The hilariously over-optimistic goals I am setting myself in 2010....

dalleDF

Thanks Mrs R. You are quite right, it will only end in tears. Probably mine.

Work was not too bad today. I told my boss that his relentless negativity was grinding me down and I think he took it to heart as he has been much cheerier today. However, I have worked 10 hour days all week on very little sleep and I am exhausted. Really want to stay up and watch the election but tomorrow is a very busy day and I think I will realistically be in the bath and then in bed by 9pm.

dalleDF

Work is still stressful but I don't think my boss is actually leaving, he was just being a martyr and trying to make a point.

On the MSE front, I have about £35 to last me for the next 2 weeks til payday. Nightmare. This is what I get for trying to overpay my debts, and end up having to live on payday loans for half the month. *Sigh*. I just want to be rid of this debt once and for all.

dalleDF

So work is going pretty well now, I seem to have settled into something of an equilibrium. On the money front, I have worked out that in July I will be able to clear two debts. One is the egg loan, which is now down to £369 (from £4602 originally!), and the other is one of my credit union loans, which I will be able to pay off with my credit union savings. This will free up £250 a month for snowballing. When these two are gone it will be such a weight lifted. Then I will tackle the second credit union loan. Am still on target to be debt free by November. However, the rest of this month is going to be tough. I had to buy a couple of smart shirts for work because even my smart clothes now have holes in, so my food budget is now all out of whack. I cancelled my summer holiday and am doing something more low key instead, but I still have to fork out £300 for that next payday so June is also going to be a nightmare. But come August things will be easier, and I will be way on the way to powering through this debt. What is spurring me on is the thought of New Years Eve, when I will drink at least one glass of champagne (the good stuff, not Cava), and celebrate owing nothing to no-one.

dalleDF

Wow, can't believe it's been so long since my last post. I'll start with the bad news. I am smoking and drinking a lot and I am still not skinny. The next 2 weeks til payday are going to be hellish because I went out lots and enjoyed myself a little too much this month and completely blew the budget. But I don't mind eating tinned soup for 2 weeks because I had an awesome couple of weekends. However, I think I have !!!!!!ed up the plan for clearing 2 debts next month. I think I will only be able to do one and pay a bit towards the other one. Am still aiming to be debt free by the end of the year but it is fast becoming the impossible dream. Have even cancelled my low key holiday and taken a break from tattooing for a couple of months, but even that won't be enough I don't think. Oh well, am booked in to do some market research next week which will bring in enough money to feed me til the end of the month and pay a bit towards my egg loan.
And now for the good news....! I have met someone fantastic and we have been having a great time together. I actually really like him. He cracks me up all the time and he is a lovely, genuine person, and he loves partying as much as I do, and he has the skills to pay the bills, if you know what I mean....! So that is making me happy. Work is also going well. I am getting back into the swing of things. Have got a challenging few weeks ahead in which I will really need to step up, but I feel like I can do it now. However, it is quite distracting having a boy on my mind most of the time. I had forgotten what it was like. Anyway, on the money front, June is just doable, July is going to be a nightmare from the seventh circle of hell, but hopefully by August things will be getting easier, looking at my budget. Hope all of y'all are doing well and still chipping away at the b*stard debt!!

brizzledfw

Really pleased Hannah that things are looking up - enjoy!!

juicyjackieb

Come on Hannah - need more updates ... as a crumbly 32 y/o single cat lady i live through your antics and need stimulating!!! Whats the gossip??

dalleDF

Hi Jackie! Not masses of goss. Work is going ok, but it's tough. I am much busier, but it's better than being bored. And the boss buys us beer on fridays. Had a work-related event to go to the other day where I was given £30 worth of vouchers for No7 makeup, so now I have some lovely new eye makeup for freeeee!

On the romance front things are good. The boy I have been seeing is absolutely lovely. I really like him but am trying to be chilled out about the whole thing as I fear he may have some residual emotional baggage. But I could be wrong. Anyway, I am having a good time with him and he tells me how perfect I am all the time, so am pretty happy with that!

Moneywise, things are still rubbish. I have about £1.25 to last me until Monday when I get paid. Have been eeking out meals from what I have in the freezer. I can just about manage to eat over the weekend if I make blo*dy lentil dahl again, but I can't go out or have any fun. Luckily the boy is also skint, although not as skint as me. I have half a bottle of Basics vodka in the fridge so that's the extent of the fun this weekend. Maybe I'll invite him round. And they say romance is dead.

dalleDF

In a couple of days I will be making the final payment on my egg loan! I will be so happy to see the back of it. Finally one debt is gone yay! I have also overpaid an extra £50 to my credit union loan. Then next month if I can scrape together another £285 I will be able to use my savings to clear it, which will be brilliant.
I am a bit behind schedule but should still manage to pay off everything except a couple of hundred pounds on my interest free loan by the end of the year, which I could live with.
I decided enough was enough with the payday loans so I took out a Capital One credit card to use as a buffer instead for the last week before payday when I am always broke. It only has a £300 limit on it, and the interest rate is high but I have set up a direct debit to clear the full amount every month, so I won't end up paying the astronomical rate. It will work out cheaper than taking out a payday loan every month, and will also help to rebuild my credit rating in the event that one day I might be able to get a mortgage (v unlikely, but nevermind).
Clearly the answer is to spend less every month rather than get more credit, and I do try to stick to my budget, but it will give me piece of mind to know that I have it there as an emergency buffer in case I have an unexpected expense. And it will help me escape from the dreaded payday loans.
By August I will have cleared two debts, which will free up an extra £250 a month to throw at the other debts, and hopefully will mean I don't have to use the new CC at all. When this month's payments come out I will owe a total of £5694. I can't wait to get below the £5k mark, it will be such a milestone.

In other news, I am getting very fat from drinking too much beer in the park at weekends. I need to address this as it is clearly bikini weather and I don't want to reveal my wobbly bits as they are currently. Am trying to eat fruit for breakfast and salad for lunch, and drink less, but unfortunately am drinking a beer as I type this so am not doing very well at cutting down on the booze.

The lovely boy is still very lovely. Have all but forgotten about the fish, which is definitely a good thing. I did some gentle probing re the emotional baggage and I think he is on the mend and isn't about to go running back to his ex girlfriend. However, I have stalked her on facebook and she is way hotter than me so I think I better hit the gym if I am going to be any kind of competition to her. Just kidding, that is a ridiculous idea. I hate the gym.

dalleDF

Well, it turns out I was right about the emotional baggage and the new guy. I am allergic to bullsh*t when it comes to relationships, so at the first sign of nonsense I called it off with him. I was worried at first that I had been too hasty, but then some things have happened since that confirmed to me I made the right decision. I'm not closing the door on it completely, but I don't want to be with a man who isn't willing to give me his full attention. And it's not like he tried hard to keep me either. Or at all. So back to kissing frogs for the time being. *Sigh*.

In the meantime, am feeling depressed about my finances again. I just got paid last week and pretty much everything has gone out now to pay my bills. I should just be able to pay off my credit union loan this month, but it is going to mean I can't have much fun this month. But it will take my total debt down to £3736 which would be fantastic. I keep telling myself I just have to struggle for a few more months and then by the end of the year I will be debt free. But god, it's such a struggle. I earn good money and it's so hard living hand to mouth all the time despite having an above average salary. I just have to keep telling myself how far I've come. Am going to go back and read my first post in this diary as a little reminder. I also have to keep in mind that there are people in much worse positions than me, so really I should count my blessings. Anyway, I got myself into this mess and I have to get myself out of it. At least the end is in sight now. Roll on January 2011. Hope everyone else is doing well with the debt busting.

InaPickle

Go Hannah! :T

It is depressing when you feel like you get no reward for your work, but come the day when you can spend YOUR money on whatever you like, and you will feel all the better for it.

And as for kissing frogs...at least you get to kiss them...I only kiss my dog and my teddy bear! :rotfl: