debtfreecommunity

How to maintain a social life whilst on your debt free journey

August 10, 2018

One of the biggest challenges that you can face whilst on your debt free journey, besides the debt itself of course, is sticking to your budget. In particular, when it comes to socialising. This can be particularly difficult if you are someone who tends to see your friends and family for dinners out and costly activities on a regular basis. Here are some tips on how to maintain a social life whilst on your debt free journey.

Where does the money go?

Anyone who uses a budget knows just how easy it is to “lose” money in amongst lots of little spends. Stepping over into the world of tracking every penny, it really highlights how much you essentially waste on things you don’t need. Small spends can add up so quickly, especially if you don’t keep an eye on them.

As an example; maybe you normally go to the cinema every Thursday and on Saturdays you head into town for a meal and some drinks. Say you spend £10 at the cinema and £40 at the weekend, that’s £50. OK, that’s not a huge amount of money on its own. However. In just one month, that adds up to £200. In one year, that comes to £2400! That could make a huge difference to your debt payments.

Of course it is far easier to do the maths than it is to make the actual changes. Especially if your friends and family are not sensitive to your want to be sensible with your finances. Using our example, imagine you were able to cut your spending to £50 a month, saving you £150. How much sooner would you be able to pay off your debt?

Money saving alternatives

Have friends over. Offer to host a dinner from home instead of going out for a meal. You could even take it one step further and have everyone bring a contribution in the form of one of the courses, a couple of snacks or some drinks. The night ends up costing you a bottle of wine (or whatever your tipple may be) and the price of a few food items. Far less than a dinner out. You will also save on the cost of travel. No scrambling for change to cover the taxi home!

Get outside. Getting together doesn’t automatically have to mean spending any amount of money. The outdoors are free after all and we’re blessed with endless walks, hikes and other outdoor activities across the UK. Explore your local area or hop in the car and take yourself 15 minutes outside of the city to see what is around. It’s amazing what you will come across. There is of course the added bonus of having a healthy day over sitting down and eating or drinking (or both) while you catch up.

Use offers or coupons. There are so many great deals available that you can utilise to lower the cost of socialising. Try 2-for-1 deals at the cinema to save money. This deal can be redeemed through a well known comparison website and is valid on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Straight away you are cutting your spends in half! Even better, take your own snacks. We tend to pop to the supermarket round the corner first and pick up some own brand crisps, sweets and flavoured water. These are always so much cheaper, instead of spending a fortune on the cinema’s snacks. Cinema nights end up costing around £10 for two people!

Pick up the phone. I feel like, for many of us, this is something we have forgotten how to do. We are so used to texting and social media that we forget that a quick call can mean as much as going out for dinner. This point is particularly relevant if, like me, you live a distance away from your friends and don’t get to see them very often. Catching up doesn’t always have to mean spending time together. It can be an hour long blether about nonsense over the phone while you watch your favourite TV show at the same time.

Even whilst on the most strict of budgets it is important to maintain a connection with your friends and family. Explain your financial goals to them so that they can jump on board and support you. Socialising doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s about the time you spend together after all, not the impact it has on your wallet!

For more ideas, Katie from Student Skint has written a brilliant post filled with free activity ideas!

Simple Money Saving Methods – Skimming

August 6, 2018

When it comes to saving money, it is not always possible to squirrel away large amounts from every pay cheque. During a debt free journey in particular, priority is given to debt payments. With the exception of the emergency fund, it is challenging to find spare change to save. As such more flexible and simple money saving methods are necessary. One of my absolute favourites is skimming.

What is skimming?

If you’re not familiar with the term, skimming is the process of checking your bank account on a regular basis, at the end of the day perhaps, and transferring the odd pennies or pounds across to your savings.

As an example, if your bank account has a balance of £36.49 in it, you might choose to transfer 49p across into savings. This is particularly easy to do if you use an online banking app. I would definitely suggest checking to see if your bank offers one.

The benefits of flexibility

The great thing about skimming is that you are fully in control. Each time you put your money into savings you decide how much is transferred. This gives you the flexibility to decide on an amount based on the way your day, week or even your month is going.

It may be that you’re in the middle of a month filled with birthdays, your car tax is due and your car’s MOT is looming too. It’s likely to be an expensive month and so you would keep your skimming amounts to a minimum. Pennies would still be moved into your savings account, but really you need all the money you have this month.

On a quieter month however, that might change. No big plans are in the diary and you feel far more relaxed about your expenses? You may choose to skim larger amounts this month. Instead of moving pennies, you might even move pounds. Try rounding your account balance to the nearest £5 and you will see your savings total rise very quickly!

The same is also relevant to your income level of course. At the moment, you may find yourself very stretched and panicking about ever finding “spare” money to save. You just don’t have it! Begin by skimming pennies. Your balance is £24.63? Skim 3p. I know it sounds ridiculous. How can that possibly add up?! It will, I promise. Begin there and then adjust as your debt goes down and your budget relaxes.

How much can I save?

Skimming is an effective way to save because your are transferring small amounts of money on a regular basis. Say for example you skim and average of 50p each day. In one week that would add up to a total of £3.50, enough for a coffee. In one month you would have £15.00 in your savings account. That’s a small amount, but it’s growing.

Let’s go a little further. After one year of skimming 50p each day, your total will now have reached £182.50. Now that to me, is a good amount of money. Do some maths with your own finances. How much do you think you can reasonably skim on a daily basis? Don’t set it as a strict goal, just have a look.

What about when you reach a more comfortable stage with your finances? You decide that you are actually able to save £2.50 on average each day. In one year, this would become £912.50. That really is a significant amount of money. That would completely cover Christmas for most families, or buy a lovely holiday. The compound effect is an amazing thing.

Take a moment now to look at your account and skim some pennies. Then come back in a month and let me know how you’re getting on!

Once you have grasped skimming you should take a look at this post. Emma from Emma and the Girls has written a great post on 18 ways to save money in 2018. If you’re a student in particular, check out this post from Student Skint!

Debt Payment Progress Report 3

August 3, 2018

Every two weeks I will be sharing my debt payment progress report with you. I’ll share my new debt total and all of the things I have done to make this happen. I think this is important for two reasons. It will help me record my journey and share with you what works and what doesn’t. It will also help me to stay motivated!

My new total!

As of August 3rd 2018 my new debt total is £16,243.60 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

In the last two weeks I have paid off £248.72. This is £70 more than I paid off in my last progress report so I’m really really happy. After a slow start to my debt free journey I feel like I’m starting to get some traction.

(I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest. This is why the numbers below are larger than the net amount that I have paid off. I have also been putting money into an emergency fund.)

My new total debt payment to date is now £571.32, which I have calculated to equate to 3.3% of my debt total.

How have I made this progress?

Quite simply, work has been far busier over the last two weeks. I have made a very small amount on ebay and Prolific Academic, I can’t complain, but 99% has come from work. I’m so grateful to be able to say this. After a very quiet June and July it is so nice to have a regular work flow again.

Reflections for the next two weeks

Now that I’m getting into the swing of things I just want to keep going. I’m building momentum between the increase in work, small side hustles and writing the blog. My speed is picking up and I’m really getting to grip with paying off my debts. The trick now is maintaining this momentum. If you have any tips for me do leave them in the comments below!

You can find my previous reports here:

5 Tips for a Debt Free Christmas

July 25, 2018

Every single year Christmas happens on the 25th of December. You’re giving me a funny look aren’t you…yes Emma I know when Christmas is. Well the crazy thing is that so many of us reach the first of the month and begin to panic about how we will manage to afford it all. With the extended gap between December and January pay days that many of us face the pressure is on!

So many people across the UK, and the rest of the world, go into a large amount of debt each year to cover a holiday that should be enjoyed, not worried about. The January blues then take on a whole new meaning when you have a credit card to pay off. Follow these simple steps to prepare for the big day and allow yourself to enjoy a debt free Christmas!

1. Start planning now

It might seem a bit mad to begin speaking to family and friends about Christmas in July, but this is the best time to figure out what you’ll be doing on the 25th and across the festive season. Figure out important things like who will be hosting Christmas dinner, which friends you will likely be meeting for a Christmas lunch and which members of your family (that you pay for) will have Christmas parties and nights out with work.

These are all inevitable costs, so thinking about them ahead of time will allow you to plan out a budget far in advance. If you are hosting you will of course need to set aside a larger amount to cover the cost of all the food and drink, however if you will be a visitor this year you may just need to cover the cost of an item or two that you plan to take as a contribution to the day. Then there are the presents. Don’t forget the presents!

Nothing needs to be booked in the diary, you just need to get an realistic idea of what you will be up to during the holiday season.

2. Set a budget

Use the information you have collected from your early planning efforts to now figure out a budget for Christmas. It might be as simple as taking your list from step one and marking an estimated cost next to each item. Add these all up and now you have a rough idea of the cost of Christmas.

This budget will be great for two reasons. Firstly, it lets you know exactly what you need to set aside, save up or earn between now and December first in order to be fully prepared. Secondly, it may act as an eye opener for you. You might find that in fact you’re not at all happy with your normal spending habits during the holidays. This is a perfect opportunity for you to make some changes and help your finances!

3. Save a little each month

Taking the total that you calculated in step 3, make things more manageable by breaking that number down. Divide it by the number of months left, or the number of pay cheques before Christmas. Maybe you would prefer to work with a weekly figure, do whatever works for you.

To give you an example, let’s work with months and use a simple total. As of today June 25th there are exactly 5 months until Christmas. Say that I have calculated my budget and it looks like Christmas will cost me about £1000 this year. Divide that by 5 and we are looking to make or save an extra £200 each month in order to cover the cost of Christmas ahead of time.

The Fugal Cottage have started the Christmas savings challenge. This is another great way to save a small amount each week instead of trying to find all of the money you need for Christmas at once!

4. Earn some extra money

Once you have your broken down monthly or weekly cost, you may decide that your normal pay cheque won’t quite be enough and you’d like to earn some extra money each month. There are a number of simple ways to do this.

If it is possible in your line of work, asking for over time is the most straight forward way to earn more. If, like myself, you are self employed, is there a way for you to find more work? It might mean pushing your normal working hours into evenings and weekends for a while, but if it helps you to have a debt free Christmas it’s certainly worth it!

I have mentioned survey sites before a number of times on my blog so I won’t go into too much detail, however Prolific Academic is a website that I recommend over and over. If you ever find yourself with spare time in the evening you can complete surveys as you watch TV. Perfect!

Selling unwanted items on Ebay and Facebook is another great way to make extra money. We’ve all got things at home that we can make some money from. Whether it’s unwanted furniture, some items of clothing that we never wear or toys that the kids don’t play with anymore. Have a look and see what you think might help you reach your target for the month!

I’ve written a post before about Ebay selling and survey sites with lots more information here.

5. Spread the cost

We all like to fill our homes with special treats and wonderful gifts for our loved ones at Christmas time, however if we choose to buy everything at once the hit can be scary, for us and our bank accounts. In the same way we have broken down the cost of Christmas with saving, it is a good idea to spread the cost with spending.

Whether you are able to begin buying gifts in January or picking up food items with long shelf lives in July, purchasing items throughout the year allows you to break down your outgoings instead of dealing with them all in the one month. I’d definitely recommend keeping a note of your spending somewhere so you can make sure you are sticking to your budget. It’s also a good idea to make a note of where you’ve hidden the gifts that you’ve bought. You don’t want to find those on December 26th!

Nicola from Mum on a Budget has written a great post about planning for Christmas that includes a Gift List Tracker.

There is so much more I could say on this topic alone so I will be adding another post on spreading the cost of Christmas next Wednesday. I will make sure to link it here once it is live!

There is pressure on us all to have a perfect Hallmark card Christmas every year. It is important to remember that the holidays are about spending quality time with loved ones, not the things that we spend our money on. Whether you choose to have a simple dinner for two or go the whole nine yards bells and all, I hope these tips help you to enjoy a debt free Christmas!

Debt and Mental Health

July 23, 2018

This is a topic I want to bring up both because it’s personal to me and because I think it’s important to discuss. Debt and mental health go hand in hand, but I don’t think we take enough time to recognise that.

I would just like to begin by saying that I am in no way a medical professional. My thoughts are simply reflections from my own experiences. It is so important to speak to a professional, be that your GP, therapist, or another qualified individual, when you are dealing with mental health problems of any level of severity.

Debt and Mental Health

When we discuss debt we have to recognise that it is not as simple as a number on paper. The number, our debt total, is the focal point of our debt free journey however it is not the only factor in our mission to become debt free. There are many other really important things to consider, and mental health is one of them.

Mental health itself affects us all to an extent. For some it can be a bit bothersome, for others it is entirely debilitating. Add to that the worry of debt and the pressure, concern and overwhelming emotions are amplified.

When you have a negative number against your name, no matter the size, there are so many negative connotations connected to that. On a surface level it suggest that you might not be able to handle money well. That you might even be irresponsible with your finances. As such it is entirely likely that anyone might worry daily about that negative number and how they might be able to pay it back.

Now factor in someone who spends their entire day worrying about everything in their life already. Someone who overthinks others’ opinions of them. Someone who is triggered into depression by a concerning letter from the bank. The debt is a concern, but it suddenly becomes clouded by a whole other layer of thoughts and feelings and fears.

My own experience

I personally experience anxiety and periods of dealing with very low moods that can stop me from functioning normally. Some days I will be incredibly bubbly and outgoing, other days I want to switch off from the world and speak to no one.

This can be incredibly dangerous when it comes to my debt. If I am already having a low mood day and a text comes through from the bank to tell me that I have gone into my over draft or my credit card sends me a notification to tell me that I’m over my limit I might choose to deal with it straight away. There is also a chance that I might switch my phone off and pretend it hasn’t happened.

I imagine that many others are on a similar boat to myself. Sometimes you find your situation manageable and can face it with a rational mindset. You can make sensible decisions as to how you will handle each account and manage your money well to pay them off. Other times, you will pretend that there is nothing to worry about.

As I am still in the early stages of my debt payment journey, I am also still very new to figuring out ways to help handle my anxiety and low moods that occur as a result. I have to say that opening up on My Debt Diary is proving incredibly helpful for me. Everything is written down, including my thoughts. My head is a little clearer as a result and I can focus on moving towards financial freedom.

Methods to handle metal health

Beyond writing about my debt journey, I have a couple of other things that I do to help myself and my mind when I find my debt over baring.

Put on something that relaxes you.

A film, some music, white noise, whatever it may be. I find that putting on something that is familiar to me, even in the background, can help a great deal. Often that means a film or TV show that I’ve watched a hundred times before. Instead of there being another distraction in my environment, there is something familiar and that seems to calm part of my brain down. This one is key when I’m having a horrible day but really need to get on with some work to meet a deadline.

Use the Calm app.

This one is a recent discovery, but I’m really enjoying it so far. It has useful features such as the 7 Days of Calm guided meditation that introduces you to taking a mindful pause each day. While there is a premium version, it’s basic features are free, which is useful when you’re looking to save money, not spend it!

Fresh air.

Whether it be sticking my head out of the window for five minutes (yes I do this…yes my neighbours probably think I’m a bit strange but oh well) or going for a walk, getting some fresh air in my lungs definitely helps my brain to calm down. My mood tends to determine whether I go for a walk or not. When my anxiety is at its worst the thought of leaving the house is hellish. If I’m feeling up to it however, I always notice an improvement in my mood after a long stroll.

For more ideas, you can find a fantastic post here from Wanna Be Debt Free about self care on a budget.

It goes without saying of course that talking can be the best way to relieve stress and worry. As I mentioned earlier, blogging is really helping me to calm my brain with regards to coping with my debt.

Debt is still a big taboo subject for most of us, but that can be such an unhealthy thing. If you can, speak to someone you love and trust openly about your debt. Ask for no judgement, only support.

This is a topic that I will definitely be writing about more in the future. As my journey progresses and my debt total goes down, I imagine that my methods with dealing with my own mental health will change. I really hope that I will find the confidence to talk to more people about it, not only for my own sake but in the hope that others will then open up in return.

If you are looking for further help with debt, Claire from The Money Freak has written a great post with some useful contacts to help you.

Debt Payment Progress Report 2 – 20/07/18

July 20, 2018

My new total!

As of July 20th 2018 my new debt total is £16,492.32 (My starting debt total was £16,814.29)

In the last two weeks I have paid off a total of £170.71. At first when I worked this number out I was disappointed. It’s only slightly higher than my efforts last week and it’s such a small amount in comparison to my total. It’s still an amount though and that is what’s important! I’m still reducing my debt.

(I should note that I have paid in more than this, however some money has gone straight to interest, which is why the numbers below are larger than the net amount that I have paid off. I have also been putting money into an emergency fund.)

My new total debt payment to date is now £321.97, which I have calculated to equate to 1.9% of my debt total.

How have I made this progress?

As I am in the early stages of paying off debt I only use a handful of money making and money saving methods at the moment. It is a goal of mine to expand on these in the coming weeks. Here are the ones I have used this past fortnight:

freelance work – £225
prolific academic – £16
ebay sales – £22

Of course my main income method has been freelancing (I’ll talk about this more in a future post) and I have some good news; I’m getting busier again! I mentioned last week how quiet I had been and it was getting to the point of becoming a serious concern, however the work load is now returning to normal.

Projects are still being completed and invoices are still being processed so it will be another week or so before I start to see a little boost in my income but I know it’s coming and that’s what matters. I’m hoping I can may off a larger amount in time for my next debt payment progress report as a result!

Prolific Academic is an income that I have spoke about before so I won’t go into detail again. If you’d like to read more you can find my thoughts in this post here. I have a referral code if you fancy trying it out: click here. I receive a small kick amount of commission from your first withdrawal with no extra cost to you if you decide to use the link, thank you!

Reflections for the next two weeks

I definitely need to stop putting myself down if my total payment for the fortnight seems small. The important thing is that I am making progress. The process of updating you with each progress report is definitely helping my motivation and reminding me that my debt total is getting smaller and that is what matters!

You can find my previous reports here:

Emergency Fund Saving | My Progress

July 18, 2018

I’m currently in the process of building a pot of money which I call my Emergency Fund. Not sure what that means? I have a post here that will explain all! Charlotte from charlottemusha.couk has also written this great post that explains the emergency fund really well.

Today I wanted to share my emergency fund saving progress with you. These are the things that have worked for me personally over the last month or so.

Emergency Fund Saving Method

In this post from last week I discussed using survey sites and selling on eBay to make money. Even making small amounts from these can add up very quickly. As work has been so quiet recently these have actually been my main methods for building my emergency fund.

A wardrobe clear out was my golden ticket when it came to eBay. I made sure to be thorough and take out anything I hadn’t worn in a while, including a number of items that still had tags on! I’ve been photographing the items a couple at a time and listing them when I’m watching telly in the evening. I have been averaging around £38 each week in sales. Selling your unwanted items is a great way to find that extra bit of money.

Survey sites are something that I have mentioned over and over again, but I will bring them up once more as I think they’re great. Everyone has their own preferences. I personally love Prolific Academic. The surveys pay well and you never get thrown out. If you click here you can use my referral link.

Another favourite money saving method of mine is skimming. Put simply, it’s the process of checking your bank account each day and moving the extra pennies or pounds over to savings. Say I have £117.39 in my account, I might move 39p over to my savings and leave £117 in my current account. If things are going well with my income I might choose to move £2.39, leaving £115 in my current account. Either way, the money can really add up!

My Emergency Fund

My emergency fund target is £500. This is a comfortable amount for me to save at my current income level. It is also an ideal amount for me as it is just over the total of my bills and debt payments for one month. This means that if I have another particularly quiet period with work I know I will be covered.

My emergency fund total is currently £257.59. I’m just over half way to my goal! This has taken me roughly three weeks to pull together so far. I’ll be sure to share another update once I have completed it.

I hope you have found this short post useful and you are able to use them to get started on saving your own emergency fund if you don’t already have one. As I discussed in my previous post, I truly believe that everyone should have a safety net like this in their bank. We just don’t know what life is going to throw at us!

Laura from the Thrifty Londoner has written a great post on 20 Ways to Make Money with a variety of great ideas!

Finance Book of the Month – The Total Money Makeover

July 16, 2018

As part of my journey towards becoming debt free, I am making it a priority to educate myself about money. I want to have a better understanding of handling finances, financial mindsets and many other useful topics. My favourite way of doing this is reading. This is a part of my journey that I’m particularly keen to share with you as I believe you could get a lot of value from it. Here is my finance book of the month.

Finance book of the month – The Total Money Makeover

This week I would like to begin by sharing a book I have mentioned many times before already. A lot of you may have already read this, especially if you are also on a debt free journey, but I want to share it none the less.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey is what I would describe as the most effective and most sensible approach to debt payment. The book provides you with a straightforward method to handle your money. It is easy to read and to understand. When you are already in stressful situation, possibly even a full on panic about your finances, the last thing you need is the confusion of unfamiliar words and complicated guides.

Dave’s money makeover system is made up of several baby steps, set in a specific order, that help you handle and control your money. He begins with building your emergency fund. I spoke about this here earlier in the month. He then progresses through debt payment, further saving, preparing for retirement and so on.

The Total Money Makeover is not the sort of book you read once and forget about. You will find yourself referencing it again and again. It will be relevant even once you are in the habit of handling your money well. I have just read it for the third time myself. As the title suggests, Dave’s intention is not to help you find a quick fix for your money. The steps guide you into healthy money habits that you will keep for life.

You can find The Total Money Makeover here on Amazon. (This is an affiliate link. I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to use it. Thank you!)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1595555277/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1595555277&linkCode=as2&tag=mydebtdiary-21&linkId=b5421f231e544a87201db271924def21

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

I absolutely encourage you to begin reading (or listening to audiobooks) as part of your debt free journey. Not only do you learn something as a result, but it also allows you some time to switch off from all the other goings on in life and just focus on the book in hand, literally.

Claire from The Money Freak reflects on her own experience of discovering Dave Ramsey and his method in her blog post here.

Beginning a Budget – When you have an irregular income

July 13, 2018

Two weeks ago I shared this post, You Need a Budget, and discussed the difficulties I was having as someone who has an irregular income. After some research and trial and error I have come up with a method that seems to be suiting me well. It is basic and very flexible as you will see, but it works. I imagine it will change over time but it is definitely a good start. These are my thoughts on beginning a budget.

Beginning a Budget

To get the ball rolling I did a lot of reading on different methods used by bloggers, authors and other financial advisers. For those of you who, like me, have an irregular income you will find that trial and error is the only way to discover what really works for you personally. You need an adjustable budget that shifts with good and bad months of income.

Some months will naturally pay better than others. This can make even the simple act of writing a standard income figure nearly impossible. A good place to start would be to find your income average from the last 12 months. This will give you a fair guideline amount to work with.

As a starting point, no matter your income type, I would highly recommend the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and more specifically his app called Every Dollar. This app allows you to set up your budget as well as keeping track of your baby steps. This is ideal if you’re on a debt free journey!

Tracking my Income

Most of my freelance clients pay within a couple of days to one week of an invoice being sent. It is therefore possible for me to plan for my income around one or two weeks in advance of payment. I simply keep a running note of work in progress or work due to arrive and an estimate of the payment date for that project. All of my invoices are stored in one place, meaning that I always have an idea of what’s due.

As an example, in one week I might invoice for three different projects which come to a total of £450. I know they will be paid into my account in three days time as this is the agreement with my client. This total is now an income value that I can use to handle my outgoings.

There is always a risk of payment problems and delays can happen. As I work with such a short window, numbers can rise and fall quickly. This is why I recommend having an emergency fund in place. If a bad month happens, I’m not in a panic.

My method of keeping track of my income is very basic and lacking in sophistication, but it seems to work.

Tracking my Outgoings

My budget is split into two types of outgoings that I need to keep track of. There are the set outgoings such as bills, my car insurance, my phone and my loan payments which are defined amounts withdrawn on certain dates. These don’t change and so they are straightforward to track.

I always have a note of these payments in my diary to ensure I never forget them. I also keep a note on my phone of the next payment due, which I update each time a payment is made. This is just an extra measure I take to make sure that I am always on top of things and nothing takes me by surprise.

Collectively, my personal set monthly outgoings come to just short of £450. As part of my budget strategy I therefore always keep £500 available in my account. This gives me piece of mind knowing that everything is covered. When some money goes to a bill and the total drops, I top it back up to £500.

For the not so regular outgoings, my approach is very simple. I think before I do. These outgoings are normally made up of things like nights at the pub, popping to the shops and trips home to Glasgow. Budgeting money for these is all about staying in control and planning ahead.

Take a trip home to Glasgow for example. I normally plan these a month or so in advance. I know that petrol for my drive normally comes to £60 for a round trip. This can be a lot of money when it has been a slow month. Planning ahead makes it manageable as I can prepare for it and set the money aside.

For the smaller things, I look at my expected income and upcoming payments and decide if I want to and more importantly NEED to spend that money. Would it be more sensible to keep it back for another day? If the answer is yes, that’s what I do.

Telling each penny where to go.

So where does everything else end up? This is the stage in a budget where many people falter. They know their outgoings are covered so what more is there to worry about? In fact, this is a key point that Dave Ramsey highlights over and over. If you don’t tell your money where to go it will disappear.

If you are looking to save, use this “extra money” to save, if you are looking to pay off debt this is where to place your focus!

Once my account reaches £500 I have to tell the rest of my income where to go. For me, a small amount goes to savings. Currently, at time of writing, I am building my emergency fund so this is my focus right now. When this is complete this money will go straight to debt payments. For this I will use the debt snowball method, which is a topic for another post.

I’m incredibly excited for the day when I can change my budget entirely, moving from debt payments to investment and savings. It’s a long way off at the moment but I will be sure to share that change with you when it happens!

Budgeting can be overwhelming when you are first beginning your financial journey. The best first step to take is to note down as much as you can and open your eyes to what is going on with your money. Where is it coming from and where is it all going?! When beginning a budget use a simple system that suits you to get started and make your way towards financial freedom!

You can find a fantastic in depth guide with more advice on writing a budget over on themoneyfreak.co.uk.

I’m taking part in the Monday Money linky with Lynn from Mrs Mummy Penny and Faith from Much More With Less

The impact quitting my job had on my debt.

July 11, 2018

The transparency of the debt free community is incredible and really helps me to relate to each individual who is currently making their way through a mountain of loans and credit cards at the same time as myself. As such I want to be completely open about this whole journey. A big part of that is my income. In particular, I want to discuss the impact quitting my job had on my debt and where I am now.

My intention isn’t to send you a word of warning or anything, I just love hearing about what other people do for a living and their career progression. If you do take something away from it, even better. It’s a long one so grab a cuppa!

The Whole Story

It does make me nervous to talk about the impact quitting my job had on my debt because not only was it a very personal decision, but it was one that no-one else supported.

Back in 2015 I graduated from university with a masters degree in Advanced Architectural Studies having studied for six years and spent some of that time working on placement. The week I was due to hand in my masters dissertation I had my first job interview and I was successful. Work started the following Wednesday, the day after hand in. I had done it, I had achieved the dream of securing a great job!

Then the distractions started to happen. I’d be half way through a morning of work and find myself looking at interior design courses and “how to start your own business”. I didn’t dislike my job, my but I wasn’t as passionate about it as I had hoped. Just two months into my first job my boss called me into his office. I was doing a great job, but he needed someone with more experience he told me. The first thing that hit me was panic; I had just bought a new (to me) car with my first credit card for this job and now after two months I had been let go. I packed up my stuff, left and sat in my car crying on the phone to my mum. It wasn’t the best start.

The next couple of days were spent frantically searching job sites. I came across one that had already expired, but the listing looked interesting and the office would be really handy for me to get to. I sent off a quick email and crossed my fingers. A couple of hours later I received a reply. “Hi Emma, thanks for your email. I’ve actually already hired someone for the role but I love your portfolio. Would you be able to come in for a quick chat?”. YES, yes I would. I booked my meeting for the next day.

They loved my work so much they offered me the job anyway! Again, very quickly after, I started working and things were going really well. I preferred this office as it happened, so it turned out to be a positive changes. My boss was great and the work was more interesting. Oddly, I was still distracted by other things. Courses like how to start a blog and how to build an Etsy business would be hidden on a tab behind my work. None the less, the work was good.

As the weeks progressed I continued to enjoy the work, however I would find my mind wandering constantly. Sitting in the same seat every day doing the same work was starting to get to me. Many of you will be thinking, yes Emma that tends to be how jobs work. I didn’t have an immature attitude to working, but I had started to recognise that I wasn’t keen on this set up.

At the three month mark I get called into the meeting room…here we go again. As it happened, it was really good news. My boss was offering me my contract. He wanted to make me a permanent employee! Incredible…so why don’t I want to sign it?! I thanked my boss and took the contract and then didn’t touch it for a week. When he chased me for it I made my excuses and did nothing. Then I asked to speak to him. I had taken the time to think about things, I said, and I was very grateful for the opportunity, but I wasn’t going to sign the contract. In fact I was going to be leaving. I didn’t want to be an architect.

My boss was stunned, my family and fiance were stunned when I spoke to them about it. Honestly I was a bit caught off guard myself that I had said it out loud. I had worked so hard for so long for, but it just wasn’t clicking.

For the next couple of weeks as I worked my notice I made an attempt at putting a plan together. Earning money was of course the main focus. In my head I had decided that I was going to sell wedding stationery. It would all be designed on Photoshop by myself and then sent to the printers before being posted to the customer. Wedding stationery was expensive so I could make good money quickly from this.

In reality, I was starting from scratch with no business experience and no understanding of marketing. The day I began my wedding stationery “business” I was so full of enthusiasm and motivation, but as the days went on and the money wasn’t coming in I started to crumble. My face always said everything is great, because I had convinced everyone that this was a good idea, but inside I knew it wasn’t working. I hadn’t prepared and that was plain to see.

Now this is a debt blog and I imagine that you can see where this is going. I mentioned before that I had just bought a car. That had to be paid for. I also had a phone and other expenses. They require money too. For a couple of months I was able to live off of the wages that I had earned in the architect’s office, but they began to dwindle.

The very worst day I can remember was waking up one morning with the intention of getting on the bus to travel twenty minutes away and having to ring my dad for a lift because I couldn’t pull enough change together. All I could find were a few 10p coins in my purse and some coppers from the sofa.

Still trying to fool myself that money would come in eventually I used my credit card here and there for little things. Then I got close to the limit…then I reached the limit…then I had to get a second card…and so you see where my debt reared it’s ugly head. From here the nasty snowball of payments and panic took hold and I knew something needed to change.

I feel like I have gone on for long enough now, and I have definitely shortened the story, but this gives you a good idea of the steps that I took to get me to where I am currently with my debt total. The positive I can take from it all is that I have learnt a lot. The naive and ignorant me from three years ago is now a very different person.

What do I actually do now?

In one of my first posts, Debt Payment Progress – The Starting Point, I briefly shared some insights into my work.

I now spend my days freelancing. In what you might ask? Architectural drawing of course. After taking several months to explore different avenues, some OK and some dreadful, it was pointed out to me that I do have a strong skill set as a result of my degree and the time I have spent in professional practice.

I stripped away all of the expectations of a big architecture firm and qualifying as an architect with a fancy title and looked at the straightforward options that I had. Freelancing was one of them. It would be possible for me to be my own boss, work from home and set my own hours. I could breathe again. Just like that, I felt like I had control back.

The journey from that point has been a tough one, I can’t lie, but it was the right one for me. I could definitely share more on the last 18 months in a future post if that would be of interest for anyone looking into freelancing as an option. Just let me know in the comments.

If you have reached the end, thank you so much for taking the time to read. It is a lengthy story but it is such a key part of my debt journey.