No help to Bird I'm afraid, but maybe of help to others.
I have been through PPL, hour building, ground school and CPL in last 13 months, before embarking on the whole process I put a detailed budget together, ran it past a couple of mates who had done similar and also paid an accountant £200 to look it over.
After that and calculating loss of income and adding a contingency of 10%, I pretty much knew I would be able to finish what I started, sorry bird, and I am still pretty much unemployable until I have my instructors rating.
I suggest anyone else considering this works out an accurate budget, boring but essential, pretty scary too when you realise exactly how much it is going to cost you including all the extras you don't plan.