Creating the life I want - and tackling my debt!

ryandotdee

Sounds like a good plan to me, you have certainly put a lot of thought in, I will be following along with interest, I am on my own debt clearing journey, and reading about others and their progress is really inspiring.

Couple of points that crossed my mind while reading, have you looked at muscle food? They do bulk meat hampers, if you have a big freezer they are often pretty cost effective, especially for chicken.

Also, on the overpayment front.  You have the debt on 0% which is great, if you are trying to squeeze every penny out of your wages, then paying your overpayments into a cash isa would be more beneficial in the long run, provided you dont spend it i.e, aim to have 1k in the isa by the end of the year, then make a bulk over payment, you will have earned some interest which you will not get by just overpaying the 0% card each month.

Artyfarty86

Thanks Ryan.  I hadn’t thought of doing it that way for overpayments - but it feels like a great idea, actually.  Deciding on which savings accounts etc is an overwhelming process though.  I think that might be one for me to do in a couple of months when I feel comfortable with my budget.

On bulk buying - I have enough to keep me going for most of this month I think, meat wise.  I actually have a Costco membership and I think I will use that when I’ve drained my supplies and see how it costs up.  I don’t actually have that much space, but I think if I am careful, I can make it work.  

On the NSDs - I have not been that successful! However, the spends haven’t been excessive or completely ridiculous.  Eg.  Friday, it was paying my hobby class for the month, which is not a DD but is a regular payment.  And today I will order my MJ, because I have been sent a discount code that expires tomorrow.  I don’t want to waste the opportunity of £20 off!  I also have one for £15 off that doesn’t expire until next month so if nothing better comes, I will use that in Feb.  It’s a good run, as previously I’d been having £10 ones for awhile and I always expect there to be a flux of new customers willing to spend after Christmas.   It was nice to pay for it on my current account rather than a credit card and not worry how I would pay it.  It’s budgeted

The weather has been rough here, so that’s made me less inclined to spend and I’ve been using up things from my freezer and snaffling the last of the Christmas goodies.  I also made 3 Vinted sales totalling £33, which I will need to ship off in the next day or two.  Need to buy some bubblewrap for one though, it’s breakable and I have run out.  

Artyfarty86

Hello all,

We’re still on track over here.  We’re now a third of the way through the month and I still have a few hundred pounds in my account.  I know this will decrease as I have some small things going on, but I remain hopeful I will have a chunk left to put towards my credit card overpayment and into my emergency fund.   I’ve generally performed better at the minimising of adhoc, wants not needs spending.  By no means perfect, but it’s been a little bit easier than I thought.

All bills have been paid, and I have put all saving or sinking funds in their rightful home.  I have used a little of my funtivities sinking pot, for a hobby related class yesterday and membership to the hobby society.  Which is exactly what I had intended for this pot. This was also part of my resolution to get out there a little bit.  I did it ALONE.  Which is a big deal for me!!  I have a lot of social anxiety, and it was a reasonably impulsive decision, which I am glad I did.  

I have sold a few things on Vinted since my last post - the total from the 1st is now £125!  I have a few more sales to clear, so the final total this month may reach £150.  This won’t be a monthly thing for me - I have always been pretty methodical about uploading there, so I expect this will decrease significantly as time goes on to a more regular amount, this month had just been subject to a pretty ruthless declutter. 

On the allocating money to pots - I think I need to up my gifting pot.  I set it at £50, but I think I could probably do £70.  I have a large immediate family and a really well established family culture around gifting, that I am not looking to rock the boat on. I just toted up how many gifts I buy for birthdays and things like mother’s/father’s day and its 31 occasions!  That’s not even including little things like buying Easter eggs for children.  There’s two months a year without birthdays, but two months where there are four.  So I think from next month I will up it to £70 and see how it is.  I am sure I will be taking from the main pot sometimes, especially as I get better at planning and getting good deals on gifts, but that’s OK.  

I’m sure a lot of the above may be considered less than frugal to some readers, but this is not about reducing my debt as quick as possible.  This is about making sure I don’t get in to debt again, while paying it off in a way that gives me room to learn these lessons.  

Some things I hope to do this month in the name of getting my ish together:

• My dental insurance is up for renewal at the end of the month - I want to get it on to a lower tier.  Not sure on the savings, but it should a few pounds a month.
• My energy provider upped by DD by £20 a month making it £171.  Irritating as I do have credit! I’m not on a fixed rate, so I might use this as a bit of fire to look around for another. I’ve never done this before - I’ve been with the same supplier since I moved in here, and I have no idea what’s involved. Also wondering how tricky it will be, I only have a smart meter for electric, the existing supplier told me a gas smart meter was out of range for fitting. 
• I have one daytime event with a friend scheduled next week.  I’m allowing myself money for a meal out of the regular budget, plus travel, but I’m aiming to spend NO more than what is in the sinking pot for fun on anything else (£22.50!) - I might not spend it at all, but I don’t want to limit myself entirely.  She’s a good friend I don’t see often and it’s in a place I don’t get to spend time in.  
• Rack up some no spend days.  This month, I’ve only had 4 (including today!).  I can do better.  I have no plans involving money until the weekend, so aside from ordering a couple of gifts for upcoming birthdays, I should have at least 4, if not 5 this coming week.
• Start thinking about a Costco run next month.  I’m working through my freezer and other stocks and keeping spends low this month, but I do want to buy a few bits in bulk that I know are cheaper there.  I’ll do my due diligence on getting a list together and seeing what the equivalent costs elsewhere, so I can be sure I am getting a good deal!  And I will NOT be swayed by anything other than what I need!

Artyfarty86

A productive couple of days on the money saving front:
1. Sold one more item on Vinted - £16 that should come before the end of the month, plus found a few other small bits to list.
2. Cancelled my dental insurance. It had jumped from £29.50 to £45 per month!! Insanity. The lower plans didn’t cover a lot and even if I needed a filling before the next renewal, the costs just weren’t stacking up. £354 saved!
3. Disney+ - reduced to the £5.99 package. I share this unofficially but Disney are making it harder to do so. I barely touch it, so when I am forced to increase costs to cover two households, it is going!!
4. Reviewed energy provider - it appears to not be worth it right now to move, so will plod on with Ovo for now!
5. I am on day 3 of no spend days. I do need to order a birthday present and that will probably happen tomorrow to break the streak but that’s ok!

Dakota_Rose

You’ve done great with the Vinted sales this month! 

Birthdays are a big one for us too. I’ve now accepted that and just save more each month towards them. I don’t tend to treat my family so much between birthdays and Christmas so like to choose something thoughtful along with some extra little treats when their day comes around.

MFWannabe

Artyfarty86 said:

A productive couple of days on the money saving front:
1. Sold one more item on Vinted - £16 that should come before the end of the month, plus found a few other small bits to list.
2. Cancelled my dental insurance. It had jumped from £29.50 to £45 per month!! Insanity. The lower plans didn’t cover a lot and even if I needed a filling before the next renewal, the costs just weren’t stacking up. £354 saved!
3. Disney+ - reduced to the £5.99 package. I share this unofficially but Disney are making it harder to do so. I barely touch it, so when I am forced to increase costs to cover two households, it is going!!
4. Reviewed energy provider - it appears to not be worth it right now to move, so will plod on with Ovo for now!
5. I am on day 3 of no spend days. I do need to order a birthday present and that will probably happen tomorrow to break the streak but that’s ok!

Ref energy provider you could make £50 by getting a referral and moving to one of them 

Artyfarty86

Evening!

Thank you both @Dakota_Rose and @MFWannabe !
 
Less than two weeks to payday and how unusual for me to have HUNDREDS still in my account??? I remain optimistic that I will have at least a couple of hundred left by pay day to split in the emergency fund and card overpayment!

So, over the last 8 days, I have racked up 5 no spend days, which I am chuffed about!  I am aiming for 4 over the next 7 days. Three should be easy, the 4th remains up for debate!  

Yesterday I had a day out with friends.  Spent a little more than I would have liked, but I was reasonable about things. Also bought a birthday present and cards I needed, spent wisely on my meal and also arranged travel for the cheapest trains.  The total spend was less than a £100, and 2/3rds was food, travel and the budgeted-for present.  

My Vinted sales total is now £177 for the month so far!  I don’t think I will list any more this month, so unless something that’s already up sells, that’s it for now.  I have cashed out £13.21 from Prolific too and tomorrow I will do a side hustle that will give me £35.  A pretty good extra income for the month I think!

This week I will finally get round to doing a bit of a more substantial food shop - until now it’s been using the freezer and tiny top ups.  Lidl have given me a £5 off £30 voucher so will be using that.  The list is pretty short though, so that’s good. I am hoping I can do it for about £40, I don’t need any household items except maybe toilet paper and I don’t need dog food except for her usual little bit of fresh meat.  

I am trying to do this thing where I stop paying for delivery costs and start batching my errands to save fuel - so I will pick up an order for for a birthday present at the same time.  And I am doing something new for me - returning a not fit for purchase item!!  I am so bad normally - if something is bad, I toss it. It’s a set of brushes - only £10 but the shed on them made them unusuable!  I am going to request a return, even if its just a credit note, why should I essentially throw £10 in the bin?

I’ve also not needed fuel so far this month, although I set foot into 2026 with an almost full tank.  I don’t drive a lot due to working for home and leading quite a quiet and simple life, but I also cannot be without a car due to my location - I also would not want to be, I do enjoy the freedom of it.  I might get away with it for the month, but potentially might need to refill next week.  I wouldn’t mind that though - I have the money for once

Finally, I am horizon scanning for next month and seeing where my money will need to go next.  I have two birthdays, so will likely spend all of the sinking funds for this (and a little more, as one is a big birthday!), but that’s fine, I will catch up on these eventually.  One birthday will come with a meal that I will need to fund.  I also have two work events totalling three nights away.  Work cover the meals and travel etc, but I do have to pay out for some and claim it back.  I also need some work wear.  As I have lost so much weight, and travel for work so infrequently, my corporate wear does not fit anymore!  I have ordered one new shirt from Vinted (M&S, new with tags, less than £10 all in!) but I could do with either buying new shoes to go with existing clothes that still work, or clothes to go with existing shoes.  I think new shoes would probably be wisest, as I will likely lose more weight for the clothes and not wear them again.  Oddly, I have lost a LOT of weight from my ankles and feet - and old shoes don’t fit!   But I think that I am unlikely lose much more there, so shoes will last longer, even if potentially cost a little more. I will investigate M&S  and ASOS as I have  vouchers to use that can go towards it!

Other than that, Feb should be a reasonable month, my social events are low cost ones, like a local pub or coffee shop, so no big spends or extra travel.  

Ooof, rereading that, this diary is more like a ramble of my brain rather than an update on finances!!

Dakota_Rose

It’s great to get everything written down as it helps to sift through all the money saving thoughts. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway 😂 

Rhyddid2026

I only have a smart meter for electricity, my gas meter is ancient. Like nearly as old as me. I was with Ovo until about 2 years ago, and ended up putting in complaints with the ombudsman they were so bad. I moved to So and saved at least £30 a month. I know it might be different now, but just wanted to let you know it was relatively painless to switch with only one smart meter

Humdinger1

@Artyfarty86 this is your diary so please write as you see fit! Not coming across as a brain dump but even if it did, that's key for many of us to changing financial habits. Love Humdinger xx