Onion carbonara and other stories

the_mollusk

<deep breath>

afternoon all,

here is the first post in my probably-very-long debt-free diary.

a bit about me:
i'm a girl, recently turned 30, from london but i live and work in france at the moment. i have two adorable pet rats, the cutest cat in the world, and a wonderful fiance who is just as useless with money as i am (we got engaged over two years ago but no sign of a wedding yet due to the appalling state of our finances!). he moved to france with me and is struggling to find a job. my poor mother is an accountant and has tried to educate me in the ways of money management but somehow nothing ever worked with me. she has no idea how much debt i’m in, and i know this goes against other advice on here, but i won’t tell her. she has enough to worry about, and i’m a big girl now - i got myself into this mess, and i can sort it out myself.

a bit about how i got into debt:
i got an interest-free student overdraft when i first started university in 2000. since then i’ve done three degrees, and while my bank has been brilliant about keeping the overdraft interest-free for 11 years(!), i’ve managed to rack up thousands in credit card debts, and a loan, that i paid off (by using more credit cards). i’ve always been bad with money – it’s not that i ever buy big expensive things, i’ve even denied myself many a holiday with my friends as i knew i couldn’t afford it, but i’ve simply never been able to keep track of my money, and since first getting my overdraft i’ve always lived just slightly over my means – i’ve worked out it’s probably an average of a couple of quid a day... every day... for 11 years... _pale_

a bit about my lightbulb moment:
i have absolutely no idea how it came about. as far back as i can remember (my mum having tried to teach me since childhood) i've tried to plan budgets and stick to them but i never could (they were always completely unrealistic) and i'd get more and more into debt. but i never missed payments and was never in trouble so i’ve always thought it was ok. then out of the blue, about two months ago, i had an earth-shaking lightbulb moment. suddenly the amount i owed seemed incredibly real. i realised it would take a hell of a long time to pay it back and that i would waste a painful amount in interest. so i vowed never to use my credit card again. however… my 30th birthday was coming up and we’d planned a big holiday exploring france for two weeks and i really didn’t want to let this go. so i budgeted like CRAZY, had to allow £300 on the credit card for petrol otherwise we couldn’t afford to go, camped everywhere and pretty much only ate locally-bought bread and cheese for the whole holiday. we stuck to the budget i made and had one of the best holidays of our lives. on my next payday i paid back more than the 300 i borrowed, and since then i haven’t touched my cards. it’s only been two months, but after a lifetime of attempts, finally getting my budget to balance is an incredible feeling. i’m in control of my finances, to the penny, for the first time ever.

now that i have got a budget that actually works, i can finally start tackling this mountain of debt, which is why i came here when i realised there is a wonderful community of people who are, or have been, in the same boat :wave:

a bit about the title:
the title of my diary refers to a recipe i found (i can't post the link to the recipe cos i'm new! for two: caramelise two big onions for a good half hour, mix with 200g freshly boiled pasta, add two small beaten eggs and let the heat of the pasta cook them till creamy but not scrambled, add loads of salt and parmesan. yum.) it's really cheap, filling, scrummy and really easy to make, and is one of many brilliant things i've discovered in the first few weeks of my debt-free-wannabe journey that i wanted to share

enough about me! sorry for the mammoth life-story post, i’ll try and keep subsequent ones shorter!

life_in_termoil

Well done on having your LBM. Once you find a budget that works it does get easier.

I wish you luck in your debt free journey and look forward to reading more.

LiT x

*subscribes"

the_mollusk

aw thanks

er ok, having a brainfart, how do i subscribe to a thread?? :embarasse i want to subscribe to yours too!

Hovel_lady

At the top of the page it says "Thread tools". Click on there and one option is to subscibe.

Good luck on your debt free journey, you're in good company here

Itsadogslife_2

Loving your first post - you don't have to keep future posts short - whatever helps you on your journey, if you want to post drivel - POST AWAY! I promise to read and prod you every once in a while if you fall of the wagon

As you will see from my signature - I am going to be here for a while so we might as well get comfortable.

How are you liking living in France - I could have the house of my dreams in parts of France, I love it. Unfortunately I don't speak any lingo so the possibility of me getting employment is minimal and I work for a lawyer so even if I could English Law is probably very different to French Law. I could easily live off fresh french bread and cheese (plus a bit of ham maybe) sounds like my perfect lunch. I have vowed to explore more of france - I have only been to Loire Valley but I fell in love with it.

Three degrees! Was one not enough At least you have come away with something out of your debt - I am 33, have more than you (not that it is a competition ) but have no degrees! I think if I had something like that maybe then I would have the earning potential to repay my debts - but I leave the main pair of trousers to Mr Itsa and work less hours to be able to look after my ever increasing brood of animals and DD :cool:

Maybe if you post your statement of affairs we can see if there is anything noticeable to the more experienced MSEers (I am sure one will be along soon..... :rotfl:)

LittleBoots

Welcome to diary land:). Great first post, write as much as you like as I'm looking forward to reading it!

needingaccountability

After you've subscribed to peoples diarys you can check if there any new posts when you log on by hitting the 'User CP' button on the green bar above.

sa_06

the_mollusk wrote: »

(i can't post the link to the recipe cos i'm new! for two: caramelise two big onions for a good half hour, mix with 200g freshly boiled pasta, add two small beaten eggs and let the heat of the pasta cook them till creamy but not scrambled, add loads of salt and parmesan. yum.)

I've not tried that one - added to my mental list of ones to try out. Love how many new cheap, filling and quick to make recipe ideas come from the most unlikely MSE threads! :T

the_mollusk

aw thanks everyone, what a lovely welcome

right i've subscribed to a load of other diaries (thanks for the instructions hovel lady! how i stop myself subscribing to *everyone's* is a matter i s'pose i'll have to decide on my own! everyone seems to post such interesting and valuable things, and there are so many diaries on here i don't want to miss a thing!) ...i think the soa will take a while so i'll do that tomorrow. night night all x

Frodobaggins

Welcome, you will find loads of encouragement on here. The support of everyone, and seeing other peoples progress, as well as joining in with challanges is truly motivating.
Frodo

DorsetGirl_2

I would definitely recommend joining some of the challenges, they are really good at helping you stick to plans and goals,

Good luck with your DF journey.