My new debt free diary :)

GolfR

I tried posting this update yesterday multiple times but I was affected by the problems on here so let’s hope it works this time.

Hi Blackcats, thank you for your lovely response! I’m really enjoying writing this diary even if I may be the only one reading it sometimes as it helps me reflect on the day and my decisions. I can’t believe the difference I already feel in having the pots to help me budget. I’d always read about budgeting but I never understood how to do it but I’ve sucked up so much personal finance information the last few weeks and I feel so much more informed now how to go about things. Good idea about the eating out budget, I always get the kids a takeaway of their choice for their birthday and it’s my son’s birthday in September so I can use the first lot on that.

Since my post day before yesterday, I’ve sold another three things on Vinted. I sent them off yesterday so including the converse, I’m due to have £76 coming in from the sales. I have another 4 things on there so hopefully they’ll go soon as well. I ended up paying in the £70 cash in my purse into Lloyds as I needed to pop over to the next town yesterday anyway. I went into Lidl on the way home to top up on basics and spent £20 (strawberries and blueberries cost me £6 alone! Don’t know how much longer I can spend this much on fruit every few days) and the rest - I’ve put £20 into my fuel pot and £30 into my groceries pot and I will make sure that lasts me until payday on the 23rd.

I badly needed a haircut and I was going to do it myself but my 12 year old daughter jumped at the chance to do it for me and she did a brilliant job! My tracker with Octopus for gas and electric is coming to an end this month so I’ve had a look at other deals and my goodness it’s a minefield. It’s definitely not as straightforward as it was years ago. I can’t tell whether to switch to a fixed rate elsewhere or to stay on the tracker for the time being. I’ve looked at this website and it seems the tracker may drop slightly over the next year or so so I’m tempted to sit on it for now and stay as I am. I’ve started making a point of turning the living room light off in the daytime as it’s so bright out at the moment anyway and turning off the tv when I get up from the sofa whereas before I’d just leave it on to play.

My daughter commented yesterday that she’s really been enjoying our home cooked meals the last week and that it’s so much better than McDonald’s and to round off yesterday evening my son and I lit the fire pit, something we’ve been wanting to do for a while but I’ve always had clothes on the line it was a really lovely day.

GolfR

Just a little check in to round off my day, it was a nice no spend day. A package from Shein that I ordered around a fortnight ago for £64 arrived today and I’m sending back four things and getting the money back, only £11 but still £11. My daughter has decided on an outfit from this package for Alton Towers and seems to have lost interest in the Mercier tshirt from Vinted that she wanted to wear thankfully. I’ve put a Joules dress that’s too big for me on Vinted this evening but that seems to have slowed down, I guess the things on there now might sit for a while but that’s ok.

It’s been a pretty uneventful day. I dropped off the Shein return at an InPost locker, took the last bag of clothes to the charity bin and popped into the chemist to get my inhaler prescription. Me and the kids had bread and butter pudding with custard that had both been in the house a while for dessert tonight which was very tasty and we sat out the back for a bit after dark with our fairy lights to enjoy this glorious weather we’re having.

GolfR

So so pleased with myself today, with money I have coming in from Vinted and the change around of my direct debit dates (that’s a mouthful) I’ve managed to pay off my overdraft today of £250 and I’ve put £13 that was left towards my car loan of £8400 ish. I had a look at the monthly interest today and I’m paying an average of £38 per month! I didn’t realise it was this much and I was horrified so instead of saving £100 each month, I’m going to put it towards this loan. I already have £1000 in savings that while I would love to put it towards the loan, the thought of not having that money if I need it worries me. I’ve only had £13 in from Vinted so far and I have another £60 ish to come in.

I've sold the dress that I put on Vinted last night and a pair of shoes that I put on a couple of days ago so that’s another £18 when that comes in. I’m having child benefit £173 and tax credits £168 due on Monday and that will enable me to pay off my £230 Lloyds credit card and any left over after paying the last bills of this month will also go towards the loan

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

I personally would keep the £1000 in savings as my emergency fund.

GolfR

Ordinary_Yet_Unique said:

I personally would keep the £1000 in savings as my emergency fund.

I definitely am!

FootyFanDan

I think having the security of that £1000 is a very good thing to have, you are making great strides forward. Well done on getting that overdraft cleared

GolfR

Thanks Dan! That means a lot. I’m just wondering now whether to get rid of the overdraft completely, leave it as it is or drop it to say £50 for a small buffer with little temptation. No spend day yesterday aside from the overdraft pay off and the little bit towards my loan. I could do with going to Lidl today but I’m going to try my best to stretch out the milk and go tomorrow instead. I did buy a repeat purchase of a fibre supplement from amazon this morning before my prime membership runs out, I use it every few days to top up my fibre intake (I monitor this on my calorie counting app) and my last one lasted a good while.

As I’m typing this I’m having a smart meter installed. I’ve been asking octopus since I’ve been with them to have one fitted and I kept being told I’m on a waiting list then I noticed the other day when I scrolled further down the page that there was a section to book an appointment! So glad I’m finally having one done, can’t wait to ‘geek out’ later on to see what costs what to run

I’ve got four things to send for Vinted today, I sold two things yesterday morning and another two things last night. One thing is my daughters so she’ll be having that £7. Hopefully should see the other money coming in from there in the next few days to go towards my loan.

Blackcats

Wow!  You are doing so well.

i would suggest leaving a buffer in your overdraft in case of the unexpected.  I have a £50 official overdraft limit and I have a savings account linked to my current account with £100 in it.   If I notice any unfunded pending transactions or urgently need extra money I move some of the £100 to cover it.  As soon as I am able to I top the £100 back up.

another tip that has helped me and lots of others is allocating money to a personal spends pot.  We are all in this for the long haul and it really helps to know that every month there is some money just for me to do whatever I want with.  It doesn't need to be lots even £20 means you can treat yourself to a fancy coffee, a new handcream, or a candle etc without feeling guilty.  It's like being a kid again with the joy having your own pocket money.  

My rules for myself are
I can spend it on whatever I want, however silly or frivolous 
and
once it's gone it's gone until the next month.  

GolfR

That’s a great idea about the buffer and savings, probably the best thing for me at the moment! That’s another great idea about the little pocket money fund, even £20 per month would be really nice. I give the kids £10 pocket money each per month so I should have my own too

I decided to cancel the Amazon order! I felt major guilt and I have enough here to last me at least another few weeks. I got my refund pretty much straight away too. I had an email from Superdrug today (I’m sure that was one of the ones I unsubscribed from when I did a big once over of my emails recently) offering me a free £5 Costa gift card so I took that and will use it when I go to Lidl as there’s one near there. When life gives you lemons! 

My daughter wanted loose PE shorts for school tomorrow due to the hot weather (they’ll allow PE kit to be worn due to the weather but won’t allow cycling shorts! 🙄) but as her best friend is wearing leggings tomorrow I’ve managed to convince her to wear hers too. I told her I’m not happy buying her shorts that she’ll wear for one day. She doesn’t like loose shorts on a normal day, she lives in cycling or denim shorts in the summer. It’s ridiculous that the school won’t allow cycling shorts, even if they’re long ones.

FootyFanDan

I would agree with having that little buffer just in case. Our expenses are pretty dialled in, but that ‘oh shoot I forgot about that’ fund as helped so many times, mainly with an unexpected school expense. You could start with a generous number and work your way down to an amount you are comfortable with.