Living My Life But(t) N.A.K.E.D.

Swinstie73

Thanks NTBY, had to google your saying, and thanks for the good luck!

I keep getting asked when the wedding is etc., and I'm kind of saying, 'oh well we need to get a house first etc.' and it'll be a small affair when we do have it - need to save as well.

OMG, I have just had THE Biggest wake up call/LBM, whatever you want to call it - have been keeping figures on my spreadsheet of how much debt I have paid since October 2008 and how much I have spent, cos you know how you need to live. I wasn't prepared for the shock I got - the breakdown is like this:

Debt at 16/10/08 - £14,571.12

Current Debt now - £5,991.20

Paid off - £8,579.92 brilliant you might say except the real figures are like this:

Debt at 16/10/08 - £14,571.12
Current Debt now - £5,991.20

Paid off a whopping amount of £17,739.63 :eek::eek:, which means I ADDED £9,159.71 to my debt between now and then - !!!!!!!!!

I feel quite sick actually as this means my total debt was technically £23,730.83, I should've been debt free months and months ago!

Obviously I have spent the money but to be honest I can't think of what I spent it on, have kept a record of some of it, but £9K worth :eek::eek:

This is a huge wake-up call for me, maybe the 'having a life whilst paying debt' isn't working for me! With a house to buy and a (small) wedding to organise, I better get a move on, sorry charity shops but no more donations from me (I have given 10 boxes so far this year), but things are being ebayed from now on

Swinstie73

Okay, so I'm already thinking there won't be much wedding/house planning until after Christmas and after most of my debts are paid off - one of the reasons being the debt as although I'll still try and save, my priority is getting debt free. If we get married in 2012 then my debt will be totally clear i.e. March 2012 when my loan finishes.

The second reason being that as much as I'm excited about being engaged, the girl I work with (she's part-time) is in today and has been going on and on about when I need to do this and that and get my house on the market ASAP and it's already getting on my wick! I've told her I'm not thinking of anything til after Christmas for reasons above but she's not listening. Quite frankly I'm quite attached to my little house and I'm going to hang onto it as long as I can - a bit like my independence IYSWIM! We will get married, we will get a house but it won't be for at least 16 months to 24 months and I'm certainly not spending the next 24 months planning a wedding. How much time does it take to organise a small wedding anyway?? If I start just now it will just turn into a huge circus and that ain't what we want! Rant over......

Swinstie73

Ok, I've calmed down now, I know she's only trying to help, but I've already been looking at houses and getting frustrated that we can't buy anything right now. There is a fairly perfect one, fixed price in an area I'd like but there is no way it'll still be around when we want to buy, bummer eh!

Anyway, no more looking until we have some money saved and are in a position to buy, we still need to see how much we can go for a mortgage, I'm guessing this all depends on deposits etc., but if we at least know our price limit we can look within that. Ah, now I know why I'm happy in my wee house, didn't have one to sell beforehand as it was my first one.

Getting an Indian head massage at work on Friday, can't come quick enough, ha!

Swinstie73

Morning all,

Have made the decision to wrap up my diary now that I'm under £6K. Getting engaged and knowing I need to get my debt paid off ASAP and save for a house/wedding has really got me motivated big time, not feeling the urge to go out spending every penny I have (or haven't got). I've even brought my lunch in with me today, although I did buy a latte today but that was because I had a very boring team meeting to go into this morning - only 85p though!

I also have a new goal for weight loss starting from 1st August, was really disgusted to realise after getting a medical done 3 years ago, that I have put on 16lbs :eek:. Not a lot you might say, but it's gradullay been going up, so now it has to come down

Anyway, thanks for anyone that has been reading and/or posting, although it seems not many people have been around for a while - I said hi to someone recently (who used to post regularly) but it didn't even merit a reply - sorry had to vent there, oops! I'll still lurk and sometimes post in other diaries but think mines has bitten the dust a bit.

Bye all and good luck with all your debt busting - if I have not paid off my credit cards by December, I will be back..... Watch this space xxxx

Shoe_Gal

Good luck with everything - in the nicest way I hope you're not back in the New Year

Swinstie73

Just on to update my ticker, not as great as I had hoped - 58.9% paid but it's way over 50% so I'm a happy bunny! Gonna post periodically as my debt comes down each month but trying to spend more time doing housey things i.e. just keeping the place tidy, also have loads of maintenance work to be done, if I want to sell soon, my house needs to look buyable!

Have fun everyone, I will be lurking, and thanks to Shoe Gal for hoping I'm not back in debt again

Shoe_Gal

I'm sure you'll do it - keep us posted :j

urg123

hey Swinstie

Hope you are enjoying it now that you are all official and don't have to hide it!!!

I haven't really been on here much recently - too much going on. I hope you do keep posting and in touch. I know a lot of people lurk more than they post and it is always nice to see that debt go down.

I have had the same issue as you - adding to the debt while paying it off. I would have been debt free a lot sooner had I not continued to spend on stuff. While some was necessary, I still really have not learned to save before buying:o.

Glad you are also finally doing ebay - I remember trying to encourage you on the old diary!

Take care and hope you do still post - I do read when I get a chance and know others do too - you have a great writing style!


urg x x

Sun_Addict

Good luck Swinstie! Will miss reading your diary but for your sake hope you don't come back! Hopefully you might just pop in to let us all know when you're debt free though?

Swinstie73

Evening all,

Well having considered starting wrapping up diary v's starting a new one, I decided to continue but only post once I've actually achieved something IYSWIM!

Had a bit of a blow out last week, eating everything I could lay my hands on and also adding £36 to my CC, bad Swinstie, so the 1st August is as good a day as any to kick-start myself into action. The £36 was money well spent as it was on gardening stuff, 4 bags of bark for £18 (4 for 3 actually), sponges, a new rotary airer cover, wire for my strimmer, cheaper than buying a new strimmer and a bag of chips (no not those kind), for topping up my chipped area of the garden, so the front garden looks totally lovely. Not fancy but really tidied up, I'm thinking kerb appeal here when it comes to selling, nothing worse than viewing a house with a jungle for a garden.

Also, got OH to take my measurements this morning, the mortification is still with me and him I think, he's probably wondering why he proposed :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Also got him to take a picture, thinking Bulging Brides here, a before and after shot . Wasn't well on Thursday so missed the gym, twisted my knee (think it was whilst sleeping cos can't remember doing it) so also missed Pump on Saturday, but I am determined to miss as little as possible and you will see why when I post my measurements!!