Sorting out my life - Part 2!

jwil

I'm good thanks Plodding along. Good luck with the £2500 challenge and the selling!

copperjar

Got a bit of a wake up call today about my current spending patterns. Popped to M&S to buy a few bits for a friend coming over for tea tomorrow and somehow ended up spending £35 in the food section :eek:

Have been thinking about my NY resolutions for this year. Definitely want to get the small loan paid off asap and then save a bit towards a new car. So that's my finance one. The big loan is still bothering me but it almost seems too big to really tackle. I'm guessing the settlement figure will be less than the £14+k it currently stands at, but it'll still be BIG. In fact, I will get a settlement figure tomorrow so I know exactly where I stand with it.

Health and fitness. As usual, this is a target! Will start slimming world again in january (not going to classes though) and get back on the fitness train. I haven't got quitting smoking to contend with this year (:D), so I want to really focus on my fitness. Was reading through my diary earlier and was shocked to discover that I really got into the gym in the early part of 2011!! I had been convincing myself that the gym and winter don't mix, but obviously that's not the case. Ahem. I've also found a class that I quite fancy going to, so I'm determined not just to talk about it - and actually join this time!

Social life - have been getting much better at saying yes to stuff and going out more, so this needs to continue. I still worry about going to things where I won't know many people (prime example, have been invited to a NYE party but in two minds as to whether to go) and can quite quickly fall back into the hermit lifestyle, so really determined to keep up with this one. We only live once and although I still feel about 22 inside, I'm on the wrong side of mid 30s now :eek: so need to enjoy life!! You can have fun AND do it on a budget! And I'm not going to get swept off my feet by a gorgeous girl sat at home now am I?

I think they're my main 3 targets this year.

copperjar

Happy New Year everyone!
Well I went to that NYE party and had a great time, just been out for lunch with a couple of guys from work, but now it's time to stop spending and getting on with my MSE tasks for 2012!

Have listed a couple of things on ebay, one should make a reasonable sum I think, so that will start the challenge off quite nicely. Still need to have a dig around for more things....100 items is actually a lot!

Right, off to take down the decorations and sort out my January budget and pay some bills!

copperjar

Well I don't seem to be able to get out of holiday mode (and especially over indulging mode!). Have bought my lunch rather than taking a pack up since I returned to work and had a chinese takeaway for tea tonight. Need to get myself into gear!

Have sorted my finances tonight. Paid off the Barclaycard in full (it had crept up to £212.12!) and paid off the balance on my Next account (£22) so that's those gone again. It means that I've only been able to put £200 into my loan savings in Jan - I'm aiming for £600 per month!! So I need to try and get an extra £400 from somewhere. This could be a hard slog!

Had my first sale of 2012 on eBay - £15 profit there, so only £385 left to find :rotfl:

copperjar

Got to say, I'm struggling a bit getting back into MSE ways. Part of the problem I think is that for the last 9 months I've been telling myself that it's okay to have a treat, it's okay to go out more, it's okay to spend a bit of money on myself - and I just don't seem to be able to get out of that mindset!

So yesterday I took a work colleague out for lunch because it was her last day. Another friend came along and I ended up paying for it all! I've also got said colleague's leaving do next weekend and a present to buy. So all in all, it might well be an expensive first couple of weeks of the month. Dad's birthday next week as well.

On a positive front, my second eBay lot has 64 watchers and a couple of days left to run. I'm hoping I'll get between £60-£70 for it. But I have my eye on a nice new workbag so..... :undecided

copperjar

Quite a productive weekend finally - hopefully this is the start of being back on track!

Restarted my exercises (kettlebells) tonight after spending most of the day trying to convince myself to put it off until next week, so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. Also did a huge shop and have made my packed lunch for tomrrow, as well as a batch of spag bol for the freezer (still an undomesticated goddess so that's quite an achievement!).

I've got a pretty expensive week coming up. Have colleague's leaving present to buy, then her leaving do to go to. Got to pay the excess on my car (someone crashed into me before Xmas - his fault so will get my excess back - but how long will that take?) and I'm working away from my usual office base all week, so that's 100 miles round trip a day :eek: . Getting a lift tomorrow but will have to drive the other days so the car will need a full tank to get through the week.

In happier MSE news, my eBay sale has just raised £78.98

copperjar

January is proving to be an expensive month so far.
Leaving do and present cost more than I was planning for - and I'm still owed a bit towards the pressie which no doubt I'll never see again!
But it's my car that's costing me a fortune! Currently in the garage (had to pay £7.50 for a taxi home!) and it's going to cost £305 when I go to get it. I think (not sure if there will be additional labour charges on that). Luckily I do have some savings - and I guess I've got to be pleased with myself for that because this time last year I couldn't have paid it! - but it's just so frustrating.

The car is really starting to cost a lot now. I was looking to change it but really wanted to pay off my small loan before buying a new one, but just phoned for a settlement figure and it's basically MORE than the current balance :eek: I've never known that before, thought you usually got some interest charges back, but apparently not with this one. Oh, and I can't make overpayments either.

So new challenge is to save £2700 asap to get it paid. Ugh!

copperjar

Wow! It's been nearly a year since I last posted. Thought I'd do myself a little update because I'm feeling myself getting back into some small bad habits. In fact, it's still a week and a half to pay day and I've kind of run out of cash this month...but have no idea where it's gone :eek:

In terms of the overall debt situation. Credit cards and OD remain at £0 which is great! I have been spending on the cards the last couple of months but then paying them off in total when I get the bills. But that just shows me that I've started living outside of my budget somewhat.

Loans wise, the big loan just keeps getting the monthly payments taken off. It still feels far too big to be able to tackle, and these loan companies don't make it easy - not able to make overpayments to it.

The smaller loan - been paying monthly payments as usual and have saved £2k which means I can pay it off Haven't done so yet because I have to pay for the pleasure!! Will lose a month's payment apparently. So I've phoned them today and asked if I can make one lump sum overpayment, which they've said yes to. Bit confusing and I'll wait until I get the letter, but I think if I make an overpayment covering all but one payment, I won't get charged :think:

I have other savings as well of about £2k! Never had savings before and don't like dipping into them!! Half are for budgetted savings/spends like car repairs, Xmas presents, holiday fund. The rest for - well - savings for stuff I might want/need! It's that I don't like touching....maybe it needs to have a better purpose?!

In terms of non debt stuff. My (not so) new job is still going really well. It's very hard work and pretty stressful at times but really has given me a new lease of life! Family and friends have commented that I seem much happier and more confident. The travelling is still really tough (haven't moved yet/not sure I want to) and fuel costs are astronomical! However, that leads to my one big purchase this year - a new car! Due to the sheer amount of miles I'm doing, I wanted to go for something with a bit more comfort and a diesel - so I finally splurged last month. Loving it so far...but already done 2k miles in a month! :shocked:

Social life wise, things have picked up. Made some new friends through work which has been lovely, going out much more and doing things I really like doing! Love life still non existant though so we won't dwell on that!

Health and fitness - lost 1.5 stone which was great! Haven't been keeping up with it really since August though so need to get back on the fitness wagon because I still want to lose another stone ideally.

So that's that. Will think of some new challenges for the year ahead. But for now, I want to get the small loan paid off, curb this new overspending habit that I've fallen into and get back to the gym. Talking of which, I promised myself that I would go today...so better go and psych myself up for it!

copperjar

Have spent the last two days having a massive clear out! 4 bags of clothes to the clothes bank, another 2 big bundles just uploaded to ebay - yet I still can't see the floor and have a massive pile of ironing to do! _pale_

I do love a good spring clean but I'm kind of sick of it now so if anyone fancies finsihing it off for me, you're more than welcome!

Still waiting for my final figure from Co-op for my small loan - want to pay it off now.

copperjar

Well I'm back! Happily not because my credit cards are being used again, or because I've got new loans, but because I've decided that it's finally time to get rid of that big annoyance round my neck - the thing that's always been referred to as "the big loan".

Reading my diary back, I see when I first started posting on here I'd worked out my DF date as being May 2015 and was rather horrified by it! Well that's only a year away now and "the big one" still remains, the regular payments going out monthly, but still almost 4 years left to pay. I've also been thinking/dreaming about getting the mortgage down recently and all in all it's brought me to another (albeit less stressful) LBM.

Quite a bit has happened over the past year and a bit. My spending is still in budget, not new anymore job still going reasonably well, commuting still a nightmare...and a new relationship I'm very happy and have really enjoyed having some more cash to spend during our first year together. I've also done well with the monthly treat (too well!), lost weight and put it back on. All the usual :rolleyes:

Some big expenses like a new tumble dryer, new carpets, weekends away have all been paid for without going into debt, and without touching the savings too much. Which has made me realise that if I out my mind to it, I could pay off the loan within the next 12-18 months. It will mean less treats and a bit better budgeting, but I think I can do it

I'm hoping to pay £500 a month off the loan. Overpayments don't reduce the interest on the loan I'm on, so I'll save the £500 into a different account, then pay it off at the end of the year. That's the plan anyway! £500 sounds like a hell of a lot now I've written it down!