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

Didisdebtfreejourney

Hello again, long time no see!
Not much happening really at the minute. Just trying to avoid spending too much really. Got a solid plan for the next income coming in, giving very pound a job if possible (although life happens of course!). I just need to get better at tracking those little cash purchases as they addd up surprisingly fast! 
IlThe emergency fund is taking so long to build, it can be quite disheartening! But I think, if all goes to plan, I should be a third towards my goal by the 10th of March. And then I'll be tackling the debt with reckless abandon! 
Hope you're all having a good half-term term. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

The emergency fund is still creeping up at a snail pace... Nearly a third of the way though!

oceandreamer

Just popping in to say well done on everything you've achieved so far, especially building up your emergency fund. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

oceandreamer said:

Just popping in to say well done on everything you've achieved so far, especially building up your emergency fund. 

Thank you so much for the encouragement! 

Didisdebtfreejourney

So I finally managed to get to £500 of my emergency fund! Dave Ransey was saying that for small incomea that 500 number is enough before starting baby step 2 so, even though I would love to get to £1000, realistically it's better in the long run of I did start paying the debt off. And the way I want to do it is inspired from a saving challenge. 
Week 1: £52
week 2: £1
week 3: £51
week 4: £2
Or even just crossing off the amount I can afford. And that is addition to the minimum monthly payment. 

Cara_

Well done on saving an emergency fund - it will give you peace of mind while you are repaying your debt.

Didisdebtfreejourney

Thank you @Cara_ for your encouragements, it's a slog but I'll get there eventually 👍. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

Hi again, been a while since I logged in properly and updated this thread.

 I just had a read through and it's interesting and reassuring as it shows some progress (although in orher areas I have more progress to make!).

So as things stand today I am under £1460 debt now (that's at least £300 less than my first post) and have now my £500 emergency fund which is technhcally baby step 1 sorted (at least for smaller incomes according to his book). 

I have also already filled my tax self assessment form for April 24/25 as I thought I'd like to get the payment out of the way as soon as possible. Also, this is helped by the fact that I have been putting some money away with every income: it has really paid off even though at the time it felt like a huge slog!!

Business expenses have fluctuated, mostly ink cartridges at the minute. 

I have also managed to build a pot for car tax due in August and I only need another £80 to fund a pot for the car MOT in July with a bit extra for servicing and a small repair.

So I feel once the tax is paid and the Car MOT pot is full then it's all guns blazing on the debt. It will still take a while of course as life (groceries, bills etc ) get in the way of course but I feel like I am in a better position than I was when I strated the thread at least. Could be a lot better of course! 

My next challenge is chipping away at that grocery bill some more and getting my impulse purchases under control (again!) and starting to record my spending as I stopped last month and it's what got me in this mess in the first place. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

I forgot to add, concerning groceries, that I finally started using Olio after I met one of the food heroes who was picking up some cleaning supplies that I'd bought by mistake (couldn't use the floor cleaner on my floors unfortunately and it had been in the cupboard for months). 

Since then, I've had plenty baguettes, lots of loaves of bread, bread buns, pastries, heaps of eggs, plenty courgettes and lots of baby potatoes that I am still parboiling and freezing for later. 

Didisdebtfreejourney

So today I had a long chat with chat gpt about things I could be doing round the house to save energy/money. So there are a couple of habits I am going to have to change.

I am very late on the eco setting bandwagon but according to my dishwasher and washing machine model I could be making savings, amongst other things. All in all it estimates I could be saving £145 a year just by changing settings and usage on different appliances, not even products. 

To tell you the truth it feels a bit overwhelming when people say you can save so much here and so much there as changing habits is tricky...