A little update…

Hey guys,

I hope you are all doing well?

I’ve been in a bit of a funk trying to manage my finances and my life in general. Thankfully, my head has felt much clearer since the last few hours so i thought id check in.

Ive been considering the kind of content i want to post on here and every now and then I am 100% sure i want to talk about money but if you have been following my youtube channel, you will know that most of my content is about relationships, life lessons, faith lessons and sometimes even skincare.

Ive realised i cant honestly say that this blog is an extension of my youtube channel if i fail to share some of my youtube content on here as well.

One of the main things that i really want to be able to express here is motherhood, parenting and relationships.It might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I’m hoping some of you will be able to stick with me while i unpack and share what my reality is on here while still sharing some lessons I have learned.

This might also be a heads up incase you see my content and wonder who’s blog you are reading.Its still very much me as i believe like every other person, that i am not one-dimensional person.

So, going forward, you will be seeing more of me even as i attempt to be transparent and share useful life lessons with anyone who cares to engage with my content here on.

Till next time.xoxo

Needs vs Wants…keep track

Hey guys’ve again…:)

One of the things I have been conscious of in the last few months has been working through my budget or expenses and identifying what I consider a want or a need.

There are multiple guides online as to what should be considered a need, but at the end of the day, peoples circumstances and mindset dictate what is a need to them depending on their circumstance.

For me, most of my needs fall into the physiological and safety categories identified in Marslow’s theory(see diagram below).So for illustration purposes, my typical budget will look like this, rent, baby’s nursery fees, bills, credit card and debt repayment.All these listed fall under a must-do/needs category for me.Every other thing is a want as it makes my life more exciting or interesting but I don’t actually need it to survive.E.g of such things include ASOS clothing or shoe shopping and using streaming services like Netflix or Apple TV.

Your ability to discern or decipher which is which is what will help you achieve your spending goals, allow you to live within your budget/means but unfortunately this tends to become the tricky part.

I have been loving Dame Ramsey’s approach, as well as some YouTubers approach to minimalistic living and wise spending in general.Its something I have found to be interesting and incredible and actually very sustainable if you are disciplined.

As biased as this may sound,I would like to suggest that I favour that approach very much and would encourage readers to visit some of their content and start practising or living that way as I have tested it and it has been worthwhile.I have occasionally slipped, i must admit but in generality has been super helpful to me.

On needs and wants, a very honest and detailed review of your budget will be necessary to be able to decipher this so you know where to invest your money more and cut out debt or leakages.

Like I said for me, my wants are streaming services and are things I can generally cut back on to save some money and eventually get to the debt-free life I am aiming for.

As always,i hope this was a good read and all the best with reviewing your needs and wants.

Image is from Canva (not mine)

Relationships and why team work matters

If you have been following this blog for a while, you will know by now that I don’t only discuss finances on here.

This blog is literally a curated brain dump and also an extension of my YouTube.

I was a bit hesitant about sharing stuff like this on my blog this year but why not?right?

So here goes, I filmed the video below a few days ago and managed to upload it last night.Feel free to watch, subscribe and leave a comment as I have to say about relationships and would love to gain more wisdom in that area.

What is a relationship lesson you have learned recently?Please stick your answer below or in the comment section below my video.

On my mind

Hey guys,

A few days into February and my mind has been wondering and just looking for wisdom like literally everywhere as always.

I tend to do this to inform my goals and priorities for the year usually. So, while looking,I stumbled across one of my handwritten notes below which is more like something I would normally post about on my YouTube but I thought I’d post it on here anyways.

It is a quote inspired by a scripture in Proverbs 16:18 which says Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

It’s just something I’m always mindful of to help me walk in humility as God continues to lift me up and I start winning more in life.

I hope we can all practise that because 2023 is set to be a great year for all of us if we make the right moves.

All the best guys!

How January 2023 went…

We are a few days into February 2023 and as always I can’t help but do some reflection on how the previous month went.

I tend to revisit my budget at this time normally, examine the areas where I leaked money as well as areas where I think I lived with an inflated lifestyle mindset then decide the course of action for the new month.

On reflection,I did go a bit crazy needing change and ended up spending quite a bit on wayfair.co.uk stuff to update the look of my room.

I bought a new study desk and replaced my wardrobe which cost me just over £277 I wasn’t prepared to hemmorhage but I did anyways hoping it will be a great investment and set the tone for me wanting to live more active, proactive and productive life this year as opposed to a sedentary one.I really do hope it pays off and I can get a return on what I will call an investment at this point.

Looking at my January expenses, let’s just say, after careful consideration, the most sensible thing for me to do this month and beyond, is to look at ways to increase my income as cutting back can only do so much for me with the income I have.

Id be super transparent and declare my income right now but I don’t think I’m comfortable doing that just yet so I will wait for a future post so you can get a better perspective of what I am saying when I say I need to earn more.

One main thing I have discovered I need to cut back on at the moment though is streaming subscriptions.

I currently have Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV. I also had Disney Plus which I have cancelled as I can barely watch all of this together with the youtube content that I am currently consuming.I am leaning towards keeping Netflix only but again I will update you in a future post.

I also realised that I needed to cancel my Graze subscription which I have just done just before this post as its a waste of money at this point.I am not sure I need it as Im home all the time and practically eat all day.

I will be reviewing other areas of my budget and cut down on another expense in February as I have a “huge”saving goal I am working on this year.

My goal of February is to not make any unplanned purchases and live within my means so let the discipline begin.

Please feel free to share some of your February budgeting or money goals below.

As always, until the next post.x

2023 is here🎉

Happy New Year first of all and cheers to another attempt at being consistent with blogging.

I must admit that Christmas 2022 and entry into the New Year didn’t carry the excitement it usually carries for me.It was very weird for me and yes I know they say the novelty wears off as you get older but oooof…

As the year drew closer to its end,naturally I started thinking about what I was going to do with my life.I have to admit I had some ideas for my New Years Resolutions(NYR) but I didn’t have the clarity to express it with the intention I actually had(if that makes sense at all)?.

For the past few years,I’ve basically recycled my NYRs despite presenting it in different vision board formats.For last year,I used canva and pinterest and sadly the main thing I was able to achieve on there was clearing my debt and also getting a credit card.

Almost 90% of my NYRs didn’t happen so let’s just say I was not keen about NYR 2023 despite my nagging and constant advocacy for vision boards and writing the vision down in general.

I’ve been exploring via YouTube,IG and through conversations with family and friends the last few days and I have come up with these steps that will most likely help anyone in a similar boat like me achieve at least half of their goals.People swear by them so I’ve rephrased them in the way I understand them.

See below;how to achieve your NYR 2023

1-Set an intention and a reason you want that thing-why do you want that thing and how’s that going to benefit your life?E.g.A car because you are single parent and travelling with a baby on the bus is starting to feel long.This should be your why.

2-What habits can you start to make it easier for your goal to materialise?.E.g,if you want to save £50 a month into an emergency fund, the habit you will need to develop will be automating a £50 saving into a high yield yet easily accessible account to come out on your pay day(treat it like a bill) so the money is actually saved and untouched as well as out of your sight so you are not tempted to spend it.

3-Give deadlines to your goals.E.g if you have 12 goals,allocate one goal to each month and work hard each month to make sure you achieve that goal,then you can dust your hands off that goal.

4-Pray and commit the goal/s to God every month and ask Him to help you and bring helpers to help you achieve it.

I intend to practise these things I’ve shared as I’m determined to not go another year without seeing certain things in my life.I also hope that these steps will be useful and effective.

With that said,I really hope and pray this year is fruitful for everyone reading and we can all challenge ourselves to experience growth in many areas of our lives and live blessed lives.

Until,my next post,have a prosperous 2023 guys❤️

Tilly.x

December 2022

I woke up this morning from a notification from clearscore that my credit score had gone up.Yayyy,I must say I was very happy despite the increase not being a very significant one.

I have worked the whole of this year with the intention and agenda to increase my score and clear some debt and I am very happy to announce it has happened.

I had a very debt that was long standing and had almost £600 to clear as my goal before the end of the year and I have realised that I’ve only got £42 left to pay on 28th December as my last payment instalment to completely clear that debt.How marvellous is that?

Moving onto exciting things,I got my first credit card yesterday with a credit limit of £700 after years of working to improve my credit.The APR is over 30% which is not great and not adviseable but I need to build credit so this is a deliberate decision that I’m hoping will favour me if all things go well.

Hope all is well with everyone btw?

Anyways,I will share a few more posts about how I have discovered paying surveys from the IG finance community and how I’ve managed to earn over £110 in the last 3 months.I could have earned more but my mommy duties kept calling so this is not too bad.

Cheers to getting money wise and seasons greetings to everyone🎄❤️

1st post of 2022-January ending

Happy New everyone.I hope it’s not too late to still be dropping this line.January has felt quite long although not as long as I anticipated which is great.

I started off the new year with my NYRs and vision board and have a clear agenda to clear remaining debt and build credit properly this year using payment facilities like clearpay.I know,I know what you are thinking,isn’t that a bad idea?

It’s not if you know how to use it.This is not an ad from them but I stumbled accross it accidentally first week of January and decided to give it a go and surprisingly I haven’t been disappointed.

For anyone who doesn’t know,it’s a facility or a feature you find on some websites to purchase items from the website to split the payments,paying 1st instalment at time of purchase of item followed by subsequent payments at a later date.It works the same way as after pay,laybuy,split etc

I’ve managed to restock my kit as MUA(I bet that’s something you didn’t know about me but welcome on board anyways)

It’s been such an easy thing to do paying every other 2 weeks using it as opposed to carrying the burden of paying full price for something when you don’t want to use up your money.

Now,I must warn you.If you are not great at paying back ON TIME,this is not for you as you accrue £6 charge(s) if you do not pay on the day much like how you would get interest on a credit card.

For anyone reading this thinking uhhh this is clever,there is a cap on how much you can borrow for each period so feel free to apply,purchase some much NEEDED things only,pay back ON TIME and watch what progress you can make with your credit building.

Now I can’t say it’s beneficial for you in the long term in terms of building your credit as I have only used it for a month but it’s worth a shot if you don’t want to fork out a huge sum of money in a go for any purchase.

Again,do pay back ON TIME and don’t say u didn’t warn you.

On another note,what are your personal development or personal finance goals for Feb?Comment below.

Day 365 of 2021

The year has finally ended and as always,I have done my reflection for it and reviewed my choices/decisions.

I’m currently binge watching finance videos on YouTube particularly ones from humble penny and assessing what areas I can improve on in my finances.I love Ken and Mary btw,they are such light in this generation!

My sister and I had a lengthy talk yesterday about what things we’ve done right or wrong and what we would like to improve on and most of it has been finance and sticking to systems we have put in place this year.

For me personally,I’m still looking at debts and my total is just under £2500 worth of debt so I will be taking that into the new year(sadly I suppose)and working on it.

I must admit that I’ve made some progress generally and also in my finances l,although not as much as I hoped for BUT little progress is still progress.

If you are in the same boat as me,I encourage you to hold on and practise some discipline and self denial in the coming year so you can reach your financial goals and preserve what you are working for.

I’m sure there are other things we can all review from our lives in 2021 but in all things give thanks so let’s all be grateful for what we have also been able to accomplish.

I hope to be more consistent on here in 2022 and share more on here as I practise and learn more about personal finance management.

So,as always,I will speak to y’all soon,God willing.

In the mean time,celebrate God and your loved ones and have a joyous new year!!!!

Deuces.xx

Payment history-Credit karma

This year has been a bit of a rough year although very good in some ways overall if I’m honest.In terms of my finances though,as already mentioned in my previous post,I could have done better.

I knew my payment history was quite bad but i didn’t realise how bad until I received an email this morning from ClearScore re my credit score.

I decided to check my payment history and I am gobsmacked!Lets just say I will leave my credit score to your imagination because I just can’t share it😂

On to a better year(prays silently)

Here is my payment history so y’all can appreciate that you are not the only one.

Kick ass in the last few days of this year if you can though by reducing your spending and increasing your earnings(if possible) that’s if you are able to do that.

I will try my very best over here too!

Update-Almost end of year

The end of the year has a way of forcing everyone to take stock of some things in their life.

For me,I usually tend to examine my health,my budget for the last quarter and my relationships with people.

Spending has been a bit of a joke this year as I’ve had a lot of rainy days with unemployment at some point and pregnancy the last few months.

I’ve had to reconsider my spending and manage it for the sake of my baby so much so that for the first time in my life I did nothing on my birthday in October btw and will probably not celebrate it in anyway(we’ll see)

My credit score too has taken a dip and if I’m honest I’m embarrassed to share the actual score figure right now.

I will tell you what my observations are in terms of what caused the dip and what I plan on doing to fix this problem that seems to rear it’s ugly head every now and then.

The main culprit has been late payments!!!

As you know,this reflects on your ability to pay or your commitment to clearing or paying debt you owe which is never a good look.Credit companies look at your repayment history and reflect it on your credit file.

As annoying as it may seem when you see dips,it serves as a challenge to work harder at building your credit and being disciplined with your spending and sticking to your budget.

Christmas is just round the corner and everything purchaseable is screaming at you to buy it.For me,I’m exercising a lot of self control this year and making sure I hit my savings goal and pay off at least one of my lowest debt at the minute(lowell debt of £294).I’m still doing the snowball effect.

I’m confident my credit score will look a little nicer in January or February and I will come on here to boast a little and show you what I have being able to accomplish.

Till then,those on the same journey,do your due diligence,copy me,have some discipline and let’s build our credits together.

Seasons greetings everyone,Tilly❤️

Commitment to fear

Fear not for I am with thee,do not be dismayed for I am your Lord.I will uphold you with my right hand-Isaiah 41:10

I’ve been thinking about the whole idea of fear for a few days now and realised upon seeing an IG post that for fear to have its course or be anchored,someone has to be COMMITTED to it.

Here’s what I’m saying,I realised that commitment is a verb and not just a noun so for you to constantly be fearful,you should have determined unconsciously to be committed to maintaining your fear.You are basically l adamant on letting it stay with you and you won’t allow yourself or anyone to challenge you to move it out the way.

You are essentially setting the wheels in motion everytime you wake up and energise this thing you are afraid of to rule you.

You churn it and give it life and exert your energy by reminding it that it has power over you.

If we are honest with ourselves,how many times have we told ourselves that we can’t do something because of A,B or C?

We rehearse reasons and excuses as to why we can’t do things,have what we want to have,apply for certain jobs,be with this person,drive this or that car etc

Might I add,that this usually comes off the back of negative self talk,inadequacy,self esteem,previous failures,previous rejections,awareness of the disfavour on your life etc.

I’ve been thinking about all these things abd looking at ways to challenge myself in areas that I’ve unconsciously committed to fearing and as I do so I’m aware I have friends on here who will be keen to do similar introspection.

What are you afraid of?

What have you dedicated and committed to be afraid of?

Think on these and write 3 things.

I promise you,you will move a mountain or 2 and breakthroughs will come out of this if you are able to identify,challenge and relieve yourself of the burden to commit to fearing that thing.

If you would like some help on this,email me at tillyboakye@hotmail.com.

I will be happy to help❤️