What is your winning formula for 2011?

jojitsui

This is a fantastic thread!!

By Dec 31st 2011 I will be completely debt free, bought my first home (so not counting morgage as debt for this!) and be planning a wedding and maybe even a family!

These are massive goals so I am going to be very anal in plannng everything!

Work
*I will take breakfast and lunch to work every day and not spend any money between the hours of 8-6 Monday-Friday (except travel costs)
*I will claim back ALL of my expenses EVERY month and pay these directly off my credit card.
*I will use public transport to get to work as often as I can.
*I will make more use of the work car as much as possible.
*I will stop getting so stressed out.
*I will seek more training and keep pushing for training (Company are very poor at providing training)
Home
* I will not buy any make up/smelly/products at all in 2011 (I have shed loads)
*I will swap books. cd's and DVD's with friedns and not buy any new ones in 2011.
*I will plan a weekly food diary and stick to it (this should help me lose a few pounds as well)
*I will de clutter my life and sell/free cycle/ give away everything I do not want/need or use.
*I will stop leaving anything on stand by.
*I WILL sort all my photos out and put them all in albums... even if it takes me all year

Play
* No alcohol in January
*limit the amount of eating out/takaways to special occassions (other people's birthdays)
*only one night out a month and I have a limit of £50
*Spend at least 4 hours a week practising Spanish (not including the lesson)

One top of all these have just cut up my credit cards and set a reminder to check my on line bank account every day so I can see exactly where I am. Every penny I have left in my account the day before pay day will be paid off my credit card.

I am also going to come onto these MSE every day to keep my motivation up.

Good luck all and a happy 2011 x

k30lly

2011_will_be_debt_free wrote: »

I started my clear out by throwing something broken out today (ok it's one thing but considering its still 2010 and if I do a little towards it everyday..)

Little tip - ALWAYS check on Ebay/Gumtree/Freecycle before you throw out anything broken - especially electrical! I threw out some GHD straighteners and a broken PS2 only to find that people buy them for spares or repairs. It's suprising what some people will buy and fix up! Worth a try for some spare cash

NSD - No Spend Days, when you physically spend nothing at all

Good luck!

Decluttering

Hopefully this winning formula will stick, must write it down later!


I will continue to not own a credit card. I simply do not need one.

Public transport is my friend and will continue to be my friend.

My spending habits will reflect my income and I will know roughly what is coming in and going out.

I will keep a list of things I "need" to buy and have a maximum price I will pay for them.

I will continue to not replace anything that is working just fine.

I will purchase at least one thing every month that is designed to keep me more organised.

I will continue to fight the war against clutter.

A bargain is only a bargain if I intended to buy the item in the first place. It does not count as a bargain if I forgot I needed it until I saw it at it's bargain price.

I will regularly review my budget so that it stays relevant to my life and my spending habits.

I will remember that the Sealed Pot in the corner of the room is there as a saving device and not simply for decoration.

I will stop making silly lists of things I will do instead of going out there and actually doing them!

kdenty

My aim this year is to get rid of the £7000+ credit card debt. Then I can start on the other debts.

I plan to not be stupid spending money. I really have had in the past a buy now pay later attitude. Enough of that now.

I plan to work hard. As I'm self employed I am mostly in control of what I earn. In the last year I've been very demotivated and done less work than possible. Some of it is out of my hands but I plan to put my head down and stop being lazy.

Esqulax

Decluttering wrote: »

I will stop making silly lists of things I will do instead of going out there and actually doing them!

Become a JEDI!

(Just Effing Do It!)

2011_will_be_debt_free

k30lly wrote: »

Little tip - ALWAYS check on Ebay/Gumtree/Freecycle before you throw out anything broken - especially electrical! I threw out some GHD straighteners and a broken PS2 only to find that people buy them for spares or repairs. It's suprising what some people will buy and fix up! Worth a try for some spare cash

NSD - No Spend Days, when you physically spend nothing at all

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip!! From now on anything electrical I will look around online before 'chucking'

NSD - oh, I have too many of them :rotfl:got no money to spend, only letters from DC's and the like. NO MORE CREDIT FOR ME! I now have the 'morgage is the only credit I will ever use' motto! (and I dont think I'd have a choice anyway tbh?)

Anyway, another little update - I cleared out a cupboard today. From this I have one bag for bin, 1 big box and a big bag of stuff to 'sieve' through, whats to be kept and what's to go out. My place looks crazy - stuff everywhere but hopefully this will be a long term attitude so this won't happen to this extent again and possibly bring a 'cleansing process' in more ways than one....

I also found a pair of roller blades that have been used once along with all the pads etc - should I wait until spring to list them? (would they sell better then?)

jojitsui

I have also started to sort through my clutter ready to list on ebay (have found a suprisingly large amount of stuff, so fingers crossed i'll get a few bob for it) but I have found out that over the festive period I have broken my camera not good.

I can not live with out a camera!!!

nads

nads wrote: »

Asiacat, what a wonderfully inspiring post. I'm so glad I caught it. I am wishing yo the best I know together we will do it!

So, I'm coming to 30 and realise money isn't everything. A worthy and valued life is what really matters. Good family, good friends and a roof over your head is really all I need.

Here is my list of desires sprinkled with a little bit of practical advise.



HOME

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[STRIKE]I will pay my final ever debt off on Dec 29th for a truly successful and fresh start to 2011.[/STRIKE]

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Good to look to everyone deciding to turn the page in their life[/CENTER][/SIZE]

One down for me! DEBT FREE BABY!

Shoe_Gal

:j:j:j well done you!

iwantahome

Yeeeeeeeeey nads,

well done. I too have cleared a debt (that was on zero% anyway) just to be debt free for 2011. Feels amazing not owing anyone anymore, well after tomorrow when the confirmation should finally be available.

Now I just need to finalise my formula for 2011, this is tough....