How thrifty can a thrifty forumite called ThriftyMissus be?

Thriftymissus

I’m starting a diary…I’m good at stating the obvious.

In January 2024 my debt was £19,546 to HMRC after massively messing up amid repeated and intensive trauma, I may feel more comfortable sharing at some point. I also owed £4,000 to Amex. 

As of today, my total debt is at around £5,600. For the last little over 12 months, I’ve basically got my head down and made regular payments after a period of severe anxiety where I couldn’t even open a brown envelope let alone contact two debt agencies who were calling, texting and writing to pursue payment.

I settled one of my accounts with HMRC last week but got a text today to say I’d missed a payment. I couldn’t ring the number in the message quick enough to point out their mistake.

I transferred my Amex account to a 0% Lloyds card and now have 28 months to pay off a remaining £1675.

In terms of my emotional health around debt, I can’t believe how far I’ve come. From having had panic attacks over the prospect of discussing it with the agencies to go to immediately wanting to speak to them to request I’m taken off their system,  (and not feel sick while listening to their dreadful on-hold plinkety plunking of murdered music) - I’m realising is quite something. I’ve not told my partner or family about my debt but did confide in my daughter today. Makes a big difference confiding you’ve paid a shedload off of course.

Over the last year I’ve sold loads online, done Prolific and Curious Cat when I can, built up points where I shop regularly and significantly cut down on costs, so my outgoings were reduced in so many ways. This has been coupled with being as thrifty as I could, from cooking from scratch, meal planning, mostly ditching takeaways and opting for yellow sticker shopping etc, I’ve enjoyed becoming more frugal, I’ve not really stopped to catch my breath or ever thought ‘hang on, you’ve done well here,’ — who does when there’s the other option to beat yourself up for getting in such a mess in the first place? 🤦🏻‍♀️

I can’t believe I’ve done this in secret really. Of course my partner has seen piles of stuff to sell, he has known I’ve sought help for anxiety but hasn’t been aware fully of what has caused it alongside a heartbreaking time my family has been having. We’ve still managed to get out and about and away as I’ve prioritised my well-being. This in itself feels like an achievement I reckon — I’ve walked round our local park very often to clear my head, which is of course free ( yeah, stating the obvious again.)

I’ve been very much helped by posts on here and compiled my SOA and obsessively cut it down, according to wisdom and advice from some very kind people as I lurked and took note. I’m in a position now where direct debits for all my debts are organised and my last HMRC payment is due in February next year. But I’m fixed on clearing it quicker than that. I’m building savings at the same time. I’m lucky in that I have the potential to earn well, but my income is erratic and another priority for me is to improve on this. I have taken a part time job which is much lower paid than my usual work to bring more stability.

So this diary is to help me be accountable in continuing in the same way. For anyone who has read this far, a big thank you for listening.

 

tunathe_cat

hugs, baby steps well done you 

Thriftymissus

tunathe_cat said:

hugs, baby steps well done you 

Aw that’s very kind thank you. 

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary. 

Be proud of how far you’ve come. 

Cara_

Hello Thriftymissus

You should be really proud of your achievements, especially when you repaid your debt on your own and in secret. 

Good luck for the future, I will follow your diary.

Cara

Thriftymissus

thank you @beanielou and @Cara_ I really do appreciate your encouragement. It feels strange to have said all of this ‘out loud’ but it does also feel like it has helped. 

I’ve started the day with news of some new freelance work, which I quoted and my anxiety told me a) I was charging too much and b) the potential customer would think ‘nah’ — it has given me a real boost, I have other work on today as well, all very positive.

I have had teeny tiny amounts of income today from 

Curious Cat (£1.24)
Current account interest (£2.12)

I’ve set up a spreadsheet for all income and expenditure and am beyond impressed with myself for doing that.

I’m on my fourth day of no spending and am hoping my partner will fancy what I’m now suggesting for tea in place of the chicken I thought we had in the freezer (fascinating I know but this is my dedication to being as tight as possible and not wanting to part with the cost of buying more chicken.)

cheers and sending all my good wishes to those on here battling their debt and its emotional health fallout. This time next year Rodney, we’ll all be…much better off xxx

redofromstart

Just dropping in to say good luck with the next stage of your journey.

Thriftymissus

redofromstart said:

Just dropping in to say good luck with the next stage of your journey.

Thank you for your welcome

Cara_

Finding out about the freelance work was a great way to start the day. I hope getting this work and the boost it gave you helps you recognise that your rates are correct for the work you produce and that customers value you.

Delaying buying the chicken was a good idea - I'm sure what you made was equally nice.

Thriftymissus

Thank you @cara_ I’ve had more work come in and am chasing on other projects. I’ve upped my rates and am very grateful that people are trusting me, sometimes (very often) my anxiety means I doubt myself then I have to have a word! 

I’ve been really busy with work and am feeling confident about building it back up after a rocky time. 

So I’ve been cracking on transferring small amounts of money each day to my credit card. I’ve had six NSDs in a row, not spending in February except for petrol, I couldn’t be bothered raiding the freezer yesterday so had a tin of rice pudding for tea. I have money waiting in Prolific and have been beavering away on Curious Cat, I’ve had someone buy off me online today for a £9 sale, and I’ve resisted the urge to buy a TooGoodToGo bag — something I only discovered very recently and have liked the idea of. 

I’m currently not using a local authority leisure club membership that’s £32 a month, it’s the only thing I’ve not got rid of that I should. They have stipulated you have to go and fill in a form in person so will aim to do that over the weekend. 

So everything heading in the right direction, touch wood. Going to meal plan for next week and continue on the thriftiest of thrifty shenanigans. 

Cara_

Excellent news about the other work and well done on the 6 NSD.