I want to break free........

BADPENNY_2

Intergalactic_Floozie wrote: »

Oh my goodness! Are you me? I could have written that!!! In fact, I might steal it and use it as my signature! Good luck to you, and try to keep us updated in your diary

so glad its not just me!!!!!:j

BADPENNY_2

not much to update on today i'm afraid. paid a pound to halifax credit card and have also beem thinking about my overdraft. i'm getting worried as halifax are changing the way they charge for overdrafts and as of dec they will be charging me £1 per day for each day that i use it which is gonna cost me aprox £20 per month if not more. i was toying with the idea of using my credit card to pay it off and closing my o/d facilitie but have tried that in the past and just ended up going overdrawn again. so i think the only way to tackle this is the painfull way. yes i am gonna have to use REAL cash to pay it off. my thinking is that if i have to go through the pain barrier i will be less likely to use my overdraft again as i will see it as real money that i have worked hard to pay off IYSWIM. is it just me that finds i don't really have any apprecation for the stuff that i've bought on credit (i can't even remember what most of it is) but i do value the few things that i've bought with real cash. another tough lessson learnt i think. anyway i've found an old cash card saving account in the back of my purse that i've forrgotten the pin number to which has about a fiver in and i have just set my details up on line and transfered £1 over to it. any money i have spare will now go to paying off the overdraft. ideally i would like to get it down from 700 to 350 by xmas. pay day tommorrow and i still have £30 in current account and £5 in purse and i have £20 in my piggy bank so this will all be deposited tommorrow. woop thats £60 already and i havn't even started yet. hope its gonna always be this easy!!!

moneysavermum_2

Ive been following this thread....and i just think its all about habits....we can change our habits if we ant to but it takes time initially to change things around. Best to take one day at a time and try and make good choices for that day. When you are in debt youve got to realise its not a quick fix to get on the straight again.... but can be done by changeing spending habits and paying some off.

BADPENNY_2

Just watched thrifty ways for modern days on itv. some good tips but i draw the line at making my own roadkill sausages....... Pay day today and i have calculated my budget and have had to cut a down to the bone. i have slashed my food bill from 200 to 100 this month (i'm scared) so looks like i might be dieting this month after all:eek:. seriously there is only me and oh to feed so 100 should be doable i think if i cut right back and cook from scatch. i'm gonna half to muster some energy to do some e-baying this month as i have calculated that i can't even make the minimum payments on 2 of my cards so need to raise an extra 100 this month from somewhere. my payment of £1 day to halifax and savings may also suffer, just when i was getting going:mad:.

BADPENNY_2

quick update - the shopping budget is shot to !!!!!!. spent 60.66 today and my overall budget for the month is only 100. i can forsee a lot of toast coming my way over the next 4 weeks as i desperatly need to try and stay as close to this figure as possible.

Freckles2408

Have just read through your trail and thought I would try and give you some encouragement. Stay positive and take small steps. Only you can do this so tell yourself that you can...you have made the step to do a diary which alot of others wouldn't ! You coudl put a post-it inside your purse saying 'Do I really need to buy this ?' It might just make you think twice about what you are about to pay for !!!!
I too am rubbish at the exercise thing but am too focused on money at the moment to worry about it.....stop beating yourself up !!

Keep Smilin !!!!!!

January20

At the beginning of September, before going back to school, I decided to give meal planning a try. I'd heard so much about it on these boards! Well, I'm completely addicted because it has saved me loads of time and money. I live with a very fussy teenager foodwise and it virtually takes me minutes on a Saturday or Sunday to plan the meals we'll have for the week. Then it's a matter of checking what I have in (or check what I have in first and meal plan accordingly) and make a shopping list. I have probably shaved off a third, if not a half of my shopping bill. And even if you don't meal plan, always take a shopping list, never go when you are hungry (old Weight Watchers' trick) and if at all possible pay with real money (cards never feel like real money)

As for the gym, I wouldn't agonise over it. Some of us are not meant to enjoy going to the gym. I'm one of those. There are other forms of excercise: walking, swimming, dancing, etc.

BADPENNY_2

hi guys - thanks for your words of encouragement, i have tried the mealplanning for this week and i now know what i am having all this week. got the slow cooker out again today and have made a massive chilli which i'm going to stick in the freezer, i'm on lates all next week so this will help me out a lot as i tend to 'reward' myself with a mcdonalds when i work lates. the only trouble is when i cook things in the slow cooker i keep nipping into the kitchen to 'taste' what i'm making, i must of had a bowlfull of chilli already!

well today has turned out to be expensive - paid tv licence £142
- paid water bill £142
- paid m&s card - £70
- paid halifax - £25
- papers - 2.50
- ciggs - 3.10.

i have just finnished cleaning house (sort of) and feel much better, i always think i feel loads better when everthing is clean and tidy and have picked up loads of tips from reading the fly-lady thread although i will never be as organised as those ladies over there, i had to have a lay down just reading level 1!

off to have a nice soak in the bath now and then i am going to invest some time in me. going to to a little mini pedi and manicure and deep condition hair and then i'm gonna get the curling irons out that i got last xmas and see if i can do something different with my hair. can't wait for whitney on x factor tonight, please let jon and edward get voted off tonight though as i really feel like kickin the telly when i see them!

elosarabrab

I pay the TV licence monthly it makes it far less painful instead of finding a big chunk of monney in one go.:o

ms_london

Hi Badpenny

Well, I could have written that, so you are certainly not alone on that one.

As others have said, I think sometimes being too strict on yourself and trying to tackle all areas of your life at the same time, are sometimes asking for trouble. If they were that easy to tackle, you would have done them along time ago! Try and focus your attention on one thing at a time.....

I whole heartedly agree that eating well and exercising makes a big difference in how you feel and your moods, but I am also one, for ignoring that when I want to be pigheaded. At the end of the day the only person I am hurting is myself, I suppose its trying to get to the root of the problem and why we behave in that way.

Why not aim to go to the gym 3 times this week and not 5 times, if you force yourself to go, you'll give up.

I agree that meal planning is the answer. I've been so slack lately and have spent a fortune on food (junk food!). Also, been starting to think the same about alchohol, it's just a waste of money. This is a fight I have with myself all the time!

I've just lost my job (3rd bout of unemployment this year!) so HAVE to be good with money at the moment!

Let me know how you get on. Maybe changing your username to 'good penny' might be a bit of a boost too, as your current username is quite negative :0(