My new life starts tomorrow

louise30_2

No I'm not putting things off - tomorrow is pay-day. Fresh from my success with a credit card company who ripped me off, I am determined to start afresh.

I'm £4,500 ish in debt. (I think I have managed to pay off £1K overdraft since Christmas - will know for sure tomorrow) I also have a student loan, but as I don't earn enough to pay it off yet ,it can wait - However I do voluntarily pay a small amount each month to cover interest and a tiny bit of the loan.

Tomorrow is pay day - and I am going to keep a record of EVERYTHING I spend from tomorrow. I have tried this before but come unstuck after a week or so, but I'm determined to keep going this time - Does anyone have any tips to keep me going.

I'm practising today. I avoided the vending machine at work so saved 40p on a bag of crisps (brought my own from a multipack of 12 for £1) and also brought my own Twix bar for the 3pm sugar fix - saving another 40p. That's 80p a day! I reckon that's £208 a year!!!! I think. ooh I feel better already.

$17mma

Hello Louise

Why dont you do a spend/debt diary like James has done. That way we can all help you to stay on track and may be able to highlight some things we all over look from time to time.

Or participate in the "what have you spent today thread" that is updated daily.

magni

Good luck with getting started tomorrow. Lots of tips to be had on here. I'm still new to this myself so I'm sure someone else will have much better ideas. I have started a food budget which I am sticking to and feel really great if I can keep under it. :j I write everything down and keep subtotaling so I can see how much I have actually spent and on what. Best tip for me so far is thinking twice before buying anything and asking myself do I really need it? I have used savings to pay off a loan and got a LOB card for all my credit cards. They are now locked away with reduced credit limits or closed if they are no good to me. I have an Egg Money card which I am using for my food budget which also helps me to track it. I preload it with £200 a month. This is my first month doing it but I think it's going well :j

louise30_2

ooh - what's the spend/debt diary - Does James just write down everything he has spent on a thread? (Sorry I am still getting to grips with all this.)

I know my big problem when it comes to money - I binge and I am not very organised. I used to work in London and everyone said I was the most organised person in the company. But since I came back home (to the north) it has all gone pear shaped. If I try and talk to my BF he just laughs and thinks it's funny that I am trying to do something that needs organisation. I have tried to get him to encourage me, but he just harps on about how much I have spent in the past. (I don't think I'm too bad really, but it gets me really really down) And my parents just tell me that I should stop doing too much then I would have time to be organised (I run a kids sports club and am a coach four days a week as well as my full time job) But I run the club as a volunteer because I love it and I need my job to pay the bills!

Sorry to harp on - but sometimes me and my debt feel very lonely. ( I think I'm going to start blubbing in a moment)

BlondeHeadOn

Hi louise30, just wanted to say there is no need to feel lonely now you have joined this board! I'm sure lots of lovely MSE people are going to post replies with help and suggestions soon, but believe me you are not alone in your debt situation - we're all in the same boat and helping each other.

Load of Hugs xx

$17mma

louise30 wrote:

ooh - what's the spend/debt diary - Does James just write down everything he has spent on a thread? (Sorry I am still getting to grips with all this.)

I know my big problem when it comes to money - I binge and I am not very organised. I used to work in London and everyone said I was the most organised person in the company. But since I came back home (to the north) it has all gone pear shaped. If I try and talk to my BF he just laughs and thinks it's funny that I am trying to do something that needs organisation. I have tried to get him to encourage me, but he just harps on about how much I have spent in the past. (I don't think I'm too bad really, but it gets me really really down) And my parents just tell me that I should stop doing too much then I would have time to be organised (I run a kids sports club and am a coach four days a week as well as my full time job) But I run the club as a volunteer because I love it and I need my job to pay the bills!

Sorry to harp on - but sometimes me and my debt feel very lonely. ( I think I'm going to start blubbing in a moment)

Hun you are not alone, there are tons of people here that you can talk to, share things with etc... so you harp on as much as you like fleur..

Here is James debt diary.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=148510

moongarden

hi louise30,
you say you are starting tomorrow but i am sure there are things you could do today in advance - like gathering all the papers together for bills, doing some filing,
creating an excel spreadsheet to track your expenditure etc

i have discovered that i don't have to have money in the bank to practice moneysaving - the most important thing i do is 2-3 days before payday when i have no money left - and that is to review and adjust my budget so it is exactly correct.

that way on payday i make all the transfers immediately. if i don't budget before payday i think i have plenty of money so i spend a bit on this and that and then 3 days after when i sit down to pay the bills i don't have enough money left.

best wishes and good luck

Amanda65

louise30 wrote:

Tomorrow is pay day - and I am going to keep a record of EVERYTHING I spend from tomorrow. I have tried this before but come unstuck after a week or so, but I'm determined to keep going this time - Does anyone have any tips to keep me going.QUOTE]

Well done on tackling you finances. I've started a spreadsheet in excel (well it started as one but I now seem to have about 5 and everything I spend is recorded at least 3 separate ways in various analysis!) What I am finding, like you are today, is that it stops me spending on those impluse purchases - magazines, bottles of expensive wine at the local shop instead of cheaper supermarket buys etc. Look after the pennies ......................

Helen302

Hi Louise,

Good luck with getting rid of your debt, once you've admitted to yourself that you are actually in debt and you need to deal with it, it becomes much easier!

I'm new to this website and I'm sure people have mentioned Payplan before but if you get into serious trouble and have to default on your cards at all speak to these (free) guys, I was in (credit card) debt by £50k 2 years ago and its now down to a more modest! £28K due to sheer willpower and counting for every single penny. I'm lucky in that I'm in a fairly well paid job and am able to keep paying this off at the pace I am but I couldn't have done it without Payplan.

louise30_2

-- and the pounds look after themselves - That reminds me of my gran ( that's a good thing by the way! ) She was ace and an amazing woman. She never ever borrowed money from everyone. I am sure (if she were still here) she would be proud of my trying to sort it out today.

I've just tried to tell my BF that "tomorrow my new life starts". When I explained - he said "oh well I've heard that before - just don't spend any money". I told him I really needed his support and for him not to be negative. His solution is to giev me all my money - not what I need

Reya

I've just tried to tell my BF that "tomorrow my new life starts". When I explained - he said "oh well I've heard that before - just don't spend any money". I told him I really needed his support and for him not to be negative. His solution is to giev me all my money - not what I need

:rolleyes: I hesitate to say, "Men!" because there are plenty of them on the MSE boards and I'm sure they're not all like your BF, but boy oh boy... *refrains from mentally slapping him*

If the boyfriend is no help, then lean on the MSE-ers. I've been lurking for weeks now, and they're the best support group that anyone in financial difficulties could have. Give the bf a mental "sod you, I'll do it myself, then" and quietly get on with it, with help from everyone here. Then show the bf that you mean it. He can't scoff and laugh if he can see that you're coping quite well without his 'help'. In fact, it might make him buck up his ideas and stop coming out with all of that "yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it" stuff!

And good luck!