things on Vinted although my selling rate isn't great compared to my buying rate 😂

Food delivery is coming later - this tends.to be my one shop of the week so comes in quite high at £120ish although includes cleaning/toiletries stuff. Life tends to be very manic during a normal week and isn't any better at weekends so delivery is a total time saver.  I decluttered and reorganised the food cupboards and freezer 18 months ago and since then I don't tend to waste or overbuy stuff anymore.  I'm also feeding almost 4 adults now, however having got on the smart scales this morning I will need to stop snacking so much as they didn't recognise me and buying a new wardrobe of clothes is NOT happening because I've stuffed my face full. I usually do a "eat the freezer" week in January to use up any bits - the yoofs usually quite enjoy the randomness of this although not so much myself.

Loan payment should go out today so I shall look forward to the new lower balance (its the little things) Sadly not a NSD as the fish filter has gone pop and we need fish food. Could be worse though.

Mara_T

Following you Lzzy , loving your attitude , and your sense of humour ! Good luck and all the best for 2025 ☺️

Debtfree2026

I'm following you Lzzy! I am in a similar situation, recently having what I can confidently say was my light bulb moment back in November time.  Literally feeling ill at the thought of checking my bank accounts and being in our overdraft just three days into the month.....it was not sustainable and it has taking some harsh realities for me to realise that I've been very financially foolish for so long.

Like you, I've now started to sort my finances out and we are in the black this month and the relief is reassuring.

I have started a diary too - mainly just me wittering on to myself but its holding me accountable and that's what I needed!

Best of luck!!

LzzyIsGod

I've turned into an obsessive in terms of checking my balances where as before I'd just ignore what was going on or have a feeling of dread everytime I logged on. I'd pretend everything was OK but lived with The Fear and this is definitely reducing slightly now. 

I've spent the day rearranging and repurposing furniture which is always a good feeling when I think "no I don't need to buy anything more". And overall today Im feeling quite positive, I've also managed to save the Princely sum of £3 a month by reducing my contact lens package. The question is what to do with it 🤣 I might just leave it in the current account to build a teeny tiny buffer in there in case of any unexpected price increases and to avoid using the OD. 

I need to decide quite quickly on what to do with a small amount on one of my cards as the 0% ends at the end of Jan. After this month's payment that amount will be £283.03 earning interest. I'm in 2 minds to move it to another 0% or whether to just leave it and suck up paying the interest.

My 2nd big decision after this is which debt to focus on 1st. The options are:

Cc1  : £7055  0% ends Oct 25
CC2  : £9565 0% ends Sept 25 (includes the £283.03 that ends soon)
Loan : £16659  13% Apr but another 50 months to run

Realistically neither card will be zero by the end of the 0% and my plan is to (hopefully!!) transfer to another 0%. (Cc3 has 0% deal that lasts til March 27 so I'm just letting that tick over. CC4 is currently a big fat ZERO and currently has a 0% offer.) The loan which I know has interest but is still less than either CCs APR after the 0% ends.

Might go and have a good nosey round other diaries and threads to see what others have done in similar situations.

Nintud

LzzyIsGod said:

I've turned into an obsessive in terms of checking my balances where as before I'd just ignore what was going on or have a feeling of dread everytime I logged on. I'd pretend everything was OK but lived with The Fear and this is definitely reducing slightly now. 

I've spent the day rearranging and repurposing furniture which is always a good feeling when I think "no I don't need to buy anything more". And overall today Im feeling quite positive, I've also managed to save the Princely sum of £3 a month by reducing my contact lens package. The question is what to do with it 🤣 I might just leave it in the current account to build a teeny tiny buffer in there in case of any unexpected price increases and to avoid using the OD. 

I need to decide quite quickly on what to do with a small amount on one of my cards as the 0% ends at the end of Jan. After this month's payment that amount will be £283.03 earning interest. I'm in 2 minds to move it to another 0% or whether to just leave it and suck up paying the interest.

My 2nd big decision after this is which debt to focus on 1st. The options are:

Cc1  : £7055  0% ends Oct 25
CC2  : £9565 0% ends Sept 25 (includes the £283.03 that ends soon)
Loan : £16659  13% Apr but another 50 months to run

Realistically neither card will be zero by the end of the 0% and my plan is to (hopefully!!) transfer to another 0%. (Cc3 has 0% deal that lasts til March 27 so I'm just letting that tick over. CC4 is currently a big fat ZERO and currently has a 0% offer.) The loan which I know has interest but is still less than either CCs APR after the 0% ends.

Might go and have a good nosey round other diaries and threads to see what others have done in similar situations.

Four freezing car boot sales and some Vinting would clear that £283.03 within a month. Some beans on toast and omelette teas would also make a dent.

I’ve kept my travelling going by those simple means. It’s amazing what you’ll do to fund a goal.

LzzyIsGod

Nice quiet day today, been looking round the house to see if anything could be sold on and decluttered from the house,  slightly unsuccessfully but listed a few things so let's see what happens. Interestingly I do tend to buy things that are necessary and used/worn, and quite a lot of things I own have great sentimental value. Clothes wise I keep everything (or wear things to absolute death) which is great when things come back round into fashion and I do a great line in "accidental vintage" just because I've hung onto things since approx 1995.

Loan payment has hit which was todays Good Feeling. The payment left my account yesterday but despite being with the same bank it had been floating in the ether for a day. Still that balance now stands at £16, 416. Also a NSD which is excellent. 

I'm.aiming for the overall debt total to drop in to the next 1000 down at the end of the month. I am not a Patient Person when I decide to do something but I keep reminding myself that I am achieving something as the overall amount IS going down and most importantly I've not increased it since I put the brakes on the juggernaut. It can, and will, be turned around, patience is a virtue etc etc (just not one I have).

LzzyIsGod

Also I really need to figure out how to do a signature 😂 be nice to see the figures going down down down