In my two year absence I have stumbled upon a financial plan/guru called ‘Dave Ramsey’. Now I really can get on board with what he preaches albeit he is American so some conversions are necessary. He teaches that debt is not helpful or useful like I have always thought and has some steps to help people get out of debt which if you are in that situation I recommend following him on his Facebook or Twitter.
Through following him and getting my husband on board we were able to use his plan to get ourselves into what he calls baby step 4. So we have now paid off all our consumer debt and have built up an emergency fund, previously I thought that credit cards were there for emergencies but this lead to a very loose definition of an emergency. Albeit we have had to slip back into baby step 3 and are currently rebuilding our emergency fund this month due to a leaking house (YAY, joys of homeowner ship) and a boiler refusing to work (double YAY).
I highly recommend following Dave or his daughter Rachel Cruze just for the inspiration they provide, and the motivation to do some of these things. Three years ago I was on a 4 hour a week contract working all the extra hours that they would offer me, trying to survive in this world. Now I have a full time job (albeit fixed term for the next 5 months) and looking back I can see how far I have come but at that time of working my 4 hours a week I was just looking to make ends meet and enjoy life.
I think focusing on what we do have, not what we don’t or what others have is really important in life. Now in the UK we do have Martin Lewis author of Money Saving Expert (MSE) but he does advocate using credit cards as a tool, even though studies show us that by using plastic we end up spending more. In my household we have tried a few different ways of managing our budget, but having cash and an envelope system for each category is probably the easiest to follow so far.
If anyone does know of a UK based financial guru/inspiration please do let me know. I love filling up my feed with all the motivation and it is how I help myself to stay on track.
21st Century Millenial on a budget 
Hey everyone! Our household has paid off approximately $26k in 16 months by counting and creating our nickels! It is possible to beat the banking system!
Five Cents Matter!
Hi
I’m in the uk too
I’ve never heard of the people you mentioned but I’ll be sure to check them out.
I am also planning on a budget of trying to survive on a pound a day.
Check out The Money Finder in Canada – Stephanie Holmes if you’re looking for something less American. Sounds similar and she focuses on debt restructuring which provides more control over debt repayment/savings with an All-in-One and Active Cashflow vs Working Cashflow which gives a different approach from budgetting. I will check out Ramsey for sure.
Congrats on getting to baby step 4! My husband and I are sooo close to paying off our loans. We are looking forward to being debt free! It’s so fun to see people all over the world using Dave Ramsey and being connected in that way 🙂
Hello fellow Brit budgeteer! I love a bit of Dave too and just adore Rachel. 🙂
We were SO close to having our six months emergency fund finished when in September and October we had MAJOR car issues, so we’re slowly trying to build it up again. It’s been stressful, but it would’ve been a LOT more stressful if we didn’t have the E.F.
We’ve never had credit cards but I must admit, I do get tempted to use them just to better our credit score so that when we come to refinance the mortgage to a better deal in 2022, we’ll have lower interest rates offered to us. A dilemma indeed!
I had my full 6 months, then a written off car meant deductibles, followed by a boiler breaking and a leaking roof. We are rebuilding it though. 🙂 You’re right its a lot, lot less stressful when life happens.
Do you know of any UK based finance people?
Ugh, what a nightmare for you! It’s so fantastic that you had that money saved though. 👍 What a relief!
Apart from Martin Lewis I can’t think of any British financial experts in the mainstream media.
Maybe we should team up! 😂