Making changes to become debt free

Poppy1984 · 4 March 2018 at 11:19AM

In other news it was my friends birthday yesterday I baked her cookies and she was thrilled with them

redofromstart · 4 March 2018 at 11:28AM

Poppy1984 wrote: »

I am one of these that gets a bit shy posting on busy threads as Im not sure what I have to say is valid so end up just lurking and reading more than anything but now I have an account I'm going to start replying a it more.

I love making fudge! I'm def going to get into making presents now that I'm going to have to tell friends I cant buy or give them money anymore.

Don't ever be shy of posting, I found it quite difficult when I first started - you feel invisible almost but people are so friendly. I try to say hello to new diaries, but looking at the dates you started as I was really busy with the end of a project. Just jump in and say hello, think how you feel when you see someone has posted on yours

I'm grateful when anyone posts on my drivel to be honest.

Poppy1984 wrote: »

In other news it was my friends birthday yesterday I baked her cookies and she was thrilled with them

I appreciate someone making an effort for me far more than I do them chucking some smellies or chocolate in the trolley when they do the weekly shop.

Hope you slept better. I'm a worrier too.

redofromstart · 4 March 2018 at 11:42AM

On the fabric conditioner, I do use it but a low scented high allergy one as DS1 reacts quite badly otherwise. Always bought on offer, and I have a mental price point per litre for what is actually an offer. I really notice if I don't use it on the towels. I dilute it as heavy handed SS has a tendency to tip loads of it in the machine. If you read the bottles on both the washing liquid and the conditioner you actually need far less than you think.

Lots of people on the old style board swear by white vinegar as fabric conditioner as it softens but doesn't leave any smell.

Poppy1984 · 4 March 2018 at 12:22PM

redofromstart wrote: »

On the fabric conditioner, I do use it but a low scented high allergy one as DS1 reacts quite badly otherwise. Always bought on offer, and I have a mental price point per litre for what is actually an offer. I really notice if I don't use it on the towels. I dilute it as heavy handed SS has a tendency to tip loads of it in the machine. If you read the bottles on both the washing liquid and the conditioner you actually need far less than you think.

Lots of people on the old style board swear by white vinegar as fabric conditioner as it softens but doesn't leave any smell.

.

Hiya thanks for popping by! I'm getting a bit better at commenting on people's threads, yea I do feel a bit invisible to be honest but trying to do it a bit more.

Sleeps still an issue....

I have definitely reduced the amount of fabrics conditioner in using so hopefully it will last a bit longer this month.

X

enthusiasticsaver · 4 March 2018 at 12:45PM

I would say having an emergency fund is crucial so building up a cushion of savings first would be best before sending every spare penny to the debt. However the next accounts charge high interest so I agree with Meena that splitting spare money 50/50 until say your EF is £300 initially is a good idea.

To get rid of the weird numbers instead of apostrophes this only occurs with apple devices running on a particular lad operating system. Go to settings then keyboards and turn Smart Keyboard off. That sorts out the problem

enthusiasticsaver · 4 March 2018 at 1:02PM

Just a quick look at your soa.

Glad you are getting rid of the lottery. Add up how much you have spent and how much you have won. It is not worth doing considering every penny counts and the odds of winning are so low.

I think you should reduce your DS savings account or stop until the debt is gone. Up the emergency fund savings to £50.

I don't think having a general spending category works. Keep a spending diary. That £200 a month would clear your next in 3 months if you can live very frugally with free entertainment and no coffees out etc. Meal plan, use Lidl's or Aldi's for cheap food. You can get cheap presents from b and m or do surveys and get amazon vouchers for presents.

We don't use fabric conditioner. It is not needed.

£50 for a mobile phone is really expensive. Move to sim only in June. Same for your DS.

Ideally eventually you should be saving for car insurance and buildings insurance and paying annually. It is cheaper.

Selling stuff you don't use is another good idea.

Making biscuits or sweets or cookies or maybe growing plants from seed for presents can save. Don't give money £20 is a lot and if you are struggling it is not worth stretching your finances for birthday or Xmas presents. I bet your friends would be horrified if they knew how tight your budget is and that you are stressing over finding money for presents for them.

On the plus side your debt is relatively small. Is your credit history bad and that is why you cannot get any 0% deals? Forget about consolidating. It does not work.

Poppy1984 · 5 March 2018 at 11:17AM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

I would say having an emergency fund is crucial so building up a cushion of savings first would be best before sending every spare penny to the debt. However the next accounts charge high interest so I agree with Meena that splitting spare money 50/50 until say your EF is £300 initially is a good idea. Hi enthusiastic saver thank you for all your fantastic advice. Okay so the majority vote is 50/50 I definitely want to build up at least £300

To get rid of the weird numbers instead of apostrophes this only occurs with apple devices running on a particular lad operating system. Go to settings then keyboards and turn Smart Keyboard off. That sorts out the problem

I have done this thank you

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Just a quick look at your soa.

Glad you are getting rid of the lottery. Add up how much you have spent and how much you have won. It is not worth doing considering every penny counts and the odds of winning are so low.

I think you should reduce your DS savings account or stop until the debt is gone. Up the emergency fund savings to £50. I can't reduce this (for reasons I don't want to disclose on here)

I don't think having a general spending category works. Keep a spending diary. That £200 a month would clear your next in 3 months if you can live very frugally with free entertainment and no coffees out etc. Meal plan, use Lidl's or Aldi's for cheap food. You can get cheap presents from b and m or do surveys and get amazon vouchers for presents. I am tracking my spending I use the spending app and have a separate acc on there for bills, shopping and spending money so every penny is accounted for. Yes that's the plan I am living as frugally as possible and any left over "spending" money will go into my EF fund and off debt. It is only my first month so I am hoping that I can have left over money from my shopping and spending budget every month. I am meal planning and shopping at Aldi.

We don't use fabric conditioner. It is not needed. Definitely using less now I will see If I can stretch the current bottle out as long as possible with a view to giving up completely

£50 for a mobile phone is really expensive. Move to sim only in June. Same for your DS. DS is already on sim only, I have a sim only lined up to move over to in June for when my contract ends.

Ideally eventually you should be saving for car insurance and buildings insurance and paying annually. It is cheaper. Something to strive towards although I don't think either of mine are that high monthly.

Selling stuff you don't use is another good idea. Absolutley

Making biscuits or sweets or cookies or maybe growing plants from seed for presents can save. Don't give money £20 is a lot and if you are struggling it is not worth stretching your finances for birthday or Xmas presents. I bet your friends would be horrified if they knew how tight your budget is and that you are stressing over finding money for presents for them. Still haven't had a chat with them about this, but I absolutely need to ASAP

On the plus side your debt is relatively small. Is your credit history bad and that is why you cannot get any 0% deals? Forget about consolidating. It does not work.

Bad credit, but at the moment it is only the Next I am paying interest on, my very is 0% and my Tesco is 0% for now......

Thank you so much for taking the time to go through my SOA and give me all that advice it is really appreciated.

Poppy1984 · 5 March 2018 at 3:20PM

Hiya, having a really rough day today. I feel really sad and low, I've received a bit of bad news and just feel utterly low.
I'm counting down the days to pay day (10) I've got money in my bank account for the first time in months and months so this is positive and means I can stick to a budget!
Whatever is left on the 15th (pay day) I am going to split and put some in EF and pay the rest off the Next account.
I read a very good piece of advice on this forum amongst all the fabulous advice that is given out that said "anxiety and stress doesn't pay debts, money does" wow that really struck a chord with me. There is no point in me stressing and being anxious, it isn't going to do me any good and it isn't going to pay my debts off any quicker!
I can't bring any extra wages in but I can try and reduce my spending as much as possible and accept that this is going to take time. I guess I want it gone as quick as possible but realistically it will take some time to get things paid off I also want to concentrate on building a Emergency Fund. Id feel a bit happier if I had at least £300 built up.

enthusiasticsaver · 5 March 2018 at 7:09PM

It is hard not to stress about money particularly if you don't have much but in the early days of trying to stick to a budget most people do feel anxious. If they spend outside their budget they usually feel guilty which in turn leads to more stress and anxiety. I would try not to think about it constantly. Set aside maybe 10 or 15 minutes a day to update your spending app tracker or diary to see how much your budget is on track or not. Try to plan for month to month and week to week. Thinking of free enjoyable things to do like going for a walk or having a bath, reading or listening to music will help you manage your stress levels. Eventually this will all become second nature and when your finances are under control your anxiety will reduce.

Accepting there is no quick fix is key to all this. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Poppy1984 · 5 March 2018 at 8:17PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

It is hard not to stress about money particularly if you don't have much but in the early days of trying to stick to a budget most people do feel anxious. If they spend outside their budget they usually feel guilty which in turn leads to more stress and anxiety. I would try not to think about it constantly. Set aside maybe 10 or 15 minutes a day to update your spending app tracker or diary to see how much your budget is on track or not. Try to plan for month to month and week to week. Thinking of free enjoyable things to do like going for a walk or having a bath, reading or listening to music will help you manage your stress levels. Eventually this will all become second nature and when your finances are under control your anxiety will reduce.

Accepting there is no quick fix is key to all this. It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Thank you, at the moment I am obsessing over it constantly and it's getting me down but I know this is how it's got to be for a good while so I need to some how settle in to it. Like you say first month of budgeting is going to hard. I think getting to pay day with money in my account will be a good morale boost and make me feel more confident in my ability to stick to this.

Making changes to become debt free

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