Balance crept up ever so slowly... Now the wake up call

Didisdebtfreejourney

Last couple of days have been a mixed bag...

Some no spend days, which has been good. 
Another business purchase (£31 this time) and the invoice was put straight in the file where I am going to record my taxes for 2024-2025. 

Used £100 cash for the weekly shop but had to top it up by £4.74 on the debit card as I didn't add up the shopping up in Aldi as I was going round. At least I fixed my debit card and my credit card is still in the drawer, untouched. Note to self though, to get the calculator out next time I'm walking round the shop. Didn't even buy stuff that wasn't on the list either! 

Been listening to Dave Ramsey's money makeover book on Youtube... I know there are David Ramsey lovers/haters out there. I'm still trying to make my mind over it. And I think some of the advice doesn't apply to people living in the UK as our systems work differently.

Good news is I'm looking on track to be able to save some pennies into my emergency fund at the start of next month. It wouldn't be a huge amount but hoping to make it happen, fingers crossed!

Didisdebtfreejourney

Today's update:

- I returned an amazon package that I had gotten in December. The oven tray turned out too big for my oven. I still need a drip tray as the oven that was there when we moved in is uncleanable due to the bottom surface of it being completely cracked. Should be able to claim a refund (fingers crossed) soon as the return was accepted by the seller.

- Made a deposit of my cash stuffing rainy day fund. I managed to scrape £90 together and it is now in my specific Emergency Savings account. I now have a grand total of £100 to my name! Despite still being in debt over £1800...  But still positive, going through the steps one day/week/month at a time. 

Cara_

Hello Didisdebtfreejourney

I've just read through your diary and you are making good progress. Well done on saving the first £100 for your emergency fund and good luck with adding to the savings account next month.

I'll be following your journey.

Cara

Didisdebtfreejourney

Thank you @Cara_ for your comment 😀. 
It's been a busy few days so sorry I haven't replied sooner. 

I'm feeling quite pleased this evening as I managed to time my bread baking so that I put it in the oven after the tea was done cookung to save on energy. Reason I had to bake bread was that we've run out and I didn't want to do a top up shop just for that as I can't trust myself... 😅😂

Food shop tomorrow evening so I need to plan my meals for the week tonight and start the list. I like to sleep on it in case I forget anything. It's not that I couldn't pop to the shops for a few items, but then I might get extra unplanned bits too and go over budget for the week. 

I am also hoping to save up this month a little bit for bulk buys (grain for my mill and any bargains for non perishables that we usually buy). I don't think we've been unreasonnable either with wipes this week despite getting the 2 full boxes the other week. I've stored them upstairs out of sight and only bring a new pack down when needed. 

Hopefully the next couple of weeks stay positive and there will be more progress on the Emergency Fund front next month and eventually some work on the debt! 

Didisdebtfreejourney

So it finally happened... I made an accidental purchase with the credit card.

I say accidental, although the purchase itself had been planned as I had deliberated a while to see whether I should buy the £5 kindle book. What happened is that I had forgotten to take the credit card off my default settings on Amazon! 

I have payed off the £5.81 in full so I am up to date wih that and no additional debt has been accrued. And I have also changed the settings on my Amazon account so that it doesn't happen again. 

A successful food shop yesterday. Even though I forgot the tuna, I came £8 below my £100 budget (I am working on lowering this) so I'll have plenty to get said tuna this afternoon. 

Pay day is getting closer thankfully so should have a bit more to work with soon. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

Hi again, thought I would log in for an update as to how the week has gone. 

- Bought the tuna and nothing else on Tuesday during a top up shop but paid for one ride on the Octonauts' supermarket ride for my two girls as part of our afternoon out after toddler group. 
- Wednesday I got some monthly hygiene products that were on offer and some polo mints as I teach 1:1 and didn't want bad breath. 
-Thursday no spend (I think!)
- Friday I bought some garlic bread, pizza, strawberries and milk at Aldi. 
- Saturday night had to get some more reference books for my business, soon I should be done but setting up self employed can be expensive as there is only so much that is free online in my field. 
- Finally today I got some tangerines, biscuits, chocolate and an avocado to go with veggie enchiladas for tea. 

So yes, some extra spending this week although I technically did have some money left over on Monday after the food shop that covered aome of the extras I got this week. 
I don't have an issue with buying shoes (although I'd love to have more than 2 pairs to wear) or clothes (I tend to wear the same ones day in day out) but more with groceries (fruits and extras) and business related stuff (although I hope that will slow down shortly). 

Didisdebtfreejourney

So today I should finally get some money in from my 1:1 teaching. I've drafted out how much I want in my MOT and car tax sinking funds, my emergency fund, my petrol fund for this month and towards my two girls (clothes or extras). I have even taken into account the 20% for self assessment which goes in its own account.

There are so many more sinking funds I want to start! Hopefully I will be able to when I don't have such a high monthly credit card minimum payment. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

Hi again, 
This venture hs gotten me to use my slow cooker a lot more I find. Although the chicken tikka curry recipe isn't technically cheaper than the precooked chicken and supermarket sauce, I make up for the extra ingredients by using raw chicken which is so much cheaper than the pre cooked 250g pack I used to buy. We also only need one chicken breast per meal at the moment (diced in a curry, poached and shredded in wraps or in a pasta sauce) so 4 for £6.49 seems really worth it as I have just finished the pack from a couple of weeks back. Once my other freezer is sorted I can venture into the whole bulk buying and rubber chicken concept but it will do for now..

I know at least there are real vegetables in (onions and chopped tomato) and chicken that doesn't have more than one ingredients in its list.  I also have some tikka paste left for another curry next week. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

Today I received the child benefit payment. I planned carefully how to "cash stuff" it and made a list of priorities for how I was going to share out the  money. Basically I am trying to assign a job to every pound.

76.29 is going towards bext month's direct debits as I like to get to the next month without worrying whether the most important ones are covered. I will be working on the whole month ahead eventually. 

30.00 for the emergency fund

20.00 towards car tax

20.00 towards MOT and service 

10.00 towards any expenses for child 1 (clothes, shoes, toddler group or anything needed)

10.00 towards any expenses for child 2 (same).

I was prioritising next month's bills as "being current with bills" is step 0 of the Dave Ramsey babybsteps so that's why it is getting the biggest part of this payment. Saving up this emergency fund is so painfully slow as I am really tempted to throw everything at it but also mindful that sinking funds are important to stay on track in the long run... 

Didisdebtfreejourney

Hi again, a few days have gone by and I was able to change my signature on here up to £270, which is 27% of the emergency fund: we are more than a quarter of the way there!

This slow and steady approach is so frustrating as I like quick wins. However, I know that putting money aside for sinking funds as well as the emergency fund is important and will save me dipping into it too much in the future. Indeed, lack of planning would turn anything into an emergency 😅.