Joined 31.05.16

If your debt is increasing and you want to pay it off asap why even think of yet more expensive ideas for next year. I have been concerned at what you consider "essential". £80 on perfume, teeth whitening, and planned plastic surgery come to mind but also impulsive spends on clothes and electric items I think.
Yes you have to live and enjoy life but you need to work out a budget and stick to it rather than making ever more excuses as to why you have overspent yet again.
Great idea on alcohol free run up to Xmas. Keep trying and you'llget there.

It is hard to change habits of a lifetime. We are in debt for a reason, because we've started a diary isn't magically going to stop us spending, just need to make sure the old habits rear their ugly head every now and again and not every month.

I couldn’t agree more with Ramble, you need to give yourself money to spend on yourself. Who cares if it increases the time your debt is paid back, you will get there eventually. When you don’t have a budget for you and keep strict budgets on your bills/debt repayments etc when you do buy yourself something (which will happen, I would say it’s virtually impossible for us not to!) then you don’t feel so guilty. I started paying every last penny to debt, had no money for myself, then when I did buy myself something I would feel bad then think F@1# it I have ruined it now and lose motivation and often keep spending.

I know you really don’t want to tell your parents, I haven’t told mine either, well not fully but they are terrible with money and for some bizarre reason think I am really good! Anyway, if they did find out yeah they might be a bit disappointed but they would get over it and wouldn’t love you any less - it’s just what parents do. I know you want to get the debt down asap, we all do, but maybe in the new year for maybe the first 6 months of the year you could half the loan to your parents and use that as spending money and focus everything else on the loan/credit cards?

With regards to teeth whitening, have you went ahead and paid? I have done a few in the past and paid about £300-500 and they aren't any good. I think you really need to committ to about a £1000 upwards to actually see decent results. I have used Crest teeth whitening strips in the past from America and they are great! Need to make sure they are the ones that say ‘Luxe’ on them and they are fantastic. In America they are allowed to add a higher % of the stuff that bleach your teeth than we can in the UK. I know some people prefer to go to the professionals but me and a lot of people I know have used them for years and had no problems and pearly white teeth. They cost about £40 for a weeks application and that’s all you need every 6 months.

Keep on going PSL, you’re doing great!! xxx

I really get that you are concerned about your appearance, (regular leg wax and eyebrows, teeth whitening, hair, perfume, clothes) and that as a single woman you'd like to meet someone. Perhaps meeting people should be more of a priority? I'm a long time out of the dating scene but do you think men even notice such nitty gritty aspects of how you look? Perhaps. But surely common interests and personality are more important? Could you maybe join a cheap evening class, or weekend volunteering group or special interest group (music, sport, politics, walking, debate, dance whatever) where you'd be likely to meet people you'd be likely to get on with?
But as several posters have said a budget is essential (that word again) so that you know how much you have for all the essentials. If you spend more than you have available, no matter how essential, you will get further into debt.

I've never had really expensive tastes. I have my hair coloured every six weeks, it costs me £23 as the hairdresser just colours it, washes it and I walk out with wet hair. It would be £50 normally.

I used to spend £20 on lex waxing every six weeks but I bought an epilator and it does the job well enough.

I use perfume, make up and wear nice clothes but I don't spend a ton of money.

My only vice is I have my nails done every 3 weeks at £25 a time. I'm going to stop this in the new year for a few weeks and throw the money at my cc.

I need lots of new stuff but I don't even consider buying anything as I want to clear my debt. I'm managing with what I have. I budget my money and allocate it to different bits. So in my head I know I can't spend that £30 as YNAB tells me it's for petrol.

If I start buying things and putting them back on my credit card I'll be back where I started in July.

If you want to see change, you've GOT to make changes otherwise everything stays the same!