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The Cutting Down Alcohol Challenge for February & 2026 :)
Welcome to the Cutting Down Alcohol challenge for the month of February and for 2026! This challenge is all about helping people cut down or even give up on their alcohol consumption, mainly for health reasons, but it can also save a lot of money, because the cost of buying alcohol really mounts up over time and sometimes…
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Debt and Caring
An unprovoked attack on my ankle by a metal workout bench has me lying down with a foot up this evening. Which makes this the ideal time to start this diary. And possibly to declutter some exercise equipment... Yesterday I was £9993.61 in debt. Today I have made a £1500 payment to one of my credit cards taking me down to…
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2026: time to face facts and plan for the hard times ahead
Hello everyone, I've been a long time lurker under a different alias but have now created a new moniker to be a bit more vague about name and area of UK as starting this journey and will be posting for my own sanity and all your support I've seen so much across the years. I'm in a deep pile of debt that I've been servicing…
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Turning Straw into Gold: Creating Long Term Security & A Solid Home
Hello, I am joining you on the debt free journey, for a couple
of loans that are giving me anxiety and also my mortgage. I have been reading
these diaries for inspiration and it’s time to start my own. I hope to get to
know many of you as time goes on. I moved into my home last April and I have some
loan repayments that…
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Resourcefulness: The budgeter's friend
Happy New Year to readers old & new! Well, it's time for a new chapter. My old diary ("Put away your purse & become debt averse") achieved pretty much what I intended. I shared the story of how I got into debt at the age of 19 & stayed that way until a pretty enormous lightbulb pinged on during my early 40s, I've shared…
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2026 - consolidation and calm
I've decided to start a fresh diary for 2026. 2025 was a bit of a rollercoaster year for us: * My post being put forward for redundancy at the end of 2024, though it was then reinstated thankfully * Restructure at work meaning many great colleagues (and loads of knowledge) going * DH's redundancy at work, then finding a…
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An in-between phase
I am largely starting this thread so as to not rudely put a long whinge on the lovely @foxgloves and @EssexHebridean threads! I will talk a little more about my slightly unsettled life situation in due course, but for now, just whinging 😂 Today I have been trying to switch to a more money saving phone contract. It has been…
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A new chapter, An empty nest, Drama school & Last year of Uni
I've been on these boards for many years and a long time ago did start a diary when we'd had a windfall and cleared some debt and I'm not sure what happened but 'life' got in the way. Today starts a new chapter of my life as my youngest has just left home (albeit temporarily) for her to access a drama course in a different…
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Need to stop spending and chasing dopamine!
Hello! I’m creating this diary to hold me accountable, as I’ve been trying to pay this debt off for 3 years now and I just keep kicking the can down the road so to speak. The good news is it’s all on 0% interest. The bad news is I need to have the most boring year next year (aside from a holiday) to be able to pay it all…
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Looking To The Future With Hope
After reading @Onebrokelady thread I feel so inspired and in awe of how someone can be so positive when they’ve faced such adversity that I’ve decided to start a diary. Now, I can’t promise that I’ll keep this up, as I do have a tendency to start things full of enthusiasm and then I stumble and give up, but we shall see.…
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2026: The Final Year
Hello debt free wannabeeees! It's been a while since I have been on this board. We paid off our debts a few years ago. I then started a Mortgage-free diary of which I have since paused, as we then decided life was a bit too short and wanted to do some other things first. Well, we now both want to get going towards…
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£2,576.79 to clear by March
£956.15 on one credit card, interest free period ends 16th March £1620.64 on the other, interest free until the 1st March It's entirely possible that I can't quite manage and end up doing a balance transfer, but this diary is to give me the accountability to try my best. We've had a tricky year financially after my husband…
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Starting the journey...the road is currently bumpy.
My debt has always been there, nothing major - the odd holiday on 0% which is dutifully paid off then rinse and repeat. Then things changed, 5 years ago I lost my mum to Cancer - she loved life and was taken too young. From this my attitude changed, holidays booked, things bought, paying for friends - I wanted to live in…
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We will get this debt down & the savings up
Several years ago I joined MSE with a different user name, but then it all went a bit wrong with losing job and other things, so I sort of fell by the wayside. Now I have created a new profile and am starting again with more determination. I have read so many people's diaries and can see that it helps you focus and it is…
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My Off-grid and need to be frugal diary
New year, new start - trying to save in 2025.
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Progress not Perfection
Happy New Year! I thought it was about time I started a new diary. I've been on these diaries since 2008. My last diary is here Things
can only get better My first diary is here Champagne Lifestyle Lemonade Budget and the one after that here Looking for the Silver Lining. That's a hell of a lot of waffle over the years 😆…
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A whole new world, for now
So, here’s the new thread I’ve been promising myself for a few months. My old one, that served me so well, is https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4855808 A potted history of me. I’m 49, live in NI with OH, DD and dog and DS is London based. Have been in debt for a lot of my life and came here post personal debt…
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Living Large, on a Small Income, by the Sea.
I am living by the sea in a beautiful house. (I can’t believe that sentence is about me) I have spent two years living in other people’s homes. I ended up on a sofa for several months. The joy of my own home, my own key, my own bed…it is indescribable. I had to go to the top of my budget to buy the house, but it is exactly…
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Busting this debt before 42
New year, new car and new loan, equals new diary. My previous dairy; https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6547320/busting-this-debt-before-40 Why am I doing this s**t agin? Right…because last year I had a midlife crisis and succumbed to the ‘shiny new car’ syndrome. Buggers. I very much enjoyed the challenge of…
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YNAB robber needs help to execute the plan
Right, I am going to finally start a diary on here. I am being supported financially by my OH to allow me to help my sister care for my 90 year old father. I have an expensive event in Feb that I need to save for. I have been using YNAB since Feb so I have an accurate record of my spending for 6 months. It's not pretty. I…
