Story of one man's LONG road to financial recovery

turbo.jet

I know, I shouldn't whinge. I was just venting really. I sit at a desk for 7 hours a day doing a job that bores me senseless, provides no satisfaction or happiness and it depresses me. Maybe these thoughts are coming to me now because I am finally free of the restriction that my debt repayments put on me. I could hardly have left the job while I owed (although I do still have obligations, rent & bills etc).

Last week my OH sold his share in the business he started with a partner 16 months ago and started up a business of his own - Actually, I started up the business for him. I was in my element, company registration, VAT registration, domain names, email, web hosting, logo design, IP Phone system. I do love to organise. I wish there was a business in that.

turbo.jet

Its payday today. Thank goodness, last month was a struggle with all I paid out during the month, but worth it to achieve what I did. I've put £150 into savings today, and am secretly hoping I have a positive bank balance at the end of the pay period to scrape into my savings. This will hopefully be my new M.O.

Did music magpie last night on all my old DVD's and a few CD's I still had. £48
It'll go straight in my sealed pot. Still yet to do eBay and rebuild those two laptops to sell. Oh for some free time!

OH wants a watch for Christmas or birthday (both are within a week of each other). Saw a lovely one half price so will be getting that later today. As its still October and I will have the biggest present I need to buy I feel pretty on top of things. Also because I booked the hotel for Christmas night for £19 a couple of months ago. The other four people I need to buy for can hopefully be done with Boots points as long as they do their 3for2 on Christmas gifts again (I bought a £5 voucher that gives £15 worth of points) or amazon vouchers I've earned from surveys.

Went to an affordable housing open day held by the council at the Town Hall yesterday. Its pretty depressing. There are schemes to help, but I gotta work on that deposit.

Hope everyone is well?

ampersand

tj - I recommend Groupon. Don't know how they are for London[should be much Bigger/Better/More choice/competition in the Capital], but I've had several goodies for Cambridgeshire and they're not confined to restaurants.

Don't forget all the wrinkles for boosting Mr T Clubcard points; some redemption categories[Days Out/Restaurants]have reverted to the old higher rate: 4xface value.

Anyway, aren't you a teensy bit happy about the rugby this morning?
Of course,I realise you're saving the Big Cheers for we Kiwis come dimanche, given that you're A Gent who knows Quality when he sees it....

All your savings and sellings look good. Have you thought about property in another [close-ish?] country instead, as a bolthole alternative?
Especially with your 'putah/it skills, I would have thought if ANYONE could d!niche a little something somewhere from roaming the net, you could. I long for this, but I can put away only £12 weekly from State Pension, so please don't despair. Yes, I top up with Fairs, ebay, Amazon at times, but that's not the same as a salary.

I've done surveys, but don't seem to earn anything from them and don't know how one does.

Must be time for a little something now, which I KNOW you've made and brought from home:-) Bon ap!

turbo.jet

Thanks Ampersand. I've only slightly considered groupon because my initial thoughts are that I would end up buying things I wouldn't normally buy! Not very MSE :-)

I know I'm coming across a little miserable at the moment, and I should be over the moon. To be honest I think the Champix I'm on is playing with my feelings a bit. I've heard of this happening to others in a horrible way while on it, but have never experienced it before and have been on it four times. Also, the rapture I should be feeling about finally becoming DF has been muted by the discovery/realisation about my inability to get my own home in the near future. This has hit me harder than I care to admit out loud too. I've dreamed of it for so long. I will get over it though - I just need to re-assess and re-plan.

One thing I can assure you has had absolutely no impact on how I feel, good or otherwise, is any sort of sport including rugby! If I were that kind of person, I'm half Welsh, half Aussie. So half of me would be pleased, the other half would have lost (this had to be explained to me by an Australian colleague!). Occasionally I try to feign interest, but soon get caught out when probed!

Time to focus on some positives -

1) The bathroom scales have been (just) below the 70kg mark and this has been sustained for several days now. 4 kilos gone! The muffin top is far less pronounced, still got a way to go yet but my clothes feel so much more comfortable already! This has been achieved purely by having weetbix for breakfast which keep me going until lunchtime, meaning I'm not snacking so much during the day. If I do snack, only slightly or just have fruit. Batch cooking. Big carby meals in the daytime and very very very little for dinner and a DRAMATIC reduction in my sugar intake.

2) It's just occurred to me that today is the first day in nearly 10 years that being paid has actually increased my overall net worth. This does feel good, even if I can't see any results.

LondonGirl252

Hey!

I can understand why you feel a bit down but dont worry we're all here to keep spirits up!

Well done on the weight loss, I worked on mine today so need to eat more sensibly next week! Haha on the rugby, I just enjoy watching it, over the years Ive come to understand the game and can hold a decent conversation about it so long as i dont have to remember player names! To be honest its more about all that muscle in those tight shirts and short shorts

Woo hoo! Great news about the pay packet! It must feel really good! Why dont you now change how you monitor your money - like if you have a spreadsheet - to show your progress towards saving? Then it will motivate you to keep going

turbo.jet

LondonGirl252 wrote: »

Woo hoo! Great news about the pay packet! It must feel really good!

That's the thing, it should and I'm having a really hard time getting myself to feel that way. Its very odd. If feel like slapping some sense into myself for feeling this way, after being so riddled with debt and longing for it to be over for so long. I think it must be these tablets. I'm spending some time today reading back on what I've written in the past, and other people's experiences to make me realise how lucky I am and how relieved I should be.

Oh I am ALL about the spreadsheet!! I look at it all day long (have little else to do at work!) and tweak it. I've already started a new worksheet - Savings targets. I have three different pots on the go, one for a trip to Aus next year, one for other things I've longed for for a long time but could never justify spending money on (ie, a decent bed, a macbook and a TV) and the biggy, my home deposit.

I can't actually imagine myself paying out for any of the things on the list above (except for the trip home) now though, knowing the impact it will have on me having my own home. I didn't even want to spend money on lunch today! Maybe that's why I'm a bit down - I guess I thought that once I was debt free I'd be able to get the things I want. What a kn0b. I realise now it will take time - a LOT longer than I thought.

Although I did read somewhere that you should buy decent shoes and a decent bed, because when you aren't in one you are in the other!

P.S. Highly recommend you watch a game of Aussie Rules if that is your motivation

ampersand

yes, yes re: Aussie Rules, aussi and I have pretty much same knowledge level as your good self re:rugby, but it's a cathartic thing and that can have great value.

Not being Pollyanna-ish, but do you/can you walk in a Park or by a river near work daily? Chucking old bread for ducks is a very simple mood-lifter. Having book,camera/phone and small Thermos with you, ditto. [Just googled champix to see what it is - mood flatlining seems entirely normal, temporary and nothing to fixate on]

Don't know if you've tried Freecycle re: good bed. Had an incredible result several years ago, for an extra-long, wide bed, now in France - top of range German Hulsa adjustable levels model from a Cambridge Don.
I didn't even want to spend money on lunch today!
[a]Unnecessary, since you brought it from home....didn't you?
You know this next bit anyway, but let me be bossy. It's important to eat regularly, regardless of weight loss aims/processes, as you are in the prime of Life. I am older, but know that one must [Pooh Bear style]have 'a little something' at regular hours. The older I become, the more I think about the great John Seymour's 7 wise words: 'Eat sensibly, not too much, mostly vegetables' and it increasingly turns out that way. Apart from this, I never leave house sans at least one apple. If in car, it's an automatic munch as I drive. If on bus, ditto.

The Groupon thing is a new and rare thing for me, learning to ease up on myself. I do think you'll be fine.

Take heart, this phase will pass. It's the natural peaks and troughs ride we all take while we live...and for that, merci.
But you are your unique and singular self, so ' I'm spending some time today reading back on what I've written in the past, and other people's experiences to make me realise how lucky I am and how relieved I should be' is fine, but it is not a stick for you to beat yourself with.

You did, after all, finally spring from your debt situ in something of a One Bound and He Was Free....the steady continuum now is the real change positive, the sure triumph, although less spectacular.

Your posting here is entirely good and may well illuminate career thoughts or a business idea...I feel this in my gut for you, provided you don't hassle yourself. The non-smoking will bring its own new rhythms to your bio-makeup/clock. Give it plenty of time to establish itself.

Okay?[stopping bossing and not minding my own now].

turbo.jet

Wow, quite a lot to take in. Still digesting but I did just want to respond to one point - no, I didn't bring my lunch in with me today, the cupboards and fridge resembled those of old mother Hubbard last night, being the night before payday! :-)

Its not a sign of a return to my old ways however, but I do envisage that maybe 4 days in a month for different reasons I may be unable to bring my lunch into work with me. Its still 27 money saving days a month!

Horace

We all have dark days so don't worry about that.

Got up early this morning to watch Wales v Australia - Australia won by a smidgen unfortunately but they did play well and Wales looked tired which is hardly surprising. Here's hoping the All Blacks beat those pesky French tomorrow.:rotfl:

A good bed is important - it should be sale time at Dreams soon too. Or you could get a bed base from freegle and buy a new mattress.

Once debt free the temptation is there to spend, as I know to my own detriment - I used compensation money for new clothes (I hadnt had any new clothes for at least 15 years), a watch, a wardrobe and my business. Now I have 95p in my ISA and an overdraft:( In other news I do have a sneaky account with a credit union with £6 sitting in it..£1 in pennies and a fiver that I found at the bottom of an old purse. Now I am toying with the idea of selling my watch..something that I swore I would never do because it was bought as an investment.

turbo.jet

That's where I'm different... Now that I'm debt free in even less tempted to spend, and want to avoid it whenever possible. Lunch today is a perfect example!

What sort of watch is it? I used to fantasise about owning a tag, even trying several on in a shop once. It was like that scene in pretty woman. Haha. Of course I was in debt then. Now I'm debt free and worked so hard to get that way I'm happy with my retro Casio. They are even in fashion!