14 months to go!

honeybee1234

As moneysavers go, I've never been in the depths of being in debt. I'm more of a 'there's always something' at some point in the month that happens, that messes my beloved budget up and I predictably feel down on myself for either not being prepared or not foreseeing something that I should!

I live on my own (apart from my lovely cats!) and due to my mental health struggles, I don't work. My income is UC and PIP, and last year I took out a number of credit cards in quick succession. These were on (somewhat sensibly!) 0% offers, and I put a number of planned big purchases on, to pay down over the life of the 0% period. I shall elaborate for context...

The last 6 years have been very difficult. A string of numerous intense life events found me very mentally unwell and after some intensive treatment, I had to start from scratch. This meant moving out of my budget-busting house I was renting, and I found a new one, much cheaper but not the nicest. I had to start build up from zero with everything. I was very lucky to be able to move from there not too long ago into my current house which I am very grateful for - nice area, close to family, I can have pets, great garden... I'm very happy here.

The new house meant I could start to think long term, and bit by bit I've been sourcing furniture, decorating, and making it a home. I had planned some bigger purchases, and after a lot of research I decided I could afford to spread the cost of what I wanted on 0% cards. But I got carried away and opened three in quick succession. And then whenever I was a bit short at the end of the month, or something unexpected arose, I'd put it on a card. So I ended up with x3 cards, all nearly at their limit, and no way of paying everything off in time.

I've started making inroads into this, and so this diary is me holding myself accountable to paying the cards down, and really trying to keep my chin up. Not getting bogged down and feeling bad about myself. I want to move on in life and hopefully eventually buy my own place, so it's doing that one step at a time! 

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Well done for beginning the journey. Perhaps post a Statement of Affairs so others can make suggestions to help you on your way!

Brie

Excellent that you have decided to take control.  Must admit I so very much know that feeling of small emergencies costing more than expected and building up those credit card balances!!  It takes time but this sounds like it was just a bit of a blip for you, and one you're working your way out of.  

honeybee1234

Ordinary_Yet_Unique said:

Well done for beginning the journey. Perhaps post a Statement of Affairs so others can make suggestions to help you on your way!

I may do this soon. I'm pretty good with bills being as low as they can and I don't have any vices to speak of. The areas I fall down on are overspending on the grocery budget, not having enough in my pots when I need to spend from them, and being hit with unexpected expenses that arguably could have been foreseen and these are what I need to work on. 

Brie said:

Excellent that you have decided to take control.  Must admit I so very much know that feeling of small emergencies costing more than expected and building up those credit card balances!!  It takes time but this sounds like it was just a bit of a blip for you, and one you're working your way out of.  

Yes, a blip, it's not like me but I have to take ownership that I *am* affected by the dopamine rush of being able to spend, much as I hate to admit it! It's all relative - buying something branded during the weekly shop that I wouldn't usually get, or a sweet treat are where I fall down sometimes, along with the knowledge that during a bad spell, I don't want to cook, and I'll get food that's a little more pricey for the sheer convenience.

The other thing is I have two very hungry teenagers, who stay with me a fair bit but I'm not the resident parent, so I don't get the child-related benefits. I have them in the holidays and the last school half-term blew my grocery budget entirely - and that was even with me being aware I'd spend more!

So this afternoon, I'm spending a couple of hours going through this month's grocery receipts to establish what I *actually* buy, compared to what I *think* I buy! After that is examining this month's spends so far and seeing how they're categorised, as opposed to what I've allocated in the budget to different pots. 

Later points on the list are:

>establish short, medium and long-term plans and how to adjust the budget to reflect this

>identify patterns that are repeating themselves month after month, address the 'why' of why I haven't changed anything there as I already know some of what might come up here, then change track accordingly

I believe a LOT of what I'm looking at here is how my emotions are entangled in my finances. I'll probably elaborate on this later, but a big part of what I want to do is be honest with myself and reinforce that money is just a resource that does what I tell it to do; my money isn't acting independently of me, it's ME that's the cause and this situation is the effect. I don't necessarily hold myself in judgement, but I can't change what I *have* done, only how I proceed moving forward. 

Right - time for some focus and introspection and will see what I come up with! 

honeybee1234

Morning! I've been thinking heavily over the last few days about my financial situation and how to tackle it.

Soooo... As mentioned, I have credit card balances, which are currently as follows:

Virgin: 1441.86, min payment 25.00
Capital One: 1092.03, min payment 34.55
Nationwide: 222.38, min payment 25.00
M&S: 539.54, min payment 25.00

Obligatory backstory... 
Comparatively, I know my debts aren't big compared to other people on here. As I mentioned earlier, I don't work due to my mental health. I have some 'big' mental health to deal with on a daily basis, and due to the recent political issues around PIP and the World Capability Assessment part of Universal Credit, I've become really preoccupied with the situation I could potentially be left in if I lose any of my current benefits. 

I had to move a few years back after the series of bad events I experienced as my rent then was too expensive for my budget. Back then I was only on UC, privately renting and there was a big chunk of my rent higher than the LHA limit so I had to pay the extra myself. I was walking a tightrope and about to fall into debt so I made the decision to move out and find somewhere else. And now, although I'm in much cheaper accommodation, practically I feel like I've undone that great decision by getting into debt whilst on benefits. 

These are all on 0% deals, finishing at different times. I'm overpaying on the M&S card right now as the 0% ends in October, my regular payment (including the minimum payment) is 171.91, I worked this out earlier in the year just by dividing the balance by the amount of months left on the 0%. I'm overpaying on top of that by way of anything I earn on Prolific, TopCashBack and cashback/round ups on my Chase account, and any other spare funds that come my way. 

I also have a Barclaycard, which I got prior to the cards above, which I use to put fuel costs on and pay off each month. This was to build up my credit, but what I'm going to do with this is move to using my Chase debit card and get cashback, then close the Barclaycard.

I also have a Creation 4 year interest-free loan for my sofa - for now I'm just letting this tick over with it being 0%.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

Are you paying off a minimum amount each month on the Creation Loan or making provision for when it needs to be paid back in full at the end of the 4 year interest free term?

honeybee1234

So what about me? 

I'm a very quiet homebody. I don't have any vices, I don't socialise or spend my money on wild things. I live a simple life, mainly at home where I've been constructing a daily routine to help soothe the anxiety and panic I deal with. 

I have two children, and I see them every week. I feel a lot of guilt atm at not being able to offer them the outings and experiences I'd like to, and this is something I think about a lot! We spend a lot of time watching films together, we sometimes go to a local café in the countryside if I'm having a good day, or go to see family for dinner at their house. 

On a day-to-day basis, I love waking up early and enjoying the quiet early morning with a very big cup of tea! I like to make a list for the day and this is how I structure my routine... Get any errands done at the start of the day then I spend the rest of my day at home, ticking things off my list. Reading, films, gardening and looking after the house. Today on the list is finalise my July budget - I'm really struggling with how to allocate funds left after all my bills and this is a real issue for me every month. I've realised this week that I err towards a budget that on paper looks quite reasonable, but doesn't reflect the realities of daily life - for example, this month I've:

> overspent on groceries after the children stayed extra at my house - I accounted for this but not enough, and thus made several extra trips to the local Asda to top up for snacks/extra dinner supplies after they ate way more than I anticipated! 😭 I'd normally go to Aldi but wasn't having a good week so couldn't face going a bit further afield 

> had to use my Nationwide cc for some child-related clothing and supplies that I should have foreseen, and were more expensive than I'd planned for. This was at 0 at the start of June after a balance transfer when the 0% was running out... and now it's not. I'll get some of it back as some of the clothing has been returned as I ordered different sizes, and me and my ex agreed to split costs soooo I should end up owing around 130ish?

Notes:

~ I need to look more deeply into expenses over the year and account for them in my pots so I'm not caught like this again 

~ I need to heavily revise both my grocery budget, and how I operate with this over the month. I'm really struggling with this, but I'm going to peel it back today and I have a potential plan so I'm going to work out the details later. 

Right, off to start the day! 
 

vampirotoothus

Hi, I think you are getting a good plan in place. One of the best things you could do is to batch cook some meals for the freezer, so when you don't feel like cooking you have something you can pop in the microwave instead of having takeaways, which are normally costly and unhealthy. If you really feel like it needs to be a treat batch cook something wonderful, it will still be cheaper (and quicker) than a takeaway. You have got this, good luck V x