301k in debt and morbidly obese - things aren't great!

Buffythedebtslayer

MrBloater wrote: »

All the sick Bloaters are now in bed and apparently sleeping so the wine has come out closely followed by a nosey on the forum - which is a good sign. Sage words and all of them appreciated - thankyou. Am making no secret of the fact that the debt is not going down as fast as it should be, and could reel off a litany of justifications as to why it hasn't, but the cold hard figures remain, and indeed were it not for the 500 banked from eBay then things woulda been a lot bleaker. But the upside is that the debt is being serviced, no missed payments and had we gone on how we were, then we would have hit the wall mid-September, the changes we have implemented have meant that whilst we're veering near the edge, we have got DD's birthday and a fairly hefty Christmas all done and dusted, and come Jan/Feb there is daylight with the end of a loan and no council tax. This will help little snowballs to be thrown. With the debt reduction, as with the weightloss, its about getting the balance and making it sustainable. I could go on the cabbage soup diet for a week (and I am bloody minded enough to do it - I went coldturkey from smoking 40 a day just before DD was born) and would lose oodles, but it would go back on the next week, same as stopping all treats and things that make life bearable could be done, and we could eat celery sticks taken from the bins at the back of the Co-Op for a month, but couldn't sustain that forever, so I'd rather try and earn a little more, spend a little less, exercise a little more, eat rubbish a little less, and make these small but incremental changes that will stick. Much as I love the dramatic gestures, it's gonna be a long journey and I can't sacrifice our lifestyle for short periods of intensive misery, which will then be overcompensated for in the good times.

I wish I could thank that post twice xxxxx

MrsMoo2U

Buffythedebtslayer wrote: »

I wish I could thank that post twice xxxxx

Me too. Mr B, it is you that is traveling this road. People can give "advice" and the benefit of their experience but only you can know the best way to deal with it.

You are so right, you are servicing the payments, you are moving in the right direction even if you are standing still sometimes. Woohoo to £500 ebay sales so far.

Off to play junk room tetris.

LondonGirl252

Slow and steady wins the race Mr B, you'll do it. We all have faith in you

peaceandfreedom

MrBloater wrote: »

so I'd rather try and earn a little more, spend a little less, exercise a little more, eat rubbish a little less, and make these small but incremental changes that will stick. Much as I love the dramatic gestures, it's gonna be a long journey and I can't sacrifice our lifestyle for short periods of intensive misery, which will then be overcompensated for in the good times.

Wise wise words, :T

Been on that starve/binge cycle myself a few times, financially as well as with actual food, it doesn't work. You are absolutely right.

Karmacat

MrBloater wrote: »

All the sick Bloaters are now in bed and apparently sleeping so the wine has come out closely followed by a nosey on the forum - which is a good sign. Sage words and all of them appreciated - thankyou. Am making no secret of the fact that the debt is not going down as fast as it should be, and could reel off a litany of justifications as to why it hasn't, but the cold hard figures remain, and indeed were it not for the 500 banked from eBay then things woulda been a lot bleaker. But the upside is that the debt is being serviced, no missed payments and had we gone on how we were, then we would have hit the wall mid-September, the changes we have implemented have meant that whilst we're veering near the edge, we have got DD's birthday and a fairly hefty Christmas all done and dusted, and come Jan/Feb there is daylight with the end of a loan and no council tax. This will help little snowballs to be thrown. With the debt reduction, as with the weightloss, its about getting the balance and making it sustainable. I could go on the cabbage soup diet for a week (and I am bloody minded enough to do it - I went coldturkey from smoking 40 a day just before DD was born) and would lose oodles, but it would go back on the next week, same as stopping all treats and things that make life bearable could be done, and we could eat celery sticks taken from the bins at the back of the Co-Op for a month, but couldn't sustain that forever, so I'd rather try and earn a little more, spend a little less, exercise a little more, eat rubbish a little less, and make these small but incremental changes that will stick. Much as I love the dramatic gestures, it's gonna be a long journey and I can't sacrifice our lifestyle for short periods of intensive misery, which will then be overcompensated for in the good times.

MrB!!! I can't tell you what a relief it was to read this post - especially the bits in bold. Commitment (no, not *being* committed ), self knowledge, its all there. And now, you're definitely going to get to that light at the end of the tunnel - turning around from a debt of £301k is no mean feat, but you've done it, which means that you'll be able to go the rest of the way as well.

:T:T:T

NewLeaf_2

mr bloater you are entirely right!

kimmy4scooby

Wow, just caught up with the last couple of weeks of posts, all these little changes. Mr B I hope that you're not putting too muc pressure on yourself, as said previously its a marathonnot a sprint and you are doing SO well! The new SOA only shows this more so congratulations on paying off more debt and the eBay sales.
Keep up the good work!

Igamogam

MrBloater wrote: »

All the sick Bloaters are now in bed and apparently sleeping so the wine has come out closely followed by a nosey on the forum - which is a good sign. Sage words and all of them appreciated - thankyou. Am making no secret of the fact that the debt is not going down as fast as it should be, and could reel off a litany of justifications as to why it hasn't, but the cold hard figures remain, and indeed were it not for the 500 banked from eBay then things woulda been a lot bleaker. But the upside is that the debt is being serviced, no missed payments and had we gone on how we were, then we would have hit the wall mid-September, the changes we have implemented have meant that whilst we're veering near the edge, we have got DD's birthday and a fairly hefty Christmas all done and dusted, and come Jan/Feb there is daylight with the end of a loan and no council tax. This will help little snowballs to be thrown. With the debt reduction, as with the weightloss, its about getting the balance and making it sustainable. I could go on the cabbage soup diet for a week (and I am bloody minded enough to do it - I went coldturkey from smoking 40 a day just before DD was born) and would lose oodles, but it would go back on the next week, same as stopping all treats and things that make life bearable could be done, and we could eat celery sticks taken from the bins at the back of the Co-Op for a month, but couldn't sustain that forever, so I'd rather try and earn a little more, spend a little less, exercise a little more, eat rubbish a little less, and make these small but incremental changes that will stick. Much as I love the dramatic gestures, it's gonna be a long journey and I can't sacrifice our lifestyle for short periods of intensive misery, which will then be overcompensated for in the good times.

That is just how I see it - sometimes some of the DFW diaries are just a little too earnest, in fact just plain scary and I think there is no hope for me because they are doing this with a debt half the size of mine and there is no way I could be so single minded about it all - yes its the spectre of eating celery sticks from behind the C*-*p ( well it would have to ne T*sco here - C*-*p sadly taken over by Wa*tr*se - hmmm might be a posher kind of celery I suppose !). I totally agree with the incremental changes and learn along the way to eat less, move more, spend more wisely and just live a little once in a while along the way. Thank you Mr B!

MrBloater

Tempted to put the tracksuit on and go for a quick run but won't cos it's 1.40am and it's just a blooming stupid idea - am too wired to sleep after a late night at work - MC'ing an event for former pupils and their families - it was a rigourously scripted event (not by me) and I had to restrain myself from my natural desire to ad-lib. I guess I'm lucky that public speaking doesn't faze me, I'm still on an adrenaline rush from it. Came home late to a lovely handwritten note from my DD and am full of MSE-friendly homemade (not by me) rice pudding instead of the usual takeout/wine combo that would have accompanied a late night return.
Saw a potential opening for evening classes at my place but was quickly shot down by the Business Manager who reminded me that we're in deficit and hence anything like that would have to be unpaid - which is not my idea of sensible, and talking of unpaid, both myself and Mrs B run the risk of upsetting our colleagues in our decisions not to strike next week. Aside from the lunacy of losing a day's pay especially at this time of the year, what really sticks in my throat about teachers going on strike is the massive implications it has for the parents - thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of parents will be faced with a situation on Wednesday where they will have to take a day off because their children will have no classes to go to. Some of these folk will be hanging onto their jobs by a thread as it is, and things like this can tip things over. And what are most of these striking teachers going to be doing on the day - I've heard more talk about Christmas shopping rather than political protest. The revolution starts at Bluewater. Which is a shame, cos I would love to cross a picket line.
Still haven't got the motivation to stand on the scales but will do Saturday morning, and need to update my sig - looks like I'm on for at least another 50 from the latest listings on eBay, and I published another book on kindle. Only one more 'old one' to go and then I can concentrate on the new more lighthearted and Bloatery stuff. Am a bit annoyed that there is no easy way to put it out on kindle for free download, but I'm sure I'll figure a way.

Saturday morning the running begins again. I promise.

o2bfree

Mr B, I had to sign in just to say 'Well Done' for not joining the strike.
Where I have every sympathy with people wanting to protect their future, what about the present? Where yes most people would have no childcare provisions for the strike day and have to take a day off work which then puts their own employment in jeopardy.

I wish you had a picket line to cross too.