TestCall's First Steps

daily_2

Vanquis 39.9% £721 - £550 - £171 (taken from the spare credit in the low apr OD)

means you can clear the highest apr debt now.

Fire_Fox

TestCall wrote: »

Gym-wise it's a recent thing. I had the option of month-by-month membership at £50 or 12 month contract at £39. I have a bad history with gyms so said I'd take the month-by-month for a bit and if I find myself actually using it then transfer to 11 month contract. As part of the losing weight initiative I'm going to try my best to cut out the junk food to make it more worthwhile.

I know what you mean about smoking. I want to lose some weight as my first priority, so in that respect I'm happy with the gym. When it comes to overall fitness I know it's a bit of a contradiction so over time I'll think about quitting. As it is, my job means duty free cigarettes so at least I don't pay too much for them.

Thanks for your help Fire Fox!

Sorry if this comes across as a nag ... it's harder to know when to speak and when to shut up on the net!! You are absolutely right to hit one thing at a time, as too many changes are hard to keep up.

You will actually find it easier to lose the weight if you quit smoking sooner rather than later. You simply won't be able to work as hard in the gym, and so won't burn as many calories. Everything will feel harder than it would for a non-smoker which tends to either encourage people to quit smoking or ... quit the gym. Smoking encourages weight gain around your waist, and I have yet to meet a male client who wasn't worried about their abs!! When you are ready to quit get all the help you can from the NHS. Not just medication but group or one-to-one advice as well - you are twice as likely to quit if you take up this option.

To help you quit the smoking and the junk food, I'd suggest carrying as little money with you as possible - if you haven't got the funds you can't be tempted! Habits to change ... if there is a particular shop or vending machine that draws you in, drive/ walk a different way round. If there is a particular time you automatically fancy a fag/ bar of chocolate (say with a cuppa in front of the TV) change that routine - sit in a different chair, wash up before you veg out, have a shower whatever.

Hope that helps!! :beer:

TestCall

Fire Fox, thanks again. You've got some good points but I'm very much the stubborn type!

Anyways, thanks to the wonders of the interweb I'm posting this from the middle of the Irish sea. I've just paid £5.95 for a bacon sandwich that took thirty minutes to arrive, but I've already popped this and a few other complaints in an email to Stena Line in the possibly naive hope that they'll feel sorry for me and give me a credit on my next booking. I'm going to be making the trip back to Ireland again in October, and, in true DFW style, I've already checked prices and (semi) worked out how to pay for it. I've got £10 Tesco vouchers = £40 rewards vouchers that can go towards it, mother dearest will contribute and possibly father dearest too.

I don't want this ferry journey to end because I'll have to endure the M4 at the other end. Possibly the most boring motorway in the history of, well, motorways. Though at least it's Sunday so hopefully not too busy. I'll be stopping a few times which unfortunately means expensive services food.

Not much else to report at the moment, spending diary is being kept religiously, though it's still only day two. I'm trying to get into the habit of asking for receipts with everything to make things easier.

Anyways, thanks again everyone for reading and please do feel free to pick me apart!

spiderdijon

TestCall wrote: »

I don't want this ferry journey to end because I'll have to endure the M4 at the other end. Possibly the most boring motorway in the history of, well, motorways. Though at least it's Sunday so hopefully not too busy. I'll be stopping a few times which unfortunately means expensive services food.

Hi TestCall,

I have found a way around the horrible motorway services food! What we do when we go on long journeys and get hungry is head into the nearst town where you are guaranteed to find a Tesco Express (other convenience stores are available ). We then stock up on cheap sandwiches (cheese and onion, mmm), bottles of pop that are on offer and multipacks of own brand biscuits and crisps and voila, you have a feast for the price of a motorway services coffee :cool:

Anyway hope that helps, have a safe journey home :wave:

TestCall

Good idea. I'm terrible though, I rely on my SatNav 100%, bit scary taking an exit and just hoping you won't be driving for miles to find food. Same as everything with me, convenience rules. Need to try and break that habit.

Fire_Fox

TestCall wrote: »

Good idea. I'm terrible though, I rely on my SatNav 100%, bit scary taking an exit and just hoping you won't be driving for miles to find food. Same as everything with me, convenience rules. Need to try and break that habit.

You've recognised it as something that is potentially holding you back :T lots of people never get that far.

Loving you posting on MSE from the Irish Sea, a very productive use of your time and probably completely unique!

Cashwitch

Well done for making your start TestCall! I've found that once you reach that moment when you decide to halt the tide of debt, that it's onwards and upwards!
Having never had plastic :shocked: (but still managed to acrue a good few grands worth of debt!) other people on this forum can offer good advice on that front

Parts of your story sound so familiar to me...particularly the lifestyle stuff....Food and snacks were a huge drain (+ one of our worst habits), and when you actually sit down and add it up, you'll have a big shock. Definitely try the demotivator tool as suggested! I totted up how much we were spending on sandwiches each day for work and takeaways and was horrified!!! It was £200+ a month! I'd much rather go out and have a really nice meal once in a while (which is cheaper, too!) than spend hard-earned cash on junk.

Everyone is different, but I found gym membership a waste of money as I wasn't at all disciplined....the way I figured it is that walking or running is free and has the same effect! I've also lost half a stone anyway since really thinking about what I buy/eat.... Also, with respect, the NHS provides for most healthcare needs - what extra benefit does private healthcare bring? I'm in my 30's and had the usual share of illnesses (some of which requiring outpatient referrals) I can't say that private would have been of any benefit...Waiting lists have been reduced so much now...

The lightbulb moment for us was to take it right back to basics and stop using our cards for anything other than essential stuff....
It really works. We'd tried it from the angle of budgeting/cutting down spending loads of times over the years, but found stopping spending completely to be much more effective. When you strip things right down you'll be able to see exactly when you do spend on 'stuff' and exactly how much cash. These things (offenders like magazines, snacks, sandwiches, 'stuff') stand out like beacons in our accounts now because of this trick. Then we cut our shopping budget (now £40 per week for 2 of us), and all this made is think very hard about those 'extras' (which actually aren't 'extras', they end up costing you the most!).We've knocked nearly £1000 off our overdraft since March 09 (our 'wake up' moment) and I've nearly finished paying all my personal loans (1 month left!)

I wish you all the best and look forward to reading your posts!

TestCall

Well I'm back, safe and sound.

Thanks Cashwitch, good points. I'm trying to work out exactly how to cancel the health insurance, it's on the to do list. I've recently had elective surgery at the NHS trust I work part time for and it was great - private room, reasonable food.t,

My €450 worked out at £350 at Lloyds. Of that, £100 has gone to Vanquis and £20.12 to Aqua. I know it's an odd amount and should have gone to Vanquis too but I wanted to round off my bank balance. Yes, I know I'm strange. £200 has been put aside for car repair. I know it should wait but I'm being stubborn again.

I'm about to call Yorkshire BS to chase up my share scheme cheque which hasn't arrived yet - grrrr.

And I went to McDonalds today. Grrrr, discipline TestCall, discipline.

TestCall

Right, I've been through the snowball calculator. Assuming repayments of £300 and not taking into account any extras, my DFD is October 2010.

I'm setting myself the goal of getting debt free by April. If any of you read this in April 2010 and I'm still in debt please kick me.

:-)

TestCall

Haha, I'm an idiot, just found the cheque from YBS on my bedroom floor of all places - will lodge tomorrow.