My 5 year goal!

Sardine82

Thanks @Dakota_Rose. I have just created my own to try and see what will work for me. I am sure I will tweak it as I go along. I think just writing down what I am spending will make a huge difference. I still haven't decided whether to open a new current account for spends or not. I have been through and closed low interest savings accounts that I haven't been using. So tidying through. Feeling quite positive about my situation - I have just been cash poor for a little while. If I sort this out, this time next year I might have a lot of disposable income!

ArtyJ931

hi

I use Monzo for pots. :)

Brie

You sound very optimistic!! This is great to help you jump start your way to being debt free.

For me I keep a simple spreadsheet with what is outstanding on the cards and the one store account (0% credit tha funded our kitchen refit). This way I can see at a glance how much needs to be paid on what date. Previously this included a large number of credit cards with 0% deals that took a lot of juggling. Happily I'm passed that now and all the cards are paid off in full each month.

I also have all normal the incomings and outgoings listed - just so I can ensure that bills are being paid properly, no one is sneakily putting up a DD and nothing suspicious is happening in the bank accounts. It's such a common thing to hear people being caught out by ongoing subscriptions or cards being paid on minimal DDs so that they haven't noticed for a few years. So by updating my spreadsheet I know that I'm keeping an eye on everything.

You say that you are being cautious with money but have you actually written it all down what is spent each month. It can be surprising how much little spends add up so on the debt free wannabe board we always suggest that people fill out a statement of account (SOA, see link below) based on 2 - 3 months of statements to ensure they aren't unknowingly overspending. The normal request is that it is posted so others can make suggestions and help tweak the budget a bit - but even doing this exercise yourself might be helpful. If you don't want to make it public that's fine - but if you have any particular questions I'm quite happy to provide feedback. Just message me.

Also - since you mention selling stuff and decluttering…..are you aware of the decluttering board - lots of good cheerleading to jolly you along. There's also a board for those the vint/ebay - it's not one I follow but I'm sure there's good advice to be had there.

2026 DECLUTTERING CAMPAIGN Mrs SD - our Year of Redistribution - Page 414 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Sardine82

Thank you @Brie, I will take a look at those.

Had a nice productive weekend, bought some furniture paint and painted some dining chairs that were looking sorry for themselves. A lot of sanding and prep, but its amazing what a difference a £13 tin of paint can do. And sold 2 items on vinted - £4 not big numbers, but that will come off credit card when its through 🙂

Working from home today which saves on petrol and I can do most of what I need to here.

Chores today: 1) Washing

2) supermarket

3) tidy up my fabric stash

A fun day! But apart from food shop, I am planning a no spend day 🙂

Sardine82

Not a lot to report, can't wait for payday... I want to make a payment every day, but I can see myself getting over excited and running out of money by the end of the month if thats the case 😂. I MUST budget - just excited to see numbers go down!

Today is another WFH - no point driving to work when nobody in office and I can do everything here. End of August, I will be in every day so might as well take it where I can!

Todays plan:

1. Run
2. Hoover and dust living room
3. Set budget for payday 🙂

Have a good day.

jwil

Good luck with it! I have a spreadsheet with all my spending in it, and I input everything into it. It has been a huge eye opener on how much I fritter sometimes!

The SOA is a good place to start with understanding your financial position and can help with setting those future budgets: https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/financecalculators/soa.php

Sardine82

I have been away for a few days, but I have updated my figures. Spent a couple of days with friends, who luckily are also happy to do packed lunches, walking and visiting national trust places which I have membership for 🙂

Figures updated and I have knocked a nice chunk off since my light bulb moment, with being conscious of my spends. Driving home today. I could do with a rest, done about 80000 steps over last 3 days 😬 hopefully that'll help my weight loss plan. Saw some William morris fabric yesterday for £10 a metre so going to head back and get some today for my next sewing project, seems rude not to!

Sardine82

Spent the last couple of days at work trying to prepare for next academic year. I am trying to organise my brain ready to make a real difference this year. I am hoping to hit the ground running.

Received my marking money today, so paid £351 off CC (went for that to put total on CC under £8000! Put 20% in tax account and I put a little bit in holiday/fun pot because no point doing extra work if you can't treat yourself occassionally.

Feeling that although the road is long, if I make sensible decisions, things will get there. Am going to find a couple more items to declutter later too 🙂

Brie

I love it when milestones are passed. I do the same with me trying to lose weight. Stones don't make sense to me (not raised in the UK) but rather than looking at the huge number of pounds or kilos I have my scales set to stones so I can just concentrate on the 14 pounds I need to lose to get to the next mile"stone"!

fyi - I know all the conversions 14 pounds to a stone, 2.2 pounds to a kilo - so can translate but if someone says 5 stones or 15 stones I would have to stop and really think what that means.

jwil

You're almost £2k down already - that's amazing. I agree about reserving some of your extra money for fun stuff, it makes it much easier to keep going.