I have always been a little bit rubbish with money. My parents were rubbish with money and it seems it rubbed off on me. There was a point in my late teens where I had to resort to payday loans, to, y’know, eat and stuff, so my credit rating isn’t the best.
That said, I am determined to buy a house in the next 12 months (if not sooner!) which has basically led to me doing all of the research on anything to do with home buying, and saving money. I’ve decided that I will no longer be someone who is rubbish with money. I will be abundant and sensible but still live my best life.
I’ve been trying a few different things to get to where we want to be, and it’s been a few-pronged approach. To the internet!
One thing is paying off the small debts we have. I’ve moved some things onto an interest free credit card and every time I get paid for client work, I throw a bonus £10 or £20 on there. I’m no longer paying just the minimum of anything, and it really is making a difference to the balances, without me noticing the money going from my account. I’ve also been making it fun by using
Debt Free charts to keep track and see visually how the paying off is going! Yes, I’m a child, but a child who is paying off her debts.
I use CreditKarma as the main site to track my credit score (although I’ll be honest, my score is much higher on Experian, but I think CreditKarma is more likely to be accurate looking at what it says!), and as a competitive person, it really helps to see the numbers change and where I need to focus my efforts. My credit score has stopped us being able to buy a house in the past, so I’m determined to get it looking much healthier by the time we come to apply this time.
I recently tested out the Pigly Personal Budget Planner, as I am not necessarily the best at budgeting (your girl loves an impulse buy). It uses the budgetary guidelines recommended by Dave Ramsey who I am also currently obsessed with, so I knew it would tie in perfectly.
As Corona has ruined pretty much everything, banks aren’t offering their usual mortgages which is pretty gutting. So, instead of booking a pointless bank meeting where they tell us that they can’t lend us what we need, we decided to use the UK mortgage calculator on the site, to see roughly what we could borrow. Obviously we will still need to speak to an actual human in real life (remember that?!) to see if they will accept us, but it’s nice to see roughly what we can get so that when I am browsing Rightmove, I can see the types of houses we might be able to get for our money.
I don’t feel like I’m suddenly going to wake up in a month with a hefty savings account and no debt, but I do feel like I’m taking control of my finances for the first time in years and it’s pretty darn exciting!