The next three years will pass anyway - debt free at 36

vampirotoothus

Hi the minimum pay on my Virg CC is 2%. A good plan to move the loan. V x

Waywardgirl3

Just checking in as been quiet on here. Mostly because work has been so busy.

All on track this month and budget ok so far. Some spends (vet/ costs for an event next year) but planned and came out of sinking funds so all good there.

I am stressed by the price of fuel - it costs me £85 to fill my tank up now! I budget £200 a month but I'm using all of that now each month just on work/ essential trips. We live rurally so this contributes. I pick the fuel efficient routes on google maps, check out best local petrol prices and wfh as much as i can get away with - not sure what else I can do here really. Will see what November is like for fuel as I have several long drives planned to see family - I may need to readjust fuel budget/dip into my buffer fund for November and December.

It is also interesting to see how fast my £150 'fun' money goes/ what I'm spending it on. I have £30 left for the month and I'm happy with what i've spent it on so far this month to be fair - apart from a rogue maccies at £15 which was rubbish and a waste. Lesson learnt!

PLEND LOAN IS ALL PAID!!! (well transferred to virgin 0%). So happy without that 19% hanging over me and feel like I can start making real progress on the Barclaycard now which is my priority card. £15 overpayment sent to it this week from my Monzo round up pot :-)

Other than that it's just super busy with work, walking the dog, gym, running etc - I am feeling relatively content which is good. Just getting through a day at a time and sticking to my habits as much as I can.

Waywardgirl3

A quiet Saturday here, long morning dog walk, a gym session and a NSD apart from i needed to pop to Aldi for a few bits and then Sainsburys to get the food fussy old cat likes. Home now and snuggled on the sofa with the pup after our evening stroll.
Tomorrow i will try and have a house tidy, meal prep food for the office and also need to list a few things on vinted. I can never find the motivation but it never takes as long as i think it will!

riverbluelion

Hope you have a productive day tomorrow 😊

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary. Keep plodding. Great work on moving loan.

Waywardgirl3

Happy Monday everyone!

I had such a no/low spend week last week and then this week feels like chaos, I've not spent the majority of the below yet but it's looking spendy.

So things that I have coming up;

• I need a new car key. I have one key only and both buttons have fallen off and I can't unlock/lock it manually without the car alarm going off for some reason - it is ridiculous. I have put off replacing this for as long as possible but I really think my neighbours will complain soon about my alarm going off before 6am everyday. Also it goes off in the work car park all the time haha. Timpsons remote key replacing online says between £120 and £200! So annoying. Do I take this out of my buffer fund or my car fund?

• Attending a wedding next year (the second one the first one is paid for, we are only attending two weddings next year mercifully). Accommodation for 2 nights is £130 for my half. I can't get out of this (I have tried). Will need to be paid from my holiday fund this week.

• £62 has been paid out of the holiday fund to see a friend in November. This is a complete treat and i cant really justify it. We have booked a cheap shepherds hut and will hike and cook our own food so only extra spend will be fuel (ONLY haha, its a lot). I'm not going to do any other long drives to see friends or family (no trip home for me - but I am home in Oct for a couple of days which is a 3 hour trip each way) in November to try to balance this out. I actually hate that with the price of fuel though I can only really make one long trip per month now which means I see my family and parents less. If I had my way I'd be home 1-2 weekends a month with them. But I love where I live so that's the cost you pay for moving away I guess. This has already been paid from holiday fund.

• Eye Test and contact lense check on Wednesday. I haven't had one in FOUR YEARS, very bad. I will need new glasses and will look to see if bulk ordering my contacts for the year will save me money - from buffer fund. I do have a corporate voucher for the eye test which will save me £10. Every bit helps I guess.

• I have 3 family birthdays in November - I will be doing small/token gifts only. I have a small pot of 'birthday cash' set aside.

• Another Dentist appnt in November - having some ongoing issues. My dentist is private and this will need to come out of buffer fund.

So looking at the above I do realise these are first world problems. I am MASSIVELY privileged to be able to cashflow these from savings rather than turning to a credit card.

However, on my current debt repayment plan I am not really putting money back in to my savings/sinking funds so I am very anxious about them running out. If I keep my debt repayment plan up my cashflow will have so much more wriggle room 12 months from now so I need these funds to see me through till them as cashflow very tight atm!

I'm not touching my £1000 emergency fund at least. That is for a true true emergency not budgeting shortfalls.

I feel like a spoilt princess talking about this as some of the above is wants (trips, presents etc) and I know lots of people don't have any savings to fall back on - but I do feel very anxious thinking about the above.

I think on the whole I need to look at where else I can economise in November. Not feeling very MSE at the moment.

vampirotoothus

Hi, I really admire that you have a plan, but can I put another view forward? That is to prioritise the living of your life in a way that brings you joy (ie fixing your car key) and visiting family and friends. You have identified that you no longer want to have debt in your life, so living with planning and managing your money will help you get to that point. But you don't need to clear the debt at the expense of joy. Build a plan to live your life and pay your debts, if it takes longer it doesn't matter as you are working on it. You can send any additional money you get / pay rises etc, but have a good life, not one where you feel you are paying for previous bad decisions. Good luck V x