Losing motivation

benedictadams

Thanks everyone

Treated myself to a sandwich from Benjys a couple of times last week, basically as i couldn't face another cup-a-soup for lunch

I get around £850 in wages every month after tax etc (which i know is a lot more than some people on here)

Out of that goes

£275 for the rent (share with a flat mate)- cannot get cheaper, have looked on many occassions

£37.50 for the energy consumption (Scottish Power - they were the cheapest on the U-switch web-site)

£35 a week for spending (this includes food and bus fare, although i walk to work and when the evenings get lighter i may walk back from work)

£5 for the phone bill (again this is my half of the bill from Telewest)

£9 for the internet (again my half of the Telewest bill, It was £17.50 but phoned them a while ago and threatened to cut to the very basic package and they halved the bill for the same speed)

£2.50 for the Telewest basic TV package (i know if i was a good boy i shouldn't have cable TV but i don't have a night-life and never rent movies)

£20 a month for the water (am a bit of an eco-person as well so the water and electric use is as low as it could go)

£140 a month for savings (i don't have any and when the tenacy agreement runs out at the end of August I'll need a deposit for a new flat, so can't really cut back on that)

£110 bill repayments (£59, £30 and £20 on the loan, travel cc and dividend cc)

a few quid a month on the cat (never more than a fiver, but he needs to eat)

£40 a month for the council tax

The tv licence comes out every few months (not sure exactly how much which is bad i know)

Last month i made over-payments of £40 on the debts

My pension to CIS is around £22 a month

My cat insurance is £6 a month (i know that when i cancel Cosmos will have an accident and the vet bills will cripple my budget

The milkman takes £8 a month (i know that milk is around 18p a pint cheaper in the supermarket, but I hate the plastic waste that milk cartons cause, and its good to know that i always have a pint three times a week in the morning for breakfast)

£10 a month on a mobile phone pay as you go voucher

I can't recall where the other £50 a month goes but it ain't squandered

I haven't had a holiday for 20 years (i'm only 31)

I haven't been out since Christmas on a works do and i then spent less than a tenner.

When i needed a new vacuum i got one from freecycle, same when the computer monitor went to gadget heaven

I buy my clothes from the charity shop (i can't justify moe than £1.50 for a shirt, pair of trousers), haven't had a new pair of shoes in years

My mobile was a Christmas present and the old one went on ebay

If anyone can see where i could savings i would be most grateful. I do check every month whether i am on the best electric supplier.

benedictadams

nabowla wrote:

I know exactly what you're going through - I've had absolutely no motivation for the last six months or so. Still struggling to find it, but never mind!

One thought sprang to mind when I read your posts. Rather than paying off the odd four quid every time you happen to have a bit of extra money, how about putting the spare money into a moneybox and then using it to pay off a lump sum every one or two months? Somehow I think it's more of a boost if you pay off £30 or £40 in one go, rather than 10 x £4. But maybe that's just me........

I know where you are coming from Nabowla, that £40 would be a more visible sum, but my current thinking i that as the interest is calculate on a daily basis on the cards that to pay a bit every week will over the lifetime of the balance reduce the total by maybe a pound and i would rather that extra was in my pocket than the banks.

nabowla

Have you tried plugging your debts into the snowball calculator yet? It looks at all of the debts and the interest rates and figures out which debt you should be targeting with those spare pounds that you manage to find from time to time. It'll also calculate your Debt Free Date: having a DFD in your head might help you to see that there is an end in sight.

One other thing, you're currently spending £109 per month on debt repayments. As soon as you've paid off the last of the debts that's an extra £109 per month in your pocket. Why not promise yourself that you'll save that post DFD money up for a couple of months and spend it on a cheap holiday? You could start planning the holiday now to help you keep focused on working towards your DFD.

LookingAhead

To benedictadams:

You are definitely not alone. I know how you feel too. My posts last week were all doom & gloom and I was having a nightmare week...things going wrong...having to spend money on gettings things fixed...spending money on things I'd forgotten about etc. You really do get weeks like that.

I know the odd £4 here & there may not seem a lot but at least you are paying it rather than adding to it. Definitely *every little helps* as Moozie says.

I find motivation in the smallest of things i.e. last week I got a three pack freebie from Lenor - I was really chuffed! :rotfl: I just kept thinking there was 60p I didn't have to find that week for fabric conditioner! Also, a colleague gave me 20p back he'd borrowed ages ago (I'd forgotten all about it!) and I was chuffed it meant I could add it into my Smarties tube...because at the end of it I will have a tube of £11 to bank so every coin helps.

Getting BOGOF offers and freebies and finding little useful savings that I picture in my mind chipping away at my debt...those little things really help me.

But above all else, this forum helps...especially the "What have you spent today" and "Weekly Goals" threads. It really focuses your mind and makes you realise you're not alone and you're among friends who are also chipping away.

We'll get there. It won't be overnight but we'll get there.

Please keep reading & posting!
:grouphug:

D&DD

Hi Benedict I think we all can admit to having days like that when you feel you're not making a dent but you are doing the right thing by plugging away and the interest will start to come down as you pay so it will be worth it
I started a spending diary which helped me a lot to see where my money was trickling out to,my budgets never added up til I did this
You might want to take a look at https://www.downsizer.net its another really great site and they might help on the ethical side of things as well as save you a few pennies into the bargain

amosworks

benedictadams wrote:

Am trying to save for a deposit for a rented flat which i am putting some spare cash in

Hey there

You are sharing the rented accommodations I hope? That's a top tip right there

Good luck with your battle!

sparklymessygirl

Benedict,

I hope you don't think I am being nosey (well...I am really!) - but I was wondering about your job. Do you need to get some further training or experience in order to get a better salary? Some classes are free and maybe voluntary work will make you feel more positive about the future? Of course, if your job is really stressful or if you work long hours you probably would not want to do this and of course you would have to think about travel costs too.

I think you are doing really well - it is so nice to hear about your concerns for the environment too :A

Sparkly

ceegee

Is interest being added to any credit card debt? Is this one reason why it's taking so long to go down? Could you approach your creditors and ask them to stop adding interest?

Could you take on an extra job? Lots of people do. When I was younger, as well as my daytime job, I worked 3 nights a week behind the bar in a private club (all quite respectable.....not a "naughty" type of club!) Weekend work is another possibility. Filling shelves or working on the checkout in a supermarket. I've done that too!

As for losing motivation.....well, getting out of debt ain't easy. But if you really put an effort in, by say, getting a second job, then the motivation will return as you will know that you are doing everything possible to get things better. That motivation will then feed on itself and just grow and grow and you will feel so much more positive and a lot happier! Honest!

Go on....you can do it!

queenofthedump

we all have days like that keep it up try remembering how hard it was to get where you at now and then think if i blow it i am going to have to do it again works for me

benedictadams

Thanks everyone

Not had a brilliant week

Although it had some good points

Have money coming into my account from Paypal (Ebay must be raking in the pofits, millions of items listed a year and fees from selling the damn stuff too)

Made another small payment on my credit card so when that clears I will be on target to get it below £900 by the end of the month)

Then the kick in the stomach

For a while I have been thinking about buying a small place (which is within my budget so it has to be very small these days)

Lovely woman from Endleigsh (sp?) mortgage services typed in all my details and all finances and she said that Northern Rock would be the cheapest.

So await the credit check and they decline it cos of debt from an address not mentioned in the application, strange I thought cos all my debt was declared

So hav the fun on Monday night of trying to get my credit report from Equifax (bunch of ahem!)

Their site was down so had to phone them on Tuesday and then wait til wednesday to get a phone call back.

We now need to verify your ID, so have to wait til Thursday to fax (which company only does 9 to 5 these days) and then you will get a call back in an hour

Thursday lunchtime comes and then it isn't an hour its 24, have massiv rant at them on phone, telling woman if THEIR internet site had been working properly it would all be sorted, less than 3 minutes later they have sorted it

Get my credit report and guy at working would used to work with mortgages says that my report isn't as bad as he thought it would be (loads of lovely 0s and only a couple of 1s, no nasty letters), so still can't work out why Northern Rock said no

I know that buying a place isn't very MSE, but there are good reasons for it

Never been able to find a rental place which has its own garden (and that is very important, it gives the cat a play area of its own)

It means that when i retire i am not having to sort out housing benefit forms

It means that every payment is going to something i own and not into some landlords bank account

So all in all no happier or motivated than last week