I've debated long and hard on posting this but I think it will help give perspective to how things are now, and the new journey I am on. I went from being a single mum as a student when I started this blog to working full-time as a single mum. I felt a lot of guilt around the fact I worked from home whilst Dylan was small, yet Stephanie had been in nursery from around 18 months old. So when I started work I wanted to treat them and give them everything which made going to work purposeful. The reality of this is, I couldn't afford to keep up with this and got myself into debt. over £15000 worth before I hit my crisis point of realising this is not going to get better/go away as things stand. I realised the I'll sort it next month, no really next month wasn't happening or helping me to make changes.
So just before Christmas I stopped using my credit cards- around October/November. Then in December I looked at my statements and realised just how much I am paying in interest, and actually just in minimum payments each month. It was time to get a grip.
I started by saving up a £500 emergency fund so I have a buffer whilst I am paying off debt, then if something breaks I don't use credit to fix it.
Now I am using all of that knowledge about saving money and budgeting that I learnt as a single parent student to attack my debt. I am not in a position currently to transfer my debts and reduce the interest so I have to attack them as much as I can. I am using the snowball method and throwing everything I can at the smallest debt currently. Watch this space as I get myself out of the financial hole I have dug myself!
Hello Sarah, I saw your comment over at Compostwoman, so thought I'd call in - good luck with the finances, I know how tough it can be, thanks (or no thanks) to interest charges. And best wishes for your return to blogging.
ReplyDeleteThank you 😁
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